Special Bulletin: URGENT: HHS Extends Deadline to Submit Data Related to Funding for COVID-19 High Impact Areas

As urged by the AHA, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced today that it is extending the deadline for hospitals to submit data to help inform its targeted distribution of funds to hospitals and other facilities particularly burdened by COVID-19. The data are now due by Saturday, April 25 at 12 p.m. PST.

Earlier this week, HHS announced it will make targeted distributions to hospitals and other facilities that have been particularly affected by the increased burden of caring for those with the COVID-19. HHS asked all hospitals to submit certain data via a vendor portal called TeleTracking to help inform how it will distribute funding. These data include:

• Medicare Tax Identification Number (TIN)
• Total number of intensive care unit (ICU) beds (as of April 10, 2020)
• Total number of admissions with a COVID-19 diagnosis (from Jan. 1, 2020 to April 10, 2020)
• National Provider Identifier (NPI)

Hospitals must submit these data in order to be eligible to receive payments. However, doing so is not a guarantee of eligibility for any amount.

HHS notes that hospital "site administrators" received an email from HHS on Sunday, April 12, or thereafter, with instructions and a link to register on the TeleTracking portal. If it is not clear who received this notification, or if there are questions about the registration process, HHS says hospitals should contact TeleTracking Technical Support at 877-570-6903. HHS has acknowledged long wait times for those calling for technical support, and indicated that TeleTracking recently added 100 staff to respond to call center requests. They also are directing hospitals to leave a message if they are unable to reach someone live, and that a member of the support staff team will call each hospital back. The agency believes that the data entry process should not require more than 5 or 10 minutes.

Further Questions
If you have questions, please contact AHA at 800-424-4301