Introduction

One of the most important steps in the NEISS reporting process is determining whether or not an ED record is “in-scope”. If a record is in-scope, it is eligible for reporting.

Please report emergency visits to your hospital using information from the patient record on the reason(s) for the visit and the conditions treated.

Specifically:

• Report all injuries where a consumer product, sports or recreational activity is associated with the reason for the visit or related to a condition treated.
• Report all poisonings and chemical burns to children under 5 years.
• Report illnesses only if a consumer product/activity is associated with the onset of the illness.

Do not report cases or choose codes based on data collected during a patient history or physical exam if that data is not related to the reason(s) for seeking emergency treatment or on conditions treated during the visit.

Report all consumer product-related emergency visits to your hospital, including emergency department cases, hospital admissions, trauma center and burn center cases, and cases transferred to other hospitals.

In general, the variables coded on each case should all reflect the most severe injury.

See the NEISS Coding Manual in the course Tool Kit for more information. Do not hesitate to call your CPSC headquarters representative for guidance on in-scope definitions and appropriate coding (1-800-638-8095).

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Out-of-Scope

The following rules describe injuries that are out-of-scope and ineligible for NEISS reporting:

• Injuries associated with products not covered by CPSC such as:
  • automobiles and motorcycles
  • trains, boats or planes
  • illegal drugs
  • pesticides
  • medical devices
    
• Injuries associated only with drugs, medicines, cosmetics, or pesticides.

*Exception: do report poisonings or chemical burns to victims under age 5.

• Assaults and suicide attempts.

*Exception: do report cases if victim and perpetrator are age 12 and under.

• Occupational injuries.
  
• Injuries previously treated in this or any other hospital.

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Special Studies Reporting Rule

CPSC sometimes contracts with other government agencies to conduct special studies of injuries associated with specific products or hazard patterns. Each study is designed for a specific purpose and has special reporting rules and data collection criteria. As a NEISS coordinator, you will be involved in collecting and reporting data for these special studies.

When a special study is initiated, you will be informed of the reporting rules and data collection criteria that apply. When entering data in the PC-NEISS reporting software, you will be automatically presented with an additional data entry screen to capture the data for special studies.

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Types of Cases to Report

Q: Do we report animal bites?
A: Report animal bites only if a consumer product is mentioned in the injury scenario.

Q: What types of injuries and illnesses should we report?
A:Report all injuries where a product is associated with the reason for the visit or related to a condition treated. Report illnesses only if a consumer product/activity is associated with the onset of the illness. Do not report illness cases where the product is only mentioned as a location (e.g. do not report cases with comments such as "heart attack victim found in bed," "patient found on floor after suffering stroke," ….).

Q: Should cases mentioning only a location in a house be coded when there is no other reportable product? (e.g. “Child fell while playing in a closet.”)
A: Do not report such cases unless a reportable product is involved. General home or room involvement in fires is reportable using product code 1866. If the record states only a location but does not state a product, fire, or activity for which a code exists, the incident is not reportable.

Q: When do we report second visits to our hospital for the same injury?
A: Report repeat visits for the same injury only if a new incident occurred which required the repeat visit.

Q: Should we report allergic reactions?
A: Report only allergic reactions associated with consumer products. Do not report allergic reactions to other products such as foods, drugs, medicines or cosmetics.

Q: When should we report injuries where no reportable product is mentioned in the incident scenario?
A: There are three major types of cases which must be reported without a specific product.

• Cases which meet the requirements of the poisoning special study.
• Injuries which occur in house fires where no product is mentioned.
• Carbon monoxide poisonings where no product is mentioned.

Q: When should we report an intentional injury?
A: Report all confirmed or suspected cases of injuries and poisonings inflicted by one person on another person only if the victim and perpetrator are age 12 and under, and the incident is product-related. Include any firearm incidents, regardless of age. This includes intended and unintended victims of violent acts.

Q: If assault cases are not reportable, should we report cases where the record indicates that one child deliberately hit another child with a toy?
A: Cases in which a child and the perpetrator are both age 12 and under are reportable if a consumer product is involved. The injury intent variable should be coded as 1.

Q: Should we report injuries when the record states the victim was drunk, under influence of drugs, acted foolishly, punched wall in anger etc...?
A: Follow usual rules and report these cases when a reportable consumer product is involved.

Q: Should we report cases which bypass our emergency department and are treated in clinics or through direct admission to our hospital?
A: Report all emergency visits to your hospital which otherwise meet our reporting rules. If some emergency cases routinely bypass the emergency department, please set up a procedure to review all relevant records and report in-scope cases.

Q: Should we report cases where the victim left the hospital without receiving medical treatment?
A: Report all in-scope cases where an emergency department record was filled out. Code the disposition as left without being seen (6).

Q: Should we report cases where the emergency department record states "no injury" as a diagnosis?
A: Report all "no injury" cases where an emergency department record was filled out and a consumer product was involved. A “no injury” diagnosis simply indicates that there was no evidence of the injury during the ER examination. If possible, use the patient's complaint to code the injury. Otherwise code diagnosis 71 and bodypart 87 for these cases.

Q: Should we report cases previously treated in other facilities for the same injury?
A: Do not report cases previously treated in another hospital unless the victim has been re-injured in a new incident. Do report cases previously treated only in other facilities such as physician offices and ambulatory care clinics.

Q: Should we report cases where the record indicates the patient was walking or running and sustained an injury if no other activity or product is mentioned?
A: Report such walking or running injuries only when there is some indication that the walking or running was an exercise activity. In that case use product code 3299.

Q: Should I report cases where the victim was hunting at the time of the injury?
A: Report hunting injuries only if a reportable consumer product was mentioned in the injury scenario. Do not code the hunting activity.

Q: Should we report child abuse cases or suspected child abuse cases?
A: If the ER record states that child abuse is suspected, do not report the injury, regardless of product involvement. However, product related injuries resulting from a neglect situation are reportable.

Q: When should I report a fall injury?
A: Report all fall injuries where a consumer product is mentioned in the accident scenario. Do not assume (and code) floor unless it is explicitly mentioned in the accident scenario.

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