[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 111 (Monday, June 11, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Page 32126]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-11207]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Office of Inspector General


Healthcare Integrity and Protection Data Bank: Announcement of 
Proactive Disclosure Service Opening Date and User Fees

AGENCY: Office of Inspector General (OIG), HHS.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Office of Inspector General (OIG) is announcing the 
availability of a Proactive Disclosure Service (PDS) Prototype for 
customers of the Healthcare Integrity and Protection Data Bank (HIPDB). 
The PDS was developed for the National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB) in 
response to customers' interest in real-time monitoring of practitioner 
credentials. As a result of the technical interoperability of the NPDB 
and HIPDB, the PDS feature is also being made available to HIPDB 
customers.

DATES: This fee will be effective June 11, 2007.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Joel Schaer, OIG Office of External 
Affairs, (202) 619-0089, or Mark Pincus, HRSA, Bureau of Health 
Professions, (301) 443-2300.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The PDS has been initially offered as a 
prototype to authorized NPDB entities, as set forth in a HRSA notice 
published in the Federal Register on March 7, 2007 (72 FR 10227). In 
accordance with implementation of the PDS prototype, authorized HIPDB 
customers can also now choose to enroll all of their practitioners, 
providers, and suppliers in PDS, or enroll some of their practitioners, 
providers, and suppliers while continuing to periodically query on 
others using the regular query methods. Customers with PDS-enrolled 
subjects will be notified within one business day of the HIPDB's 
receipt of a report on any of their enrollees. While customers can 
expect to receive reports sooner with PDS, the format of and 
information contained in a report will remain the same.
    The annual subscription fee during the prototype period will be 
$3.25 per practitioner, provider, or supplier. The rate is subject to 
change after the prototype period is complete. The query fee for 
periodic queries will continue to remain at $4.75 per name.

PDS Enrollment Availability

    The PDS prototype became available to NPDB queries effective April 
30, 2007. An invitation to participate in this prototype was extended 
first to organizations that assisted HRSA with designing and pricing, 
which occurred between 2003 and 2005. All entities registered with the 
HIPDB and/or the NPDB have been invited to participate to meet a 
predetermined number for subjects to be monitored. Once this number is 
achieved, enrollment in the prototype will close. It is anticipated 
that the PDS prototype period will last approximately 18 to 24 months 
before it is opened to all authorized Data Bank entities.

User Fee Amount

    An annual subscription fee of $3.25 per subject will be charged 
upon enrollment. This fee includes the cost of an initial query, which 
automatically will be incurred when a subject is first enrolled, and 
all reports received on the enrolled subject over the course of the 
one-year subscription period. The fee was determined through economic 
analysis of the average annual rate of queries performed by health care 
entities in relationship to the current query fee that is based on the 
actual cost for services. The Department will accept payment for the 
subscription fee from entities via credit card or electronic funds 
transfer. When the prototype period concludes, the Department may 
change the subscription fee. Any changes will be announced through 
notice in the Federal Register.

    Dated: May 14, 2007.
Daniel R. Levinson,
Inspector General.
[FR Doc. E7-11207 Filed 6-8-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4152-01-P