As a condition of licensure, the Department of Public Health mandates that licensed health care facilities offer, free of charge, annual influenza vaccine to all personnel (regular employees, contracted employees, volunteers, house staff and students), regardless of whether or not they provide direct patient care. In addition, facilities must document each person’s vaccination against influenza; or document when an individual refuses to be vaccinated. The Centers for Medicaid and Medicare may impose additional requirements on your facility, not included here.
Who must report
DPH-licensed:
What to report
Measures on the effectiveness of your employee vaccination program, including the number of vaccinated employees. DPH expects that, as an overall minimum performance goal, licensed healthcare facilities reach a 90% influenza vaccination coverage rate.
How to report
A) Acute care hospitals, long-term acute care hospitals, ASCs, and dialysis centers should report the vaccination data through the National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN)’s Healthcare Personnel Safety Component, and allow DPH permission to access the data.
B) Adult day health programs, non-ambulatory surgical center clinics, nursing homes, and rest homes need to submit influenza vaccination reports to DPH.
Resources
Laws
105 CMR §§ 130.325, 140.150, 150.002(D)(8), 158.030(L)(8)