Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 174 / Thursday, September 10, 2009 / Notices 46593 

travel expenses on a worldwide basis; 

(2) attendant operational and control 

support; and (3) management 

information reports for expense control 

purposes. 

ROUTINE USES OF THE SYSTEM RECORDS, 

INCLUDING CATEGORIES OF USERS AND THEIR

PURPOSES FOR USING THE SYSTEM: 

a. To another Federal agency, Travel 

Management Center (TMC), online 

booking engine suppliers and the 

airlines that are required to support the 

Department of Homeland Security/ 

Transportation Security Administration 

(DHS/TSA) Secure Flight Program. In 

this program, DHS/TSA assumes the 

function of conducting pre-flight 

comparisons of airline passenger 

information to Federal Government 

watch lists. In order to supply the 

appropriate information, these 

mentioned parties are responsible for 

obtaining new data fields consisting of 

personal information for date of birth, 

gender, known traveler number and 

redress number. At this time, the redress 

number and known traveler number are 

optional but may be required to be 

stored in another phase of the Secure 

Flight program. 

b. To disclose information to a 

Federal, State, local, or foreign agency 

responsible for investigating, 

prosecuting, enforcing, implementing, 

or carrying out a statute, rule, 

regulation, or order, where an agency 

becomes aware of a violation or 

potential violation of civil or criminal 

law or regulation. 

c. To disclose information to a 

Member of Congress or a congressional 

staff member in response to an inquiry 

made at the request of the individual 

who is the subject of the record. 

d. To disclose information to the 

contractor in providing necessary 

information for issuing credit cards. 

e. To disclose information to an 

appeal, grievance, or formal complaints 

examiner; equal employment 

opportunity investigator; arbitrator; 

exclusive representative; or other 

official engaged in investigating, or 

settling a grievance, complaint, or 

appeal filed by an employee. 

f. To disclose information to officials 

of labor organizations recognized under 

Public Law 95–454, when necessary to 

their duties of exclusive representation 

on personnel policies, practices, and 

matters affecting working conditions. 

g. To disclose information to a Federal 

agency for accumulating reporting data 

and monitoring the system. 

h. To disclose information in the form 

of listings, reports, and records of all 

common carrier transactions including 

refunds and adjustments to an agency 

by the contractor to enable audits of 

carrier charges to the Federal 

government. 

i. To appropriate agencies, entities, 

and persons when (1) The Agency 

suspects or has confirmed that the 

security or confidentiality of 

information in the system of records has 

been compromised; (2) the Agency has 

determined that as a result of the 

suspected or confirmed compromise 

there is a risk of harm to economic or 

property interests, identity theft or 

fraud, or harm to the security or 

integrity of this system or other systems 

or programs (whether maintained by 

GSA or another agency or entity) that 

rely upon the compromised 

information; and (3) the disclosure 

made to such agencies, entities, and 

persons is reasonably necessary to assist 

in connection with GSA’s efforts to 

respond to the suspected or confirmed 

compromise and prevent, minimize, or 

remedy such harm. 

j. To a Federal agency in connection 

with the hiring or retention of an 

employee; the issuance of a security 

clearance; the reporting of an 

investigation; the letting of a contract; or 

the issuance of a grant, license, or other 

benefit to the extent that the information 

is relevant and necessary to a decision. 

k. To the Office of Personnel 

Management (OPM), the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB), or the 

Government Accountability Office 

(GAO) when the information is required 

for program evaluation purposes. 

l. To an expert, consultant, or 

contractor of GSA in the performance of 

a Federal duty to which the information 

is relevant. 

m. To the National Archives and 

Records Administration (NARA) for 

records management purposes. 

POLICIES AND PRACTICES FOR STORING, 

RETRIEVING, ACCESSING, RETAINING, AND

DISPOSING OF SYSTEM RECORDS: 

STORAGE: 

Paper records are stored in file 

folders. Electronic records are stored 

within a computer and associated 

equipment. 

RETRIEVABILITY: 

Records are filed and retrieved by 

name, Social Security Number, and/or 

credit card number. 

SAFEGUARDS: 

Paper records are stored in lockable 

file cabinets or secured rooms. 

Electronic records are protected by 

passwords, access codes, and entry logs. 

There is restricted access to credit card 

account numbers, and information is 

released only to authorized users and 

officials on a need-to-know basis. 

RETENTION AND DISPOSAL: 

Records are kept for 3 years and then 

destroyed, as required by the General 

Records Retention Schedules issued by 

the National Archives and Records 

Administration (NARA). 

SYSTEM MANAGER AND ADDRESS: 

Assistant Commissioner, Office of 

Travel, Motor Vehicle, and Card 

Services (QM), Federal Acquisition 

Service, General Services 

Administration, Crystal Park Building 3, 

2200 Crystal Drive, Arlington, VA 

22202. 

NOTIFICATION PROCEDURE: 

Inquiries by individuals should be 

addressed to the Finance Officer of the 

agency for which they traveled. 

RECORD ACCESS PROCEDURES: 

Requests from individuals should be 

addressed to the Finance Officer of the 

agency for which they traveled. 

Individuals must furnish their full name 

and the authorizing agency and its 

component to facilitate the location and 

identification of their records. 

CONTESTING RECORD PROCEDURE: 

Individuals wishing to request 

amendment of their records should 

contact the Finance Officer of the 

agency for which they traveled. 

Individuals must furnish their full name 

and the authorizing agency and 

component for which they traveled. 

RECORD SOURCE CATEGORIES: 

Charge card applications, monthly 

reports from the contractor, travel 

authorizations and vouchers, credit card 

companies, and data interchanged 

between agencies. 

[FR Doc. E9–21921 Filed 9–9–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6820–34–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

Meeting of the National Vaccine 

Advisory Committee 

AGENCY: Department of Health and 

Human Services, Office of the Secretary, 

Office of Public Health and Science. 

ACTION: Notice; amendment. 

SUMMARY: A notice was published in the 

Federal Register on Wednesday, August 

26, 2009, Vol. 74, No. 164, to announce 

that a meeting of the National Vaccine 

Advisory Committee will be held on 

September 15 and 16, 2009. The 

meeting is open to the public. The 

meeting proceedings also will be 

Webcast; the Webcast can be viewed at 

http://videocast.nih.gov. 


erowe on DSK5CLS3C1PROD with NOTICES
46594 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 174 / Thursday, September 10, 2009 / Notices 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. 

Andrea Krull, Public Health Advisor, 

National Vaccine Program Office, 

Department of Health and Human 

Services, Room 715H Hubert H. 

Humphrey Building, 200 Independence 

Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20201. 

Phone: (202) 690–5566; Fax: (202) 260– 

1165: e-mail; nvpo@hhs.gov. 

Dated: September 3, 2009. 

Bruce Gellin, 

Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health, 

Director, National Vaccine Program Office. 

[FR Doc. E9–21750 Filed 9–9–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4150–44–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

[HHS–XXXX–N] 

Secretarial Review and Publication of 

the Annual Report to Congress 

Submitted by the Contracted 

Consensus-Based Entity Regarding 

Performance Measurement 

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary of 

Health and Human Services, HHS. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: This notice acknowledges the 

Department of Health and Human 

Services’ (HHS) receipt and review of 

the annual report submitted to the 

Secretary and Congress by the 

contracted consensus-based entity 

regarding performance measurement as 

mandated by section 183 of the 

Medicare Improvements for Patients and 

Providers Act of 2008 (MIPPA). The 

statute requires HHS to publish not later 

than six months after receiving the 

annual report to Congress in the Federal 

Register together with any Secretarial 

comments. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Patrick Conway, (202) 690–7858. 

I. Background 

Rising health care costs coupled with 

the growing concern over the level and 

variation in quality and efficiency in the 

provision of health care raise important 

challenges for the United States. 

Congress mandated the Secretary of the 

Department of Health and Human 

Services (HHS) to contract with a 

consensus-based entity regarding 

performance measurement to support 

HHS’ efforts to achieve value as a 

purchaser of high-quality, patientcentered, and financially sustainable 

health care. Section 183 of the Medicare 

Improvements for Patients and 

Providers Act of 2008 (MIPPA) added 

section 1890 to the Social Security Act 

(the Act). The statute mandates that the 

contract shall be competitively awarded 

for a period four years and may be 

renewed under a subsequent 

competitive contracting process. 

In January 2009, the competitive 

contract was awarded by HHS to the 

National Quality Forum (NQF) for a four 

year period. With respect to the scope 

of the HHS contract activities, NQF 

shall conduct its business in an open 

and transparent manner, provide the 

opportunity for public comment and 

ensure membership fees do not pose a 

barrier to participation in the scope of 

HHS’ contract activities, if applicable. 

The HHS four-year contract with NQF 

includes the following major tasks: 

Formulation of National Strategy and 

Priorities for Health Care Performance 

Measurement—NQF shall synthesize 

evidence and convene key stakeholders 

on the formulation of an integrated 

national strategy and priorities for 

health care performance measurement 

in all applicable settings. NQF shall give 

priority to measures: That address the 

health care provided to patients with 

prevalent, treatment of high-cost 

chronic diseases; provide the greatest 

potential for improving quality, 

efficiency and patient-centered health 

care; and may be implemented rapidly 

due to existing evidence, standards of 

care or other reasons. NQF shall 

consider measures that assist consumers 

and patients in making informed health 

care decisions; address health 

disparities across groups and areas; and 

address the continuum of care across 

multiple providers, practitioners and 

settings. 

Implementation of a Consensus 

Process for Endorsement of Health Care 

Quality Measures—NQF shall 

implement a consensus process for 

endorsement of standardized health care 

performance measures which shall 

consider whether measures are 

evidence-based, reliable, valid, 

verifiable, relevant to enhanced health 

outcomes, actionable at the caregiver 

level, feasible to collect and report, and 

responsive to variations in patient 

characteristics such as health status, 

language capabilities, race or ethnicity, 

and income level and is consistent 

across types of providers including 

hospitals and physicians. 

Maintenance of Consensus Endorsed 

Measures—NQF shall establish and 

implement a maintenance process to 

ensure that endorsed measures are 

updated (or retired if obsolete) as new 

evidence is developed. 

Promotion of Electronic Health 

Records—NQF shall promote the 

development and use of electronic 

health records that contain the 

functionality for automated collection, 

aggregation, and transmission of 

performance measurement information. 

Focused Measure Development, 

Harmonization, and Endorsement 

Efforts to Fill Critical Gaps in 

Performance Measurement—At the 

request and direction of HHS, NQF shall 

complete targeted tasks to support 

performance measurement 

development, harmonization, 

endorsement and/or gap analysis. 

Development of a Public Web site for 

Project Documents—NQF shall develop 

a public Web site to provide access to 

project documents and processes. The 

HHS contract work is found at: http:// 

www.qualityforum.org/projects/ 

ongoing/hhs/. 

Annual Report to Congress and the 

Secretary—Under section 1890(b)(5)(A) 

of the Act, by not later than March 1 of 

each year (beginning with 2009), NQF 

shall submit to Congress and the 

Secretary of HHS an annual report. The 

report shall contain a description of the 

implementation of quality measurement 

initiatives under the Act and the 

coordination of such initiatives with 

quality initiatives implemented by other 

payers; a summary of activities and 

recommendations from the national 

strategy and priorities for health care 

performance measurement task; and a 

discussion of performance by NQF of 

the duties required under the HHS 

contract. Due to the award of the 

contract to NQF in mid January 2009, 

the first annual report covers the 

performance period of January 14, 2009 

to February 28, 2009. 

In March 2009, NQF submitted the 

annual report to Congress and the 

Secretary of HHS. Section 1890(b)(5)(B) 

of the Social Security Act, as created by 

section 183 of MIPPA, requires the 

Secretarial review of the annual report 

to Congress upon receipt and the 

publication of the report in the Federal 

Register together with any Secretarial 

comments not later than 6 months after 

receiving the report. This notice 

complies with the review and 

publication requirements of the 

statutory mandate. 

First NQF Report to Congress and HHS 

Secretary 

Submitted in March 2009, the first 

annual report to Congress and the 

Secretary spans the period of January 

14, 2009 to February 28, 2009. The first 

annual report reflects six weeks post 

contract award. Given the short 

timeframe between the contract award 

and the requirement for the annual 

report, it reflects a description of the 

NQF work-to-date as of March 2009 and 

future plans to comply with the 

schedule of deliverables. Additional 


erowe on DSK5CLS3C1PROD with NOTICES