[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 154 (Friday, August 9, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 48683-48685]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-19272]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)


Announcement of Requirements and Registration for Million 
Hearts[supreg] Hypertension Control Challenge

AGENCY: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Department of 
Health and Human Services (HHS).

ACTION: Notice.

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    Award Approving Official: Thomas R. Frieden, MD, MPH, Director, 
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Administrator, Agency 
for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.
SUMMARY: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) located 
within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announces the 
launch of the Million Hearts[supreg] Hypertension Control Challenge on 
August 9, 2013. The challenge will be open until September 9, 2013.
    Million Hearts[supreg] is a national initiative to prevent 1 
million heart attacks and strokes by 2017. Achieving this goal means 
that 10 million more Americans must have their blood pressure under 
control. Million Hearts[supreg] is working to control high blood 
pressure through clinical approaches, such as using health information 
technology to its fullest potential and integrating team-based 
approaches to care, as well as community approaches, such as 
strengthening tobacco control, and lowering sodium consumption.
    To support improved blood pressure control, HHS/CDC is announcing 
the Million Hearts[supreg] Hypertension Control

[[Page 48684]]

Challenge. This challenge recognizes organizations that invest in 
hypertension control, improve understanding of successful 
implementation strategies at the health system level, and motivate 
providers and health systems to strengthen their hypertension control 
efforts.
    The challenge will identify clinicians, clinical practices, and 
health systems that have achieved exceptional rates of hypertension 
control and recognize them as Million Hearts[supreg] Hypertension 
Control Champions. To support improved quality of care delivered to 
patients with hypertension, Million Hearts[supreg] will document the 
systems, processes, and staffing that contribute to the exceptional 
blood pressure control rates achieved by Champions.
    Champions will receive a cash prize and local and national 
recognition.

DATES: The contest begins on August 9, 2013 and ends on September 9, 
2013.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Susan Ladd, Division for Heart Disease 
and Stroke Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention 
and Health Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 4770 
Buford Hwy NE., Mailstop F-72, Atlanta, GA 30341, Telephone: 770-488-
2424, Fax: 770-488-8151, Attention: Hypertension Control Challenge, 
Email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The challenge is authorized by Public Law 
111-358, the America Creating Opportunities to Meaningfully Promote 
Excellence in Technology, Education and Science Reauthorization Act of 
2010 (COMPETES Act).
    This information collection request is approved by the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB). [OMB control no. 0920-0976, expires 7/31/
2016.]

Subject of Challenge Competition

    Entrants of the Million Hearts Hypertension Control Challenge will 
be asked to submit two point-in-time measures of the hypertension 
control rate for the practice's or health system's hypertensive 
population approximately twelve months apart. Entrants will also be 
asked to describe the sustainable systems used by the practice or 
health system that support continued improvements in blood pressure 
control and some population characteristics.

Eligibility Rules for Participating in the Competition

    To be eligible to win a prize under this challenge, an individual 
or entity--
    (1) Shall have completed the nomination form to participate in the 
competition under the rules promulgated by HHS/CDC;
    (2) Shall have complied with all the requirements in this section;
    (3) Shall be a U.S. licensed clinician or medical practice 
providing health care services in family practice, internal medicine, 
osteopathy, or obstetrics/gynecology, primarily for adults or shall be 
a U.S. licensed health system that provides coverage to a patient 
population representative of the geographic area.
    (4) Must provide medical care to control hypertension to adult 
patients and have a data management system (electronic or paper) that 
allows HHS/CDC or their contractor to check data submitted.
    (5) In the case of a private entity, shall be licensed in and 
maintain a primary place of business in the United States, and in the 
case of an individual, whether participating singly or in a group, 
shall be a citizen or permanent resident of the United States;
    (6) May not be a Federal entity or Federal employee acting within 
the scope of their employment;
    (7) Shall not be an HHS employee working on their applications or 
submissions during assigned duty hours;
    (8) Shall not be an employee or contractor at HHS/CDC.
    (9) Federal grantees, may not use Federal funds to develop COMPETES 
Act challenge applications unless consistent with the purpose of their 
grant award.
    (10) Federal contractors may not use Federal funds from a contract 
to develop COMPETES Act challenge applications or to fund efforts in 
support of a COMPETES Act challenge submission.
    (11) Must agree to participate in a process to verify hypertension 
control data by submitting de-identified electronic medical records, 
allowing remote review of de-identified records, or allowing a site 
visit or confirmation through another source.
    (12) Must not have been convicted or be under investigation for 
criminal offenses or health care fraud. Examples of fraud include 
felony health care fraud, patient abuse, or neglect; felony convictions 
for other health care-related fraud, theft, or other financial 
misconduct; and felony convictions relating to unlawful manufacture, 
distribution, prescription, or dispensing of controlled substances as 
verified through the Office of the Inspector General List of Excluded 
Individuals and Entities.
    (13) Must agree to accept the prize if selected and agree to 
participate in an interview to develop a success story that describes 
the systems and processes that support hypertension control among 
patients.
    An individual or entity shall not be deemed ineligible because the 
individual or entity used Federal facilities or consulted with Federal 
employees during a competition if the facilities and employees are made 
available to all individuals and entities participating in the 
competition on an equal basis.
    By participating in this challenge, an individual or organization 
agrees to assume any and all risks related to participating in the 
challenge. Individuals or organizations also agree to waive claims 
against the Federal Government and its related entities, except in the 
case of willful misconduct, when participating in the challenge, 
including claims for injury; death; damage; or loss of property, money, 
or profits, and including those risks caused by negligence or other 
causes.
    By participating in this challenge, individuals or organizations 
agree to protect the Federal Government against third party claims for 
damages arising from or related to challenge activities.
    Individuals or organizations are not required to hold liability 
insurance related to participation in this challenge.
    Federal organizations will be offered a simultaneous opportunity to 
participate in a separate but similar challenge, and will be eligible 
for recognition only. No cash prize will be awarded to Federal 
organizations.

Registration Process for Participants

    To participate, contestants will navigate to 
www.MHhypertensionchallenge.com. On this site, applicants will find the 
rules and guidelines for participating as well as the entry form. On 
the homepage, applicants in the private sector will click the button 
labeled ``Private Organization Nomination'' to voluntarily enter the 
challenge. Information on the nomination form will include:
     Name and complete address of nominee and business address 
of the nominator. If more than one site is represented in the 
submission, the administrative office or lead office should be 
provided.
     Contact information to include business telephone number 
and email address.
     Data to show evidence of clinical success in achieving 
hypertension control, including: (a) Clinical hypertension control rate 
within three months of submission and clinical hypertension control 
rate 9-12 months

[[Page 48685]]

previous for the hypertensive patient population, (b) a description of 
the sustainable systems adopted to achieve hypertension control and (c) 
a description of the clinic population served.
    HHS/CDC defines ``hypertension control'' as a blood pressure 
reading <140 mmHg systolic and <90 mmHg diastolic among hypertensive 
patients. Million Hearts[supreg] supports use of the National Quality 
Forum 0018 (other nationally recognized measures for defining 
hypertension control may be used and shall be specified in the 
nomination form).
    The hypertension control rate should be inclusive of the provider 
or health system's entire hypertensive patient population, not limited 
to a sample. Examples of ineligible data submissions include 
hypertension control rates that are limited to treatment cohorts from 
research studies or pilot studies, patients limited to a specific age 
range (such as 18-35), or patients enrolled in quality improvement 
projects.
    The estimated burden for completing the nomination form is 30 
minutes.

Amount of the Prize

    Up to a total of 14 of the highest scoring clinical practices or 
health systems (judged separately) will be recognized as Million 
Hearts[supreg] Hypertension Control Champions and will receive a cash 
award of $5,000. A maximum of $70,000 will be awarded in this 
challenge.

Payment of the Prize

    Prizes awarded under this challenge will be paid by electronic 
funds transfer and may be subject to Federal income taxes. HHS will 
comply with the Internal Revenue Service withholding and reporting 
requirements, where applicable.

Basis Upon Which Winner Will Be Selected

    Nomination will be scored based on hypertension control rate (90% 
of score), treatment of a population in which achieving hypertension 
control is more challenging, such as high risk or low income 
individuals (5% of score), and sustainable systems in the practice that 
support hypertension control (5% of score). A CDC-sponsored panel of 
three to five experts consisting of both HHS/CDC staff and external 
Million Hearts[supreg] partners will review the nominations with the 
highest scores to select finalists. Finalist selection may consider 
geographic location and population treated.
    Finalists will be asked to participate in a 15-day process to 
verify their data so that HHS/CDC can confirm information submitted on 
the nomination form. Data confirmation may include one or more of the 
following activities: A remote review of summary data or de-identified 
electronic medical record list, a random hard copy or electronic record 
review, and/or verification through other reporting systems, such as 
the National Committee for Quality Assurance or the Centers for 
Medicare & Medicaid Services. A background check will also be conducted 
on selected finalists. At a minimum, the background check will verify 
the finalist's license and include a search of the Office of the 
Inspector General List of Excluded Individuals and Entities.
    If a selected finalist does not respond to requests for data and 
information by the requested date or if a selected finalist receives 
negative findings through the background check or data confirmation, 
HHS/CDC reserves the option to exclude that individual or organization 
from the challenge award process and to select the next highest scoring 
nominee.
    Each selected Champion will participate in a post-challenge 
telephone interview. The interview will include questions about the 
strategies employed by the individual or organization to achieve high 
rates of hypertension control, including barriers and facilitators for 
those strategies. The interview will focus on systems and processes and 
should not require preparation time by the Champion. The estimated time 
for the interview is two hours, which includes time to review the 
interview protocol with the interviewer, respond to the interview 
questions, and review a summary data about the Champion's practices. 
The summary will be written as a success story and will be posted on 
the Million Hearts[supreg] Web site.

Additional Information

    Information received from nominees will be stored in a password 
protected file on a secure server. The challenge Web site may post the 
number of nominations received but will not include information about 
individual nominees. The database of information submitted by nominees 
will not be posted on the Web site. Information collected from nominees 
will include general details, such as the business name, address, and 
contact information of the nominee. This type of information is 
generally publically available. The nomination will collect and store 
only aggregate clinical data through the nomination process; no 
individual patient data will be collected or stored.
    Information for selected Champions, such as the provider, practice, 
or health system's name, location, and hypertension control rate will 
be shared through press releases, the challenge Web site, and Million 
Hearts[supreg] and HHS/CDC resources.
    Summary data on the types of systems and processes that nominees 
use to control hypertension may be shared in documents or other 
communication products that describe generally used practices for 
successful hypertension control. No individual or organization names 
will be included in the summary document except for the selected 
Champions. HHS/CDC will use the summary data only as described and will 
secure the data to the full extent allowable by law.

Compliance With Rules and Contacting Contest Winners

    Finalists and Champions must comply with all terms and conditions 
of these official rules, and winning is contingent upon fulfilling all 
requirements herein. The initial finalists will be notified by email, 
telephone, or mail after the date of the judging.

Privacy

    If contestants choose to provide HHS/CDC with personal information 
by filling out the nomination form through the challenge Web site at 
www.MHhypertensionchallenge.com, that information is used to respond to 
contestants in matters regarding their selection as a finalist. 
Information is not collected for commercial marketing. Winners are 
permitted to cite that they won this challenge.
    The names, cities, and states of selected champions will be made 
available in promotional materials and at recognition events.

General Conditions

    The HHS/CDC reserves the right to cancel, suspend, and/or modify 
the challenge, or any part of it, for any reason, at HHS/CDC's sole 
discretion.

    Authority:  15 U.S.C. 3719.

    Dated: August 5, 2013.
J. Ronald Campbell,
Director, Division of Executive Secretariat, Centers for Disease 
Control and Prevention.
[FR Doc. 2013-19272 Filed 8-8-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4163-18-P