Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 80 / Wednesday, April 25, 2012 / Notices 24715 

adjournment on June 22. This meeting 

is open to the public with attendance 

limited only by the space available. 

Individuals who plan to attend are 

encouraged to register online at the BSC 

meeting Web site (http:// 

ntp.niehs.nih.gov/go/165) by June 14, 

2012, to facilitate planning for the 

meeting. Registered attendees are 

encouraged to access this Web site to 

stay abreast of the most current 

information regarding the meeting. The 

NTP is making plans to videocast the 

meeting through the Internet at http:// 

www.niehs.nih.gov/news/video/live. 

Request for Comments 

Written comments submitted in 

response to this notice should be 

received by June 7, 2012. Comments 

will be posted on the BSC meeting Web 

site and persons submitting them will 

be identified by their name and 

affiliation and/or sponsoring 

organization, if applicable. Persons 

submitting written comments should 

include their name, affiliation (if 

applicable), phone, email, and 

sponsoring organization (if any) with 

the document. 

Time will be allotted during the 

meeting for the public to present oral 

comments to the BSC on the agenda 

topics. In addition to in-person oral 

comments at the meeting at the NIEHS, 

public comments can be presented by 

teleconference line. There will be 50 

lines for this call; availability will be on 

a first-come, first-served basis. The 

available lines will be open from 8:30 

a.m. until adjournment, although public 

comments will be received only during 

the formal public comment periods, 

which are indicated on the preliminary 

agenda. Each organization is allowed 

one time slot per agenda topic. At least 

7 minutes will be allotted to each 

speaker, and if time permits, may be 

extended to 10 minutes at the discretion 

of the BSC chair. Persons wishing to 

present oral comments are encouraged 

to pre-register on the NTP meeting Web 

site, indicate whether they will present 

comments in-person or via the 

teleconference line, and list the topic(s) 

on which they plan to comment. The 

access number for the teleconference 

line will be provided to registrants by 

email prior to the meeting. Registration 

for oral comments will also be available 

on both meeting days, although time 

allowed for presentation by these 

registrants may be less than that for preregistered speakers and will be 

determined by the number of persons 

who register at the meeting. 

Persons registering to make oral 

comments are asked to send a copy of 

their statement or PowerPoint slides to 

the Designated Federal Officer for the 

BSC (see ADDRESSES above) by June 14, 

2012. Written statements can 

supplement and may expand upon the 

oral presentation. If registering on-site 

and reading from written text, please 

bring 40 copies of the statement for 

distribution to the BSC and NTP staff 

and to supplement the record. 

Background Information on the NTP 

BSC 

The BSC is a technical advisory body 

comprised of scientists from the public 

and private sectors that provides 

primary scientific oversight to the NTP. 

Specifically, the BSC advises the NTP 

on matters of scientific program content, 

both present and future, and conducts 

periodic review of the program for the 

purpose of determining and advising on 

the scientific merit of its activities and 

their overall scientific quality. Its 

members are selected from recognized 

authorities knowledgeable in fields such 

as toxicology, pharmacology, pathology, 

biochemistry, epidemiology, risk 

assessment, carcinogenesis, 

mutagenesis, molecular biology, 

behavioral toxicology, neurotoxicology, 

immunotoxicology, reproductive 

toxicology or teratology, and 

biostatistics. Members serve overlapping 

terms of up to four years. The BSC 

usually meets biannually. 

Dated: April 11, 2012. 

John R. Bucher, 

Associate Director, National Toxicology 

Program. 

[FR Doc. 2012–9913 Filed 4–24–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4140–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

Solicitation of Written Comments on 

Draft: National Action Plan To Prevent 

Healthcare-Associated Infections: 

Roadmap to Elimination 

AGENCY: Department of Health and 

Human Services, Office of the Assistant 

Secretary for Health, Office of 

Healthcare Quality. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The Office of Healthcare 

Quality is soliciting public comment on 

the revised draft National Action Plan to 

Prevent Healthcare-Associated 

Infections: Roadmap to Elimination. 

DATES: Comments on the revised draft 

National Action Plan to Prevent 

Healthcare-Associated Infections: 

Roadmap to Elimination should be 

received no later than 5 p.m. on June 25, 

2012. This document reflects a 

significant update and expansion from 

the initial version issued in 2009, ‘‘HHS 

Action Plan to Prevent HealthcareAssociated Infections.’’ It includes new 

sections specific to infection reduction 

in ambulatory surgical centers and endstage renal disease facilities, as well as 

a new section on increasing influenza 

vaccination of health care personnel. 

The Action Plan reflects the work of 

many offices across the Department of 

Health and Human Services, 

Department of Defense, and Department 

of Veterans Affairs. The plan also 

reflects input from national experts and 

stakeholder organizations. 

ADDRESSES: The revised draft National 

Action Plan to Prevent HealthcareAssociated Infections: Roadmap to 

Elimination can be found at http:// 

www.hhs.gov/ash/initiatives/hai/ 

actionplan/index.html. Comments are 

preferred electronically and may be 

addressed to OHQ@hhs.gov. Written 

responses should be addressed to the 

Department of Health and Human 

Services, Office of Healthcare Quality, 

200 Independence Ave, SW., Room 

711G, Washington, DC 20201, Attention: 

Draft National HAI AP. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Daniel Gallardo, (202) 690–2470 or 

OHQ@hhs.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

I. Background 

Healthcare-associated infections, or 

HAIs, are a serious public health issue; 

at any given time, about 1 in every 20 

patients has an infection related to their 

hospital care, which cost the U.S. 

healthcare system billions of dollars 

each year. For these reasons, the 

prevention and reduction of healthcareassociated infections is a top priority for 

the Department of Health and Human 

Services (HHS). Multiple Operating and 

Staff Divisions within HHS have been 

working to reduce the incidence and 

prevalence of healthcare-associated 

infections for decades. To further 

efforts, the HHS Steering Committee for 

the Prevention of Healthcare-Associated 

Infections was established in July 2008 

and charged with developing a 

comprehensive strategy to progress 

toward the elimination of healthcareassociated infections. 

In 2009, the Steering Committee 

issued the initial version of the ‘‘HHS 

Action Plan to Prevent HealthcareAssociated Infections.’’ The initial 

strategy (Phase One) focused on the 

prevention of infections in the acute 

care hospital setting and includes: a 

prioritized research agenda; an 

integrated information systems and 

technology strategy; policy options for 

linking payment incentives or 


pmangrum on DSK3VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
24716 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 80 / Wednesday, April 25, 2012 / Notices 

disincentives to quality of care and 

enhancing regulatory oversight of 

hospitals; and a national messaging plan 

to raise awareness of HAIs among the 

hospitals and family caregivers. The 

Action Plan also delineates specific 

measures and five-year goals to focus 

efforts and track national progress in 

reducing the most prevalent infections. 

In addition, the plan intended to 

enhance collaboration with nongovernment stakeholders and partners at 

the national, regional, state, and local 

levels to strengthen coordination and 

impact of efforts. 

Recognizing the need to coordinate 

prevention efforts across healthcare 

facilities, HHS began to transition into 

the second phase (Phase Two) of the 

Action Plan in late 2009. Phase Two 

expands efforts outside of the acute care 

setting into outpatient facilities (e.g., 

ambulatory surgical centers, end-stage 

renal disease facilities). The healthcare 

and public health communities are 

increasingly challenged to identify, 

respond to, and prevent healthcareassociated infections across the 

continuum of settings where healthcare 

is delivered. The public health model’s 

population-based perspective can be 

deployed to enhance healthcareassociated infection prevention, 

particularly given the shifts in 

healthcare delivery from the acute care 

(Phase One) to ambulatory (Phase Two) 

and other settings. 

Moreover, healthcare personnel can 

acquire and transmit influenza from 

patients or transmit influenza to 

patients and other health care 

personnel. Results of several studies 

indicate that higher vaccination 

coverage among health care personnel is 

associated with lower incidence of 

nosocomial influenza, influenza-like 

illness, or mortality during influenza 

season. In addition, the proportion of 

healthcare-associated cases among 

hospitalized patients decreases as well, 

suggesting that increased staff 

vaccination can contribute to the 

decline in the number of healthcareassociated influenza cases. 

The Steering Committee drafted two 

strategies or modules that address 

healthcare-associated infection 

prevention in ambulatory surgical 

centers and end-stage renal disease 

facilities. An additional module 

addresses influenza vaccination of 

health care personnel. Similar to its 

Phase One efforts, Phase Two 

healthcare-associated infection 

reduction strategies expect to be 

executed through research and 

guideline development, implementation 

of national quality improvement 

initiatives at the provider level, and 

creation of payment policies that 

promote infection control and reduction 

in healthcare facilities. 

To assist the Steering Committee in 

obtaining broad input in the 

development of the three draft modules, 

HHS, through this request for 

information (RFI), is seeking comments 

from stakeholders and the general 

public on the revised draft National 

Action Plan to Prevent HealthcareAssociated Infections: Roadmap to 

Elimination. The revised draft can be 

found at http://www.hhs.gov/ash/ 

initiatives/hai/actionplan/index.html. 

II. Information Request 

The Office of Healthcare Quality, on 

behalf of the HHS Steering Committee 

for the Prevention of HealthcareAssociated Infections, requests input on 

the revised draft National Action Plan to 

Prevent Healthcare-Associated 

Infections: Roadmap to Elimination. 

III. Potential Responders 

HHS invites input from a broad range 

of individuals and organizations that 

have interests in preventing and 

reducing healthcare-associated 

infections. Some examples of these 

organizations include, but are not 

limited to the following: 

—General public 

—Healthcare, professional, and 

educational organizations/societies 

—Caregivers or health system providers 

(e.g., physicians, physician assistants, 

nurses, infection preventionists) 

—State and local public health agencies 

—Public health organizations 

—Foundations 

—Medicaid- and Medicare-related 

organizations 

—Insurers and business groups 

—Collaboratives and consortia. 

When responding, please self-identify 

with any of the above or other categories 

(include all that apply) and your name. 

Anonymous submissions will not be 

considered. The submission of written 

materials in response to the RFI should 

not exceed 10 pages, not including 

appendices and supplemental 

documents. Responders may submit 

other forms of electronic materials to 

demonstrate or exhibit concepts of their 

written responses, however, we request 

that comments are identified by 

Chapter, Section, and page number so 

they may be addressed accordingly. 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. 

Dated: April 19, 2012. 

Don Wright, 

Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health. 

[FR Doc. 2012–9868 Filed 4–24–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4150–28–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

Agency for Healthcare Research and 

Quality 

Scientific Information Request on 

Medical Devices To Treat Otitis Media 

With Effusion 

AGENCY: Agency for Healthcare Research 

and Quality (AHRQ), HHS. 

ACTION: Request for Scientific 

Information Submissions. 

SUMMARY: The Agency for Healthcare 

Research and Quality (AHRQ) is seeking 

scientific information submissions from 

manufacturers of otitis media with 

effusion medical devices, such as 

tympanostomy tubes and autoinflation 

devices. Scientific information is being 

solicited to inform our Comparative 

Effectiveness Review of Otitis Media 

with Effusion (OME) Treatments, which 

is currently being conducted by the 

Evidence-based Practice Centers for the 

AHRQ Effective Health Care Program. 

Access to published and unpublished 

pertinent scientific information on this 

device will improve the quality of this 

comparative effectiveness review. 

AHRQ is requesting this scientific 

information and conducting this 

comparative effectiveness review 

pursuant to Section 1013 of the 

Medicare Prescription Drug, 

Improvement, and Modernization Act of 

2003, Public Law 108–173. 

DATES: Submission Deadline on or 

before May 25, 2012. 

ADDRESSES:

Online submissions: http://effective

healthcare.AHRQ.gov/index.cfm/submit

-scientific-information-packets/. Please 

select the study for which you are 

submitting information from the list of 

current studies and complete the form 

to upload your documents. 

Email submissions: ehcsrc@ohsu.edu 

(please do not send zipped files—they 

are automatically deleted for security 

reasons). 

Print submissions: Robin Paynter, 

Oregon Health and Science University, 

Oregon Evidence-based Practice Center, 

3181 SW Sam Jackson Park Road, Mail 

Code: BICC, Portland, OR 97239–3098. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Robin Paynter, Research Librarian, 

Telephone: 503–494–0147 or Email: 

ehcsrc@ohsu.edu. 


pmangrum on DSK3VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES