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[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 63 (Thursday, April 2, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Page 17757]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-07626]

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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

National Institutes of Health

Solicitation of Written Comments on Draft National Pain Strategy

SUMMARY: The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke 
(NINDS) Office of Pain Policy is soliciting public comment on the draft 
National Pain Strategy.

DATES: Comments on the draft National Pain Strategy must be received no 
later than 5 p.m. EST on May 20, 2015.

ADDRESSES: The draft National Pain Strategy is available at: http://iprcc.nih.gov/docs/DraftHHSNationalPainStrategy.pdf. Written comments 
sent electronically are preferred and may be addressed to 
[email protected]. Written responses should be addressed to 
Linda Porter, Ph.D., NINDS/NIH, 31 Center Drive, Room 8A31, Bethesda, 
MD 20892.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Contact Linda Porter, Ph.D., NINDS/
NIH, 31 Center Drive, Room 8A31, Bethesda, MD 20892, 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The draft National Pain Strategy reflects 
the work of many offices across the Department of Health and Human 
Services, Department of Defense, and Department of Veterans Affairs. 
The draft National Pain Strategy also reflects input from scientific 
and clinical experts and pain patient advocates. It includes objectives 
and plans related to key areas of pain and pain care, including 
professional education and training, public education and 
communication, service delivery and reimbursement, prevention and care, 
disparities, and population research.

I. Background

    A core recommendation of the 2011 IOM Report: Relieving Pain in 
America is: ``The Secretary of the Department of Health and Human 
Services should develop a comprehensive, population health-level 
strategy for pain prevention, treatment, management, education, 
reimbursement, and research that includes specific goals, actions, time 
frames, and resources.'' The IOM report highlighted specific objectives 
for the strategy:
     Describe how efforts across government agencies, including 
public-private partnerships, can be established, coordinated, and 
integrated to encourage population-focused research, education, 
communication, and community-wide approaches that can help reduce pain 
and its consequences and remediate disparities in the experience of 
pain among subgroups of Americans.
     Include an agenda for developing physiological, clinical, 
behavioral, psychological, outcomes, and health services research and 
appropriate links across these domains.
     Improve pain assessment and management programs within the 
service delivery and financing programs of the federal government.
     Proceed in cooperation with the Interagency Pain Research 
Coordinating Committee and the National Institutes of Health's Pain 
Consortium and reach out to private-sector participants as appropriate.
     Involve the appropriate agencies and entities.
     Include ongoing efforts to enhance public awareness about 
the nature of chronic pain and the role of self-care in its management.
    The Department of Health and Human Services charged the Interagency 
Pain Research Coordinating Committee (IPRCC) with creating a 
comprehensive population health-level strategy to begin addressing 
these objectives.

II. Information Request

    The NINDS Office of Pain Policy, on behalf of DHHS, requests input 
on the draft National Pain Strategy.

III. Potential Responders

    HHS invites input from a broad range of individuals and 
organizations that have interests in advancing the fundamental 
understanding of pain and improving pain-related treatment strategies. 
Some examples of these organizations include, but are not limited to 
the following:

 Caregivers or health system providers (e.g., physicians, 
physician assistants, nurses, pharmacists)
 Researchers
 Foundations
 Health care, professional, and educational organizations/
societies
 Insurers and business groups
 Medicaid- and Medicare-related organizations
 Patients and their advocates
 Pharmaceutical Industry
 Public health organizations
 State and local public health agencies

    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. Written materials submitted for 
consideration should not exceed 5 pages, not including appendices and 
supplemental documents. Responders may submit other forms of electronic 
materials to demonstrate or exhibit concepts of their written 
responses. We request that comments be identified by section, 
subsection, and page number of the draft 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: March 25, 2015.
Walter J. Koroshetz,
Acting Director, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and 
Stroke, National Institutes of Health.
[FR Doc. 2015-07626 Filed 4-1-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE CODE 4140-01-P
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