[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 132 (Wednesday, July 11, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 37783-37784]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 07-3360]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality


Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 
2003 Section 1013: Request for Nominations--The Effective Health Care 
Stakeholder Group

AGENCY: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), HHS.

ACTION:  Notice of invitation to submit nominations for the Effective 
Health Care Stakeholder Group.

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SUMMARY: The DHHS Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) 
invites nominations from interested organizations and knowledgeable 
individuals for a Stakeholder Group to support the work of the 
Effective Health Care Program, funded under Section 1013 of the 
Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act (MMA) of 
2003. The goals of this program are to develop evidence on the 
effectiveness and comparative effectiveness of different treatments and 
health care interventions of importance to the Medicare, Medicaid, and 
State Child Health Insurance. To achieve these goals, AHRQ is 
supporting projects to review, synthesize, generate and translate 
published and unpublished scientific evidence, as well as identify 
important issues for which existing scientific evidence is insufficient 
to inform decisions about health care. This evidence will be made 
readily available to all heath care decision-makers. The Stakeholder 
Group is critical to the success of this project, providing input to 
the program in collaboration with the Effective Health Care Scientific 
Resource Center (currently based at the Oregon Evidence-based Practice 
Center).
    The role of the Stakeholder Group will be to:
     Provide input on critical research information gaps for 
practice and policy and on identifying and developing the key research 
questions to address these gaps.
     Provide input on implementation issues for Effective Heath 
Care program reports and findings.
     Define information needs and identify types of projects 
that will be most useful.
     Provide feedback from report users.
     Provide guidance on the program as a whole for quality 
improvement.
     Provide guidance on how the program can have more of an 
impact with users.
    Members will serve as volunteers for a two-year period from October 
2007 through September 2009. Stakeholder Group members will attend 3-4 
meetings per year as part of this process. Meetings will be held in 
Rockville, MD and Portland, Oregon. Meetings will be 1-2 days in 
length. The Scientific Resource Center (SRC) will make the travel 
arrangements. The first meeting will be held on October 26, 2007, in 
Rockville, MD.
    Members are expected to actively participate in meetings and to 
engage in related activities by phone and e-mail between meetings. 
Between-meeting work may include assisting with agenda planning and 
session preparation for Stakeholder meetings, consulting with SRC or 
AHRQ staff on constituency issues, and serving as a resource to the 
Effective Health Care Program. It is anticipated that the Stakeholder 
Group member time commitment between meetings will not exceed 10 hours.
    The Stakeholder Group will be composed of up to 15 members. The 
group will represent several broad constituencies of stakeholders and 
decision-makers at the policy, system, and clinical levels, which will 
include:
     Third party healthcare payers (including, but not limited 
to public State or Federal Medicare or Medicaid programs, and private 
insurance health plans and Health maintenance Organizations).
     Employers and health-related business groups.
     Pharmacy and therapeutic committees.
     Healthcare providers.
     Patient/consumer organizations.
     Consumers of Federal and State beneficiary programs.
     Healthcare industry professional organizations.
     Academic researchers (including, but not limited to those 
with expertise in evidence-based methods and effectiveness and 
translational research).
    Self-nominations are encouraged. Materials to be submitted are a 
cover letter and curriculum vitae or similar supportive documentation. 
The cover letter will provide information on how the nominee's 
experience, skills and roles fit with the composition and goals of the 
Stakeholder Group as described above. Specific information on nominee 
experience in the constituency groups described above is required. 
Nominees chosen for the Stakeholder Group will be required to declare 
and submit conflict of interest documentation. This will not 
necessarily preclude service. Nominees may indicate their willingness 
to be considered in subsequent calls for nominations if not selected 
for this Stakeholder Group in their supporting documentation.
    All nominations received by submission deadline will be reviewed by 
a committee composed of representatives from AHRQ and the SRC. Nominees 
who best represent the broad constituencies described as the goal for 
composition of the Stakeholder Group will be selected and notified by 
September 28, 2007. In addition, AHRQ is interested in fostering 
diversity and including representatives of, or individuals with 
expertise regarding, populations experiencing health care disparities 
and in this case individuals with expertise regarding chronic 
conditions and health care needs of the Medicare, Medicaid, and State 
Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) populations.

DATES: Nominations for the Effective Health Care Stakeholder Group must 
be received by August 31, 2007.

ADDRESSES: Nominations for consideration may be e-mailed to 
[email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Effective Health Care Program at (301) 
427-1502 or [email protected].
    More information about the Effective Health Care Program is 
available at http://www.EffectiveHealthCare.ahrq.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Nominees not selected for the Stakeholder 
Group

[[Page 37784]]

are invited to participate in the Effective Healthcare Program by 
making suggestions for research and providing comment on key questions 
and draft reviews. In addition, a listserv has been established and 
those interested may join to be notified when items of interest become 
available for review or public comment. Opportunities for involvement 
in the Effective Health Care Program are described at http://www.EffectiveHealthCare.ahrq.gov.

    Dated: July 3, 2007.
Carolyn M. Clancy,
Director.
[FR Doc. 07-3360 Filed 7-10-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4160-90-M