FAQs: Annual Surveys

Annual Hospital Survey: Teaching Status

Q1: Which designation of teaching status should I indicate on the annual hospital survey?

Major: Facility trains medical students and/or nursing students, and post-graduate medical (MD/DO only) residents/fellows.
Graduate: Facility trains only post-graduate medical (MD/DO only) residents/fellows.
Undergraduate: Facility trains current medical students and/or nursing students.

Select the highest level that your facility meets.

Note: There is no minimum number of students that must be present in your facility to meet this designation, and it is not necessary for your facility to be attached/affiliated with a medical school.

Annual Hospital Survey: units designated as Inpatient Rehabilitation Facilities (IRFs)

Q2: My acute care hospital includes a CMS-certified Rehab Unit mapped as a location within the hospital (specifically, the CCN for the Rehab unit includes an ‘R’ or ‘T’ in the 3rd position). Do I include the number of rehab beds, patient days and admissions from this unit on the annual hospital survey the Survey for CMS-IRF unit or both?

The number of rehab beds should be counted on both the hospital and CMS-IRF unit surveys. On the hospital survey, include these beds in the count for “All other inpatient locations”. In addition, counts from these locations should be included in the total facility patient days and admissions on the hospital survey.

Q3: As a free-standing IRF that is enrolled as a separate facility in NHSN (specifically, the last 4 digits of the IRF CCN are between 3025–3099). Do I include the number of rehab beds from this unit on the annual hospital survey?

Since the Rehab facility is a separate NHSN facility, the number of rehab beds, patient days, and admissions should NOT be counted on the hospital survey and will be included only on the REHAB survey.

Annual Hospital Survey:  units designated as Inpatient Psychiatric Facilities (IPFs) and Skilled Nursing Facilities (SNFs)

Q4: My hospital has an IPF and/or SNF unit located within the hospital. Do I include counts from these units on the annual hospital survey for patient days, admissions, and total bed size?

IPF: Yes, counts from the IPF unit should be included on the annual hospital survey, even if the IPF has a separate CCN. If your IPF facility is not geographically located within the hospital, the counts should NOT be included with hospital’s count. Instead, the IPF facility should enroll as a separate NHSN facility and complete a separate annual facility survey.

SNF: If your SNF has a separate CCN from the hospital, it should be enrolled as a separate NHSN facility. In this case, counts from the SNF unit should NOT be counted on the acute care hospital’s survey.  If your SNF shares a common CCN with the acute care hospital, then these counts should be included on the hospital survey.

Annual Survey bed size for all facility types

Q5: During the previous calendar year my facility’s number of beds changed during the year. What number should I report for the total number of beds on the annual survey?

Users should report the number of beds that were used for the majority (six months or greater) of the previous calendar year in a facility. If the change occurred with an equal number of months captured in a year, then users should report the number of total beds that were in place at the end of the year.

Annual Surveys for newly enrolled facilities

Q6: My facility just opened last month and we are currently enrolling in NHSN. Do I need to complete an annual survey?

All facilities that have recently joined NHSN do have to complete a survey upon enrollment. However, if your facility was not operational during the prior calendar year, you will indicate this during your enrollment process. Then, you will be prompted to complete only select questions from the annual survey. The questions that are unable to be answered at the time of enrollment will be grayed out. At the start of the calendar year following when a facility has enrolled in NHSN, they will have to complete the same annual survey, but will have to complete all the questions.

• If NOT operational in the prior year:
  If your facility was not operational during the prior calendar year, and this was indicated during the enrollment process, then, the facility will be prompted to complete only select questions from the annual survey. The questions that are unable to be answered at the time of enrollment will be grayed out. At the start of the calendar year following when a facility enrolled in NHSN, they will have to complete the same annual survey, but will have to complete all the questions. For example, if your facility enrolled in NHSN during 2019, but was not operational in 2018, you will complete a shortened version of the 2019 PSC annual survey containing basic facility characteristic questions. In the next calendar year, 2020, you will have to complete the entire 2019 PSC annual survey with information from 2019.
• If operational in the prior year:
  If your facility was operational during the prior calendar year, and this was indicated during enrollment, then the facility will be prompted to complete a full annual survey. For example, if your facility enrolled during 2019 and was operational for 2018, then you will complete a full version of the 2018 PSC annual survey; all questions will be required.

Annual surveys for HCP Influenza Vaccination Summary Module

Q7: Which surveys are required to be completed for the HCP Influenza Vaccination Summary Module?

At this time, no annual surveys are required to participate in the HCP Influenza Vaccination module. However, NHSN encourages users to complete the (optional) “Seasonal Survey on Influenza Vaccination Programs for Healthcare Personnel”. The data collected in this brief survey, including methods a facility uses to deliver influenza vaccine to its HCP, are very helpful to CDC personnel.  If you elect to complete this survey, only one survey should be completed during the influenza season. More information on the survey can be found here: Surveillance for Healthcare Personnel Vaccination.