[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 37 (Tuesday, February 25, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Page 10524]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-04069]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES


Request for Comments on the Proposed 2020 Targets for the 
National Action Plan To Prevent Health Care-Associated Infections: Road 
Map To Elimination (Phase I: Acute Care Hospital) Measures

AGENCY: Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office of 
the Assistant Secretary for Health, Office of the Secretary, Department 
of Health and Human Services.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (ODPHP), 
on behalf of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) 
Federal Steering Committee for the Prevention of Health Care-Associated 
Infections (HAI), proposes new targets for the acute care hospital 
measures for the National Action Plan to Prevent Health Care-Associated 
Infections: Road Map to Elimination (HAI Action Plan). The five-year 
targets identified in the initial HAI Action Plan expired at the end of 
2013; therefore, new targets are being proposed, taking into 
consideration the progress made since the HAI Action Plan was initially 
released in 2009. Similar to the initial HAI Action Plan, the proposed 
targets will reflect improvement efforts over a five-year period. As 
such, the Department is proposing a baseline of January 2015 and 
individualized targets for each of the health care-associated 
infections identified in the HAI Action Plan to be achieved by December 
2020.
    HHS invites public and private health-related professionals, 
organizations, and consumer representatives to submit written comments 
on the proposed 2020 HAI acute care hospital targets, found at http://www.health.gov/hai/prevent_hai.asp#hai_measures.

DATES: Comments on the proposed HAI 2020 acute care hospital targets 
must be received no later than 5 p.m. on March 27, 2014.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons or organizations are invited to submit 
written comments by any of the following methods:
     Email: [email protected].
     Mail/Courier: Office of Disease Prevention and Health 
Promotion, Attn: Division of Health Care Quality, Department of Health 
and Human Services, 1101 Wootton Parkway, Suite LL100, Rockville, MD 
20852.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Daniel Gallardo, Health Policy Fellow, 
Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion via electronic mail 
at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In recognition of HAIs as an important 
public health and patient safety issue, in July 2008 HHS established 
the Federal Steering Committee for the Prevention of Health Care-
Associated Infections, led by Dr. Don Wright, Deputy Assistant 
Secretary for Health, Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. The 
Steering Committee was charged with developing a comprehensive strategy 
to prevent and reduce HAIs and developing a plan which established 
national five-year targeted goals for HAI prevention and outlined key 
actions for achieving identified short- and long-term objectives.
    The first iteration of the HAI Action Plan was published in 2009 
and focused on addressing six high priority HAI-related areas within 
the acute care hospital setting: Surgical site infections, central 
line-associated bloodstream infections, ventilator-associated events 
(formerly ventilator-associated pneumonia), catheter-associated urinary 
tract infections, Clostridium difficile infections, and methicillin-
resistant Staphylococcus aureus infections.
    In April 2013, ODPHP, on behalf of the Steering Committee, released 
a revised HAI Action Plan reflecting a significant update and expansion 
from the initial version. In addition to documenting the progress 
toward achieving the original five-year acute care hospital HAI 
targets, the updated HAI Action Plan included new sections specific to 
infection reduction in ambulatory surgical centers, end-stage renal 
disease facilities, and long-term care facilities, as well as a section 
on increasing influenza vaccination of health care personnel.
    With the expiration of the HAI Action Plan acute care hospitals 
time period for measuring the initial goals occurring at the end of 
2013, the Steering Committee has identified new five-year goals to 
measure national progress in HAI reduction. The new goals will continue 
to use data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's 
National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) as well as data from the 
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's Healthcare Cost and 
Utilization Program (HCUP). The new targets will set baseline rates 
using data from 2015 and establish goals to be achieved by December 
2020. The proposed targets take into account HAI reductions to date and 
will reflect progress that takes place between 2013 and 2015. Selecting 
a single baseline year for measuring progress toward the targeted goals 
in acute care hospitals--and using that same baseline year for purposes 
of quality measure reporting to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid 
Services (CMS) and public reporting on CMS's Hospital Compare Web 
site--will improve consistency in federal HAI measurement and reporting 
efforts. The proposed targets are intended to align with the HAI 
targets in Healthy People 2020 as well as other Departmental 
initiatives.
    The Steering Committee has provided a template for all acute care 
hospital HAI targets, which is available at http://www.health.gov/hai/prevent_hai.asp#hai_measures. The template identifies the proposed 
target or recommended action (i.e., suspension of target) for each of 
the acute care hospital measures identified in the revised HAI Action 
Plan.
    Interested persons or organizations are invited to submit written 
comments for each acute care hospital HAI measure. Written feedback 
should not exceed more than two pages per HAI measure. To be 
considered, the person or representative from the organization must 
self-identify and submit the written comments by close of business on 
March 27, 2014.

    Dated: February 19, 2014.
Don Wright,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health, Director, Office of Disease 
Prevention and Health Promotion, Office of the Assistant Secretary for 
Health.
[FR Doc. 2014-04069 Filed 2-24-14; 8:45 am]
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