48548 Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 161 / Monday, August 21, 2006 / Notices 

to this workshop. This Strategy will 

define the principles guiding HHS 

medical countermeasure research, 

development and acquisition. 

The BioShield Stakeholders 

Workshop will be an open meeting for 

representatives from the pharmaceutical 

and biotechnology industries, 

professional societies, State and local 

public health organizations, the 

academic research and development 

community, public interest groups, 

stakeholder Federal agencies, and 

Congress. 

The BioShield Stakeholders 

Workshop is being convened, and the 

PHEMC Strategy for CBRN Threats is 

being developed and published, to 

fulfill the promise that Health and 

Human Services Secretary Michael O. 

Leavitt made on March 16, 2006, in his 

testimony before the Senate Committee 

on Health, Education, Labor, and 

Pensions. During his testimony, 

Secretary Leavitt pledged to: 

work closely with other departments and 

agencies to streamline and make more 

effective the current BioShield interagency 

governance process. We will make this 

process more transparent and work to 

educate the public and industry about our 

priorities and opportunities. As part of this, 

HHS will convene an outreach meeting with 

these external stakeholders later this year. 

OPHEP leads Federal efforts to 

prepare the nation to prevent and 

mitigate the health effects of disasters, 

natural or manmade. As part of this 

important mission, OPHEMC, within 

OPHEP, plays a leadership role in the 

advanced development and acquisition 

of medical countermeasures, including 

implementation of the Project BioShield 

Act of 2004. 

The purpose of Project BioShield is to 

accelerate the research, development, 

acquisition, and availability of effective 

medical countermeasures for chemical, 

biological, radiological, and nuclear 

(CBRN) threats. The Special Reserve 

Fund (SRF), a discretionary reserve of 

$5.6 billion for the advanced 

development and purchase of priority 

medical countermeasures over 10 years, 

was authorized under Project BioShield 

to support this mission. 

For more information regarding the 

BioShield Stakeholders Workshop, and 

to register for the Workshop, please visit 

http://www.hhs.gov/ophep/ophemc/. 

Dated: August 15, 2006. 

Carol Linden, 

Deputy Director, OPHEMC. 

[FR Doc. 06–7033 Filed 8–18–06; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4150–31–M 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

Agency for Healthcare Research and 

Quality 

Agency Information Collection 

Activities; Proposed Collection: 

Comment Request 

AGENCY: Agency for Healthcare Research 

and Quality, Department of Health and 

Human Services. 

ACTION: Notice of proposed information 

collection. 

SUMMARY: This notice announces the 

intention of the Agency for Healthcare 

Research and Quality (AHRQ) to request 

the Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB) to allow the proposed 

information collection project 

‘‘Continuance of the Medical 

Expenditure Panel Survey—Household 

and Medical Provider Component 

through 2009.’’ In accordance with the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 

Public Law 104–13 (44 U.S.C. 

3506(c)(2)(A)), AHRQ invites the public 

to comment on this proposed collection. 

This proposed information collection 

was previously published in the Federal 

Register on June 2, 2006 and allowed 60 

days for public comment. No public 

comments were received. The purpose 

of this notice is to allow an additional 

30 days for public comment. 

DATES: Comments on this notice must be 

received by September 20, 2006. 

ADDRESSES: Written comments should 

be submitted to: Doris Lefkowitz, 

AHRQ, Reports Clearance Officer, 540 

Gaither Road, Suite 5036, Rockville, MD 

20850. Copies of the proposed 

collection plans, data collection 

instruments and specific details of the 

estimated burden can be obtained from 

the AHRQ Reports Clearance Officer, 

(301) 427–1477. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Doris Lefkowitz, AHRQ, Reports 

Clearance Officer, (301) 427–1477. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Proposed Project 

‘‘Continuance of the Medical 

Expenditure Panel Survey—Household 

and Medical Provider Component 

through 2009.’’

AHRQ has conducted an annual panel 

survey of U.S. households and their 

associated medical providers since 1996 

through the Medical Expenditures Panel 

Survey (MEPS)–Household (MEPS–HC) 

and Medical Provider Component 

(MEPS–MPC). This clearance requests 

continuance of this annual survey 

through 2009. The MEPS is jointly 

sponsored by the AHRQ and the 

National Center for Health Statistics 

(NCHS). The MEPS is conducted using 

a sample of households that responded 

to a prior year’s National Health 

Interview Survey (NHIS) which is 

sponsored by the NCHS. The NHIS 

surveys approximately 40,000 

households (110,000 persons) each year. 

The NHIS is used as a sampling frame 

for the MEPS and other surveys to 

increase efficiency of data collection 

efforts within the Department of Health 

and Human Services. 

Data to be collected from each 

household is completed through the 

MEPS–HC and includes detailed 

information on demographics, health 

conditions, health status, use of health 

care services, charges and payments for 

medical care, medications, and 

employment and health insurance. Data 

to be collected from medical providers 

including hospitals, physicians, and 

pharmacies is completed through the 

MEPS–MPC which supplements and 

verifies information provided by the 

households. With the written 

permission of household members of 

the MEPS–HC, the MEPS–MPC collects 

actual dates of services, diagnosis and 

service codes, as well as charges and 

payments for services. Subject to AHRQ 

NCHS confidentiality statutes, data will 

be made available through Agency 

publications, journals, public use files 

and Web-based statistical tools. The 

data are intended for multiple purposes 

including: 

• Generating national estimates of 

individual and family health care use 

and expenditures, private and public 

health insurance coverage, and the 

availability, cost and scope of private 

health benefits among Americans. 

• Examining the quality of care for 

Americans, especially those with 

chronic conditions. 

• Examining access to and costs of 

health care for common diseases and 

conditions, health care quality, 

prescribed medications and other health 

issues. 

Statisticians and researchers will use 

these data to make important 

generalizations about the civilian noninstitutionalized population of the 

United States and to conduct research in 

which the family is the unit of analysis. 

Data Confidentiality 

The confidentiality of MEPS data is 

protected under the NCHS and AHRQ 

confidentiality statutes, found in 

sections 934(c) and 308(d) of the Public 

Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 299c–3(c) 

and 42 U.S.C. 242m). 


hsrobinson on PROD1PC72 with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 161 / Monday, August 21, 2006 / Notices 48549 

Methods of Collection 

AHRQ introduces the study to 

respondents of the Household 

Component through an advance 

mailing. This first contact will provide 

the respondent with information on the 

importance and uses of the data. Once 

consent for participation is established, 

AHRQ, through its contractors will 

conduct five, in person, interviews over 

a 30-month time period with each 

participating household to obtain 

information to support two years of 

national estimates. Computer-assisted 

personal interviewing will be used. In 

uncommon instances, the identical 

interview may be administered over the 

phone. Respondents may also be asked 

to complete one or more short, selfadministered questionnaires over the 

course of the study. 

The Medical Provider Component is 

completed predominately by telephone 

and mail. A substantial portion of the 

pharmacy providers elect to submit 

their responses electronically. 

MEPS–HC ANNUAL DATA COLLECTION ESTIMATED BURDEN

Activity Unit Number of 

responses 

House per 

response 

Burden in 

hours 

Jan–July 

07 panel interview .................................... Households .................................................... 7,900 2.0 15,800 

06 panel interview .................................... Households .................................................... 7,650 1.5 11,475 

06 panel DCS .......................................... Persons 18+ with diabetes ............................ 800 0.1 80 

05 panel interview .................................... Households .................................................... 7,400 1.5 11,100 

05 panel DCS .......................................... Persons 18+ with diabetes ............................ 750 0.1 75 

Re-interview ............................................. responses ....................................................... 2,065 0.1 207 

Aug–Dec 

07 Panel interview ................................... Households .................................................... 7,700 1.5 11,550 

07 Panel SAQ .......................................... Persons 18+ ................................................... 6,950 × 1.8 0.2 2,502 

06 panel interview .................................... Households .................................................... 7,550 1.5 11,325 

06 Panel SAQ .......................................... Persons 18+ ................................................... 6,800 × 1.8 0.2 2,448 

Reinterview .............................................. responses ....................................................... 1,373 0.1 138 

Total .................................................. ......................................................................... ........................ ........................ 66,700 

MEPS–MPC ANNUAL DATA COLLECTION ESTIMATED BURDEN—PAIR LEVEL CALCULATION

Type 

Number of patient/provider 

pairs 

Events per 

pair Total events 

Response 

time/event 

(minutes) 

Burden in 

hours 

Hospitals .............................................................................. 10,500 3.2 33,600 5 2800 

HMO ..................................................................................... 450 5.0 2250 5 187 

SBD ...................................................................................... 15,500 1.4 21,700 3 1085 

Home health ......................................................................... 440 5.8 2552 5 212 

OBDS ................................................................................... 23,210 3.5 81,235 5 6770 

Pharmacy ............................................................................. 14,410 10.3 148,423 3 7421 

Institutions ............................................................................ 100 1.2 120 5 10 

........................ ........................ ........................ ........................ 18,485 

MEPS SUMMARY DATA COLLECTION BURDEN 2007–2009 

Unit type 2007 2008 2009 Total 

Households ...................................................................................................... 66,700 66,700 66,700 200,100 

Medical provider .............................................................................................. 18,485 18,485 18,485 55,455 

Total .......................................................................................................... 85,185 85,185 85,185 255,555 

Request for Comments 

In accordance with the above cited 

legislation, comments on AHRQ’s 

information collection are requested 

with regard to any of the following: (a) 

Whether the proposed collection of 

information is necessary for the proper 

performance of functions of AHRQ, 

including whether the information will 

have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of 

AHRQ’s estimate of burden (including 

hours and cost) of the proposed 

collection of information; (c) ways to 

enhance the quality, utility and clarity 

of the information to be collected; and 

(d) ways to minimize the burden of the 

collection of information upon the 

respondents, including the use of 

automated collection techniques or 

other forms of information technology. 

Comments submitted in response to 

this notice will be summarized and 

included in the request for OMB 

approval of the proposed information 

collection. All comments will become a 

matter of public records. 

Dated: August 14, 2006. 

Carolyn M. Clancy, 

Director. 

[FR Doc. 06–7068 Filed 8–17–06; 9:08 am] 

BILLING CODE 4160–90–M 


hsrobinson on PROD1PC72 with NOTICES