[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 72 (Monday, April 15, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Page 15225]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-07387]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

[Docket No. CDC-2019-0012]


The National Healthcare Safety Network's Proposed Requirement for 
Submission of Billing Codes as Part of Surgical Site Infection (SSI) 
Event Reporting; Request for Information

AGENCY: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Department of 
Health and Human Services (HHS).

ACTION: Request for information (RFI).

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SUMMARY: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in the 
Department of Health and Human Services, announces the opening of a 
docket to obtain information regarding the proposed requirement for 
reporting of International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision, 
Procedural Classification System (ICD-10-PCS) or Current Procedures 
Terminology (CPT) Codes (collectively, Billing Codes) when reporting 
data to the National Healthcare Safety Network's (NHSN) Surgical Site 
Infection (SSI) Module of the Patient Safety Component. CDC is opening 
this docket to provide the opportunity to identify challenges for 
facilities to include ICD-10-PCS or CPT Codes when reporting SSI data 
to the NHSN, which is proposed to begin in 2021.

DATES: Written comments must be received on or before May 31, 2019.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by Docket No. CDC-2019-
0012, by any of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal http://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
     Mail: Katherine Allen-Bridson, National Center for 
Emerging and Infectious Zoonotic Disease, Centers for Disease Control 
and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Road NE, Mail Stop H16-3, Atlanta 30329.
    Instructions: All submissions received must include the agency name 
and Docket Number. All relevant comments received will be posted 
without change to http://www.regulations.gov, including any personal 
information provided. For access to the docket to read background 
documents or comments received, go to http://www.regulations.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Katherine Allen-Bridson, RN, BSN, 
MScPH, CIC, National Center for Emerging and Infectious Zoonotic 
Disease, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Road 
NE, Mail Stop H16-3, Atlanta, GA 30329. Phone: 404-639-4000; Email: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Purpose of the Notice: The purpose of the notice is to request 
input and information from individuals and organizations on a proposed 
requirement that all procedure and event data submitted as part of the 
National Healthcare Safety Network's (NHSN) Surgical Site Infection 
(SSI) Surveillance Module include ICD-10-PCS or CPT codes. CDC will 
carefully consider all comments with an intent to determine the 
feasibility and appropriateness of the proposal.
    Scope of Issue: The mission of the CDC's Division of Healthcare 
Quality Promotion (DHQP) is to protect patients and healthcare 
personnel and promote safety, quality, and value in national and 
international healthcare delivery systems. In accordance with this 
mission, DHQP seeks to identify effective prevention methods, foster 
their implementation, and measure their impact on the incidence of 
healthcare-associated infections (HAIs). Over 21,000 healthcare 
facilities report data on HAIs to CDC's NHSN, including data that CDC 
in turn reports to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) 
on behalf of healthcare facilities. CMS uses the data in its public 
reporting and payment programs.
    Approach: CDC seeks information from NHSN users and stakeholders 
regarding SSI data reporting. Currently, reporting of ICD-10-PCS or CPT 
codes in the SSI surgical procedure data is optional. Facilities are 
not currently required to report the Billing Codes to NHSN. If they do 
not, facilities must instead determine the appropriate NHSN Operative 
Procedure Category, based on ICD-10-PCS or CPT code the facility has 
assigned for the procedure, and report that category to NHSN. Reporting 
ICD-10-PCS and CPT codes rather than only the NHSH Operative Procedure 
Category provides more detail about the procedure performed. Having 
Billing Codes that describe specific surgical procedures, rather than 
simply surgical procedure categories that include a number of Billing 
Codes, would allow CDC and other NHSN-data users to identify procedures 
with higher risks of SSI and group like-risk procedures for data 
comparison across facilities and facility locations.
    Potential Areas of Focus: The CDC seeks information from NHSN users 
and stakeholders regarding specific considerations related to this 
proposal including but not limited to:
    1. What, if any, challenges/barriers would the proposed Billing 
Code reporting requirements for NHSN SSI reporting pose for your 
facility? How could these challenges/barriers be minimized?
    2. Would your facility be able to report the necessary Billing Code 
data within 4.5 months of the end of the quarter in which the procedure 
occurred, as is required for participation in the Centers for Medicaid 
and Medicare Service's Inpatient Quality Reporting Program? If no, why 
not, and what is the shortest amount of time following the end of the 
quarter that the complete data would be available?
    3. If your facility is currently reporting Billing Codes to NHSN as 
part of SSI reporting, what lessons were learned in setting up the 
processes to enable such reporting?

    Dated: April 9, 2019.
Sandra Cashman,
Executive Secretary, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
[FR Doc. 2019-07387 Filed 4-12-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4163-18-P