Health Resources and Services Administration April 17, 2020 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The National Advisory Council on Nurse Education and Practice (NACNEP) meeting scheduled for Tuesday, May 12, 2020, and Wednesday, May 13, 2020, has changed its format, date, and time. The meeting will now be a one-day webinar and conference call only on Tuesday, May 12, 2020, from 9:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. The decision to adjust the NACNEP meeting has been made after carefully examining the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's recommendations to restrict all non-essential travel, and the widespread health risks posed by COVID-19 to the American public. The webinar link, conference number, meeting materials, and updates for the May 12, 2020, meeting will be available on the NACNEP website: https://www.hrsa.gov/advisory- committees/nursing/meetings.html.

Pursuant to its authority under federal regulations for the National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB), HRSA's Division of Practitioner Data Bank announces a temporary waiver of user fees for NPDB queries from March 1, 2020, through May 31, 2020, to support our eligible entities in making credentialing, hiring, privileging, and licensing decisions in combatting the COVID-19 pandemic. The waiver includes all one-time queries and continuous queries during the waiver time period. Fees for self-queries will not be waived. The NPDB is a confidential information clearinghouse created by Congress and is intended to facilitate a comprehensive review of the professional credentials of health care practitioners, entities, providers, and suppliers. In response to President Trump's declaration of a national emergency and associated emergency declarations by all states, the federal government, state governments, and many health care entities have taken unprecedented steps regarding licensure portability and the deployment of health workforce resources, including the expansion of telemedicine and granting of disaster privileges. HRSA's NPDB is in a unique position to temporarily waive fees, granting NPDB access to the nation's hospitals, health centers, health plans, state licensing boards, federal agencies, and other eligible health care entities in support of their efforts to mobilize and appropriately deploy health workforce professionals.