CDC Advancing Hemovigilance to Identify Transfusion-Transmitted Infections

 

To: Facility Administrators and Infection Preventionists From: CDPHE Healthcare-Associated Infections and Antimicrobial Resistance (HAI/AR) Program  The CDPHE Healthcare-Associated Infections and Antimicrobial Resistance (HAI/AR) Program encourages healthcare facilities to voluntarily enroll in the National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) hemovigilance module in 2026. The module tracks infrequent (a handful of events in the U.S. every one to two years) but serious transfusion-transmitted infections (TTI) nationwide to facilitate a rapid public health response. All U.S. healthcare facilities that transfuse blood components and manufactured blood products are eligible to report.  Earlier this year, the CDC updated the hemovigilance module of the NHSN Biovigilance Component to quickly and systematically identify emerging pathogens that blood transfusions can transmit. The new module (version 3.0) is substantially streamlined compared with the previous version. Participating healthcare facilities’ laboratory systems will flag pathogens of interest.* The flag prompts the hospital epidemiologist or infection preventionist to review the patient’s 30-day transfusion history and send an alert to the CDC via NHSN if the test is positive. The CDC will work with the CDPHE HAI/AR Program to investigate TTIs in Colorado.  Eligible healthcare facilities can now enroll in the new hemovigilance module, complete the Annual Facility Survey, and report through the NHSN Biovigilance Component.  TTIs can be severe and geographically widespread, but providers frequently under-identify them. Enrolling in the NHSN hemovigilance module 3.0 helps keep patients and the public safe. Enrollment is voluntary. To voluntarily enroll your healthcare facility, follow the steps outlined in the Facility Next Steps NHSN Hemovigilance flyer. For questions about using NHSN or the public health response to TTIs in Colorado, email the HAI/AR Program at cdphe_hai_ar@state.co.us. *Pathogens of interest include:  Viruses: Cache Valley virus, Colorado tick fever virus, dengue virus, eastern equine encephalitis virus, hepatitis A virus, hepatitis E virus, Japanese encephalitis virus, Oropouche virus, Powassan virus, St. Louis encephalitis virus, tick-borne encephalitis virus, Chikungunya virus, yellow fever virus, Zika virus.  Bacteria: Acinetobacter baumannii, Anaplasma phagocytophilum, Brucella spp., Coxiella burnetii (Q fever), Ehrlichia spp., Leclercia adecarboxylata, Rickettsia rickettsii.  Parasites: Babesia spp., Leishmania spp., Plasmodium spp. (malaria). Facility Next Steps NHSN Hemovigilance flyer

Link CORRECTION: Service Availability Form for Non-Medical Denial of Care 2026 Biennial Update

 

To: All stakeholders interested in regulations related to the Service Availability Form created by the Patient’s Right to Know Act regarding non-medical denial-of-care. From: HFEMSD Dear Stakeholders, The link that was provided previously for the Service Availability Form (SAF) Biennial Stakeholder Announcement on July 24, 2026 was incorrect. Here is the CORRECT SAF Interested Parties Sign-Up link for you to use and send out to those who might wish to partake in the stakeholdering process. Our apologies for any inconveniences this may have caused. The SAF Questionnaire will be open until August 31, 2026. The Service Availability Form FAQ answers many common questions regarding the Service Availability Form and the Patients’ Right to Know Act. If you have any questions regarding this review of the Service Availability Form, please contact Ash Jackson at ash.jackson@state.co.us or Alexandra Haas at alexandra.haas@state.co.us.

Join NHSN Office Hours on 08/05 at 1 pm

 

To: Acute care hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers, critical access hospitals, outpatient hemodialysis centers, inpatient rehabilitation facilities, long-term acute care hospitals, pediatric hospitals From: The Healthcare-Associated Infections (HAI) and Antimicrobial Resistance (AR) Program at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) Please join us at our National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) Colorado Group Quarterly Office Hours webinar on Wednesday, August 05, 2026 from 1:00 – 1:45 MST. The CDPHE HAI/AR program provides quarterly National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) office hours via webinar to provide updates and training related to NHSN. These are a great way to connect with the HAI/AR program at CDPHE and get answers to your questions regarding the use of NHSN and HAI/AR and antimicrobial use and resistance reporting. The next NHSN office hours will be held on August 05, 2026 from 1pm-1:45pm MT via Zoom. The agenda includes the following topics: Updates from CDPHE including the 2026 validation project and important NHSN deadlines Highlights from the 2024 annual National and State HAI Progress report NHSN Reports: How to effectively use NHSN reports for different purposes Q&A Please register for the Office Hours through Zoom. For further information please contact the CDPHE HAI AR program, cdphe_hai_ar@state.co.us.

Service Availability Form for Non-Medical Denial of Care 2026 Biennial Update

 

To: All stakeholders interested in regulations related to the Service Availability Form created by the Patient’s Right to Know Act regarding non-medical denial-of-care. From: HFEMSD The Division is publishing a Service Availability Form Questionnaire for all interested stakeholders to complete regarding the healthcare services listed on the form in connection with non-medical denial-of-care and the “Patient’s Right to Know Act.” The law requires general hospitals, community clinics, rehabilitation hospitals, freestanding emergency departments (FSEDs), and licensed hospital units to make publicly available a list of the health-care services which are generally available or are subject to significant restriction related to the following topics: Reproductive health-care services; LGBTQ health-care services; End-of-life health-care services. The Department reviews the Service Availability Form every 2 years to assess whether the form adequately addresses those healthcare services related to Reproductive Health-care, LGBTQ Healthcare, and End-of-Life Health-care which are or may be subject to non-medical denial of care in Colorado. The questionnaire asks whether there are any additional procedures that stakeholders feel should be included in the Service Availability Form. Please provide your feedback on the Service Availability Form here. The questionnaire will close August 31, 2026. After the Division has a chance to review responses, it will determine if further stakeholder review is necessary. Please sign-up to the interested parties list to receive further notice pertaining to this and future updates. Stakeholder engagement is integral to the Department’s effort to protect the health, safety, and welfare of patients in Colorado. All interested parties are encouraged to complete the questionnaire. The Service Availability Form FAQ answers many common questions regarding the Service Availability Form and the Patients’ Right to Know Act. If you have any questions regarding this review of the Service Availability Form, please contact Ash Jackson at ash.jackson@state.co.us or Alexandra Haas at alexandra.haas@state.co.us.

CDPHE Request to White List (Accept) Email Addresses (correction and update)

 

To: Technical support/providers From: Department of Public Health and Environment, Office of the State Registrar of Vital Statistics We send monthly email information with reminders or new announcements to facilities and providers regarding birth, death and fetal death record submission. The email address we send from is cdphe.vitalrecords411@state.co.us.  The email with the underscore, cdphe_vitalrecords411@state.co.us, is no longer in use.  Please allow emails from cdphe.vitalrecords411@state.co.us.  Below is a reminder about a different email address notice/request that was sent very recently, on or about May 29, 2026. There was an extra letter in the address, in the previous communication. Apologies for the error. Below is the correct address. We are requesting technical support/providers in facilities allow receiving (white listing) of emails from this address: cdphe.coves.notification@state.co.us. These emails are received by physicians, physician assistants, advance practice nurses, medical support staff, administrative staff, birthing facility staff, midwives and midwifery staff involved in the entry of data for birth, death and fetal death records. These emails are necessary login MFA receipt and/or notices for successful and timely compliance with vital statistics reporting requirements.   If you have questions or concerns, you may contact us at the above email. The email address is now in use.

Join NHSN Office Hours on 06/03/26 at 1 pm

 

To: Acute care hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers, critical access hospitals, outpatient hemodialysis centers, inpatient rehabilitation facilities, long-term acute care hospitals, pediatric hospitals From: The Healthcare-Associated Infections (HAI) and Antimicrobial Resistance (AR) Program at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) Please join us at our National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) Colorado Group Quarterly Office Hours webinar on Wednesday, June 3, 2026 from 1:00 – 1:45 MST. The CDPHE HAI/AR program provides quarterly National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) office hours via webinar to provide updates and training related to NHSN. These are a great way to connect with the HAI/AR program at CDPHE and get answers to your questions regarding the use of NHSN and HAI/AR and antimicrobial use reporting. The next NHSN office hours will be held on June 3, 2026 from 1pm-1:45pm MT via Zoom. The agenda includes the following topics: Updates from CDPHE regarding upcoming NHSN Validation Project and recent reporting changes Summary of Updates from 2026 NHSN Annual Training for HAI and AUR Troubleshooting Common Errors during AU/AR Data Uploads Q&A Register for the Office Hours through Zoom.  For further information please contact the CDPHE HAI AR program, cdphe_hai_ar@state.co.us.

CDPHE Request to White List (Accept) Email Address

 

To: Organizational Technical Support From: Department of Public Health and Environment, Office of the State Registrar of Vital Statistics We are requesting technical support/providers in facilities allow receiving (white listing) of emails from this address: cdphe.coves.notification@state.co.us These emails are received by physicians, physician assistants, advance practice nurses, medical support staff, administrative staff, birthing facility staff, midwives and midwifery staff involved in the entry of data for birth, death and fetal death records. These emails are necessary login MFA receipt and/or notices for successful and timely compliance with vital statistics reporting requirements. If you have questions or concerns, you may contact us at cdphe.coves.notification@state.co.us. This email address is expected to begin to be in use by June 2026.

SSI Discussion at HAI Advisory Committee Meeting on May 26, 2026, 2-4p

 

To: Facility Administrators and Infection Preventionists From: CDPHE Healthcare-Associated Infections and Antimicrobial Resistance (HAI/AR) Program  The next HAI Advisory Committee meeting is Tuesday, May 26, 2-4pm. During this meeting, we will discuss: Preliminary data from the HAI Annual Report Review of surgical Site Infection (SSI) surveillance definition and reporting criteria Discussion of challenges in identifying and reporting SSIs The agenda will be posted on CDPHE's HAI Advisory Committee website 24 hours prior to the meeting. We encourage interested stakeholders to join this discussion and contribute your thoughts. Contact cdphe_hai_ar@state.co.us to register for the HAI Advisory Committee meeting.

HAI Advisory Committee Meeting on March 24, 2026, 2-4p

 

To: Infection Preventionists and Facility Administrators From: CDPHE Healthcare-Associated Infections and Antimicrobial Resistance (HAI/AR) Program The next HAI Advisory Committee meeting is Tuesday, March 24, 2-4pm. During this meeting, we will discuss: 1. An overview of the Healthcare-Associated Infections and Antimicrobial Resistance (HAI/AR) Program, HAI reportable conditions, and findings from public health surveillance The National Healthcare Safety Network’s (NHSNs) new 202 standardized infection ratio (SIR) baseline and adoption for use in the HAI Annual Report Outpatient dialysis facility reporting in Colorado and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) exclusion criteria for facilities that see 10 or fewer patients.  The agenda will be posted on the CDPHE website 24 hours prior to the meeting. We encourage interested stakeholders to join this discussion and contribute your thoughts. Contact cdphe_hai_ar@state.co.us to register for the HAI Advisory Committee meeting. For more information about the 2022 SIR rebaselining, review the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC's) webpage on 2022 SIR Rebaseline. For more information about the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services reporting requirements for outpatient dialysis facilities, review the CDC frequently asked questions document. Note that CDPHE and CMS reporting requirements may differ.

CDPHE Recruiting 2 Members for HAI Advisory Committee

 

To: Facility Administrators, Physicians, Health Insurers, Infection Preventionists, Chief Medical Officers, Medical Staff From: CDPHE Healthcare-Associated Infections and Antimicrobial Resistance Program CDPHE is recruiting two new members of the Healthcare-Associated Infections Advisory (HAI) Committee. Currently, the committee is requesting applicants for the following two positions: Physician, and Representative from a health insurer The physician must be board-certified or board-eligible physician, licensed in the state of Colorado, affiliated with a Colorado hospital or medical school, an active member of a national organization specializing in health-care epidemiology or infection control, and have demonstrated an interest and expertise in health facility infection control.  Applicants must be a resident of Colorado and must be able to contribute objectively to committee meetings from the perspective of the position. All interested and qualified individuals should apply. This position will be appointed by the Executive Director of CDPHE for a term of three years. Please see the Recruitment Letter for details. For further information, contact Nicole Harty at cdphe_hai_ar@state.co.us.

NHSN Office Hours - Feb. 18, 2026 at 1:00 p.m.

To: Acute care hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers, critical access hospitals, outpatient hemodialysis centers, inpatient rehabilitation facilities, long-term acute care hospitals, pediatric hospitals From: The Healthcare-Associated Infections (HAI) and Antimicrobial Resistance (AR) Program at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) The CDPHE HAI AR program provides quarterly National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) office hours. These are held in conjunction with the NHSN Antimicrobial Use and Resistance Module (AUR) office hours. These are a great way to connect with the HAI/AR program at CDPHE, and get your questions answered regarding antimicrobial stewardship, HAIs, or NHSN reporting.  The next NHSN office hours will be held on February 18, 2026, from 1:00 to 1:45 p.m Mountain Time via Zoom. You can register here. We will discuss updates to the HAI Annual Report and NHSN AUR module. There will also be a Q&A section, so bring any questions you might have. Office hours Zoom registration:  https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJYqde6trzosHNIP_z82D2fBf9EAAdRmp4gE For further information, please contact the CDPHE HAI AR program, cdphe_hai_ar@state.co.us.

CDC - Advancing Hemovigilance to Identify Transfusion-Transmitted Infections

To: Facility Administrators and Infection Preventionists From: The Healthcare-Associated Infections and Antimicrobial Resistance Program, Communicable Disease Branch, Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment The CDPHE Healthcare-Associated Infections and Antimicrobial Resistance (HAI/AR) Program encourages healthcare facilities to enroll in the National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) hemovigilance module in 2026. The module is designed to track infrequent (a handful of events in the U.S. every 1-2 years) but serious transfusion-transmitted infections (TTI) nationwide and facilitate a rapid public health response. All U.S. healthcare facilities where blood components and manufactured blood products are transfused are eligible to report.  CDC is updating the hemovigilance module of the Biovigilance Component of NHSN in early 2026 to quickly and systematically identify emerging pathogens that can be transmitted through blood transfusions. The new module (version 3.0) is substantially streamlined relative to the current version. Participating healthcare facilities will have their laboratory system flag pathogens of interest.* The flag will trigger the hospital epidemiologist or infection preventionist to review the patient’s transfusion history in the prior 30 days and send an alert to CDC via NHSN if positive. CDC will work with the CDPHE HAI/AR Program to investigate TTIs in Colorado.  Eligible healthcare facilities can enroll in the new hemovigilance module and complete the Annual Facility Survey in January 2026. Reporting can begin at the end of March 2026 (estimated March 19). In the meantime, CDC will announce and host dedicated office hours for enrolled facilities.  TTIs can be severe and geographically widespread, but they are under-identified. Enrolling in the NHSN hemovigilance module 3.0 will help keep patients and the public safe. Enrollment is voluntary. To enroll your healthcare facility, go to www.cdc.gov/nhsn. We anticipate updated guidance to be posted in January. For questions about the use of NHSN or the public health response to TTIs in Colorado, email the HAI/AR Program at cdphe_hai_ar@state.co.us. *Pathogens of interest include:  Viruses: Cache Valley virus, Colorado tick fever virus, Dengue virus, Eastern Equine Encephalitis virus, Hepatitis A virus, Hepatitis E virus, Japanese Encephalitis Virus, Oropouche virus, Powassan virus, St. Louis encephalitis virus, Tick-borne encephalitis virus, Chikungunya, Yellow Fever virus, Zika virus.  Bacteria: Acinetobacter baumannii, Anaplasma phagocytophilum, Brucella spp., Coxiella burnetii (Q Fever), Ehrlichia spp., Leclercia adecarboxylata, Rickettsia rickettsii.  Parasites: Babesia spp., Leishmania spp., Plasmodium spp. (Malaria).

The 2025 HAI Annual Report and HAI Dashboard have been reposted

To: Administrators and infection preventionists at acute care hospitals, critical access hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers, inpatient rehabilitation facilities, long-term acute care hospitals, outpatient dialysis centers, pediatric hospitals   From: The Healthcare-Associated Infections and Antimicrobial Resistance Program at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment The 2025 Healthcare-Associated Infections (HAI) Annual Report and HAI Dashboard have been re-posted to the CDPHE website. In the original September publication of the 2025 HAI Annual Report, there were errors in the data reported for surgical site infections in ambulatory surgery centers. The errors included the representation of multiple years of data reported to the National Healthcare Safety Network, rather than one year of data, for the year 2024. The corrected tables and text are included in this revised report, completed Oct. 21, 2025. For any questions, email cdphe_hai_ar@state.co.us.

Infection control breach related to reprocessing of a transrectal ultrasound probe

 

To: Hospitals, Ambulatory Surgical Centers, and Free Standing Emergency Departments From: The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment Healthcare-Associated Infections and Antimicrobial Resistance Program The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment Healthcare-Associated Infections and Antimicrobial Resistance Program recently identified that a transrectal ultrasound probe was reprocessed using low-level disinfection (LLD) instead of high-level disinfection (HLD), which was contrary to the manufacturer’s instructions for use (MIFU). This is a semi-critical device for which HLD is necessary. Failure to reprocess this device by HLD according to the MIFU may create a low risk of bacterial, viral, and bloodborne pathogens. In this scenario, the transrectal ultrasound probe was being reprocessed and supplied by a hospital vendor. We are not aware of any infections related to this event. Infection preventionists and sterile processing departments (SPDs) should review the MIFU for endocavitary probes, including transrectal ultrasound probes and similar devices such as endovaginal probes that come into contact with mucous membranes, and ensure that they are reprocessed according to the MIFU. CDC guidelines recommend the use of a new probe cover and HLD between patients, CDC. Disinfection and Sterilization Guideline. Ensure proper reprocessing by internal SPD staff and by external vendors that supply the instrument. If patients are exposed to improperly reprocessed endocavitary probes, conduct a risk assessment for infection or other harm, and consider patient notification as appropriate. Contact the Healthcare-Associated Infections and Antimicrobial Resistance (HAI/AR) Program at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment for assistance: email cdphe_hai_ar@state.co.us or call 303-692-2700.