Department of Health and Human Services August 19, 2008 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

Electronic Study Data Submission for Phase 3 Janus Operational Pilot; Notice of Pilot Project
Document Number: E8-19197
Type: Notice
Date: 2008-08-19
Agency: Food and Drug Administration, Department of Health and Human Services
The Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) is seeking sponsors interested in participating in a pilot project to test the submission and processing of clinical study data provided electronically in a standardized format. This pilot will test the data extract, validation, and load procedures developed to populate ``Janus,'' the study data repository component of a common, standards- based infrastructure that is being developed jointly by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to support the exchange of clinical research data. The pilot also will test a new XML (extensible markup language)-based submission format for standardized clinical study data. We anticipate that a successful pilot will enable CDER to routinely receive, process, and store all standardized clinical study data in a data warehouse environment that will enhance the center's capability to manage and review standardized study data.
Request for Public Comment: 30-Day Proposed Information Collection: Indian Health Service Loan Repayment Program
Document Number: E8-19053
Type: Notice
Date: 2008-08-19
Agency: Department of Health and Human Services, Indian Health Service
In compliance with Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 which requires 30 days for public comment on proposed information collection projects, the Indian Health Service (IHS) has submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) a request to review and approve the information collection listed below. This proposed information collection project was previously published in the Federal Register (73 FR 29520) on May 21, 2008 and allowed 60 days for public comment. No public comment was received in response to the notice. The purpose of this notice is to allow 30 days for public comment to be submitted directly to OMB. Proposed Collection: Title: 0917-0014, ``Indian Health Service Loan Repayment Program.'' Type of Information Collection Request: Extension, without revision, of currently approved information collection, 0917- 0014, ``Indian Health Service Loan Repayment Program.'' Form Number(s): The IHS Loan Repayment Program Information Booklet contains the instructions and the application formats. Need and Use of Information Collection: The IHS Loan Repayment Program (LRP) identifies health professionals with pre-existing financial obligations for education expenses that meet program criteria and who are qualified and willing to serve at, often remote, IHS health care facilities. Under the program, eligible health professionals sign a contract under which the IHS agrees to repay part or all of their indebtedness for professional training education. In exchange, the health professionals agree to serve for a specified period of time in IHS health care facilities. This program is necessary to augment the critically low health professional staff at IHS health care facilities. Any health professional wishing to have their health education loans repaid, may apply to the IHS Loan Repayment Program. A two-year contract obligation is signed by both parties, and the individual agrees to work at an IHS location and provide health services to Native American and Alaska Native individuals. The information collected from individuals is analyzed and a score is given to each applicant. This score will determine which applicants will be awarded each fiscal year. The administrative scoring system assigns a score to the geographic location according to vacancy rates for that fiscal year and also considers whether the location is in an isolated area. When an applicant takes employment at a location, they in turn ``pick-up'' the score of that location. Affected Public: Individuals and households. Type of Respondents: Individuals. The table below provides: Types of data collection instruments, Estimated number of respondents, Number of responses per respondent, Annual number of responses, Average burden hour per response, and Total annual burden hour(s).
Request for Public Comment: 30-Day Proposed Information Collection: Behavioral Health Preventive Care Assessment Focus Group
Document Number: E8-19050
Type: Notice
Date: 2008-08-19
Agency: Department of Health and Human Services, Indian Health Service
In compliance with section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 which requires 30 days for public comment on proposed information collection projects, the Indian Health Service (IHS) has submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) a request to review and approve the information collection listed below. This proposed information collection project was previously published in the Federal Register (73 FR 23254) on April 29, 2008 and allowed 60 days for public comment. No public comment was received in response to the notice. The purpose of this notice is to allow 30 days for public comment to be submitted directly to OMB. Proposed Collection: Title: 0917-NEW, ``Behavioral Health Preventative Care Assessment Focus Group.'' Type of Information Collection Request: Three year approval for this new information collection, 0917-NEW, ``Behavioral Health Preventive Care Assessment Focus Group Guide.'' Form Number(s): None. Need and Use of Information Collection: The IHS goal is to raise the health status of the American Indian and Alaska Native people to the highest possible level by providing comprehensive health care and preventive health services. To support the IHS mission, IHS uses the Government Performance Act (GPRA) to assess quality of care among its Federal, urban, and Tribal health programs. The IHS has been largely successful in meeting GPRA targets for selected clinical performance measures at the national level. However, there is significant variability in performance among IHS and Tribal service units. Until this time, IHS has not undertaken any comprehensive studies to evaluate the reasons for that variability or the factors that contribute to high quality care at the local level. The IHS has three GPRA measures relating to behavioral health, a high priority for the Agency and one of the IHS Director's Initiatives. This study will focus on these three GPRA behavioral health measures: Depression Screening in adults age 18 and over, Domestic/Intimate Partner Violence screening in women ages 15-40 and Alcohol Screening (to prevent Fetal Alcohol Syndrome) in women ages 15-44. Tribal programs voluntarily report their GPRA results quarterly and annually for national reporting. GPRA data collected for these three behavioral health measures includes: The number of patients eligible for a screening (denominator), number of eligible patients who receive a screening (numerator), and the resulting screening rate (percentage). IHS has developed methodology to identify superior and poor performers on these measures in both Tribal and Federal sites using fiscal year 2005, 2006, and 2007 GPRA performance results. IHS will convene focus groups with employees at 17 of these programs (7 IHS and 10 Tribal) in order to identify the factors contributing to (and when appropriate, the barriers preventing) the provision of high quality behavioral health care at the local level. These focus groups will allow employees to provide detailed data regarding program practices, screening and documentation procedures, initiatives, resources, and other factors relating to the provision of behavioral health preventive care at their health program. A total of two to three focus groups, organized by occupational specialty, will be convened at each program. Using the Chronic Care Model and Institute of Medicine recommendations, IHS will analyze the information collected during these site visits, along with background information that is publicly available (e.g., information found on clinic Web pages) on other qualitative and quantitative features of individual programs, such as staffing and funding levels, community demographics, and organizational structure, to develop a behavioral health preventive care model relevant to the unique system of IHS delivery. Affected Public: Individuals. Type of Respondents: Tribal employees at Tribal health programs. The table below provides: Types of data collection instruments, Estimated number of respondents, Number of responses per respondent, Number of total annual responses, Average burden hour per response, and Total annual burden hour(s).
Medicare Program; Changes to the Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment Systems and Fiscal Year 2009 Rates; Payments for Graduate Medical Education in Certain Emergency Situations; Changes to Disclosure of Physician Ownership in Hospitals and Physician Self-Referral Rules; Updates to the Long-Term Care Prospective Payment System; Updates to Certain IPPS-Excluded Hospitals; and Collection of Information Regarding Financial Relationships Between Hospitals
Document Number: E8-17914
Type: Rule
Date: 2008-08-19
Agency: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Department of Health and Human Services
We are revising the Medicare hospital inpatient prospective payment systems (IPPS) for operating and capital-related costs to implement changes arising from our continuing experience with these systems, and to implement certain provisions made by the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, the Medicare Improvements and Extension Act, Division B, Title I of the Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006, the TMA, Abstinence Education, and QI Programs Extension Act of 2007, and the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008. In addition, in the Addendum to this final rule, we describe the changes to the amounts and factors used to determine the rates for Medicare hospital inpatient services for operating costs and capital-related costs. These changes are generally applicable to discharges occurring on or after October 1, 2008. We also are setting forth the update to the rate-of-increase limits for certain hospitals and hospital units excluded from the IPPS that are paid on a reasonable cost basis subject to these limits. The updated rate-of-increase limits are effective for cost reporting periods beginning on or after October 1, 2008. In addition to the changes for hospitals paid under the IPPS, this document contains revisions to the patient classifications and relative weights used under the long-term care hospital prospective payment system (LTCH PPS). This document also contains policy changes relating to the requirements for furnishing hospital emergency services under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act of 1986 (EMTALA). In this document, we are responding to public comments and finalizing the policies contained in two interim final rules relating to payments for Medicare graduate medical education to affiliated teaching hospitals in certain emergency situations. We are revising the regulatory requirements relating to disclosure to patients of physician ownership or investment interests in hospitals and responding to public comments on a collection of information regarding financial relationships between hospitals and physicians. In addition, we are responding to public comments on proposals made in two separate rulemakings related to policies on physician self-referrals and finalizing these policies.
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