[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 188 (Friday, September 29, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 67294-67295]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-21481]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality


Supplemental Evidence and Data Request on Healthcare Industry 
Waste and Lifecycle Assessment

AGENCY: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), HHS.

ACTION: Request for supplemental evidence and data submissions.

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SUMMARY: The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) is 
seeking scientific information submissions from the public. Scientific 
information is being solicited to inform our review on Healthcare 
Industry Waste and Lifecycle Assessment, which is currently being 
conducted by the AHRQ's Evidence-based Practice Centers (EPC) Program. 
Access to published and unpublished pertinent scientific information 
will improve the quality of this review.

DATES: Submission Deadline on or before October 30, 2023.

ADDRESSES: 
    Email submissions: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#2346534063424b51520d4b4b500d444c55"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="f2978291b2939a8083dc9a9a81dc959d84">[email protected]</span></a>.
    Print submissions:
    Mailing Address: Center for Evidence and Practice Improvement, 
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, ATTN: EPC SEADs 
Coordinator, 5600 Fishers Lane, Mail Stop 06E53A, Rockville, MD 20857.
    Shipping Address (FedEx, UPS, etc.): Center for Evidence and 
Practice Improvement, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, ATTN: 
EPC SEADs Coordinator, 5600 Fishers Lane, Mail Stop 06E77D, Rockville, 
MD 20857.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kelly Carper, Telephone: 301-427-1656 
or Email: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#0a6f7a694a6b62787b24626279246d657c"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="6c091c0f2c0d041e1d4204041f420b031a">[email protected]</span></a>.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Agency for Healthcare Research and 
Quality has commissioned the Evidence-based Practice Centers (EPC) 
Program to complete a review of the evidence for Healthcare Industry 
Waste and Lifecycle Assessment. AHRQ is conducting this review pursuant 
to section 902 of the Public Health Service Act, 42 U.S.C. 299a.
    The EPC Program is dedicated to identifying as many studies as 
possible that are relevant to the questions for each of its reviews. In 
order to do so, we are supplementing the usual manual and electronic 
database searches of the literature by requesting information from the 
public (e.g., details of studies conducted). We are looking for studies 
that report on Healthcare Industry Waste and Lifecycle Assessment. The 
entire research protocol is available online at: https://effectivehealthcare.ahrq.gov/products/lifecycle-assessment.
    This is to notify the public that the EPC Program would find the 
following information on Healthcare Industry Waste and Lifecycle 
Assessment helpful:
    [ssquf] A list of completed studies that your organization has 
sponsored for this topic. In the list, please indicate whether results 
are available on ClinicalTrials.gov along with the ClinicalTrials.gov 
trial number.
    [ssquf] For completed studies that do not have results on 
ClinicalTrials.gov, a summary, including the following elements, if 
relevant: study number, study period, design, methodology, indication 
and diagnosis, proper use instructions, inclusion and exclusion 
criteria, primary and secondary outcomes, baseline characteristics, 
number of patients screened/eligible/enrolled/lost to follow-up/
withdrawn/analyzed, effectiveness/efficacy, and safety results.
    [ssquf] A list of ongoing studies that your organization has 
sponsored for this topic. In the list, please provide the 
ClinicalTrials.gov trial number or, if the trial is not registered, the 
protocol for the study including, if relevant, a study number, the 
study period, design, methodology, indication and diagnosis, proper use 
instructions, inclusion and exclusion criteria, and primary and 
secondary outcomes.
    [ssquf] Description of whether the above studies constitute ALL 
Phase II and above clinical trials sponsored by your organization for 
this topic and an index

[[Page 67295]]

outlining the relevant information in each submitted file.
    Your contribution is very beneficial to the Program. Materials 
submitted must be publicly available or able to be made public. 
Materials that are considered confidential; marketing materials; study 
types not included in the review; or information on topics not included 
in the review cannot be used by the EPC Program. This is a voluntary 
request for information, and all costs for complying with this request 
must be borne by the submitter.
    The draft of this review will be posted on AHRQ's EPC Program 
website and available for public comment for a period of 4 weeks. If 
you would like to be notified when the draft is posted, please sign up 
for the email list at: https://www.effectivehealthcare.ahrq.gov/email-updates.
    The review will answer the following questions. This information is 
provided as background. AHRQ is not requesting that the public provide 
answers to these questions.

Guiding Questions (GQ)

GQ1. Frameworks for Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)

    <bullet> What LCA frameworks have been developed or adapted for 
healthcare settings, products, and procedures?
    i. What data sources, measures/indicators, and methods are used to 
inform these frameworks?
    ii. Which components of the frameworks are thought to have the 
greatest association with carbon footprint?
    iii. What limitations of these frameworks have been described?

GQ2. Studies of LCA

    <bullet> How are LCAs applied in healthcare research?
    i. What topic areas have been studied and for what settings?
    ii. What data sources, measures/indicators, and methods were used 
in the analysis?
    iii. What outcomes have been studied, and what were the findings?
    iv. What were cited limitations of the research?

GQ3. Gaps in the Knowledge and Future Research Needs

    <bullet> Are there frameworks that are being developed or have been 
developed but not yet implemented?
    <bullet> What are possible areas of future research?

        Criteria for Inclusion/Exclusion of Studies in the Review
------------------------------------------------------------------------
           Domain                   Inclusion             Exclusion
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Population..................  <bullet> GQ1:         <bullet>
                               Publications that     Publications citing
                               include a figure or   existing frameworks
                               detailed              without further
                               description of a      conceptual
                               life cycle            contribution to the
                               assessment            framework and
                               framework.            publications
                              <bullet> GQ2:          describing only the
                               Publications that     need or future
                               describe the          plans of conducting
                               methods and results   a life cycle
                               of a life cycle       assessment.
                               assessment study.
                              <bullet> GQ3:
                               Registered research
                               of life cycle
                               framework
                               development or
                               assessment.
Concept.....................  Life cycle            <bullet> Frameworks,
                               assessments that      assessments,
                               address either        ongoing research
                               scope 1, scope 2,     not including life
                               scope 3 emissions.    cycle assessments.
                               Scope 1: Direct
                               emissions
                               (facilities,
                               anesthetics, fleet
                               and leased
                               vehicles), Scope 2:
                               Indirect emissions
                               (electricity,
                               stream). Scope 3:
                               Other indirect
                               emissions (food and
                               catering, business
                               services, medical
                               devices, medicines,
                               water, metered-dose
                               inhalers, energy
                               [well-to-tank],
                               business travel
                               [public transit,
                               gray fleet], staff
                               commuting,
                               manufacturing
                               [products,
                               chemicals, gases],
                               waste, information
                               technology, Health
                               Care Organization
                               (HCO) investments,
                               construction, and
                               freight transport).
                              <bullet> GQ1:
                               Frameworks for life
                               cycle assessments,
                               including logic
                               models, analytic
                               frameworks, or
                               other
                               conceptualization.
                              <bullet> GQ2:
                               Published life
                               cycle assessments,
                               life cycle
                               assessments do not
                               need to meet ISO
                               (International
                               Organization for
                               Standardization)
                               14040 standards but
                               need to describe a
                               goal, scope, and
                               boundaries;
                               assessment can
                               describe partials
                               or full cradle to
                               grave cycles.
                              <bullet> GQ3:
                               Ongoing research,
                               development of
                               frameworks and
                               assessments.
Context.....................  <bullet> Healthcare:  <bullet> Studies in
                               healthcare delivery   contexts not
                               organizations,        specific to
                               health insurance,     healthcare.
                               or manufacturers/
                               suppliers that
                               directly contribute
                               to the delivery of
                               healthcare (e.g.,
                               supply of personal
                               protective
                               equipment)
                               including scope 1,
                               scope 2, and scope
                               3 emissions.
Other limiter...............  <bullet> Information  <bullet> Data
                               published in          reported in
                               English-language      abbreviated format
                               journal               (e.g., conference
                               manuscripts, trial    abstracts) will be
                               records, and gray     excluded;
                               literature in the     systematic reviews
                               public domain from    will be retained
                               the outlined          for reference
                               sources.              mining.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Abbreviations: GQ guiding questions; HCO health care organization; 
ISO International Standards Organization.

    Dated: September 26, 2023.
Marquita Cullom,
Associate Director.
[FR Doc. 2023-21481 Filed 9-28-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4160-90-P


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