[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 133 (Monday, July 13, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Page 37583]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-18448]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES


National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics: Meetings

    Pursuant to the Federal Advisory Committee Act, the Department of 
Health and Human Services announces the following advisory committee 
meeting.

    Name: National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics (NCVHS). 
Subcommittee on Standards and Security.
    Times and Dates: 10:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m., July 20, 1998; 9:00 a.m.-
6:00 p.m., July 21, 1998.
    Place: James R. Thompson Center, Room 9-040, 100 West Randolph 
Street, Chicago, Illinois.
    Status: Open.
    Purpose: Under the Administrative Simplification provisions of 
P.L. 104-191, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability 
Act of 1996 (HIPAA), the Secretary of Health and Human Services is 
required to adopt standards for specified transactions to enable 
health information to be exchanged electronically. The law requires 
that, within 24 months of adoption, all health plans, health care 
clearinghouses, and health care providers who choose to conduct 
these transactions electronically must comply with these standards. 
The law also requires the Secretary to adopt a number of supporting 
standards including standards for unique health identifiers for 
providers, plans, employers and individuals. The Secretary is 
required to consult with the National Committee on Vital and Health 
Statistics (NCVHS) in complying with these provisions. The NCVHS is 
the Department's federal advisory committee on health data, privacy 
and health information policy.
    The NCVHS already has provided recommendations and advice to HHS 
relating to most of the transaction and supporting standards, and 
HHS is in the process of publishing several Notices of Proposed 
Rulemaking that describe the proposed standards for public review 
and comment in the Federal Register. HIPAA also requires the 
Secretary to adopt a standard for unique identifier for individuals 
for use in the health care system. Because of privacy concerns and 
because no consensus exists in the industry concerning the standard 
for a unique health identifier, HHS is planning to issue, later this 
summer, a Notice of Intent, i.e., a request for information on 
various alternatives and issues at this stage rather than proposing 
a standard.
    To assist in developing the NCVHS recommendations to HHS 
relating to the standard for unique health identifier, the NCVHS 
Subcommittee on Standards and Security has scheduled a public 
meeting on July 20-21, 1998 in Chicago, Illinois. For the meeting, 
the Subcommittee is inviting specific, interested and affected 
organizations and individuals to provide their views, perspectives 
and concerns, to address specific questions relating to the unique 
health identifier, and to answer further questions from the 
Subcommittee. Other individuals and organizations that would also 
like to submit written or oral statements to the Subcommittee on 
these issues are invited to do so at the meeting. Speakers will be 
asked to address a series of questions relating to the unique health 
identifier. The tentative agenda for the meeting, as well as a 
description of the panels of speakers and the list of questions are 
posted on the NCVHS website: http://aspe.os.dhhs.gov/ncvhs. To 
further assist speaker, a white paper that outlines the various 
potential alternatives for the standard for the unique health 
identifier as well as issues relating to privacy, implementation and 
other considerations has been posted on the HHS administrative 
simplification website: http://aspe.os.dhhs.gov.admnsimp.
    The NCVHS plans to hold additional public hearings on the unique 
health identifier and related issues, including a planned hearing in 
Washington, DC in September. The dates of subsequent meetings will 
be announced as they are selected.
    Contact Person for More Information: Substantive program 
information as well as summaries of the meeting and a roster of 
subcommittee members may be obtained from Bill Braithwaite, lead 
Subcommittee staff, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning 
and Evaluation, DHHS, Room 440-D, Humphrey Building, 200 
Independence Avenue S.W., Washington, D.C. 20201, telephone (202) 
260-0546, or Marjorie S. Greenberg, Executive Secretary, NCVHS, 
NCHS, CDC, Room 1100, Presidential Building, 6525 Belcrest Road, 
Hyattsville, Maryland 20782, telephone (301) 436-7050. Information 
also is available on the NCVHS home page of the HHS website: <a href="http://
aspe.os.dhhs.gov/ncvhs">http://
aspe.os.dhhs.gov/ncvhs</a>.

    Dated July 6, 1998.
James Scanlon,
Director, Division of Data Policy, Office of the Assistant Secretary 
for Planning and Evaluation.
[FR Doc. 98-18448 Filed 7-10-98; 8:45 am]
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