Health Resources and Services Administration 2007 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This Notice provides notification that individuals who have been injured by pandemic, epidemic, or security countermeasures identified in a declaration issued by the Secretary pursuant to section 319F-3(b) of the Public Health Service Act (PHS Act) (42 U.S.C. 247d- 6d) have one (1) year from the time they receive the covered countermeasure to file requests for compensation for injuries directly resulting from administration or use of covered countermeasures under the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act (PREP Act).

HRSA will be enhancing the partnership with the Home Safety Council (HSC) to collaborate on reaching America's low literacy population. Through this project, additional poison prevention training materials targeting the low literacy population will be developed and distributed to the public, poison centers, safety and injury prevention professionals, health educators, and first responders. HRSA first announced the partnership with the HSC in the Federal Register, Vol. 71, No. 146, July 31, 2006.

HRSA announces a revision to the program guidance for the Training in Primary Care Medicine and Dentistry Program posted on August 23, 2007 on Grants.gov, https://www.grants.gov. The guidance includes information for the following competitive funding opportunities: HRSA-08-032 Academic Administrative Units; HRSA-08-035 Physician Faculty Development; HRSA-08-037 Predoctoral Training; HRSA-08-039 Physician Assistant Training; HRSA-08-042 Residency Training; and HRSA- 08-044 Residency Training in General and Pediatric Dentistry. This revision only affects the Physician Faculty Development program, HRSA- 08-035. A revised guidance has been posted on Grants.gov. Specifically, the additional language included in the guidance is presented below: Primary Care Clinician Research FellowshipThis track provides fellowships that focus on development of primary care research investigators. DurationFellowships will last 2 to 3 years. FeaturesApplications should include a rigorous research/training track which is offered at an academic health science center. Advanced degrees (e.g., M.P.H., M.P.A.) are a desirable option. Desirable candidates include multidisciplinary physician faculty and fellows. Research areas should be consistent with the scope and content of primary care practice and education, and may include such areas as the linkage between Healthy People 2010 and health disparities, community and practice-based research, patient safety, quality improvement, professionalism, health literacy, and cultural competency. Stipend LevelEnhanced stipend level is equivalent to National Research Service Award (NRSA) stipends, which range from $36,996 for individuals entering immediately following receipt of their doctoral degree to $51,036 for individuals with 7 years or more of relevant experience and/or training. A table of stipend levels is provided in this guidance. Supplementation of the stipends is allowable and encouraged; however, the combination of stipend and supplementation may not exceed the full-time salary of comparable multidisciplinary physician faculty at the applicant's institution. Time RequirementPro-rated stipends are not available. For applicants requesting full stipends, 60 percent of a Fellow's time for 24- to 36 months of fellowship must be devoted to formal research training. The remaining 40 percent of time for a 24 to 36-month fellowship must be spent in activities consistent with the roles of academic faculty (clinical practice, teaching, and/or administration).

In accordance with the requirements of the Privacy Act, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) is publishing a notice of a proposal to add a new system of records. The Campus Based Branch (CBB) of the Division of Health Careers Diversity and Development in the Bureau of Health Professions is currently utilizing a document management system (DMS) that dynamically manages its flow of documents produced and received. the DMS is an intra-office system in which documents contained within the system are only shared among CBB staff. The DMS contains names and other personally identifiable information of borrowers.

HRSA's BPHC has performed a formal review of an unsolicited proposal from NNOHA to establish a cooperative agreement with HRSA to provide services and resources to support the Health Center Program's oral health providers serving the oral health needs of underserved populations. BPHC has reviewed the proposal and has determined that it has merit. This request is of strategic importance to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and is time critical. Funding for the proposed activities will promote access to oral health services as an integral component of primary health care, improve the quality of those services provided, and sustain the forward motion of departmental priorities in this area. The Cooperative Agreement with NNOHA will have a project period of 1 year with funding at $200,000. The funds will support selected activities described in the application to develop a national infrastructure to support improved access to oral health care, and improved quality and workforce development for the growing number of health center oral health programs. The key anticipated outcomes of the proposed cooperative agreement are as follows: The development of oral health clinical quality infrastructure to support HRSA in achieving its goal of improved quality of care; The development of a recruitment and retention strategy to address dentist and dental hygienist vacancies, including National Health Service Corps dentist and dental hygiene openings; and NNOHA will work in collaboration with HRSA to implement a strategy to integrate oral health as it moves all of its programs forward in Health Information Technology to assure that oral health strategies are included. There is a strategic importance of access to oral health as part of the primary care services supported by BPHC's Health Center Program. The Health Center Program has had significant growth as part of the President's Health Center Initiative. The number of patients seen by the Health Center Program has increased by 90 percent. Health centers have reported significant challenges recruiting and retaining oral health providers. Consequently, HRSA has determined that the scope of this proposal is immediate and necessary. The proposed outcomes will contribute to the success and quality of oral health programs and are essential for long term sustainability and viability of health centers funded by HRSA. This award is being made non-competitively because there is no current, pending, or planned funding opportunity announcement under which this proposal could be competed. HRSA/BPHC has identified three key reasons to support rationale for not awarding competitively: 1. NNOHA is uniquely positioned to provide oral health program support services on a national basis to community health centers. As the only organization of health center dental providers, NNOHA is dedicated to increasing the effectiveness of dental programs in reaching all underserved populations by supporting efforts to strengthen existing health center dental programs; manage the growth of new health center dental programs; and manage the quality improvement in health center dental programs. 2. With this experience, and its nationwide membership of health center dentists, NNOHA has a proven track record of effective collaborations with health center dental programs. Increased access to quality oral health is enhanced through NNOHA's partnerships with organizations and governmental agencies at the local, State and national levels. 3. No other organization has the national scope of respected experience in the area of health center oral health leadership and can perform immediately, especially given the complexity of activities that are critical to HRSA.

Pursuant to Public Law 92-463, the Federal Advisory Committee Act, as amended (5 U.S.C. Appendix 2), notice is hereby given of the thirteenth meeting of the Advisory Committee on Organ Transplantation (ACOT), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The meeting will be held from approximately 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on November 15, 2007, and from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on November 16, 2007, at the Crowne Plaza Hotel Washington, DCSilver Spring, 8777 Georgia Avenue, Silver Spring, MD 20910. The meeting will be open to the public; however, seating is limited and pre-registration is encouraged (see below).

A notice was published in the Federal Register on April 9, 2007 (72 FR 17564). The purpose of this notice was to solicit comments on the eligibility criteria that were proposed by HRSA concerning the Reimbursement of Travel and Subsistence Expenses Grant Program.

The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) is requesting nominations to fill two (2) vacancies on the Advisory Committee on Interdisciplinary, Community-Based Linkages (ACICBL).