[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 140 (Friday, July 22, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 43857-43858]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-15731]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

[30Day-22-0824]


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 
(NSSP)'' 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 May 6, 
2022, 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. Comments and recommendations for the proposed 
information collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of 
this notice to www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. Find this particular 
information collection by selecting ``Currently under 30-day Review--
Open for Public Comments'' or by using the search function. 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 (NSSP)(OMB Control No. 0920-
0824, Exp. 7/31/2022)--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 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, Exp. 7/31/2022). This Revision includes a 
request for approval to continue to receive onboarding data from state, 
local and territorial public health departments about healthcare 
facilities in their jurisdiction; registration data needed to allow 
users access to the BioSense Platform tools and services; and data 
sharing permissions so that state, local and territorial health 
departments can share data with other state, local and territorial 
health departments and CDC.
    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 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 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 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;

[[Page 43858]]

    (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, local, 
and territorial health departments can share data with other state, 
local, and territorial 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; mortality data from state and local vital statistics 
offices; laboratory tests ordered and their results from 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. 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 671 hours. There 
are no costs to respondents other than their time to participate.

                                        Estimated Annualized Burden Hours
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                                                                                                      Average
                                                                     Number of       Number of      burden per
          Type of respondents                   Form name           respondents    responses per   response  (in
                                                                                    respondent        hours)
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State, Local, and Territorial Public    Onboarding..............              20             100           10/60
 Health Departments.
State, Local, and Territorial Public    Registration............              20             100           10/60
 Health Departments.
State, Local, and Territorial Public    Data Sharing Permissions              20               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. 2022-15731 Filed 7-21-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4163-18-P