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NHSN staff flu vaccination summary for nursing homes (form 57.214)

Short answer: once a year, every skilled nursing facility reports how many of its healthcare personnel got a flu shot. It goes to NHSN on the Healthcare Personnel Influenza Vaccination Summary (CDC 57.214), in NHSN's Healthcare Personnel Safety component, not the long-term care weekly forms. For the 2026-2027 season, count everyone who physically worked at least one day from October 1, 2026 through March 31, 2027. The deadline is May 17, 2027. A home that doesn't report its required quality data gets a 2 percentage point cut to its Medicare annual payment update.

Updated October 22, 2026 · Checked against the official sources listed at the end

Why it's required

The measure is Influenza Vaccination Coverage among Healthcare Personnel, part of CMS's Skilled Nursing Facility Quality Reporting Program (SNF QRP). CMS's FY 2028 schedule lists the 2026-2027 data period as October 1, 2026 to March 31, 2027, with a final submission deadline of May 17, 2027. When a deadline falls on a weekend or federal holiday, it moves to the next business day.

CMS says a SNF that fails to submit required quality data is subject to a two percentage point reduction in its annual payment update. The flu summary is one of those required measures.

Last season's deadline was May 18, 2026. Check CMS's schedule each year, since the date moves.

Keeping resident vaccine records in a spreadsheet? Pact tracks every resident's flu, pneumococcal, COVID-19 and RSV education, offer and outcome, shows who's due, and makes your NHSN upload files. $2 per certified bed a month, added to staff tracking. Pact signs a BAA before the first resident is added. Resident immunization tracking · Staff files · Get my price

Where it goes in NHSN

Report it in the Healthcare Personnel Safety (HPS) component. CDC says weekly data entered through the long-term care facility component does not count toward the CMS yearly flu requirement, even for homes that report most other data there.

You can type the counts into the form or upload a CSV in CDC's template. CDC's steps: Healthcare Personnel Safety Component, Vaccination Summary, Annual Vaccination Flu Summary, then Add (or Find and pick the season), then Upload CSV. You can update the season's numbers until the deadline.

Who counts

Count anyone who physically worked in the facility for at least one day from October 1 through March 31, full time or part time. Leave out people who work entirely off-site, such as telemedicine providers. Count each person once.

Employees: everyone on your payroll.
Licensed independent practitioners who aren't employees: physicians, advanced practice nurses and physician assistants.
Adult students, trainees and volunteers, 18 and older.
Other contract personnel: optional for CMS reporting. Agency aides and nurses often fall here.

The five answers for each group

Vaccinated at this facility this season.
Vaccinated somewhere else this season, with written proof: a signed statement or form, an email from the person, or a note, receipt or card from whoever gave the shot. A verbal statement is not enough; without proof, count the person as unknown.
Medical contraindication. NHSN accepts only two: a severe allergic reaction to eggs or other components of the vaccine, or Guillain-Barré syndrome within 6 weeks of an earlier flu shot.
Declined. This includes religious and personal reasons, and any medical reason that isn't one of the two above. NHSN doesn't require written proof of a declination.
Unknown: anyone you have no answer for.

Your records need more than NHSN asks

NHSN accepts a verbal declination, but your state or your policy may not. Tennessee's nursing home rule requires a signed declination from every staff member who refuses for non-medical reasons, a no-cost offer to staff, staff education about flu, and a yearly evaluation of the program that includes reasons people didn't take part.

The hard part is usually the proof, not the math. In April 2026 CDC reported staff flu coverage in nursing homes of 42.1% for the 2024-25 season, and noted that the written-proof rule for shots given elsewhere may make nursing home staff coverage look lower than it is. Collecting the pharmacy receipt or card when someone says they already got their shot fixes that.

Staff COVID-19 weekly reporting is now voluntary

In the FY 2027 SNF final rule, CMS removed the staff COVID-19 vaccination measure. SNFs are no longer required to report calendar year 2026 staff COVID-19 data for the FY 2028 payment determination. NHSN's staff COVID-19 form (CDC 57.219) still exists, and some states may still ask for it. The yearly staff flu summary stays required.

A simple season plan

October: offer the flu shot to every staff member, and give the education. Start collecting proof from anyone vaccinated elsewhere.
October to March: add new hires, agency staff, students and volunteers the day they start, with a start date, so the count is right.
Every month: chase the unknowns. Each one is a person with no record.
April: freeze the list of everyone who worked at least one day. Count each group's five answers.
By May 17, 2027: enter or upload the summary in NHSN, and keep a copy of what you sent.

How Pact helps

Pact already keeps each staff member's flu record or signed declination, with start and end dates. From those records it builds the 57.214 counts by NHSN group and makes the CSV in CDC's template. You download it and upload it in NHSN yourself. Pact doesn't submit to NHSN and doesn't work for CDC or CMS. A staff COVID-19 weekly file (57.219) is there too, for homes that still report it.

Staff tracking is $10 per active staff member a month, $250 minimum, month to month, with no setup fee. A monthly roster update from your payroll export (Paycom, ADP or Paylocity) keeps new hires and people who left current, so the count matches who actually worked.

Common questions

When is the NHSN staff flu summary due?

For the 2026-2027 season, May 17, 2027, per CMS's FY 2028 SNF QRP schedule. The data period is October 1, 2026 through March 31, 2027. Last season's deadline was May 18, 2026.

What happens if a nursing home misses it?

CMS says a SNF that fails to submit required quality reporting data gets a two percentage point reduction in its Medicare annual payment update for that fiscal year.

Which NHSN component do we use?

The Healthcare Personnel Safety component, Annual Vaccination Flu Summary. CDC says weekly data in the long-term care component doesn't count toward the CMS yearly flu requirement.

Do agency and contract staff count?

Other contract personnel is an optional group for CMS reporting. Employees, licensed independent practitioners, and adult students, trainees and volunteers are required, if they physically worked at least one day from October 1 through March 31.

Does a staff member's word count as proof of a flu shot elsewhere?

No. NHSN needs written proof, such as a signed statement, an email from the person, or a receipt or card. Without it, count the person as unknown.

Do we still report staff COVID-19 vaccination weekly?

CMS no longer requires it: the FY 2027 SNF final rule removed the staff COVID-19 measure, so calendar year 2026 data isn't required for FY 2028. Some states may still ask for it.

Sources

Related guides

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