Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 36 / Friday, February 23, 2007 / Notices 8165 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

Office of the National Coordinator for 

Health Information Technology; 

American Health Information 

Community Chronic Care Workgroup 

Meeting 

ACTION: Announcement of meeting. 

SUMMARY: This notice announces the 

14th meeting of the American Health 

Information Community Chronic Care 

Workgroup in accordance with the 

Federal Advisory Committee Act (Pub. 

L. 92–463, 5 U.S.C., App.) 

DATES: March 22, 2007, from 1 p.m. to 

4 p.m. 

ADDRESSES: Mary C. Switzer Building 

(330 C Street, SW., Washington, DC 

20201), Conference Room 4090. Please 

bring photo ID for entry to a Federal 

building. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION: http:// 

www.hhs.gov/healthit/ahic/chroniccare/ 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

Workgroup will continue its discussion 

on ways to deploy widely available, 

secure technologies solutions for remote 

monitoring and assessment of patients 

and for communication between 

clinicians about patients. 

The meeting will be available via Web 

cast. For additional information, go to: 

http://www.hhs.gov/healthit/achic/ 

chroniccare/cc_instruct.html 

Dated: February 12, 2007. 

Judith Sparrow, 

Director, American Health Information 

Community, Office of Programs and 

Coordination, Office of the National 

Coordinator for Health Information 

Technology. 

[FR Doc. 07–816 Filed 2–22–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4150–24–M 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

Office of the National Coordinator for 

Health Information Technology; 

American Health Information 

Community Population Health and 

Clinical Care Connections Workgroup 

Meeting 

ACTION: Announcement of meeting. 

SUMMARY: This notice announces the 

15th meeting of the American Health 

Information Community Population 

Care and Clinical Care Connections 

Workgroup [formerly BioSurveillance 

Workgroup] in accordance with the 

Federal Advisory Committee Act (Pub. 

L. no. 92–463, 5 U.S.C., App.) 

DATES: March 29, 2007, from 1 p.m. to 

4 p.m. 

ADDRESSES: Mary C. Switzer Building 

(330 C Street, SW., Washington, DC 

20201), Conference Room 4090. Please 

bring photo ID for entry to a Federal 

building. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

http://www.hss.gov/healthit/ahic/ 

population/. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

Workgroup will continue its discussion 

on how to facilitate the flow of reliable 

health information among population 

health and clinical care systems 

necessary to protect and improve the 

public’s health. 

The meeting will be available via Web 

cast. For additional information, go to: 

http://www.hhs.gov/healthit/ahic/ 

population/pop_instruct.html. 

Dated: February 12, 2007. 

Judith Sparrow, 

Director, American Health Information 

Community, Office of Programs and 

Coordination, Office of the National 

Coordinator for Health Information 

Technology. 

[FR Doc. 07–817 Filed 2–22–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4150–24–M 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

Centers for Disease Control and 

Prevention 

[30Day–07–0242X] 

Agency Forms Undergoing Paperwork 

Reduction Act Review 

The Centers for Disease Control and 

Prevention (CDC) publishes a list of 

information collection requests under 

review by the Office of Management and 

Budget (OMB) in compliance with the 

Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 

Chapter 35). To request a copy of these 

requests, call the CDC Reports Clearance 

Officer at (404) 639–5960 or send an 

e-mail to omb@cdc.gov. Send written 

comments to CDC Desk Officer, Office of 

Management and Budget, Washington, 

DC or by fax to (202) 395–6974. Written 

comments should be received within 30 

days of this notice. 

Proposed Project 

Estimating the Cost of Sigmoidoscopy 

and Colonoscopy for Colorectal Cancer 

Screening in U.S. Healthcare Facilities 

(SECOST) —New—National Center for 

Chronic Disease and Public Health 

Promotion (NCDDPHP), Centers for 

Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). 

Background and Brief Description 

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the second 

leading cause of cancer-related deaths in 

the United States. In 2005, it was 

estimated that approximately 56,300 

Americans died from CRC and about 

145,300 new cases were diagnosed. The 

risk of developing CRC increases with 

advancing age. More than 90% of newly 

diagnosed CRCs occur in persons 50 

years of age and older. Several scientific 

studies have demonstrated that regular 

screening for CRC reduces the incidence 

and mortality from this disease. Other 

studies have shown that regular 

screening for CRC is also cost-effective 

in terms of years of life saved. 

Despite strong scientific evidence and 

evidence-based clinical guidelines 

recommending screening, current 

screening rates remain low. A recent 

CDC study reported that more than 40 

million Americans who are 50 years of 

age or older and at average risk for CRC 

have not been screened in accordance 

with current guidelines. The study also 

reported that screening this population 

with current endoscopic (i.e., flexible 

sigmoidoscopy and colonoscopy) 

capacity in the health care system could 

require as much as ten years to 

complete. An effective national effort to 

promote CRC screening could increase 

the demand for endoscopic procedures. 

It has been reported that 

reimbursements for endoscopic 

procedures in publicly-funded programs 

may not be adequate to cover the costs 

of performing these procedures. This 

may be a disincentive for providers to 

perform endoscopy procedures. 

Currently, there is little information 

available about the resources required or 

the cost of providing these procedures 

in different types of healthcare facilities 

in the United States. 

The purpose of this project is to 

conduct a survey of a nationally 

representative sample of healthcare 

facilities in order to estimate the average 

variable costs of providing colonoscopy 

and flexible sigmoidoscopy for CRC 

screening and follow-up services. Over 

time, payments need to cover fixed costs 

in addition to variable costs. If some 

facilities have the ability to provide 

more procedures without additional 

investment in space or equipment, then 

recovering fixed costs is not necessary at 

least in the short run. The estimated 

average variable cost by procedure will 

be compared to the reimbursement rates 

for both screening procedures in order 

to determine whether the payments to 

facilities exceed this minimum 

threshold. Otherwise, facilities will find 

reimbursement a potential barrier to 

expansion of CRC screening to 


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