[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 25 (Tuesday, February 6, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4444-4446]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-2374]



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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Office of the Secretary


Advisory Committees; Notice

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces a new charter for the National Committee 
on Vital and Health Statistics (NCVHS) and solicits nominations for 
membership on the Committee. The NCVHS is the statutory public advisory 
body to the Department of Health and Human services in the area of 
health data and statistics. The Charter has been revised to address 
emerging issues in health data, including a focus on health data 
standards and privacy issues.
    A number of vacancies will occur on the Committee beginning on 
March 1, 1996. New members of the Committee will be appointed to four 
year terms by the Secretary from among persons who have distinguished 
themselves in the following fields: Health statistics, electronic 
interchange of health care information, privacy and security of 
electronic information, population-based public health, purchasing or 
financing health care services, integrated computerized health 
information systems, health services research, consumer interests in 
health information, health data standards, epidemiology, and the 
provision of health services.
    The Department will give close attention to equitable geographic 
distribution and to minority and female representation. Appointments 
will be made without discrimination on the basis of age, race, gender, 
sexual orientation, HIV status, cultural, religious or socioeconomic 
status.

DATES: Nominations for new members should include a letter describing 
the qualifications of the nominee and the nominee's current resume or 
vitae. The closing date for nominations is March 22, 1996. Nominations 
previously submitted for vacancies occurring in 1995 automatically will 
be considered in this solicitation and need not be resubmitted.
    Nominations should be sent to the person named below: James 
Scanlon, Executive Secretary, HHS Data Council, U.S. Department of 
Health and Human Services, Room 440-D, 200 Independence Avenue SW., 
Washington, DC 20201, (202) 690-7100.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
James Scanlon, (202) 690-7100.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Introduction

    The National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics serves as the 
statutory public advisory body to the Department of Health and Human 
Services in the area of health data and statistics. In that capacity, 
the Committee provides advice and assistance to the Department on a 
variety of key health data issues. Over its forty-five year history, 
the Committee has stimulated a host of improvements in national and 
international health data and statistics. The Committee has been 
associated with groundbreaking contributions in such areas as disease 
classification, health surveys, health data sets and standards as well 
as privacy protection for health information.
    Over its existence, the Committee has reshaped and redirected its 
work in response to changing needs and priorities. The 1990's have 
witnessed striking changes in health and health care and in health data 
and information systems. Both the national environment for health 
information systems and the nature of the information systems issues 
which the Department is confronting have changed dramatically. For 
example, ten years ago, efforts to improve data compatibility focused 
on encouraging the use of standard paper forms. Today, public/private 
compatibility requires coordination of electronic data transmission and 
coding standards, and compatibility with the evolving national 
information infrastructure. The new electronic information environment 
is raising new privacy issues and magnifying the importance of insuring 
that the Department's current policies are appropriate for new 
technologies.
    The revisions to the NCVHS charter and solicitation for new members 
announced in this Notice are designed to refocus the NCVHS to reflect 
these changes. Of particular concern is the lack of shared standards 
for health data. Consensus on such standards could dramatically reduce 
paperwork burdens and increase the analytic potential of health data. 
Today, there is little ability to share, make multiple uses of, or link 
data. Many electronic data systems cannot communicate with one another, 
either within the private sector or between public and private data 
holders. There is a developing consensus that everyone--consumers, 
industry, policy makers--would be better served by more uniform, 
voluntary shared standards for collection and transmission of health 
information.
    The NCVHS is in a unique position to serve as a national forum for 
the collaboration of interested parties, with the long-term goal of 
improving the compatibility of private sector, state, and federal 
health information systems. In particular, the new charter will enable 
the NCVHS to foster collaboration on voluntary means to facilitate and 
accelerate the development of consensus across the public and private 
sectors around key data standards and privacy issues.

[[Page 4445]]

    The Committee will inform HHS data policy decision-making as well 
as private sector and State data policy decision-making. Participants 
will bring their expertise, perspectives, and concerns to the 
Committee, and will bring back to their respective industries and 
organizations the collective recommendations and rationale of the 
Committee.

New Charter

Charter National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics

Purpose
    Collection, analysis and dissemination of health and health-related 
information is a crucial aspect of the responsibilities of the 
Department of Health and Human Services. The Department is charged with 
monitoring and improving the state of the nation's health and with 
epidemiological tracking and intervention, and must collect, analyze, 
and disseminate information on vital events, determinants of health, 
the extent and nature of illness and disability of the population, and 
the population's well-being. The Department funds and/or operates 
health care delivery programs, and must collect and analyze information 
for billing and payment, quality assessment, utilization tracking, and 
program evaluation. The Department is one of the most important sources 
of information about the health resources and the supply of health 
services in the United States (in underserved areas and more generally) 
and about health care costs and financing nation-wide. The Department 
is responsible for biomedical and behavioral research, and is also 
responsible for turning the results of that research into a public 
resource, by making the information available to clinicians, consumers, 
industry, and the research community. The Department also engages in 
cooperative efforts with other countries and the international 
community to foster health data standards and comparability and cross-
national research.
    Pursuant to these and other activities, the Department collects 
data from and disseminates data to our private sector and state 
partners, the research community, health care providers and insurers, 
and consumers. The ability to share, make multiple uses of, or link 
data is limited and must be continuously improved. The lack of shared 
standards for health data increases paperwork burdens and reduces the 
analytic potential of health data.
    This Committee shall serve as a national forum on health data and 
information systems. It is intended to be a forum for collaboration of 
interested parties to accelerate the evolution of public and private 
health information systems toward more uniform, shared data standards, 
operating within a framework protecting privacy and security. A long-
term purpose of the Committee is to promote increased interoperability 
of diverse health information systems. The Committee shall encourage 
the evolution of a shared, public/private national health information 
infrastructure that will promote the availability of valid, credible, 
timely and comparable health data. With sensitivity to policy 
considerations and priorities, the Committee will provide scientific-
technical advice and guidance regarding the design and operation of 
health statistics and information systems and services and on 
coordination of health data requirements.
    The Committee will inform decision making about data policy by HHS, 
states, local governments and the private sector. Committee members are 
expected to bring their expertise, perspectives and concerns to the 
forum, and to bring back to their respective fields the collective 
concerns, recommendations, and rationale of the Committee.
Authority
    Section 306(k) of the Public Health Service Act, as amended, 42 
U.S.C. 242k(k). The Committee is governed by provisions of Public Law 
92-463, as amended, (5 U.S.C. App. 2), which sets forth standards for 
the formation and use of advisory committees.
Function
    It shall be the function of the Committee to assist and advise the 
Secretary through the Department of Health and Human Services Data 
Council, the Department's internal advisory body for data policy, in 
the following matters:
    (A) Monitor the nation's health data needs and current approaches 
to meeting those needs; identify emerging health data issues, including 
methodologies and technologies of information systems, databases, and 
networking that could improve the ability to meet those needs.
    (B) Identify strategies and opportunities to achieve long-term 
consensus on common health data standards that will promote (i) the 
availability of valid, credible, and timely health information, and 
(ii) multiple uses of data collected once; recommend actions the 
federal government can take to promote such a consensus.
    (C) Make recommendations regarding health terminology, definitions, 
classifications, and guidelines.
    (D) Study and identify privacy, security, and access measures to 
protect individually identifiable health information in an environment 
of electronic networking and multiple uses of data.
    (E) Identify strategies and opportunities for evolution from 
single-purpose, narrowly focussed, categorical health data collection 
strategies to more multi-purpose, integrated, shared data collection 
strategies.
    (F) Identify statistical, information system and network design 
issues bearing on health and health services data which are of national 
or international interest; identify strategies and opportunities to 
facilitate interoperability and networking.
    (G) Advise the Department on health data collection needs and 
strategies; review and monitor the Department's data and information 
systems to identify needs, opportunities, and problems; consider the 
likely effects of emerging health information technologies on the 
Department's data and systems, and impact of the Department's 
information policies and systems on the development of emerging 
technologies.
    (H) Stimulate the study of health data and information systems 
issues by other organizations and agencies, whenever possible.
    (I) Review and comment on findings and proposals developed by other 
organizations and agencies with respect to health data and information 
systems and make recommendations for their adoption or implementation.
    (J) Assist and advise the Secretary in the development of such 
reports as the Secretary or Congress may require.
    In these matters, the Committee shall consult with all components 
of the Department, other federal entities, and non-federal 
organizations, as appropriate.
Structure
    The Committee shall consist of 16 members, including the Chair. The 
members of the Committee shall be appointed by the Secretary from among 
persons who have distinguished themselves in the fields of health 
statistics, electronic interchange of health care information, privacy 
and security of electronic information, population-based public health, 
purchasing or financing health care services, integrated computerized 
health information systems, health services 

[[Page 4446]]
research, consumer interests in health information, health data 
standards, epidemiology, and the provision of health services. The 
Secretary shall appoint one of the members to serve a two year, 
renewable term as the Chair.
    Members shall be invited to serve for overlapping four-year terms. 
Terms of more than two years are contingent upon the renewal of the 
Committee by appropriate action prior to its termination. Any member 
appointed to fill a vacancy occurring prior to the expiration of the 
term for which his or her predecessor was appointed shall be appointed 
only for the remainder of such term. Members may serve after the 
expiration of their terms until successors have been appointed.
    Standing and ad hoc subcommittees, composed solely of members of 
the parent Committee, may be established to address specific issues and 
to provide the Committee with background study and proposals for 
consideration and action. The Chair shall appoint members from the 
parent Committee to the subcommittees and designate a Chair for each 
subcommittee. The subcommittees shall make their recommendations to the 
parent Committee. Timely notification of the subcommittees, including 
charges and membership, shall be made in writing to the Department 
Committee Management Officer by the Executive Secretary of the 
Committee. Logistical management and support services shall be provided 
by the Program Support Center, Department of Health and Human Services.
    Professional, scientific, and technical staff support shall be 
provided by all agencies of the Department. The Data Council may 
establish inter-agency and inter-Departmental, issue-specific working 
groups to provide staff support to the Committee.
Meetings
    Meetings shall be held not less than annually at the call of the 
Chair, with the advance approval of a Government official, who shall 
also approve the agenda. A Government official shall be present at all 
meetings.
    Meetings of the subcommittees shall be held at the call of the 
Chair, with the advance approval of a Government official, who shall 
also approve the agenda. A Government official shall be present at all 
subcommittee meetings. All subcommittees shall report their findings to 
the Committee.
    Meetings shall be open to the public except as determined otherwise 
by the Secretary; notice of all meetings shall be given to the public.
    Meetings shall be conducted, and records of the proceedings kept, 
as required by the applicable laws and departmental regulations.
Compensation
    Members who are not full-time Federal employees shall be paid at a 
rate not to exceed the daily equivalent of the rate in effect for an 
Executive Level IV of the General Schedule for each day they are 
engaged in the performance of their duties as members of the Committee. 
All members, while so serving away from their homes of regular places 
of business, may be allowed travel expenses, including per diem in lieu 
of subsistence, in the same manner as such expenses are authorized by 
Section 5703, Title 5, U.S. Code, for employees serving intermittently.
Annual Cost Estimate
    Estimated annual cost for operating the Committee, including 
compensation and travel expenses for members but excluding staff 
support, is $350,732. Estimated annual person-years of staff support 
required is 3.1, at an estimated annual cost of $199,600.
Reports
    In the event a portion of a meeting is closed to the public, a 
report shall be prepared which shall contain, as a minimum, a list of 
members and their business addresses, the Committee's functions, dates 
and places of meetings, and a summary of Committee activities and 
recommendations made during the fiscal year. A copy of the report shall 
be provided to the Department Committee Management Officer.
Termination Date
    The duration of the National Committee on Vital and Health 
Statisticss is continuing, and a new charter shall be filed two years 
from the date this charter is approved.

    Dated: January 31, 1996.
Jack Ebeler,
    Dated: January 31, 1996.
Bruce Vladeck,
Cochairpersons, HHS Data Council.
[FR Doc. 96-2374 Filed 2-5-96; 8:45 am]
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