46948 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 149 / Wednesday, August 4, 2010 / Notices 

Coordinator, Conference and Meetings 

Management, Altarum Institute, 1200 18th 

Street, NW., Suite 700, Washington, DC 

20036, telephone: (202) 828–5100, fax: (202) 

785–3083, or e-mail: 

conferences@altarum.org. 

Contact Person: Anyone interested in 

obtaining other relevant information should 

contact Alaina M. Harris, Maternal and Child 

Health Bureau, Health Resources and 

Services Administration, Room 18A–19, 

Parklawn Building, 5600 Fishers Lane, 

Rockville, Maryland 20857, telephone (301) 

443–0721, aharris@hrsa.gov. More 

information on the Advisory Committee is 

available at http://mchb.hrsa.gov/ 

heritabledisorderscommittee. 

Dated: July 29, 2010. 

Sahira Rafiullah, 

Director, Division of Policy and Information 

Coordination. 

[FR Doc. 2010–19119 Filed 8–3–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4165–15–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid 

Services 

[CMS–1578–N] 

Medicare Program; Listening Session 

Regarding Confidential Feedback 

Reports and the Implementation of a 

Value-Based Payment Modifier for 

Physicians, September 24, 2010 

AGENCY: Centers for Medicare & 

Medicaid Services (CMS), HHS. 

ACTION: Notice of meeting. 

SUMMARY: This notice announces a 

listening session being conducted as 

part of the transition to a value-based 

purchasing program for services of 

physicians and certain other 

professionals, as well as other related 

provisions under the Patient Protection 

and Affordable Care Act (known as the 

Affordable Care Act (ACA)). This public 

law contains provisions that continue 

and expand the Physician Feedback 

Program and also require 

implementation of a value-based 

payment modifier to the fee-for-service 

physician fee schedule. The purpose of 

the listening session is to solicit 

comments on approaches being 

considered as we implement these 

provisions. Physicians, physician 

associations, and all others interested in 

the use of confidential feedback reports 

as one means of enhancing quality and 

efficiency are invited to participate, in 

person or by calling in to the 

teleconference. The meeting is open to 

the public, but attendance is limited to 

space and teleconference lines available. 

Background information, including the 

relevant preamble language from 

calendar year (CY) 2011 Physician Fee 

Schedule proposed rule will be posted 

on the CMS Web site at http:// 

www.cms.hhs.gov/center/physician.asp 

approximately 1 week prior to the 

session. 

DATES: Meeting Date: The listening 

session will be held on Friday, 

September 24th from 10 a.m. until 4 

p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (e.d.t.) 

Deadline for Meeting Registration and 

Request for Special Accommodations: 

Registration opens on July 30, 2010. 

Registration must be completed by 5 

p.m. e.d.t. on September 22, 2010. 

Requests for special accommodations 

must be received by 5 p.m. e.d.t. on 

September 22, 2010. 

Deadline for Submission of Written 

Comments or Statements: Written 

comments or statements may be sent via 

mail, fax, or electronically to the 

address specified in the ADDRESSES

section of this notice and must be 

received by 5 p.m. e.d.t. on Monday, 

September 20, 2010. 

ADDRESSES: Meeting Location: The 

listening session will be held in the 

main auditorium of the Central Building 

of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid 

Services, 7500 Security Boulevard, 

Baltimore, MD 21244–1850. 

Registration and Special 

Accommodations: Persons interested in 

attending the meeting or participating 

by teleconference must register by 

completing the on-line registration via 

the CMS Web site at http:// 

www.eventsvc.com/palmettogba/ 

092410. Individuals who require special 

accommodations should send an e-mail 

request to 

pamela.cheetham@cms.hhs.gov or via 

regular mail to Pamela Cheetham at the 

address specified in the FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT section of this 

notice. 

Written Comments or Statements: 

Written comments or statements may be 

sent via e-mail to 

PhysicianVBP@cms.hhs.gov, faxed to 

410–786–8005; or sent via regular mail 

to: Attn: Physician VBP Comments, Mail 

Stop C5–15–12, Centers for Medicare & 

Medicaid Services, 7500 Security 

Boulevard, Baltimore, MD 21244–1850. 

All persons planning to make a 

statement in person at the listening 

session are urged to submit statements 

in writing at the listening session and 

should subsequently submit the 

information electronically by the 

timeframe specified in the DATES section 

of this notice. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

further information regarding the 

September 24, 2010 listening session 

contact Pamela Cheetham at (410) 786– 

2259. You may also send inquiries about 

this listening session via e-mail to 

pamela.cheetham@cms.hhs.gov or via 

regular mail at Centers for Medicare & 

Medicaid Services, Mail Stop C5–15–12, 

7500 Security Boulevard, Baltimore, MD 

21244–1850. 

I. Background 

Section 131(c) of the Medicare 

Improvements for Patients and 

Providers Act of 2008 (MIPPA) 

established the Physician Feedback 

Program that requires the Secretary to 

provide confidential feedback reports to 

physicians on resource use. Section 

131(d) of MIPPA requires the Secretary 

to develop a plan for the transition to a 

value-based purchasing program for 

covered professional services. 

The Affordable Care Act contains 

several provisions related to 

implementation of physician valuebased purchasing (PVBP). Value-based 

purchasing is expected to create 

financial incentives for increasing 

quality of care and decreasing overall 

costs by transitioning to payment that 

will link levels of reimbursement to 

higher achievement of clinical quality 

and efficiency. Section 3003 of ACA 

continues and expands the Physician 

Feedback Program and requires the 

Secretary of Health and Human Services 

(the Secretary), beginning in 2012, to 

provide reports that compare patterns of 

resource use of individual physicians to 

other physicians. In addition, section 

3007 of the ACA requires the Secretary 

to apply a budget-neutral payment 

modifier to the fee-for-service physician 

fee schedule beginning in 2015. During 

the listening session, we will discuss 

Phase I and Phase II of the Physician 

Feedback Program and outline the 

relevant sections of the ACA. 

Stakeholder input will be sought on a 

number of topics including but not 

limited to: report design and 

dissemination, cost and quality 

measures to assess performance, risk 

adjustment, attribution of Medicare 

beneficiaries to providers, 

benchmarking and peer groups, and 

composite measures of cost and quality. 

Background information, including 

the relevant preamble language from CY 

2011 Physician Fee Schedule proposed 

rule (75 FR 40113 through 40116) will 

be posted on the CMS Web site at 

http://www.cms.hhs.gov/center/ 

physician.asp approximately 1 week 

prior to the session. The complete CY 

2011 Physician Fee Schedule proposed 

rule appeared in the July 13, 2010, 

Federal Register (75 FR 40040) and is 

available at http://edocket.access. 

gpo.gov/2010/pdf/2010-15900.pdf. The 

mstockstill on DSKH9S0YB1PROD with NOTICES

Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 149 / Wednesday, August 4, 2010 / Notices 46949 

public comment period for this 

proposed rule ends August 24, 2010. 

Please note that in order to ensure the 

consideration of public comments for 

purposes of the CY 2011 Physician Fee 

Schedule final rule, comments must be 

submitted as directed in the proposed 

rule (see 75 FR 40040). The issues 

identified and discussed during this 

listening session, along with other 

comments we receive, will assist CMS 

in developing the future phases of the 

Physician Feedback Program as well as 

implementation of the value-based 

payment modifier. 

II. Listening Session Format 

The listening session will be held on 

September 24, 2010. The session will 

begin at 10 a.m. e.d.t. with an overview 

of the objectives for the session and a 

brief summary of the relevant valuebased purchasing provisions of ACA. 

The agenda will provide opportunities 

for brief 2-minute comments from onsite session attendees. As time allows, 

telephone participants will also have 

the opportunity to provide comments 

that do not exceed 2-minutes. We will 

break for lunch from approximately 

12:30 p.m. e.d.t. to 1:15 p.m. e.d.t. The 

meeting will conclude by 4 p.m. e.d.t. 

with brief comments on next steps. 

III. Registration Instructions 

For security reasons, any persons 

wishing to attend this meeting must 

register by the date listed in the DATES

section of this notice. Persons interested 

in attending the meeting or participating 

by teleconference must register by 

completing the on-line registration via 

the designated Web site at http:// 

www.eventsvc.com/palmettogba/ 

092410. The on-line registration system 

will generate a confirmation page to 

indicate the completion of your 

registration. Please print this page as 

your registration receipt. 

Individuals may also participate in 

the listening session by teleconference. 

Registration is required as the number of 

call-in lines will be limited. The call-in 

number will be provided upon 

confirmation of registration. 

An audio download and transcript of 

the listening session will be available 

within two weeks after completion of 

the listening session through the CMS 

Web site Physician Center Spotlights at 

http://www.cms.hhs.gov/center/ 

physician.asp. 

IV. Security, Building, and Parking 

Guidelines 

This meeting will be held in a Federal 

government building; therefore, Federal 

security measures are applicable. In 

planning your arrival time, we 

recommend allowing additional time to 

clear security. The on-site check-in for 

visitors will begin at 9:15 a.m. e.d.t. 

Please allow sufficient time to complete 

security checkpoints. 

Security measures include the 

following: 

• Presentation of government-issued 

photographic identification to the 

Federal Protective Service or Guard 

Service personnel. 

• Interior and exterior inspection of 

vehicles (this includes engine and trunk 

inspection) at the entrance to the 

grounds. Parking permits and 

instructions will be issued after the 

vehicle inspection. 

• Passing through a metal detector 

and inspection of items brought into the 

building. We note that all items brought 

to CMS, whether personal or for the 

purpose of demonstration or to support 

a demonstration, are subject to 

inspection. 

We cannot assume responsibility for 

coordinating the receipt, transfer, 

transport, storage, set-up, safety, or 

timely arrival of any personal 

belongings or items used for 

demonstration or to support a 

demonstration. 

Note: Individuals who are not registered in 

advance will not be permitted to enter the 

building and will be unable to attend the 

meeting. The public may not enter the 

building earlier than 45 minutes prior to the 

convening of the meeting. All visitors must 

be escorted in areas other than the lower and 

first floor levels in the Central Building. 

Seating capacity is limited to the first 250 

registrants. 

Authority: Sections 3001 and 3007 of the 

Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. 

Dated: July 29, 2010. 

Donald M. Berwick, 

Administrator, Centers for Medicare & 

Medicaid Services. 

[FR Doc. 2010–19128 Filed 8–3–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4120–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

National Institutes of Health 

National Institute on Alcohol Abuse 

and Alcoholism; Notice of Meeting 

Pursuant to section 10(d) of the 

Federal Advisory Committee Act, as 

amended (5 U.S.C. App), notice is 

hereby given of the Board of Scientific 

Counselors, NIAAA. 

The meeting will be open to the 

public as indicated below, with 

attendance limited to space available. 

Individuals who plan to attend and 

need special assistance, such as sign 

language interpretation or other 

reasonable accommodations, should 

notify the Contact Person listed below 

in advance of the meeting. 

The meeting will be closed to the 

public in accordance with the 

provisions set forth in section 

552b(c)(6), Title 5 U.S.C., as amended, 

for the review, discussion, and 

evaluation of individual intramural 

programs and projects conducted by the 

National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and 

Alcoholism, including consideration of 

personnel qualifications and 

performances, and the competence of 

individual investigators, the disclosure 

of which would constitute a clearly 

unwarranted invasion of personal 

privacy. 

Name of Committee: Board of Scientific 

Counselors, NIAAA. 

Date: September 1–2, 2010. 

Open: September 1, 2010, 7:45 a.m. to 8 

a.m. 

Agenda: Public Session. 

Place: National Institutes of Health, 5625 

Fishers Lane, Bethesda, MD 20892. 

Closed: September 1, 2010, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. 

Agenda: To review and evaluate the 

Laboratory for Integrative Neuroscience 

(LIN). 

Closed: September 2, 2010, 8 a.m. to 2:15 

p.m. 

Agenda: To review and evaluate the 

Laboratory Molecular Physiology (LMP). 

Place: National Institutes of Health, 5625 

Fishers Lane, Bethesda, MD 20892. 

Contact Person: Trish Scullion, Chief of 

Administration Branch, National Institutes of 

Health, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse 

and Alcoholism, 5635 Fishers Lane, Room 

3061, Rockville, MD 20852, 301–443–6076. 

Information is also available on the 

Institute’s/Center’s home page: http:// 

www.silk.nih.gov/silk/niaaa1/about/ 

roster.htm, where an agenda and any 

additional information for the meeting will 

be posted when available. 

(Catalogue of Federal Domestic Assistance 

Program Nos.: 93.271, Alcohol Research 

Career Development Awards for Scientists 

and Clinicians; 93.272, Alcohol National 

Research Service Awards for Research 

Training; 93.273, Alcohol Research Programs; 

93.891, Alcohol Research Center Grants; 

93.701, ARRA Related Biomedical Research 

and Research Support Awards, National 

Institutes of Health, HHS) 

Dated: July 29, 2010. 

Jennifer Spaeth, 

Director, Office of Federal Advisory 

Committee Policy. 

[FR Doc. 2010–19169 Filed 8–3–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4140–01–P 

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