Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 219 / Monday, November 15, 2004 / Notices 65599

FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM

Formations of, Acquisitions by, and 

Mergers of Bank Holding Companies

The companies listed in this notice 

have applied to the Board for approval, 

pursuant to the Bank Holding Company 

Act of 1956 (12 U.S.C. 1841 et seq.) 

(BHC Act), Regulation Y (12 CFR Part 

225), and all other applicable statutes 

and regulations to become a bank 

holding company and/or to acquire the 

assets or the ownership of, control of, or 

the power to vote shares of a bank or 

bank holding company and all of the 

banks and nonbanking companies 

owned by the bank holding company, 

including the companies listed below.

The applications listed below, as well 

as other related filings required by the 

Board, are available for immediate 

inspection at the Federal Reserve Bank 

indicated. The application also will be 

available for inspection at the offices of 

the Board of Governors. Interested 

persons may express their views in 

writing on the standards enumerated in 

the BHC Act (12 U.S.C. 1842(c)). If the 

proposal also involves the acquisition of 

a nonbanking company, the review also 

includes whether the acquisition of the 

nonbanking company complies with the 

standards in section 4 of the BHC Act 

(12 U.S.C. 1843). Unless otherwise 

noted, nonbanking activities will be 

conducted throughout the United States. 

Additional information on all bank 

holding companies may be obtained 

from the National Information Center 

website at www.ffiec.gov/nic/.

Unless otherwise noted, comments 

regarding each of these applications 

must be received at the Reserve Bank 

indicated or the offices of the Board of 

Governors not later than December 6, 

2004.

A. Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta

(Sue Costello, Vice President) 1000 

Peachtree Street, N.E., Atlanta, Georgia 

30303:

1. CBS Financial Corporation, 

Smyrna, Georgia; to become a bank 

holding company by acquiring 100 

percent of the voting shares of 

Community Bank of the South, Smyrna, 

Georgia.

B. Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

(Randall C. Sumner, Vice President) 411 

Locust Street, St. Louis, Missouri 

63166–2034:

1. Centennial Bancshares, Inc., Little 

Rock, Arkansas; to become a bank 

holding company by acquiring 100 

percent of the voting shares of Pine 

State Bancshares, Inc., Kingsland, 

Arkansas, and thereby indirectly acquire 

Pine State Bank, Kingsland, Arkansas.

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve 

System, November 8, 2004.

Robert deV. Frierson,

Deputy Secretary of the Board.

[FR Doc. 04–25268 Filed 11–12–04; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6210–01–S

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

National Coordinator for Health 

Information Technology; Development 

and Adoption of a National Health 

Information Network

AGENCY: Department of Health and 

Human Services.

ACTION: Request for information.

SUMMARY: Public comment is sought 

regarding considerations in 

implementing the President’s call for 

widespread adoption of interoperable 

electronic health records (EHRs) within 

10 years. On April 27, 2004, President 

Bush established the position of the 

National Health Information Technology 

Coordinator. On May 6, 2004, Secretary 

Tommy G. Thompson appointed David 

J. Brailer, MD, PhD to serve as National 

Coordinator for Health Information 

Technology. The Executive Order 

signed by the President required the 

National Coordinator to report within 90 

days of operation on the development 

and implementation of a strategic plan. 

This Framework for Strategic Action 

entitled: ‘‘The Decade of Health 

Information Technology: Delivering 

Consumer-centric and Information-rich 

Health Care’’ (the Framework), was 

presented at the Health Information 

Technology Secretarial Summit II on 

July 21, 2004. The Framework is posted 

for reference at: [http://www.hhs.gov/

onchit/framework/]. The Framework 

outlines an approach toward the 

nationwide implementation of 

interoperable health information 

technology in both the public and the 

private sectors. 

In order to realize a new vision for 

health care through the use of 

information technology, the report 

called for a sustained set of strategic 

actions, embraced by the public and the 

private health sectors, which will be 

taken over many years. The Framework 

outlined four major goals: inform 

clinical practice with use of EHRs, 

interconnect clinicians so that they can 

exchange health information using 

advanced and secure electronic 

communication, personalize care with 

consumer-based health records and 

better information for consumers, and 

improve public health through 

advanced biosurveillance methods and 

streamlined collection of data for 

quality measurement and research. 

This Request for Information (RFI) 

addresses the goal of interconnecting 

clinicians by seeking public comment 

and input regarding how widespread 

interoperability of health information 

technologies and health information 

exchange can be achieved. This RFI is 

intended to inform policy discussions 

about possible methods by which 

widespread interoperability and health 

information exchange could be 

deployed and operated on a sustainable 

basis.

DATES: Responses should be submitted 

to the Department of Health and Human 

Services (HHS), Office of the National 

Coordinator for Health Information 

Technology (ONCHIT), on or before 5 

p.m. e.s.t. on January 18, 2005.

ADDRESSES: Electronic responses are 

preferred and should be addressed to: 

NHINRFI@hhs.gov in the Office of the 

National Coordinator for Health 

Information Technology, Department of 

Health and Human Services. Include 

NHIN RFI Responses in the subject line. 

Non-electronic responses will also be 

accepted. Please send to: Office of the 

National Coordinator Health 

Information Technology, Department of 

Health and Human Services, Attention: 

NHIN RFI Responses, Hubert H. 

Humphrey Building, Room 517D, 200 

Independence Avenue, SW., 

Washington, DC 20201.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: On 

December 6, 2004, there will be a 

technical assistance conference call to 

answer questions from potential 

responders. More details will be 

provided on how to participate in this 

call on the ONCHIT Web site [http://

www.hhs.gov/onchit/]. Additionally, a 

public, online Frequently Asked 

Question (FAQ) page will be provided 

to answer questions throughout the 

response period on ONCHIT’s Web site. 

Please direct e-mail inquiries and 

responses to NHINRFI@hhs.gov. For 

additional information, contact Lee 

Jones or Lori Evans, in the Office of the 

National Coordinator for Health 

Information Technology at toll free (877) 

474–3918.

Background: As the nation embarks 

on the widespread deployment of EHRs, 

a variety of concomitant challenges and 

barriers must be addressed. One of these 

is interoperability, or the ability to 

exchange patient health information 

among disparate clinicians and other 

authorized entities in real time and 

under stringent security, privacy and 

other protections. Interoperability is an 

essential factor in using health 

information technology to improve the