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

The Health Resources and Services Administration published an Agency Information Collection document in the Federal Register of September 17, 2010 (FR Doc. 201-023260), on page 57037, regarding the Black Lung Clinics Program Database (OMB No. 0915-0292). In the burden table, the Total responses, Hours per response and Total burden hours are incorrect.

In accordance with the requirements of the Privacy Act of 1974, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) is publishing a notice to alter the system of records for the National Practitioner Data Bank for Adverse Information on Physicians and other Health Care Practitioners, HHS/HRSA/BHPR. The SORN 09-15-0054 was last published March 17, 1997. In accordance with the Health Care Quality Improvement Act of 1986, as amended, title IV of Public Law 99-660 (42 U.S.C. 11101 et seq.) authorizes the Secretary to establish a National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB) to collect and release certain information relating to the professional competence and conduct of physicians, dentists, and other health care practitioners. This information is releasable only to specific entities described in the SORN. It requires the maintenance of records such as medical malpractice payments, adverse licensure and clinical privilege actions, disciplinary actions taken by Boards of Medical Examiners, and professional review actions taken by health care entities against physicians, dentists, and other healthcare practitioners. Section 1921 of the Social Security Act, as amended by Section 5(b) of the Medicare and Medicaid Patient and Program Protection Act of 1987 (MMPPPA), and as amended by the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990 (OBRA), expands reporting to the NPDB to authorize maintenance of records of adverse licensure actions and negative actions or findings taken by a State licensing authority, peer review organization, or private accreditation entity against all healthcare practitioners or healthcare entities. The purpose of these alterations is to update: (1) System location; (2) Category of individuals covered by the system; (3) Category of records in the system; (4) Policies and practices for storing, retrieving, accessing, retaining, and disposing of records in the system; (5) Notification procedure; (6) Record access procedures; (7) Contesting record procedures; and (8) Routine uses for the contractors accessing the system. Also, HRSA is proposing an additional routine use, number 17 (Responding to a breach of the security or confidentiality of information) for this system of records. The physical NPDB system which includes hardware and software will not be altered.

HRSA will be awarding, non-competitively, Part D Funds to support family-centered primary medical care, treatment, and support services (directly or through contracts) for women, infants, children, and youth with HIV/AIDS, to the University of Utah in order to ensure continuity of critical HIV medical care and support services, to women, infants, children and youth in Salt Lake City, Utah and the surrounding counties.

In accordance with the requirements of the Privacy Act of 1974, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) is publishing a notice to alter the Correspondence Control System. This system of records is used to control and track all correspondence documents addressed or directed to, as well as initiated by, the Administrator, HRSA, or his/her subordinates, as well as other Agency documents, to assure timely and appropriate attention. The purposes of these alterations are to reflect a change in the system name and location; the system manager and address; policies and practices for storing, retrieving, accessing, retaining, and disposing of records in the system; contesting records procedures; and the addition of routine use number 3. The last update of this SORN 09-15-0059 was December 23, 1998 (63 FR 71145).

The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) will be transferring the Florida Family-to-Family Health Information Center (F2F HIC) grant (H84MC00006) from the Florida Institute of Family Involvement (FIFI) to the Family Caf[eacute] in Tallahassee due to financial difficulties resulting in closure of FIFI facilities and programs. This action ensures the continued provision of health resources, financing, related services and parent-to-parent support for families with children and youth with special health care needs (CYSHCN) in the state of Florida.

HRSA will be awarding non-competitive Part C funds under The Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program to support comprehensive primary care services for persons living with HIV/AIDS, including primary medical care, laboratory testing, oral health care, outpatient mental health and substance abuse treatment, specialty and subspecialty care, referrals for health and support services and adherence monitoring/ education services to the Tutwiler Clinic to ensure continuity of critical HIV medical care and treatment services, to clients in Marks, Mississippi, and the surrounding counties.

Pursuant to Section 5602 of the ACA, HRSA plans to establish a comprehensive methodology and criteria for Designation of MUPs and Primary Care HPSAs [under Sections 330(b)(3) and 332 of the Public Health Service (PHS) Act, respectively], using a Negotiated Rulemaking process. To do this, HRSA announces the establishment of the Negotiated Rulemaking Committee on the Designation of Medically Underserved Populations and Health Professions Shortage Areas.

HRSA believes that community input is valuable to the development of policies and policy documents related to the implementation of HRSA programs, including the Health Center Program. Therefore, we are requesting comments on the FTCA Policy Manual referenced above. Comments will be reviewed and analyzed, and a summary and general response to comments will be published as soon as possible after the comment submission deadline.

On March 23, 2010, President Obama signed into law the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), Public Law (Pub. L.) 111-148. Section 5202 of the ACA changes the Nursing Student Loan (NSL) program by: (1) Increasing the limits of loan funds to students; (2) revising the date of enrollment to be considered eligible to receive NSL funds; and (3) revising the date of loans eligible for partial loan cancellation.

The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) announces that the listing of entities, and their Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA) scores, that will receive priority for the assignment of National Health Service Corps (NHSC) scholarship recipients (NHSC Personnel, NHSC members) during the period July 1, 2010, through June 30, 2011, is posted on the NHSC Web site at https://nhscjobs.hrsa.gov/. This list specifies which entities are eligible to receive assignment of NHSC members who are participating in the NHSC Scholarship Program. Please note that not all vacancies associated with sites on the list described below will be for NHSC members, but could be for NHSC Scholarship Program participants serving their obligation through the Private Practice Option.

HRSA will be issuing non-competitive supplemental funding under the Maternal Child and Health Bureau's Family to Family Health Information Centers Program. This will provide feasible time for the Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB) to align fiscal resources and programmatic goals as outlined in changes that emerged as a result of enactment of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Pub. L. 111-148) with the least disruption to the States, communities, and constituencies that currently receive assistance and services from these grantees.

HRSA will be awarding non-competitively Part C funds to support comprehensive primary care services for persons living with HIV/AIDS, including primary medical care, laboratory testing, oral health care, outpatient mental health and substance abuse treatment, specialty and subspecialty care, referrals for health and support services and adherence monitoring/education services to the Rural Health Group in order to ensure continuity of critical HIV medical care and treatment services, and to avoid a disruption of HIV clinical care to clients in Henderson, North Carolina, and the surrounding counties.

``Government agencies,'' as defined in section 1128E(g)(3) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1320a-7e(g)(3)), that are not in compliance with the reporting requirements of the HIPDB will have their names published in a report on the HRSA and Data Bank Web sites (http:/ /www.hrsa.gov and https://www.npdb-hipdb.hrsa.gov) by July 1, 2010. This listing of non-compliant Government agencies will be reviewed and updated on a periodic basis.

As required by Section 5602 of Public Law 111-148, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010, HRSA plans to establish a comprehensive methodology and criteria for Designation of Medically Underserved Populations (MUPs) and Primary Care Health Professions Shortage Areas (HPSAs) [under sections 330(b)(3) and 332 of the Public Health Service (PHS) Act, respectively], using a Negotiated Rulemaking process. To do this, HRSA intends to establish a Negotiated Rulemaking Committee under the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA).

The Secretary's Advisory Committee on Heritable Disorders in Newborns and Children (SACHDNC) was established under Section 1111 of the Public Health Service (PHS) Act, 42 U.S.C. 300b-10, as amended in the Newborn Screening Saves Lives Act of 2008 (Act). The SACHDNC is governed by the provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), as amended (5 U.S.C. App.), which sets forth standards for the formation and use of advisory committees. The SACHDNC provides advice to the Secretary about aspects of newborn and childhood screening and technical information for the development of policies and priorities that will enhance the ability of the State and local health agencies to provide for newborn and child screening, counseling and health care services for newborns and children having or at risk for heritable disorders.

In accordance with the requirements of the Privacy Act of 1974, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) is publishing notice of a proposal to substantially revise ``Public Health Service (PHS) and National Health Service Corps (NHSC) Scholarship/Loan Repayment Participants Records System, HHS/HRSA/BPHC,'' HRSA Systems of Records No. 09-15-0037, to reflect organizational and physical location changes, and to update the categories of individuals and records covered by the system. HRSA is also proposing to (a) delete the Nursing Student Education Direct Loan Program, which is not administered by HRSA; (b) add records pertaining to the Nursing Scholarship Program and the Student/Resident Experiences and Rotations in Community Health (SEARCH) Program; and (c) incorporate the Faculty Loan Repayment Program and the Physician Shortage Area Scholarship Program, which previously had their own System of Records Notices (09-15-0058, and 09- 15-0042 respectively). These changes will require renaming the system of records and expanding the Authority to maintain the system. HRSA has updated the section on maintenance and storage of records to reflect current technologies, as well as Purpose(s), Safeguards, Retention and Disposal (of records), Notification Procedures, and Records source categories to detail current operations. HRSA is proposing to delete routine uses that are obsolete and to add new routine uses that cover disclosures of information needed for effective program operations.

HRSA will be providing supplemental funds to support activities for a regional Pacific Primary Care Organization to represent the six U.S.-affiliated Pacific Basin jurisdictions. The supplemental funds will be used to augment the grantee's current

HRSA is publishing a Final Agency Guidance (``Policy Information Notice'' (PIN) 2010-01) to describe the documentation that will be considered by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) in confirming public agency status for organizations that self- identify as public agencies (also referred to in previous PINs as ``public entities'' or ``public applicants'') for Health Center Program grant funding authorized under section 330 of the Public Health Service Act, as amended, and/or for Federally Qualified Health Center Look- Alike designation. The PIN, ``Confirming Public Agency Status under the Health Center Program and FQHC Look-Alike Program,'' and the Agency's ``Response to Public Comments'' are available on the Internet at http:/ /bphc.hrsa.gov/policy/pin1001/and https://bphc.hrsa.gov/policy/pin1001/ PublcCommentsPIN2010-01.pdf, respectively.

Section 602 of Public Law 102-585, the ``Veterans Health Care Act of 1992'' enacted Section 340B of the Public Health Service Act (PHS). Section 340B implements a drug pricing program by which manufacturers who sell covered outpatient drugs to particular covered entities listed in the statute must agree to charge a price that will not exceed the amount determined under a statutory formula. The purpose of this Final Notice is to inform interested parties of final guidelines regarding the utilization of multiple contract pharmacies and suggested contract pharmacy provisions, which had been previously limited to the Alternative Methods Demonstration Project program.

The HRSA HIV/AIDS Bureau (HAB) Policy Notice 99-02 established general policies regarding the use of Title XXVI of the Public Health Service (PHS) Act, Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program funds for housing referral services and short-term or emergency housing needs. Amendment 1 to Policy Notice 99-02, effective March 27, 2008, modified Policy Notice 99-02 by imposing a 24-month cumulative cap on short-term and emergency housing assistance. HRSA's Administrator is undertaking a comprehensive review of the Housing Policy, and is therefore directing that Amendment 1 to Policy Notice 99-02 be rescinded, effective immediately.

In accordance with the requirements of the Privacy Act of 1974, HRSA is deleting an existing system of records titled the ``Disability Claims in the Health Professions Student Loan Programs, HHS/HRSA/BHPr,'' HRSA System No. SORN 09-15-0039.

In accordance with the requirements of the Privacy Act of 1974, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) is proposing to alter Campus Based Branch (CBB) loans and scholarships System of Records (SORN), 09-15-0069, at the Division of Student Loans and Scholarships (DSLS). The system includes information on student and faculty borrowers who participate/participated in CBB loan and scholarship programs. The records in this system will be used to provide support to CBB in monitoring its programs, in order to ensure the efficiency of the factual information in reports and documents, and to archive the documents for efficient access and verification. The purpose of this proposed alteration is to include breach notification language required by Memoranda (M) 07-16, Safeguarding Against and Responding to the Breach of Personally Identifiable Information, released on May 22, 2007 by OMB; change the location of records; update the categories of records in the system; update the policies and practices for storing, retrieving, accessing, retaining and disposing of records in the system; update the notification procedures, contesting record procedures and the record sources categories.

In accordance with the requirements of the Privacy Act of 1974, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) is publishing notice of a proposal to alter the system of records for the Health Education Assistance On-Line Processing System (HOPS), 09-15- 0044.

The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) is issuing a non-competitive replacement award from the previous grantee, Orlando Health, Incorporated's HUG-ME Program, to the Orange County Health Department, Orlando, Florida, that will ensure continuity of Part D HIV/AIDS care and treatment services without disruption to HIV/ AIDS-infected women, infants and children in Orange County and the surrounding areas.

The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) is requesting nominations to fill three (3) vacancies on the Secretary's Advisory Committee on Heritable Disorders in Newborns and Children.

Congress has provided specific authority under section 377 of the Public Health Service (PHS) Act, 42 U.S.C. 274f, as amended by Public Law 108-216 for providing reimbursement of travel and subsistence expenses for certain individuals donating their organs. Additionally, Congress authorized the Secretary to provide reimbursement for other incidental non-medical expenses as the Secretary determines by regulation to be appropriate.

The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) will be transferring Health Center Program (section 330 of the Public Health Service Act) New Access Point (NAP) and Increased Demand for Service (IDS) funds originally awarded to Trover Health System to Regional Health Care Affiliates to ensure the provision of critical primary health care services to underserved populations in Webster and McLean Counties, Kentucky.

In accordance with the requirements of the Privacy Act of 1974, HRSA is deleting an existing system of records titled the ``Minority/Disadvantaged Health Professions Programs'' HRSA System No. 09-15-0060, established at 63 Federal Register 14121 (March 24, 1998).

HRSA has issued a non-competitive replacement award under the Rural Health Network Development Program to White River Rural Health Center, Inc. (WRRHC). The original grantee, Siloam Springs Memorial Hospital, is no longer eligible to serve as the lead entity for this network of rural health care providers serving a five county area in Arkansas and Oklahoma. This replacement award will ensure that the medically underserved residents of western Benton and Washington counties in Arkansas and Adair, Cherokee, and Delaware counties in Oklahoma continue receiving necessary medical care and services without disruption.

HRSA believes that community input is valuable to the development of policies and policy documents related to the implementation of HRSA programs, including the Health Center Program. Therefore, we are requesting comments on the PIN referenced above. Comments will be reviewed and analyzed, and a summary and general response will be published as soon as possible after the deadline for receipt of comments.

Section 340B of the Public Health Service Act (section 340B) and section 1927(a) of the Social Security Act (section 1927(a)) implement a drug pricing program in which manufacturers who sell covered outpatient drugs to covered entities must agree to charge a price that will not exceed an amount determined under a statutory formula. Section 6004 of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (Pub. L. 109-171) (section 6004) added certain qualifying children's hospitals to the list of covered entities eligible to access 340B discounted drugs. The purpose of this notice is to inform interested parties of final guidelines regarding the addition of children's hospitals that meet certain requirements, specifically: (1) The process for the registration of children's hospitals to the 340B Program; and (2) the obligation of manufacturers to provide the statutorily mandated discount to those children's hospitals.

The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) is issuing non-competitive supplemental funding under the Office of Health Information Technology, Office for the Advancement of Telehealth, Telehealth Resource Center Grant Program to ensure that the Center for Telehealth & E-Health Law, the National Telehealth Resource Center (NTRC) in Washington, DC, can continue to provide much needed technical assistance services to the Regional Telehealth Resource Centers (RTRCs), HRSA grantees and new and existing telehealth organizations in

The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) will be transferring Family Voices Colorado Family-To-Family Health Information Center (F2F HIC) grant (H84 MC 09577) from Cerebral Palsy of Colorado to the Colorado Non-Profit Development Center in Denver in order to ensure the continued provision of health resources, financing, related services and parent-to-parent support for families with children and youth with special health care needs in the State of Colorado.

The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) announces that the listing of entities, and their Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA) scores, that will receive priority for the assignment of National Health Service Corps (NHSC) scholarship recipients (Corps Personnel, Corps members) during the period July 1, 2009, through June 30, 2010, is posted on the NHSC Web site at https:// nhscjobs.hrsa.gov/. This list specifies which entities are eligible to receive assignment of Corps members who are participating in the NHSC Scholarship Program. A separate Federal Register Notice pertaining to sites eligible to receive NHSC Loan Repayment Program participants and non-obligated individuals was published on May 28, 2009 (74 FR 25568). Please note that not all vacancies associated with sites on the list described below will be for Corps members, but could be for NHSC Scholarship Program participants serving their obligation through the Private Practice Option.

Under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), additional funds are available to expand the National Health Service Corps (NHSC) through its programs to provide access to, and improve quality of, primary health care for millions of underserved Americans. The HRSA is therefore announcing an approximate 16-month funding cycle for new NHSC Loan Repayment applications and awards. During this 16-month cycle, the NHSC Loan Repayment Program will accept applications for loan repayment awards until all funds are expended. The policies described in this notice will be effective for all NHSC loan repayment awards made using ARRA funding from June 2009, to September 30, 2010, and all NHSC loan repayment awards made using fiscal year (FY) 2010 funding (if funding is appropriated) from October 1, 2009, to September 30, 2010. Provisions regarding assignment of NHSC Scholarship Program participants for the upcoming program year will be announced through a subsequent Notice.