[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 236 (Wednesday, December 9, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 67897-67898]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-32670]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Agency for Health Care Policy and Research


Contract Review Meeting

    In accordance with Section 10(a) of the Federal Advisory Committee 
Act (5 U.S.C. Appendix 2), announcement is made of the following 
technical review committee to meet during the month of December 1998:

    Name: Technical Review Committee on the Agency for Health Care 
Policy and Research SBIR Topic 011--``Internet-Based Decision 
Support for Health Related Quality of Life Instruments.''
    Date and Time: December 14, 1998, 9:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.
    Place: Agency for Health Care Policy and Research, Conference 
Center, Conference Room B, 6010, Executive Boulevard, 4th Floor, 
Rockville, Maryland 20852.
    This meeting will be closed to the public.
    Purpose: The Technical Review Committee's charge is to provide, 
on behalf of the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (AHCPR) 
Contracts Review Committee, recommendations to the Administrator, 
AHCPR, regarding the technical merit of contract proposals submitted 
in response to a specific Request for Proposals regarding the SBIR 
Topic 011, Internet-Based Decision Support for Health Related 
Quality of Life Instruments, that was published in the Commerce 
Business Daily on August 27, 1998.
    One purpose of these contracts is to fulfill the Agency for 
Health Care Policy and Research's participation in the Small 
Business Innovation Research program (SBIR). The Small Business 
Research and Development Enhancement Act of 1992 requires the 
agencies of the Public Health Service (PHS), Department of Health 
and Human Services (HHS), and other federal agencies to reserve 2.5 
percent of their current fiscal year extramural budgets for research 
or research and development for an SBIR program. The legislation is 
intended to

[[Page 67898]]

expand and improve the SBIR program; emphasize increased private 
sector commercialization of technology developed through federal 
SBIR research and development; increase small business participation 
in federal research and development; and, foster and encourage 
participation of socially and economically disadvantaged small 
business concerns and women-owned small business concerns in the 
SBIR program.
    In Phase I of the SBIR program the contractor will address and 
report on the scientific, technical and commercial merit and 
feasibility of its proposed research or research and development 
efforts and its capacity to perform the proposed work prior to the 
provision of further Federal support in Phase II.
    The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued a 
Solicitation of the Public Health Service for SBIR Contract 
Proposals (PHS 99-1) for Topic No. 011 to develop ``Internet-Based 
Decision Support for Health Related Quality of Life Instruments''. 
One of the most important achievements springing from outcomes and 
effectiveness research in the past two decades is the recognition by 
the scientific and clinical communities of the essential role of the 
patients' perspective in assessing their own health and functioning. 
This conceptual advance has stimulated a proliferation in the number 
and applications of patient-based ``health-related quality of life'' 
(HRQL) measures and assessments tools. The proposed projects are to 
produce a world wide web (WWW) based software program that functions 
as a decision support tool and provides scientific guidance to 
researchers and clinical decision-makers in the design, evaluation 
and implementation of HRQL assessments. Specifically, in the Phase I 
application, these projects will first design a front-end web-based 
query application capable of retrieving information, through a web 
server and a query server, from a back-end database engine. The 
query systems will perform interactive keyword searches against 
various categories of data elements with cross-linked information 
entries at various levels of specificity.
    Further, these web client applications will be platform-
independent, such as those written as Java applets, to facilitate 
access to the knowledge base from different computer operating 
systems. As a prerequisite, these projects will either have direct 
access to existing public or proprietary HRQL knowledge bases or 
will have to build new databases containing a systematic review of 
HRQL instruments and applications.
    Agenda: The Committee meeting will be devoted entirely to the 
technical review and evaluation of contract proposals submitted in 
response to the above-described Request for Proposals.
    The Administrator, AHCPR, has made a formal determination that 
this meeting will not be open to the public. This action is 
necessary to safeguard confidential proprietary information and 
personal information concerning individuals associated with the 
proposals that may be revealed during this meeting, and to protect 
the free exchange of views, and avoid undue interference with 
Committee and Department operations. This is in accordance with 
section 10(d) of the Federal Advisory Committee Act 5, U.S.C., 
Appendix 2, implementing regulations, 41 CFR 101-6.1023 and 
procurement regulations, 48 CFR section 315.604(d).
    Anyone wishing to obtain information regarding this meeting 
should contact Yen-Pin Chiang, Center for Outcomes and Effectiveness 
Research, 6010 Executive Boulevard, Suite 300, Rockville, Maryland 
20852, (301) 594-4035.

    Dated: December 2, 1998.
John M. Eisenberg,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 98-32670 Filed 12-8-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4160-90-M