The Nursing Home COVID-19 Public File includes data reported by nursing homes to the CDC’s National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) system COVID-19 Long Term Care Facility Module, including Resident Impact, Facility Capacity, Staff & Personnel, and Supplies & Personal Protective Equipment, and Ventilator Capacity and Supplies Data Elements.
For a list of Frequently Asked Questions, please click
here.
For a detailed explanation of the CMS/CDC Nursing Home COVID-19 Data Quality Assurance Process, please click
here.
For a full list of variables included in this Public Use File (PUF) and their descriptions, please see below. The file contains an individual record for each certified Medicare skilled nursing facility/Medicaid nursing facility and the ending date for each collection week, and is updated weekly. More information on CMS requirements for reporting COVID-19 information can be found
here. We note that the presence of cases of COVID-19 in a nursing home does not automatically indicate noncompliance with federal requirements. This information is used to assist with national surveillance of COVID-19 in nursing homes, and support actions to protect the health and safety of nursing home residents.
NOTE: There are several limitations to this is preliminary data.
- The first deadline for reporting data was 11:59 p.m. Sunday, May 17, 2020. As the number of facilities reporting increases each week, it will increase the reported number of COVID-19 cases, suspected cases, and deaths each week.
- As with any new reporting program, some facilities will struggle with their first submissions, and therefore, some of the data from their early submissions may be inaccurate. Since facilities may correct data in future weeks, the data is subject to fluctuations as data for previously reported weeks may change when the website is updated.
- The availability of testing may impact the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases facilities report. For example, facilities that did not have the ability to test all residents a few weeks ago would not be able to report all residents with confirmed cases. Similarly, access to testing can vary by state, region, or facility.
- Facilities may opt to report cumulative data retrospectively back to January 1, 2020. Therefore, some facilities may be reporting higher numbers of cases/deaths compared to other facilities, due to their retrospective reporting. Numbers for Week Ending 05/24/2020 may include reporting for any time between 01/01/2020 through 05/24/2020. Reporting for subsequent weeks is on a weekly basis.
- Data Quality Assurance (QA) and Validation (QA Flags): Data quality checks were performed to identify instances where facilities may have entered incorrect data, such as entering cumulative counts over time instead of new cases, and other data entry errors. In these cases, we will display facilities as having submitted data, but will not include their data in our dataset or analyses to preserve the accuracy of the data presented. Facilities that have submitted erroneous data will have an “N” displayed in the column titled “Passed Quality Assurance Check.” For more detailed information about this process, please reference the
CMS/CDC Nursing Home COVID-19 Data Quality Assurance Process.
Due to these factors, CMS cautions users to consider these factors when performing any analysis. For example, data reported over the first few weeks should not be used to perform trend analysis and longitudinal analyses. We expect the data to stabilize as nursing homes become more familiar with how to submit data via th
