57958 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 184 / Thursday, September 23, 2010 / Notices 

Standards to undergo a national process 

of public comment that will result in a 

broader awareness of HHS interest in 

CLAS, significant input from 

stakeholder groups on the existing 

CLAS Standards, as well as a final 

revision of the CLAS Standards and 

accompanying commentary supported 

by the expertise of a National Project 

Advisory Committee. The final revisions 

will be published in the Federal 

Register as recommended national 

standards for adoption or adaptation by 

stakeholder organizations and agencies. 

The publication of the CLAS 

Standards in the Federal Register, and 

publicizing the availability of the 

complete report with commentary on 

the Internet and through local, regional, 

and national organizations will facilitate 

reaching as wide an audience of 

stakeholders as possible. This period of 

dissemination and awareness-raising 

will include three regional meetings to 

gather and solicit detailed input from 

interested individuals and organizations 

that will complement and enhance the 

public comments received by OMH 

through electronic and written means. 

Individuals and organizations 

desiring to provide input on the 

standards are encouraged to send 

comments during the public comment 

period which is from September 20 

through December 31, 2010. Individuals 

mailing comments are requested to 

include the following information: 

Name, position, organization, mail, and 

e-mail addresses and to identify 

specifically those portions of their 

comments that pertain to: The wording 

or the content of individual standards, 

the purpose of the standards and/or the 

intended audience for the national 

standards. 

Dates and locations of the meetings 

are as follows: 

Baltimore, Maryland, Friday, October 

22, 2010, The Hyatt Regency, 300 Light 

Street, Baltimore, MD 21202. 

San Francisco, California, Thursday, 

November 4, 2010, The Stanford Court, 

A Renaissance Hotel, 905 California 

Street, San Francisco, CA 94108. 

Chicago, Illinois, Monday, November 

15, 2010, The James Hotel, 55 East 

Ontario Street, Chicago, IL 60611–2727. 

All meetings will convene at 9 a.m. 

and conclude at 3 p.m. On-site 

registration will be available starting at 

7:30 a.m. 

Information about the CLAS 

Standards Enhancement Initiative is 

available electronically at http://

clasenhancements.thinkculturalhealth.

org. 

Dated: September 2, 2010. 

Garth N. Graham, 

Deputy Assistant Secretary for Minority 

Health. 

[FR Doc. 2010–23760 Filed 9–22–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4150–29–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

Solicitation of Written Comments on 

Draft Tier 2 Strategies/Modules for 

Inclusion in the ‘‘HHS Action Plan to 

Prevent Healthcare-Associated 

Infections’’ 

AGENCY: Department of Health and 

Human Services, Office of the Assistant 

Secretary for Health, Office of 

Healthcare Quality. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The Office of Healthcare 

Quality is soliciting public comment on 

three new strategies or modules of the 

‘‘HHS Action Plan to Prevent 

Healthcare-Associated Infections.’’ To 

further the HHS mission to protect the 

health and well-being of the nation, the 

HHS Steering Committee for the 

Prevention of Healthcare-Associated 

Infections has developed draft 

comprehensive strategies for preventing 

and reducing healthcare-associated 

infections in ambulatory surgical 

centers and end-stage renal disease 

facilities, as well as a strategy to 

increase influenza vaccination coverage 

among healthcare personnel. These Tier 

2 modules build upon and are to be 

included in the existing ‘‘HHS Action 

Plan to Prevent Healthcare-Associated 

Infections’’ that focuses on reducing 

hospital-acquired infections (Tier 1). 

DATES: Comments on the draft Tier 2 

modules should be received no later 

than 5 p.m. on October 11, 2010. 

ADDRESSES: The draft Tier 2 modules 

can be found at http://www.hhs.gov/ 

ophs/initiatives/hai/actionplan/ 

index.html#tier2. Comments are 

preferred electronically and may be 

addressed to OHQ@hhs.gov. Written 

responses should be addressed to the 

Department of Health and Human 

Services, 200 Independence Ave, SW., 

Room 719B, Washington, DC 20201, 

Attention: Draft Tier 2 Modules. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Danielle Doughman, (202) 690–6476 or 

OHQ@hhs.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

I. Background 

Healthcare-associated infections are 

among the leading causes of morbidity 

and mortality in the United States and 

the most common type of adverse event 

in the field of healthcare today. They are 

defined as localized or systemic adverse 

events, resulting from the presence of an 

infectious agent or toxin, occurring to a 

patient in a healthcare setting. An 

epidemiologic study by the Centers for 

Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) 

revealed that the subset of HAIs with 

hospital-onset accounted for 1.7 million 

infections annually and were associated 

with 99,000 deaths in 2002. The fiscal 

cost is steep as well. Healthcareassociated infections contribute to an 

additional $28 to $33 billion dollars in 

healthcare expenditures annually. 

For these reasons, the prevention and 

reduction of healthcare-associated 

infections is a top priority for the U.S. 

Department of Health and Human 

Services (HHS). Multiple agencies 

within HHS have been working to 

reduce the incidence and prevalence of 

healthcare-associated infections for 

decades. To further efforts, the HHS 

Steering Committee for the Prevention 

of Healthcare-Associated Infections was 

established in July 2008 and charged 

with developing a comprehensive 

strategy to progress toward the 

elimination of healthcare-associated 

infections. 

In 2009, the Steering Committee 

issued the initial version of the ‘‘HHS 

Action Plan to Prevent HealthcareAssociated Infections.’’ The initial 

strategy (Tier 1) focused on the 

prevention of infections in the acute 

care hospital setting and includes a 

prioritized research agenda; an 

integrated information systems strategy; 

policy options for linking payment 

incentives or disincentives to quality of 

care and enhancing regulatory oversight 

of hospitals; and a national messaging 

plan to raise awareness of HAIs among 

the general public, providers, and other 

stakeholder groups. The Action Plan 

also delineates specific measures and 

five-year goals to focus efforts and track 

national progress in reducing the most 

prevalent infections. In addition, the 

plan intended to enhance collaboration 

with non-government stakeholders and 

partners at the national, regional, state, 

and local levels to strengthen 

coordination and impact of efforts. 

Recognizing the need to coordinate 

prevention efforts across healthcare 

facilities, HHS began to transition into 

the second phase (Tier 2) of the Action 

Plan in late 2009. Tier 2 expands efforts 

outside of the acute care setting into 

outpatient facilities (e.g., ambulatory 

surgical centers, end-stage renal disease 

facilities). The healthcare and public 

health communities are increasingly 

challenged to identify, respond to, and 

prevent healthcare-associated infections 

across the continuum of settings where 


srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 184 / Thursday, September 23, 2010 / Notices 57959 

healthcare is delivered. The public 

health model’s population-based 

perspective can be deployed to enhance 

healthcare-associated infection 

prevention, particularly given the shifts 

in healthcare delivery from the acute 

care (Tier 1) to ambulatory (Tier 2) and 

other settings. 

Also, influenza transmission to 

patients by healthcare personnel is well 

documented. Healthcare personnel can 

acquire and transmit influenza from 

patients or transmit influenza to 

patients and other staff. Higher 

vaccination coverage among healthcare 

personnel has been associated with a 

lower incidence of healthcare-associated 

influenza cases. In addition, the 

proportion of healthcare-associated 

cases among hospitalized patients 

decreases as well, suggesting that 

increased staff vaccination can 

contribute to the decline in the number 

of healthcare-associated influenza cases. 

The Steering Committee has drafted 

two strategies or modules that address 

healthcare-associated infection 

prevention in ambulatory surgical 

centers and end-stage renal disease 

facilities. An additional module 

addresses influenza vaccination of 

healthcare personnel. Similar to its Tier 

1 efforts, Tier 2 healthcare-associated 

infection reduction strategies expect to 

be executed through research and 

guideline development, implementation 

of national quality improvement 

initiatives at the provider level, and 

creation of payment policies that 

promote infection control and reduction 

in healthcare facilities. 

To assist the Steering Committee in 

obtaining broad input in the 

development of the three draft modules, 

HHS, through this request for 

information (RFI), is seeking comments 

from stakeholders and the general 

public on the draft Tier 2 modules. The 

modules can be found at http:// 

www.hhs.gov/ophs/initiatives/hai/ 

actionplan/index.html#tier2. 

II. Information Request 

The Office of Healthcare Quality, on 

behalf of the HHS Steering Committee 

for the Prevention of HealthcareAssociated Infections, requests input on 

three drafts: ‘‘Section A: Ambulatory 

Surgical Centers,’’ ‘‘Section B: End-Stage 

Renal Disease Facilities,’’ and ‘‘Section 

C: Influenza Vaccination of Healthcare 

Personnel.’’ In addition to general 

comments, the Steering Committee is 

seeking input on any additional gaps 

not addressed in the draft strategies. 

III. Potential Responders 

HHS invites input from a broad range 

of individuals and organizations that 

have interests in preventing and 

reducing healthcare-associated 

infections. Some examples of these 

organizations include, but are not 

limited to the following: 

—General public 

—Healthcare, professional, and 

educational organizations/societies 

—Caregivers or health system providers 

(e.g., physicians, physician assistants, 

nurses, infection preventionists) 

—State and local public health agencies 

—Public health organizations 

—Foundations 

—Medicaid- and Medicare-related 

organizations 

—Insurers and business groups 

—Collaboratives and consortia 

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. The submission of written 

materials in response to the RFI should 

not exceed 10 pages, not including 

appendices and supplemental 

documents. Responders may submit 

other forms of electronic materials to 

demonstrate or exhibit concepts of their 

written responses. 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: September 16, 2010. 

Don Wright, 

Deputy Assistant Secretary for Healthcare 

Quality. 

[FR Doc. 2010–23762 Filed 9–22–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4150–28–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

Centers for Disease Control and 

Prevention 

[30-Day–10–10CW] 

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 email to omb@cdc.gov. Send written 

comments to CDC Desk Officer, Office of 

Management and Budget, Washington, 

DC or by fax to (202) 395–5806. Written 

comments should be received within 30 

days of this notice. 

Proposed Project 

Translation and Dissemination of 

Promising Community Interventions for 

Preventing Obesity—New—Division of 

Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity 

(DNPAO), National Center for Chronic 

Disease Prevention and Health 

Promotion (NCCDPHP), Centers for 

Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). 

Background and Brief Description 

The need for prevention and 

reduction of overweight and obesity is 

compelling. In the U.S., 65% of adults 

are overweight or obese. Obesity 

contributes to chronic conditions such 

as hypertension, Type 2 diabetes, stroke, 

coronary heart disease, and 

osteoarthritis. Beyond the human costs, 

economic costs are extreme and are 

climbing. A report on prevention of 

childhood obesity, prepared by the 

Institute of Medicine in 2007, 

concluded that there are insufficient 

studies to generate recommendations for 

best practices in obesity prevention. 

Instead, the report compiles promising 

practices, including those set in 

communities. 

CDC plans to apply methodology 

recommended by the CDC Task Force 

on Community Preventive Services to 

improve the translation and 

dissemination of promising practices 

into community-based obesity 

prevention programs. Information 

necessary to this purpose will be 

collected from the general public. 

Information will be collected 

concerning respondents’ knowledge, 

attitudes, and beliefs about obesity and 

physical activity; the need for 

community leaders to encourage 

healthier diets and more physical 

activity; and opportunities for 

leveraging current community efforts. 

Two hundred fifty respondents will 

be recruited to participate in a series of 

four, small-group discussions using 

Voice over Internet Protocol. In 

preparation for the initial discussion, 

respondents will be asked to review a 

set of briefing materials and a guide to 

on-line discussion groups. In addition, 

these respondents will complete an online questionnaire on two occasions. 

The questionnaire is designed to 

measure the relative importance of 

various proposals for policy and 

environmental change, and whether 

change has occurred in perceptions of 

roles and responsibilities for obesity 

prevention. The baseline or ‘‘pre-test’’ 

questionnaire will be administered 

before the initial discussion group, and 

the ‘‘post-test’’ questionnaire will be 

administered after all discussion groups 

have been completed. 


srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with NOTICES