[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 225 (Friday, November 24, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55843-55844]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-25424]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES


Phase Four of the National Action Plan To Prevent Health Care-
Associated Infections: Road Map to Elimination; Coordination Among 
Federal Partners To Leverage HAI Prevention and Antibiotic Stewardship

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

ACTION: Notice.

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[[Page 55844]]

SUMMARY: The Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion and the 
Federal Steering Committee for the Prevention of HAIs have developed a 
new phase of the National Action Plan to Prevent Health Care-Associated 
Infections: Road Map to Elimination (HAI Action Plan). The first three 
phases of the HAI Action Plan meaningfully enhanced coordination of 
federal efforts to address HAIs by establishing a structure to 
regularly share best practices, resources, and lessons learned among 
federal partners. Given the pressing public health threat of antibiotic 
resistance and the need to maximize efficiency of federal activities, 
the Steering Committee recognized the opportunity to leverage this 
existing committee and network of participants to enhance the 
implementation of the CARB National Action Plan goal of slowing the 
emergence of antibiotic resistant bacteria and preventing the spread of 
resistant infections through antibiotic stewardship programs. Thus, 
Phase Four of the HAI Action Plan focuses on the importance of 
antibiotic stewardship to prevent HAIs, and specifically highlights the 
coordination between various health agencies. Recommendations within 
Phase Four align and reinforce the goals and objectives of the CARB 
National Action Plan. This update to the HAI Action Plan reaffirms a 
federal commitment to improving health care quality and protecting the 
health of all Americans. Phase Four is titled: Coordination among 
Federal Partners to Leverage HAI Prevention and Antibiotic Stewardship. 
The Steering Committee and the Office of Disease Prevention and Health 
Promotion invite public and private professionals, organizations, and 
consumer representatives to provide comments on the most recent draft 
of Phase Four.

DATES: Comments on the proposed Phase Four of the National Action Plan 
to Prevent Health Care-Associated Infections: Road Map to Elimination 
must be received no later than 5 p.m. on December 26, 2017.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons or organizations are invited to submit 
written comments by any of the following methods:
     Email: [email protected] (please indicate in the subject line: 
Phase Four: HAI Action Plan).
     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: Anna Gribble, Health Policy Fellow, 
Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, via email at 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: HAIs are a significant cause of morbidity 
and mortality within the United States, and at any given time, 
approximately one in every 25 hospitalized patients has at least one 
HAI. This translates to approximately 1.7 million individuals each 
year. In 2008, the Department of Health and Human Services established 
the Steering Committee for the Prevention of HAIs. The Committee 
consists of senior-level leaders from across the Department including 
clinicians, scientists, and public health practitioners. In 2009, the 
first iteration of the HAI Action Plan was developed and focused on 
addressing high-priority HAI-related infections within acute care 
hospital settings. However, given the movement of patients between 
various health care settings, infection control and the prevention and 
elimination of HAIs could no longer be compartmentalized to any one 
type of facility. The Steering Committee decided to expand the scope of 
its activities to include additional settings and released a second 
phase of the HAI Action Plan in 2009 with three new areas of focus: 
HAIs in ambulatory surgical centers and end-stage renal disease 
facilities, as well as increasing influenza vaccination coverage among 
health care personnel. The Committee expanded the action plan yet again 
in 2013 with a third phase which included long-term care facilities. 
More recently, the emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and the 
clear tie with health care-associated infections has led the Steering 
Committee to focus on antibiotic stewardship. In July 2016, the 
Steering Committee decided to develop Phase Four of the HAI Action Plan 
to cover the federal partners coordinated approach to preventing HAIs 
and implementing antibiotic stewardship initiatives and to describe the 
clear tie between these two health care quality concerns.
    Interested persons or organizations are invited to submit written 
comments in response to the proposed Phase Four of the HAI Action Plan. 
Written comments should not exceed more than two pages. The comments 
should reference the specific section of the document to which feedback 
refers. To be considered, the person or representative from an 
organization must self-identify and submit the written comments by 
close of business on December 26, 2017.

    Dated: November 20, 2017.
Don Wright,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health, (Disease Prevention and Health 
Promotion).
[FR Doc. 2017-25424 Filed 11-22-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4150-32-P