40514 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 158 / Wednesday, August 15, 2018 / Notices 

by contacting the Office of Agreements 

at (202) 523–5793 or tradeanalysis@

fmc.gov. 

Agreement No.: 012472–002. 

Agreement Name: Yang Ming/COSCO 

Shipping Slot Exchange Agreement. 

Parties: COSCO Shipping Lines Co., 

Ltd.; Yang Ming Marine Transport 

Corporation; and Yang Ming (UK) Ltd. 

Filing Party: Robert Magovern; Cozen 

O’Connor. 

Synopsis: The amendment revises the 

Agreement to clarify that the space 

provided to Yang Ming by COSCO 

SHIPPING will be provided on the CEN 

service and the AAC3 service, instead of 

the AAC service, effective on or around 

August 27, 2018. 

Proposed Effective Date: 8/9/2018. 

Location: https://www2.fmc.gov/ 

FMC.Agreements.Web/Public/ 

AgreementHistory/1969. 

Dated: August 10, 2018. 

Rachel Dickon, 

Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2018–17609 Filed 8–14–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6731–AA–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid 

Services 

[CMS–3364–PN] 

Medicare and Medicaid Programs: 

Application From the Joint 

Commission (TJC) for Continued 

Approval of its Psychiatric Hospital 

Accreditation Program 

AGENCY: Centers for Medicare & 

Medicaid Services (CMS), HHS. 

ACTION: Notice with request for 

comment. 

SUMMARY: This proposed notice 

acknowledges the receipt of an 

application from the Joint Commission 

(TJC) for continued recognition as a 

national accrediting organization for 

psychiatric hospitals that wish to 

participate in the Medicare or Medicaid 

programs. 

DATES: To be assured consideration, 

comments must be received at one of 

the addresses provided below, no later 

than 5 p.m. on September 14, 2018. 

ADDRESSES: In commenting, refer to file 

code CMS–3364–PN. Because of staff 

and resource limitations, we cannot 

accept comments by facsimile (FAX) 

transmission. 

Comments, including mass comment 

submissions, must be submitted in one 

of the following three ways (please 

choose only one of the ways listed): 

1. Electronically. You may submit 

electronic comments on this regulation 

to http://www.regulations.gov. Follow 

the ‘‘Submit a comment’’ instructions. 

2. By regular mail. You may mail 

written comments to the following 

address ONLY: Centers for Medicare & 

Medicaid Services, Department of 

Health and Human Services, Attention: 

CMS–3364–PN, P.O. Box 8010, 

Baltimore, MD 21244–8010. 

Please allow sufficient time for mailed 

comments to be received before the 

close of the comment period. 

3. By express or overnight mail. You 

may send written comments to the 

following address ONLY: Centers for 

Medicare & Medicaid Services, 

Department of Health and Human 

Services, Attention: CMS–3364–PN, 

Mail Stop C4–26–05, 7500 Security 

Boulevard, Baltimore, MD 21244–1850. 

For information on viewing public 

comments, see the beginning of the 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Karena Meushaw (410) 786–6609, 

Monda Shaver (410) 786–3410 or Marie 

Vasbinder (410)786–8665. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Inspection 

of Public Comments: All comments 

received before the close of the 

comment period are available for 

viewing by the public, including any 

personally identifiable or confidential 

business information that is included in 

a comment. We post all comments 

received before the close of the 

comment period on the following 

website as soon as possible after they 

have been received: http://

www.regulations.gov. Follow the search 

instructions on that website to view 

public comments. 

I. Background 

Under the Medicare program, eligible 

beneficiaries may receive covered 

services from a psychiatric hospital 

provided certain requirements are met. 

Section 1861(f) of the Social Security 

Act (the Act) establishes distinct criteria 

for facilities seeking designation as a 

psychiatric hospital. Regulations 

concerning provider agreements are at 

42 CFR part 489 and those pertaining to 

activities relating to the survey and 

certification of facilities are at 42 CFR 

part 488. The regulations at 42 CFR part 

482 subparts A, B, C and E specify the 

minimum conditions that a psychiatric 

hospital must meet to participate in the 

Medicare program, the scope of covered 

services and the conditions for Medicare 

payment for psychiatric hospitals. 

Generally, to enter into a provider 

agreement with Medicare, a psychiatric 

hospital must first be certified by a State 

survey agency as complying with the 

conditions or requirements set forth in 

part 482 subpart A, B, C and E of our 

CMS regulations. Thereafter, the 

psychiatric hospital is subject to regular 

surveys by a State survey agency to 

determine whether it continues to meet 

these requirements. There is an 

alternative, however, to surveys by State 

agencies. 

Section 1865(a)(1) of the Act provides 

that, if a provider entity demonstrates 

through accreditation by a CMSapproved national accrediting 

organization (AO) that all applicable 

Medicare conditions are met or 

exceeded, we may deem the provider 

entity as having met the requirements. 

Accreditation by an AO is voluntary and 

is not required for Medicare 

participation. 

If an AO is recognized by CMS as 

having standards for accreditation that 

meet or exceed Medicare requirements, 

any provider entity accredited by the 

national accrediting body’s approved 

program may be deemed to meet the 

Medicare conditions. An AO applying 

for approval of its accreditation program 

under part 488, subpart A, must provide 

CMS with reasonable assurance that the 

AO requires the accredited provider 

entities to meet requirements that are at 

least as stringent as the Medicare 

conditions. Our regulations concerning 

the approval of AO are set forth at 

§ 488.5. Our regulations at 

§ 488.5(e)(2)(i) require an accrediting 

organization to reapply for continued 

approval of its accreditation program(s) 

every 6 years or sooner, as determined 

by CMS. 

The Joint Commission’s current term 

of approval for their psychiatric hospital 

accreditation program expires February 

25, 2019. 

II. Provisions of the Proposed Notice 

A. Approval of Deeming Organizations 

Section 1865(a)(2) of the Act and our 

regulations at § 488.5 require that our 

findings concerning review and 

approval of an AO’s requirements 

consider, among other factors, the 

applying AO’s requirements for 

accreditation; survey procedures; 

resources for conducting required 

surveys; capacity to furnish information 

for use in enforcement activities; 

monitoring procedures for provider 

entities found not in compliance with 

the conditions or requirements; and 

ability to provide CMS with the 

necessary data for validation. 

Section 1865(a)(3)(A) of the Act 

further requires that we publish, within 

60 days of receipt of an organization’s 

complete application, a notice 


daltland on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 158 / Wednesday, August 15, 2018 / Notices 40515 

identifying the national accrediting 

body making the request, describing the 

nature of the request, and providing at 

least a 30-day public comment period. 

We have 210 days from the receipt of a 

complete application to publish notice 

of approval or denial of the application. 

The purpose of this proposed notice 

is to inform the public of TJC’s request 

for CMS-approval of its psychiatric 

hospital accreditation program. This 

notice also solicits public comment on 

whether TJC’s requirements meet or 

exceed the Medicare conditions of 

participation (CoPs) for psychiatric 

hospitals. 

B. Evaluation of Deeming Authority 

Request 

TJC submitted all the necessary 

materials to enable us to make a 

determination concerning its request for 

CMS-approval of its psychiatric hospital 

accreditation program. This application 

was determined to be complete on July 

30, 2018. Under section 1865(a)(2) of the 

Act and our regulations at § 488.5 

(Application and re-application 

procedures for national accrediting 

organizations), our review and 

evaluation of TJC will be conducted in 

accordance with, but not necessarily 

limited to, the following factors: 

• The equivalency of TJC’s standards 

for psychiatric hospitals as compared 

with CMS’ psychiatric hospital CoPs. 

• TJC’s survey process to determine 

the following: 

++ The composition of the survey 

team, surveyor qualifications, and the 

ability of the organization to provide 

continuing surveyor training. 

++ The comparability of TJC’s 

processes to those of State agencies, 

including survey frequency, and the 

ability to investigate and respond 

appropriately to complaints against 

accredited facilities. 

++ TJC’s processes and procedures 

for monitoring a psychiatric hospital 

found out of compliance with the TJC’s 

program requirements. These 

monitoring procedures are used only 

when TJC identifies noncompliance. If 

noncompliance is identified through 

validation reviews or complaint 

surveys, the state survey agency 

monitors corrections as specified at 

§ 488.9(c). 

++ TJC’s capacity to report 

deficiencies to the surveyed facilities 

and respond to the facility’s plan of 

correction in a timely manner. 

++ TJC’s capacity to provide CMS 

with electronic data and reports 

necessary for effective validation and 

assessment of the organization’s survey 

process. 

++ The adequacy of TJC’s staff and 

other resources, and its financial 

viability. 

++ TJC’s capacity to adequately fund 

required surveys. 

++ TJC’s policies with respect to 

whether surveys are announced or 

unannounced, to assure that surveys are 

unannounced. 

++ TJC’s agreement to provide CMS 

with a copy of the most current 

accreditation survey together with any 

other information related to the survey 

as CMS may require (including 

corrective action plans). 

III. Collection of Information 

Requirements 

This document does not impose 

information collection requirements, 

that is, reporting, recordkeeping or 

third-party disclosure requirements. 

Consequently, there is no need for 

review by the Office of Management and 

Budget under the authority of the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 

U.S.C. Chapter 35). 

IV. Response to Comments 

Because of the large number of public 

comments we normally receive on 

Federal Register documents, we are not 

able to acknowledge or respond to them 

individually. We will consider all 

comments we receive by the date and 

time specified in the DATES section of 

this preamble, and, when we proceed 

with a subsequent document, we will 

respond to the comments in the 

preamble to that document. 

Upon completion of our evaluation, 

including evaluation of comments 

received as a result of this notice, we 

will publish a final notice in the Federal 

Register announcing the result of our 

evaluation. 

V. Regulatory Impact Statement 

This proposed notice does not impose 

any regulatory impact. 

In accordance with the provisions of 

Executive Order 12866, this regulation 

was not reviewed by the Office of 

Management and Budget. 

Dated: August 6, 2018. 

Seema Verma, 

Administrator, Centers for Medicare & 

Medicaid Services. 

[FR Doc. 2018–17519 Filed 8–14–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4120–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

Administration for Children and 

Families 

Submission for OMB Review; 

Comment Request 

Title: Evaluation of Domestic Victims 

of Human Trafficking Program. 

OMB No.: 0970–0487. 

Description: The Administration for 

Children and Families (ACF), U.S. 

Department of Health and Human 

Services (HHS) is proposing data 

collection as part of the study, 

‘‘Evaluation of the Domestic Victims of 

Human Trafficking (DVHT) Program’’. 

This notice addresses the cross-site 

process evaluation to be conducted with 

the 13 FY 2016 DVHT grantees who 

were awarded 3-year cooperative 

agreements by the Office of Trafficking 

in Persons (OTIP). The intent of the 

DVHT Program is to build, expand, and 

sustain organizational and community 

capacity to deliver trauma-informed, 

strength-based, and victim-centered 

services for domestic victims of severe 

forms of human trafficking through 

coordinated case management, a system 

of referrals and the formation of 

community partnerships. 

The objective of the evaluation is to 

describe the ways in which projects 

achieve the goals of the DVHT Program 

and examine types of models that serve 

victims of human trafficking. Evaluation 

questions are focused on understanding 

project and service delivery models, 

process, and implementation; including 

partnership and collaboration 

development; services offered to and 

received by victims, strategies to 

identify and engage survivors; ways 

projects define and monitor program 

successes and outcomes; and program 

challenges, achievements, and lessons 

learned. Information from the 

evaluation will assist federal, state, and 

community policymakers and funders 

in making decisions about future 

program models to serve domestic 

victims of human trafficking, as well as 

to refine evaluation strategies for future 

programs targeting trafficking victims. 

The evaluation of the DVHT Program 

will document and describe grantees’ 

projects and implementation 

approaches, including their service 

models and community partners; 

services provided to clients (i.e., victims 

of severe forms of human trafficking); 

service delivery practices; strategies to 

meet survivors’ immediate and longterm housing needs; and approaches to 

engaging survivors in program 

development and service delivery. 


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