65740 Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 225 / Friday, November 23, 2007 / Notices 

opportunity to validate proper 

application of the standards. 

• In order to meet the requirements of 

§ 488.8(a)(2)(v), AOA has agreed to 

provide CMS with timely electronic 

data for effective validation and 

assessment of the organization’s survey 

process; and 

• To comply with the Medicare 

requirements of conducting 

unannounced certification and 

recertification surveys, AOA revised its 

survey procedures to prohibit any 

advance mailings of surveyor materials 

to the facility prior to the survey and 

will not permit the hospital to mail back 

the surveyor findings to AOA after 

completion of the survey. 

B. Term of Approval 

Based on the review and observations 

described in section III of this final 

notice, we have determined that AOA’s 

requirements for CAHs meet or exceed 

our requirements. Therefore, we 

approve the AOA as a national 

accreditation organization for CAHs that 

request participation in the Medicare 

program, effective December 28, 2007 

through December 28, 2013. 

V. Collection of Information 

Requirements 

This document does not impose 

information collection and 

recordkeeping requirements. 

Consequently, it need not be reviewed 

by the Office of Management and 

Budget under the authority of the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 

U.S.C. 35). 

Authority: Section 1865 of the Social 

Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395bb). 

(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance 

Program No. 93.778, Medical Assistance 

Program; No. 93.773 Medicare—Hospital 

Insurance Program; and No. 93.774, 

Medicare-Supplemental Medical Insurance 

Program) 

Dated: October 11, 2007. 

Kerry Weems, 

Acting Administrator, Centers for Medicare 

& Medicaid Services. 

[FR Doc. E7–22628 Filed 11–21–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4120–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid 

Services 

[CMS–1377–N] 

Medicare Program; Listening Session 

on Hospital-Acquired Conditions and 

Present on Admission Indicator 

Reporting, December 17, 2007 

AGENCY: Centers for Medicare & 

Medicaid Services, HHS. 

ACTION: Notice of meeting. 

SUMMARY: This notice announces a 

listening session being conducted as 

part of the selection of HospitalAcquired Conditions (HAC) and 

implementation of Present on 

Admission (POA) Indicator Reporting, 

as authorized by section 5001(c) of the 

Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (DRA). 

The purpose of this listening session is 

to solicit informal comments in 

preparation for the fiscal year 2009 

inpatient prospective payment system 

(IPPS) rulemaking process. Hospitals, 

hospital associations, representatives of 

consumer purchasers, payors of health 

care services, and all interested parties 

are invited to attend and make 

comments in person or in writing. It 

will also be possible to listen to the 

session by teleconference. However, 

because of time constraints, telephone 

participants will not be able to make 

verbal comments. Informal written 

comments will be accepted. This 

meeting is open to the public, but 

registration is required due to limited 

space and security requirements to enter 

the meeting location. This Listening 

Session is being held as a joint 

partnership between the Centers for 

Medicare & Medicaid Services and 

Centers for Disease Control and 

Prevention. 

DATES: Meeting Date: The listening 

session will be held on Monday, 

December 17, 2007 from 10 a.m. until 5 

p.m., e.s.t. 

Deadline for Meeting Registration and 

Submitting Requests for Special 

Accommodations: Registration must be 

completed no later than 5 p.m., e.s.t. on 

Monday, December 10, 2007. Requests 

for special accommodations must be 

received no later than 5 p.m., e.s.t. on 

Monday, December 10, 2007. 

Deadline for Presentations and 

Written Comments: Written comments 

may be sent electronically to the address 

specified in the ADDRESSES section of 

this notice and must be received by 5 

p.m., e.s.t. on Monday, December 31, 

2007. 

ADDRESSES: Meeting Location: The 

meeting 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 listening by 

teleconference must register by 

completing the on-line registration at 

http://registration.intercall,com/go/ 

cms2. Individuals who need special 

accommodations should contact Colette 

Shatto (410) 786–6932, or via e-mail at 

MFG@cms.hhs.gov. 

Written Comments or Statements: 

Written comments may be sent by email. Please e-mail comments to 

hacpoa@cms.hhs.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Further information regarding the 

December 17, 2007 listening session 

will be posted on the HAC & POA 

section of the CMS Web site at http:// 

www.cms.hhs.gov/HospitalAcqCond/ 

01_Overview.asp. You may also contact 

Colette Shatto, MFG@cms.hhs.gov, in 

the Medicare Feedback Group. Press 

inquiries are handled through the CMS 

Press Office at 202–690–6145. 

I. Background 

On February 8, 2006, the President 

signed the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 

(Pub. L. 109–171) (DRA). Section 

5001(c) of the DRA requires the 

Secretary to identify, by October 1, 

2007, at least two conditions that: (1) 

Are high cost or high volume or both; 

(2) result in the assignment of a case to 

a DRG that has a higher payment when 

present as a secondary diagnosis; and 

(3) could reasonably have been 

prevented through the application of 

evidence-based guidelines. 

For discharges occurring on or after 

October 1, 2008, hospitals will not 

receive additional payment for cases in 

which one of the selected conditions 

occurring during hospitalization was 

not present on admission. That is, the 

case would be paid as though the 

secondary diagnosis was not present. 

Section 5001(c) of the DRA provides 

that we can revise the list of conditions 

from time to time, as long as it contains 

at least two conditions. In addition, 

CMS Change Request (CR) 5499 

required hospitals to begin reporting the 

Present On Admission (POA) indicator 

for all diagnoses on claims beginning 

October 1, 2007. 

II. Listening Session Format 

The December 17, 2007 listening 

session will begin at 10 a.m., e.s.t. with 

an overview of the objectives for the 

mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with NOTICES

Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 225 / Friday, November 23, 2007 / Notices 65741 

session and a presentation on Hospital 

Acquired Conditions (HAC) and POA 

background. A brief overview regarding 

the implementation strategy for 

selecting the hospital-acquired 

conditions will then be presented. Next, 

a review of the conditions included in 

the FY 2008 hospital inpatient 

prospective payment systems (IPPS) 

final rule with comment period will be 

presented followed by a public 

comment session. There will be a lunch 

break from approximately 1 to 2 p.m., 

e.s.t. Following lunch, there will be 

presentations on the following: (1) The 

role of providers in documentation; (2) 

POA Indicator Reporting; and (3) HAC 

& POA Outreach and Education. An 

additional public comment period will 

follow the presentations. The meeting 

will conclude by 5 p.m., e.s.t. 

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 listening by 

teleconference must register by 

completing the on-line registration 

located at http:// 

registration.intercall.com/go/cms2. 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 of the listening 

session will be available through the 

CMS HAC and POA Indicator Web site 

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

HospitalAcqCond/01_Overview.asp after 

the listening session. 

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 a.m., e.s.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 30 to 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 550 registrants. 

Authority: Section 5001(c) The Deficit 

Reduction Act (DRA) of 2005. 

Dated: November 16, 2007. 

Kerry Weems, 

Acting Administrator, Centers for Medicare 

& Medicaid Services. 

[FR Doc. 07–5801 Filed 11–21–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4120–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid 

Services 

Privacy Act of 1974; Report of a 

Modified or Altered System of Records 

AGENCY: Department of Health and 

Human Services (HHS), Centers for 

Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). 

ACTION: Notice of a Modified or Altered 

System of Records (SOR). 

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

requirements of the Privacy Act of 1974, 

we are proposing to modify or alter an 

SOR, ‘‘Employee Building Pass File 

(EBP) System, System No. 09–70–3002,’’

last published at 67 FR 40937 (June 14, 

2002). We propose to assign a new CMS 

identification number to this system to 

simplify the obsolete and confusing 

numbering system originally designed 

to identify the Bureau, Office, or Center 

that maintained information in the 

Health Care Financing Administration 

systems of records. The new assigned 

identifying number for this system 

should read: System No. 09–70–0529. 

We propose to modify existing routine 

use number 2 that permits disclosure to 

agency contractors and consultants to 

include disclosure to CMS grantees who 

perform a task for the agency. CMS 

grantees, charged with completing 

projects or activities that require CMS 

data to carry out that activity, are 

classified separately from CMS 

contractors and/or consultants. The 

modified routine use will remain as 

routine use number 1. We will delete 

routine use number 3 authorizing 

disclosure to support constituent 

requests made to a congressional 

representative. If an authorization for 

the disclosure has been obtained from 

the data subject, then no routine use is 

needed. The Privacy Act allows for 

disclosures with the ‘‘prior written 

consent’’ of the data subject. 

Finally, we will delete the section 

titled ‘‘Additional Circumstances 

Affecting Routine Use Disclosures,’’ that 

addresses ‘‘Protected Health Information 

(PHI)’’ and ‘‘small cell size.’’ The 

requirement for compliance with HHS 

regulation ‘‘Standards for Privacy of 

Individually Identifiable Health 

Information’’ does not apply because 

this system does not collect or maintain 

PHI. In addition, our policy to prohibit 

release if there is a possibility that an 

individual can be identified through 

‘‘small cell size’’ is not applicable to the 

data maintained in this system. 

We are modifying the language in the 

remaining routine uses to provide a 

proper explanation as to the need for the 

routine use and to provide clarity to 

CMS’s intention to disclose individualspecific information contained in this 

system. The routine uses will then be 

prioritized and reordered according to 

their usage. We will also take the 

opportunity to update any sections of 

the system that were affected by the 

recent reorganization or because of the 

impact of the Medicare Prescription 

Drug, Improvement, and Modernization 

Act of 2003 (MMA) (Pub. L. 108–173) 

provisions and to update language in 

the administrative sections to 

correspond with language used in other 

CMS SORs. 

The primary purpose of the SOR is to 

issue and control United States 

Government building passes issued to 

all CMS employees and non-CMS 

employees who require continuous 

access to CMS buildings in Baltimore 

and other CMS and HHS facilities. 

Information retrieved from this SOR 

will be used to: (1) Support regulatory 

and policy functions performed within 

the Agency or by a contractor, 

consultant, or grantee; (2) assist other 

Federal agencies with activities related 

to this system; and (3) support litigation 

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