Department of Health and Human Services August 3, 2007 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) notifies Federal agencies of the laboratories currently certified to meet the standards of Subpart C of the Mandatory Guidelines for Federal Workplace Drug Testing Programs (Mandatory Guidelines). The Mandatory Guidelines were first published in the Federal Register on April 11, 1988 (53 FR 11970), and subsequently revised in the Federal Register on June 9, 1994 (59 FR 29908), on September 30, 1997 (62 FR 51118), and on April 13, 2004 (69 FR 19644). A notice listing all currently certified laboratories is published in the Federal Register during the first week of each month. If any laboratory's certification is suspended or revoked, the laboratory will be omitted from subsequent lists until such time as it is restored to full certification under the Mandatory Guidelines. If any laboratory has withdrawn from the HHS National Laboratory Certification Program (NLCP) during the past month, it will be listed at the end, and will be omitted from the monthly listing thereafter. This notice is also available on the Internet at https:// www.workplace.samhsa.gov and https://www.drugfreeworkplace.gov.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is classifying the absorbable poly(hydroxybutyrate) surgical suture produced by recombinant deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) technology into class II (special controls). The special control that will apply to the device is the guidance document entitled ``Class II Special Controls Guidance Document: Absorbable Poly(hydroxybutyrate) Surgical Suture Produced by Recombinant DNA Technology.'' The agency is classifying these devices into class II (special controls) in order to provide a reasonable assurance of safety and effectiveness of these devices. Elsewhere in this issue of the Federal Register, FDA is announcing the availability of the guidance document that will serve as the special control for this device.

The inventions listed below are owned by an agency of the U.S. Government and are available for licensing in the U.S. in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 207 to achieve expeditious commercialization of results of federally-funded research and development. Foreign patent applications are filed on selected inventions to extend market coverage for companies and may also be available for licensing.

This notice announces the intention of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) to request that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) allow the proposed information collection project: ``Chartering Value Exchanges for Value-driven Health Care.'' The information collection will take the form of narrative responses to semiannual Requests for Proposals to participate in a learning network of mature multi-stakeholder community health care collaboratives established to measure, report, and improve the quality and cost of available healthcare. In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104-13 (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)), AHRQ invites the public to comment on this proposed information collection.

This final rule updates the payment rates used under the prospective payment system (PPS) for skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) for fiscal year (FY) 2008. In addition, this final rule revises and rebases the SNF market basket, and modifies the threshold for the adjustment to account for market basket forecast error. This final rule also responds to public comments submitted on the proposed rule and makes a technical correction in the regulations text.