[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 101 (Friday, May 24, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 24152-24153]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-10835]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
[30Day-19-0824]
Agency Forms Undergoing Paperwork Reduction Act Review
In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has submitted the information
collection request titled National Syndromic Surveillance Program--
Revision to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and
approval. CDC previously published a ``Proposed Data Collection
Submitted for Public Comment and Recommendations'' notice on March 20,
2019 to obtain comments from the public and affected agencies. CDC
received one comment related to the previous notice. This notice serves
to allow an additional 30 days for public and affected agency comments.
CDC will accept all comments for this proposed information
collection project. The Office of Management and Budget is particularly
interested in comments that:
(a) Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is
necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency,
including whether the information will have practical utility;
(b) Evaluate the accuracy of the agencies estimate of the burden of
the proposed collection of information, including the validity of the
methodology and assumptions used;
(c) Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to
be collected;
(d) Minimize the burden of the collection of information on those
who are to respond, including, through the use of appropriate
automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection
techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting
electronic submission of responses; and
(e) Assess information collection costs.
To request additional information on the proposed project or to
obtain a copy of the information collection plan and instruments, call
(404) 639-7570 or send an email to [email protected]. Direct written comments
and/or suggestions regarding the items contained in this notice to the
Attention: CDC Desk Officer, Office of Management and Budget, 725 17th
Street NW, Washington, DC 20503 or by fax to (202) 395-5806. Provide
written comments within 30 days of notice publication.
Proposed Project
National Syndromic Surveillance Program (OMB Control No. 0920-0824,
Exp. 5/31/2019)--Revision--Center for Surveillance, Epidemiology and
Laboratory Services (CSELS), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC).
Background and Brief Description
Syndromic surveillance uses syndromic data and statistical tools to
detect, monitor, and characterize unusual activity for further public
health investigation or response. Syndromic data include electronic
extracts of electronic health records (EHRs) from patient encounter
data from emergency departments, urgent care, ambulatory care, and
inpatient healthcare settings, as well as pharmacy and laboratory data.
Though these data are being captured for different purposes, they are
monitored in near real-time as potential indicators of an event, a
disease, or an outbreak of public health significance. On the national
level, these data are used to improve nationwide situational awareness
and enhance responsiveness to hazardous events and disease outbreaks to
protect America's health, safety, and security.
The BioSense Program was created by congressional mandate as part
of the Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness and
Response Act of 2002 and was launched by the CDC in 2003. The BioSense
Program has since been expanded into the National Syndromic
Surveillance Program (NSSP) which promotes and advances development of
a syndromic surveillance system for the timely exchange of syndromic
data.
CDC requests a three-year approval for a Revision for NSSP (OMB
Control No. 0920-0824, Expiration Date 5/31/2019). This Revision
includes a new request for approval to receive onboarding data from
state, local and territorial public health departments about healthcare
facilities in their jurisdiction.
NSSP features the BioSense Platform and a collaborative Community
of Practice. The BioSense Platform is a secure integrated electronic
health information system that CDC provides, primarily for use by
state, local and
[[Page 24153]]
territorial public health departments. It includes standardized
analytic tools and processes that enable users to rapidly collect,
evaluate, share, and store syndromic surveillance data. NSSP promotes a
Community of Practice in which participants collaborate to advance the
science and practice of syndromic surveillance. Health departments use
the BioSense Platform to receive healthcare data from facilities in
their jurisdiction, conduct syndromic surveillance, and share the data
with other jurisdictions and CDC.
The BioSense Platform provides the ability to analyze healthcare
encounter data from EHRs, as well as laboratory data. All EHR and
laboratory data reside outside of CDC in a cloud-enabled, web-based
platform that has Authorization to Operate from CDC. The BioSense
Platform sits in the secure, private Government Cloud which is simply
used as a storage and processing mechanism, as opposed to on-site
servers at CDC. This environment provides users with easily managed on-
demand access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources such
as networks, servers, software, tools, storage, and services, with
limited need for additional IT support. Each site (i.e., state or local
public health department) controls its data within the cloud and is
provided with free secure data storage space with tools for posting,
receiving, controlling and analyzing their data; an easy-to-use data
display dashboard; and a shared environment where users can collaborate
and advance public health surveillance practice. Each site is
responsible for creating its own data use agreements with the
facilities that are sending the data, retains ownership of any data it
contributes to its exclusive secure space, and can share data with CDC
or users from other sites.
NSSP has three different types of information collection:
(1) Collection of onboarding data about healthcare facilities
needed for state, local, and territorial public health departments to
submit EHR data to the BioSense Platform;
(2) Collection of registration data needed to allow users access to
the BioSense Platform tools and services; and
(3) Collection of data sharing permissions so that state and local
health departments can share data with other state and local health
departments and CDC.
Healthcare data shared with CDC can include: EHR data received by
state and local public health departments from facilities including
hospital emergency departments and inpatient settings, urgent care, and
ambulatory care; laboratory tests ordered and their results from
LabCorp, a national private sector laboratory company; and EHR data
from the Department of Defense (DoD) and the Department of Health and
Human Services (HHS) National Disaster Medical System (NDMS) Disaster
Medical Assistance Teams (DMATs).
Respondents include state, local, and territorial public health
departments. There are no costs to respondents other than their time to
participate. The only burden incurred by the health departments are for
submitting onboarding data about facilities to CDC, submitting
registration data about users to CDC, and setting up data sharing
permissions with CDC. The estimated annual burden is 195 hours.
Estimated Annualized Burden Hours
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Number of Average burden
Type of respondents Form name Number of responses per per response
respondents respondent (in hours)
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State, Local, and Territorial Public Onboarding.............. 10 100 10/60
Health Departments.
State, Local, and Territorial Public Registration............ 10 15 10/60
Health Departments.
State, Local, and Territorial Public Data Sharing Permissions 10 1 15/60
Health Departments.
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Jeffrey M. Zirger,
Lead, Information Collection Review Office, Office of Scientific
Integrity, Office of Science, Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention.
[FR Doc. 2019-10835 Filed 5-23-19; 8:45 am]
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