What is the NHSN AUR Module?
The AUR Module within the CDC's National Healthcare Safety Network is a mechanism for hospitals to track antibiotic use and resistance. The primary objective of the Antimicrobial Use (AU) Option is to facilitate risk-adjusted inter and intra-facility antimicrobial use benchmarking. The primary objective of the Antimicrobial Resistance (AR) Option is to provide local practitioners with an improved awareness of a variety of antimicrobial resistance problems to aid in clinical decision making and prioritize transmission prevention efforts. Additionally, the AR Module provides facility-specific measures for regional and national benchmarking.
Who is eligible to participate?
Inpatient facilities eligible to report to the NHSN Patient Safety Component AUR Module include facilities enrolled as general hospitals, critical access hospitals, children's hospitals, long term acute care hospitals, pediatric long term acute care hospitals, military and veterans' hospitals, oncology hospitals, orthopedic hospitals, psychiatric hospitals, rehabilitation hospitals, surgical hospitals, women's hospitals, women's and children's hospitals, government and non-government hospitals for public health emergencies.
Reimbursement Opportunity for Nebraska Hospitals
A grant is available for Nebraska hospitals through July 31, 2024 to reimburse expenses associated with implementation of reporting data to the National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) Antibiotic Use (AU) and/or Antibiotic Resistance (AR) modules. Individual staff are not eligible for reimbursement.
Facilities meeting all requirements for funding may request reimbursement for related eligible expenses up to the maximum amount allowed for their facility based on licensed bed size as follows:
- Facilities with <100 licensed beds can request a maximum of $10,000 in reimbursement
- Facilities with 101-200 licensed beds can request a maximum of $15,000 in reimbursement
- Facilities with ≥201 licensed beds can request a maximum of $20,000 in reimbursement
For full details on the reimbursement opportunity, please visit: Nebraska DHHS NHSN AUR Reimbursement Requirements
For questions regarding the Nebraska reimbursement program please contact the HAI/AR Program Pharmacist: jenna.preusker@nebraska.gov
Getting Started
In partnership with the Nebraska Hospital Association, Nebraska DHHS recorded 2 webinars describing steps to get started with AUR reporting. Slides are included below, and webinar recordings can be found on the NHA website at: https://www.nebraskahospitals.org/quality_and_safety/quality-education.html
Additional Resources
Questions?
Email the NHSN CDA Helpdesk for technical questions regarding CDA submissions: NHSNCDA@cdc.gov
Email the general NHSN Helpdesk for all other NHSN-related questions: NHSN@cdc.gov
Email/call the CMS QualityNet Helpdesk for questions related to PI Program participant requirements and ongoing deadlines: QnetSupport@cms.hhs.gov or 1-866-288-8912