[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 75 (Tuesday, April 19, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Page 22984]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-09075]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES


National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics: Meeting; 
Privacy, Security & Confidentiality Subcommittee

    Pursuant to the Federal Advisory Committee Act, the Department of 
Health and Human Services (HHS) announces the following advisory 
committee meeting.
    Name: National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics (NCVHS), 
Subcommittee on Privacy, Confidentiality & Security.
    Time and Date: May 24, 2016, 9:00 a.m.-5:30 p.m. EST; May 25, 2016, 
9:00 a.m.-5:15 p.m. EST.
    Place: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Hubert H. 
Humphrey Building, 200 Independence Avenue, Room 705A, Washington, DC 
20201, (202) 690-7100.
    Status: Open.
    Purpose: HIPAA sets forth methodologies for de-identifying 
protected health information (PHI). Once PHI is de-identified, it is no 
longer subject to the HIPAA rules and can be used for any purpose. The 
U.S. Department of Health and Human (HHS) Services Office for Civil 
Rights (OCR) issued guidance in 2012, specifying two ways through which 
a covered entity can determine that health information is de-
identified: (1) The Expert Determination Method and (2) the Safe Harbor 
Method. Much has changed in the health care landscape since that time, 
including greater availability and use of ``big data.'' Concerns have 
been raised about the sufficiency of the HIPAA de-identification 
methodologies, the lack of oversight for unauthorized re-identification 
of de-identified data, and the absence of public transparency about the 
uses of de-identified data. The purpose of this hearing is to gather 
industry input on existing guidance and possible limitations of the de-
identification methodologies for making recommendations to the 
Secretary of HHS.
    The objectives of this meeting are as follows:
     Increase awareness of current and anticipated practices 
involving protected health information, such as the sale of information 
to data brokers and other data-mining companies for marketing and/or 
risk mitigation activities;
     Understand HIPAA's de-identification requirements in light 
of these practices, and
     Identify areas where outreach, education, technical 
assistance, a policy change, or guidance may be useful.
    Contact Person for More Information: Rebecca Hines, Executive 
Secretary, NCVHS, National Center for Health Statistics, Centers for 
Disease Control and Prevention, 3311 Toledo Road, Hyattsville, Maryland 
20782, telephone (301) 458-4715 or Rachel Seeger, OS/OCR, Room 443D, 
Department of Health and Human Services, 200 Independence Avenue SW., 
Washington, DC 20201, Phone: (202) 260-7106. Program information as 
well as summaries of meetings and a roster of committee members are 
available on the NCVHS home page of the HHS Web site: http://www.ncvhs.hhs.gov/, where further information including an agenda will 
be posted when available.
    Should you require reasonable accommodation, please contact the CDC 
Office of Equal Employment Opportunity on 770-488-3204 as soon as 
possible.

    Dated: April 12, 2016.
James Scanlon,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Science and Data Policy, Office of the 
Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation.
[FR Doc. 2016-09075 Filed 4-18-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4151-05-P