Webinar, resources available on HHS hospital reporting for COVID-19 via EMResource
Posted on 8/7/20
On Aug. 4, the Oklahoma State Department of Health and Oklahoma Hospital Association partnered to present a webinar titled “HHS Hospital Reporting for COVID-19 via EMResource.” The meeting was hosted by Grace Pelley, MBA, trauma & systems development manager, Oklahoma State Department of Health, and Patrice Greenawalt, MS, RN, clinical initiatives manager, OHA.
To access the slide deck from the webinar, click here. You can access the recording here. Please note there is a 30-second delay from the start of the recording until the webinar actually begins.
The purpose of the webinar was to review the process for hospitals to submit required HHS COVID data elements into EMResource. EMResource, a tool managed by the Oklahoma State Department of Health (OSDH), will then submit the data to HHS on behalf of the hospital.
Utilization of EMResource to submit data to HHS on behalf of hospitals was in response to a July 13 Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) memo announcing significant changes to the process for hospitals to fulfill the agency’s request for daily data reporting on bed capacity, utilization, personal protective equipment (PPE) and in-house laboratory testing data. These changes were effective July 15, 2020. Read more about this in an American Hospital Association bulletin.
The HHS identified two methods of data submission:
1. Reporting to the Oklahoma State Department of Health, or
2. Reporting directly into the HHS TeleTracking portal.
HHS also noted it will no longer ask for one-time requests for data to aid in the distribution of remdesivir or any other treatments or supplies. This means that the daily reporting is the only mechanism used for the distribution calculations.
Effective Aug. 5, the Oklahoma State Department of Health, through EMResource, will upload data on behalf of participating Oklahoma hospitals to HHS. Data will be collected through EMResource daily from 8 a.m. through 12 noon and submitted to HHS.
If your hospital chooses to continue to submit data directly into the HHS TeleTracking Portal, please note the following:
1. Send an email to Grace Pelley indicating your hospital opts out of the opportunity for EMResource to submit HHS data on behalf of your hospital, and
2. Continue to complete/submit the Oklahoma-required COVID data elements in EMResource. This is the same survey that hospitals have been submitting since March 2020.
The required data elements are defined in the COVID-19 Guidance for Hospital Reporting and FAQs For Hospitals, Hospital Laboratory, and Acute Care Facility Data Reporting Updated July 29, 2020, available here. It is critical that each hospital identify the appropriate person(s) to collect the required data, as several departments are involved, and also identify the staff member(s) who will enter the data into EMResource.
Each hospital currently has a designee for trauma data entry/submission into EMResource daily. If you need to verify your current designee, or to request that additional hospital personnel have the ability to access/enter data, please email OSDH or call at (405) 568-9835.
Please contact either Patrice Greenawalt or Grace Pelley if you have any questions. (Patrice Greenawalt)