Nursing Home Reporting Rules Receive Mixed Industry Reception

New federal requirements that nursing homes report Covid-19 infections and deaths to residents’ families and federal authorities are causing concerns among some industry stakeholders.

The guidance, issued Sunday by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, requires nursing homes to provide information to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention each week about coronavirus cases among workers or residents.

The new requirements demand, at a minimum, that “nursing homes must inform residents and their representatives within 12 hours of the occurrence of a single confirmed infection of COVID-19” or within three days after a staff member or resident develops ...