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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 5 (Wednesday, January 8, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1495-1496]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-00165]

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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

[60-Day-25-0666; Docket No. CDC-2025-0001]

Proposed Data Collection Submitted for Public Comment and 
Recommendations

AGENCY: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Department of 
Health and Human Services (HHS).

ACTION: Notice with comment period.

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SUMMARY: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as part 
of its continuing effort to reduce public burden and maximize the 
utility of government information, invites the general public and other 
federal agencies the opportunity to comment on a proposed and/or 
continuing information collection, as required by the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1995. This notice invites comment on a proposed 
information collection project titled Pathogens of High Consequence, 
which assesses the incidence and prevalence of select high consequence 
pathogens of public health importance in acute care hospitals. In 
addition to the nine diseases approved for collection, the following 
three additional diseases are being added to the form: Influenza A 
(H5), Marburg, and Oropouche.

DATES: CDC must receive written comments on or before March 10, 2025.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by Docket No. CDC-2025-
0001 by either of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: www.regulations.gov. Follow 
the instructions for submitting comments.
     Mail: Jeffrey M. Zirger, Information Collection Review 
Office, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Road 
NE, MS H21-8, Atlanta, Georgia 30329.
    Instructions: All submissions received must include the agency name 
and Docket Number. CDC will post, without change, all relevant comments 
to www.regulations.gov.
    Please note: Submit all comments through the Federal eRulemaking 
portal (www.regulations.gov) or by U.S. mail to the address listed 
above.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To request more information on the 
proposed project or to obtain a copy of the information collection plan 
and instruments, contact Jeffrey M. Zirger, Information Collection 
Review Office, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton 
Road, NE, MS H21-8, Atlanta, Georgia 30329; Telephone: 404-639-7570; 
Email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 
(PRA) (44 U.S.C. 3501-3520), federal agencies must obtain approval from 
the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for each collection of 
information they conduct or sponsor. In addition, the PRA also requires 
federal agencies to provide a 60-day notice in the Federal Register 
concerning each proposed collection of information, including each new 
proposed collection, each proposed extension of existing collection of 
information, and each reinstatement of previously approved information 
collection before submitting the collection to the OMB for approval. To 
comply with this requirement, we are publishing this notice of a 
proposed data collection as described below.
    The OMB is particularly interested in comments that will help:
    1. Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is 
necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, 
including whether the information will have practical utility;
    2. Evaluate the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of 
the proposed collection of information, including the validity of the 
methodology and assumptions used;
    3. Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to 
be collected;
    4. Minimize the burden of the collection of information on those 
who are to respond, including through the use of appropriate automated, 
electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or 
other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting electronic 
submissions of responses; and
    5. Assess information collection costs.

Proposed Project

    National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) (OMB Control No. 0920-
0666, Exp. 12/31/2027)--Revision--Information Collection Request--
National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infection Diseases (NCEZID), 
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Background and Brief Description

    The Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion (DHQP), National 
Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases (NCEZID), Centers 
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) collects data from healthcare 
facilities in the National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) under OMB 
Control Number 0920-0666. NHSN provides facilities, health departments, 
states, regions, and the nation with data necessary to identify problem 
areas, measure the progress of prevention efforts, and ultimately 
eliminate healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) nationwide. NHSN also 
allows healthcare facilities to track blood safety errors and various 
HAI prevention practice methods such as healthcare personnel influenza 
vaccine status and corresponding infection control adherence rates.
    Enrollment in NHSN has continuously increased, with over 37,000 
actively reporting healthcare facilities across the U.S. Of the total 
enrolled healthcare facilities, there are over 6,000 acute care 
facilities. NHSN currently has eight components, and the collection of 
information is authorized by the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 
242b, 242k, and 242m (d)), (Attachment A1-A3). Data reported under 
NHSN's Patient Safety Component are used to determine the magnitude of 
the healthcare-associated adverse events and trends in the rates of the 
events, in the distribution of pathogens, and in the adherence to 
prevention practices. Data will help detect changes in the epidemiology 
of adverse events resulting from new medical therapies and changing 
patient risks. Additionally, reported data is being used to describe 
the epidemiology of antimicrobial use and resistance and to better 
understand the relationship of antimicrobial therapy to this rising 
problem.
    NHSN's data is used to aid in the tracking of HAIs and guide 
infection prevention activities/practices that protect patients. The 
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and other payers use 
these data to determine incentives for performance at healthcare 
facilities across the U.S. and surrounding territories, and members of 
the public may use some protected data to inform their selection among 
available providers.Each of these parties is dependent on the 
completeness and accuracy of the data. CDC and CMS work closely and are 
fully committed to ensuring complete and accurate reporting, which are 
critical for protecting patients and guiding

[[Page 1496]]

national, state, and local prevention priorities.
    This Revision includes an update to add three diseases included as 
part of Form 57.130--Pathogens of High Consequence. The original 
collection captured the number of patients newly admitted and currently 
hospitalized with certain diseases in acute care hospitals (e.g.,. 
Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever (CCHF), Dengue, Ebola, Lassa, Measles, 
Mpox, MERS-CoV, Nipah, and Toxigenic Vibrio cholerae) broken down by 
adult patients and pediatric patients. Three additional diseases are 
being added to the data collection, Influenza A (H5), Marburg, and 
Oropouche. Influenza A (H5) has been on the CDC's Office of Readiness 
and Response website as an active response. Marburg and Oropouche were 
recently added to the website as active responses due to international 
outbreaks. It is crucial for CDC to be aware of cases of these select 
infectious diseases of public health concern to help ensure that local 
and state authorities are equipped to contain and prevent further 
spread. Facilities enrolled in the NHSN Patient Safety Component will 
be asked to select the specific diseases they are reporting on and then 
provide the overall number of patients hospitalized with confirmed 
disease along with stratification of disease in adult and pediatric 
patients. The data collection will be collected electronically via the 
NHSN application.
    This Revision requests OMB approval for an estimated 111,021 annual 
burden hours to be added to Form 57.130--Pathogens of High Consequence. 
The total estimated annual burden hours for the NHSN package will be 
increased to 4,508,255. Participation is required for healthcare 
facilities that report through the NHSN platform. There is no cost to 
respondents other than their time to participate.

                                        Estimated Annualized Burden Hours
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                                                                     Number of    Average burden
      Type of respondents           Form name        Number of     responses per   per response    Total burden
                                                    respondents     respondent      (in hours)      (in hours)
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Infection Preventionist/        57.130 Pathogens           3,650             365            5/60         111,021
 Microbiologist.                 of High
                                 Consequence.
                                                 ---------------------------------------------------------------
    Total.....................  ................  ..............  ..............  ..............       4,508,255
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Jeffrey M. Zirger,
Lead, Information Collection Review Office, Office of Public Health 
Ethics and Regulations, Office of Science, Centers for Disease Control 
and Prevention.
[FR Doc. 2025-00165 Filed 1-7-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4163-18-P
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