A national employer healthcare group joined several provider advocacy groups in urging hospitals to require their employees to obtain annual influenza vaccinations.

The National Business Group on Health, a not-for-profit group representing the health policy interests of some of the largest U.S. employers, urged seasonal flu requirements for hospital workers as a way to reduce risks for healthcare workers and patients.

“They are our caretakers; we look to them for care and treatment,” Helen Darling, president and CEO of the NBGH, said at a news conference. “We certainly don't expect that they may be the ones that accidentally—not that they do it intentionally—but that they accidentally may cause you to be sicker than you otherwise would be.”

The employer group followed previous calls for such mandatory flu vaccinations of hospital workers by the American Hospital Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, American College of Physicians and the National Patient Safety Foundation.

Dr. Don Wright, deputy assistant secretary for healthcare quality at HHS, said at the news conference that the Obama administration does not endorse a mandate on hospital workers nationwide, but it supports any effort to increase their vaccination rates, which were 71% last winter, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The administration may begin requiring hospitals to begin reporting vaccination rates for their employees in 2013, if the National Quality Forum endorses such a requirement, Wright said. Currently, the CMS provides bonus payments to hospitals that voluntarily report employee vaccination rates and more than 99% do so.

Only two states require hospital workers to receive flu shots and only 13% of healthcare workers are required to receive the shots by their employers, according to the CDC.

Such mandates typically include exemptions for employees who demonstrate medical contraindications or religious objections. Typically, those employees are required to then wear a surgical mask to reduce possible airborne transmission of the virus.