Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 29 / Monday, February 12, 2001 / Notices 9865

were awarded loan repayment contracts

prior to FY 2000 will be awarded

extensions up to the amount of $30,000

a year and 31 percent in tax subsidy if

funds are available, and will not exceed

the total of the individual’s outstanding

eligible health profession educational

loans.

Any individual who owes an

obligation for health professional

service to the Federal Government, a

State, or other entity is not eligible for

the LRP unless the obligation will be

completely satisfied before they begin

service under this program.

The IHS Area Offices and Service

Units are authorized to provide

additional funding to make awards to

applicants in the LRP, but must be in

compliance with any limits in the

appropriation and Section 108 of the

Indian Health Care Improvement Act

not to exceed the amount authorized in

the IHS appropriation (up to

$22,000,000 for FY 2001).

Should an IHS Area Office contribute

to the LRP, those funds will be used for

only those sites located in that Area.

Those sites will retain their relative

ranking from the national site-ranking

list. For example, the Albuquerque Area

Office identifies supplemental monies

for dentists. Only the dental positions

within the Albuquerque Area will be

funded with the supplemental monies

consistent with the national ranking and

site index within that Area.

Should an IHS Service Unit

contribute to the LRP, those funds will

be used for only those sites located in

that service unit. Those sites will retain

their relative ranking from the national

site-ranking list. For example, Chinle

Service Unit identifies supplemental

monies for pharmacists. The Chinle

Service Unit consist of two facilities,

namely the Chinle Comprehensive

Health Care Facility and the Tsaile PHS

Indian Health Center. The national

ranking will be used for the Chinle

Comprehensive Health Care Facility

(Score = 44) and the Tsaile PHS Indian

Health Center (Score = 46). With a score

of 46, the Tsaile PHS Indian Health

Center would receive priority over the

Chinle Comprehensive Health Care

Facility.

This program is not subject to review

under Executive Order 12372.

(The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance

number is 93.164)

Dated: February 2, 2001.

Michel E. Lincoln,

Deputy Director.

[FR Doc. 01–3488 Filed 2–9–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4160–16–M

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND

HUMAN SERVICES

Office of Inspector General

Privacy Act of 1974; Amendment to the

Health Care Program Violations

System of Records

AGENCY: Office of Inspector General

(OIG), HHS.

ACTION: Notice and comment period.

SUMMARY: In accordance with the

provisions of the Privacy Act of 1974,

the Office of Inspector General (OIG) is

amending an existing system of records,

entitled ‘‘Health Care Program

Violations.’’ This system of records

maintains certain health care sanction

records for the purpose of making

sanction decisions publically available.

In order to assure the proper

identification of sanctioned individuals,

we are amending the category of records

maintained in the system to include

individual Social Security numbers

(SSNs). The purpose of maintaining

SSNs is to provide another field of

identification which may be entered by

those querying the system; these SSNs

will not be accessible by users of the

system. In addition, in the future,

entities listed in the system will be able

to be queried by their Employer

Identification number (EIN).

This notice also makes other

amendments to the system of records

that include more specifically

describing the categories of individuals

covered by the system; adding a routine

use for disclosure of information as

required by the Federal Acquisition

Streamlining Act of 1994; revising the

routine use for disclosure of information

in the event of litigation; and explaining

the method of retrievability for

electronic records. Additional minor

technical changes include revising the

period of record retention for paper

records; adding a retention period for

electronic records; and changing the

point of contact for the record

notification procedure.

DATES: Effective date: This revision will

become effective, without further notice,

on March 29, 2001, unless comments

received on or before that date result in

a contrary determination.

Comment date: Comments on this

revision will be considered if we receive

them at the address provided below no

later than 5 p.m. on March 14, 2001.

ADDRESSES: Please mail or deliver

written comments to the following

address: Office of Inspector General,

Department of Health and Human

Services, Attention: OIG–52–N, Room

5246, Cohen Building, 330

Independence Avenue, SW.,

Washington, DC 20201.

We do not accept comments by

facsimile (FAX) transmission. In

commenting, please refer to file code

OIG–52–N. Comments received timely

will be available for public inspection as

they are received, generally beginning

approximately 3 weeks after publication

of a document, in Room 5541 of the

Office of Inspector General at 330

Independence Avenue, SW.,

Washington, DC, on Monday through

Friday of each week from 8 a.m. to 4:30

p.m.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Joel

Schaer, OIG Regulations Officer, (202)

619–0089.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

A. The Federal Health Care Program

Violations System of Records

Under current law, individuals and

entities must be excluded from

participation in Federal health care

programs in accordance with section

1128 of the Social Security Act (42

U.S.C. 1320a–7) for certain types of

convictions, and may be excluded for

other reasons, including licensure board

actions, other Federal or State agency

actions, and quality of care violations.

In conjunction with this authority, the

‘‘Health Care Program Violations’’

system of records, maintained by the

OIG, serves as a source of public

information on all individuals or

entities excluded from Federal health

care programs. This system of records

also provides the organizations

responsible for licensing, certifying or

otherwise approving the health-related

activities of individuals and entities

with the information they may need to

make decisions. The system of records

also allows health care employers to

check on the exclusion status of new

and current employees and contractors.

This is of particular importance to

hospitals and other health care entities,

which are subject to civil money

penalties, as authorized by Public Law

105–33, for hiring or contracting with

excluded individuals and entities.

Finally, the system of records serves as

a fraud deterrent by virtue of public

knowledge of its very existence, and

provides the OIG with a means of

analyzing trends and impact in fraud

and abuse detection and enforcement.

Procedural information regarding the

‘‘Health Care Program Violations’’

system of records was last published in

the Federal Register on August 26, 1982

(47 FR 37693).

9866 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 29 / Monday, February 12, 2001 / Notices

1Some individuals may also be referenced by

EINs in addition to their SSN.

B. Content of, and Querying, the

Records System

Information from paper case files,

found in the Civil and Administrative

Investigative Files of the Inspector

General system of records (47 FR 43099,

September 30, 1982), is extracted and

compiled into a master List of Excluded

Individuals/Entities (LEIE). This list

contains the Social Security numbers

(SSNs) of most individuals excluded

from participation in Federal health care

programs by the OIG. The SSNs are not

published on the LEIE and are not

accessible to the general public. In the

near future, the list will also contain the

EINs of entities excluded by the OIG

from participation in the Federal health

care programs.1

The LEIE is transmitted and made

available electronically to other Federal

agencies and organizations that are

required by law to take action based

upon the exclusions imposed by the

OIG. In addition, the LEIE is available

to the general public on the OIG’s web

site at http://www.dhhs.gov/progorg/

oig. The on-line searchable database

allows users to obtain information

regarding excluded individuals and

entities sorted by:

• The legal bases for the exclusion;

• The types of individuals and

entities excluded by the OIG; and

• The States where excluded

individuals reside or entities do

business at the time of their exclusions.

Users may also query the database in

order to ascertain whether a particular

individual or entity is currently

excluded from program participation by

submitting the pertinent information

regarding the subject. Users may have

the data sorted by name, profession or

specialty, city, state, zip code or

sanction type. Users may input

information in any of these fields and

will receive a list of currently excluded

individuals and entities which meet the

criteria entered.

II. Amendment to the System of

Records

The following summarizes the major

changes being proposed:

A. Categories of Records in the System

This amendment to the system of

records will include individual SSNs

and EINs within the category of records

in the Health Care Program Violations

system as another field of identification.

The OIG has received numerous

comments from users of the LEIE that

those querying the system should be

able to input the SSN of an excluded

individual as part of their search. The

commenters believe inclusion of this

additional search field is necessary to

produce more reliable identification on

the query match, and to ensure that no

individuals are erroneously determined

to be excluded because of the inability

to get accurate information. In many

cases, the queries are being received

from health care providers who are

considering hiring or contracting with

an individual or entity and want to

know if that particular individual or

entity is excluded. As such, these health

care providers already have the SSN of

a particular individual.

The purpose of including individual

SSNs (and EINs, if applicable) in this

system is to allow individuals querying

the LEIE to use SSNs and EINs as

specific search fields. However, the

SSNs maintained in the system will not

be accessible by those using an SSN for

identification. The OIG will include

fields where a user may input SSN or

EIN information. The individual SSNs

or EINs will not be retrievable through

the LEIE. In order to use the SSN or EIN

search field, the individual entering the

query must have the full name and the

9 digits of an individual’s SSN. The

query will either affirm a match or state

that no match exists; the LEIE will not

verify the SSN or EIN. It is ultimately

the recipient’s responsibility to verify

the information before using it as the

basis for any formal action.

B. Categories of Individuals Covered by

the System

The current description of the

individuals covered by this system is

being revised to more specifically

describe the categories of providers,

contractors, grantees and other

individuals that are now in the system

of records. This revised description

more accurately reflects the categories of

individuals, permitting retrieval of

information on some additional key

individuals who are not described in the

current outdated description. In

addition, the revised description brings

this systems notice into conformity with

the categories of sanctioned individuals

covered in the Civil and Administrative

Files of the OIG system of records.

C. Routine Uses

In the system of records, under

‘‘Routine Use,’’ a new paragraph 1.d. is

being added to provide for disclosures

required by the Federal Acquisition

Streamlining Act of 1994, Public Law

103–355. The disclosures set forth

under this routine use provide the

information necessary for other Federal

agencies and their agents to enforce

debarments, suspensions and

exclusions, as required by law. This

routine use provision provides essential

information to other Federal agencies

with respect to individuals and entities

barred from participating in Federal

procurement and non-procurement

programs or activities.

In addition, paragraph 3 under

‘‘Routine Use’’ is revised to outline the

necessary disclosures made in the

course of litigation involving the

Department, its employees, or the

United States. It is essentially the same

type of disclosure provision found in

most Federal systems of records and is

necessary to the effective administration

of justice in such proceedings. In

addition, this revision brings this

systems notice into conformity with the

similar routine use used in the Civil and

Administrative Investigative Files of the

OIG system of records.

D. Retrievability

The method for retrieving records is

expanded to include both paper and

electronic records, including a revised

list of the types of information that can

be used to retrieve the records. This

revision also sets forth instructions on

how to indirectly access the database on

public records through the Internet; this

information was absent from the

existing outdated description.

E. Other Minor Revisions

Other minor changes are also being

made to clarify certain provisions and

bring the system of records notice into

conformity with organizational,

legislative and policy changes. They

include:

• Records Retention—The retention

period for paper records is being

expanded from 5 years to 6 years to

bring it into conformity with the

retention period established for records

of OIG by the National Archives and

Records Administration. In addition, the

retention period for electronic records is

included.

• Notification Procedure—The

notification procedure is revised to

provide a point of contact for media

inquiries and a new point of contact for

written notification requests.

Information on how to request records

electronically is also included.

Dated: February 2, 2001.

Michael F. Mangano,

Acting Inspector General.

HHS\OS\OIG 09–90–0101

SYSTEM NAME:

Health Care Program Violations.

SECURITY CLASSIFICATION:

None.

Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 29 / Monday, February 12, 2001 / Notices 9867

SYSTEM LOCATION:

This system is located in the Office of

Inspector General, Department of Health

and Human Services, 330 Independence

Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20201.

The database for this system, known as

the List of Excluded Individuals/Entities

(LEIE), is on a local area network in the

Wilber H. Cohen Building, 330

Independence Avenue, SW.,

Washington, D.C. The system is

operated by the Office of Inspector

General.

CATEGORIES OF INDIVIDUALS AND ENTITIES

COVERED BY THE SYSTEM:

Individuals and entities covered by

this system are employees and former

employees, HHS grantees, contractors,

sub-contractors and their employees;

employees of State agencies and

Medicare carriers and intermediaries;

Medicare and Medicaid providers;

recipients under programs administered

or funded by the Federal and State

programs; and others involved in health

care. It includes individuals and entities

who have been excluded from

participation in the Medicare, Medicaid,

and all Federal health care programs as

defined in section 1128B(f) of the Social

Security Act. The individuals would

include physicians, nurses, pharmacists,

dentists, therapists, suppliers and

private citizens receiving Federal

payments for the furnishing of items or

services covered by any Federal or

private program.

CATEGORIES OF RECORDS IN THE SYSTEM:

The Health Care Program Violations

System contains public information on

individuals and entities which have

been excluded from participation in the

Medicare, Medicaid, and all other

Federal health care programs (after

August 1997, in accordance with Pub. L.

105–33), including names, publicly

available Social Security numbers,

individual Social Security numbers (and

Employer Identification numbers, if

applicable), aliases and ‘‘doingbusiness-as,’’ addresses, and other

available unique identifiers related to

fraud, waste and abuse; occupations and

specialties, and institutional affiliations;

type and date of exclusion.

AUTHORITY FOR MAINTENANCE OF THE SYSTEM:

5 U.S.C. App. 3.

PURPOSES:

The Health Care Program Violations

System is used to protect program

beneficiaries and to reduce fraud and

abuse in Federal health care programs

by providing a clearinghouse of public

information on individuals and entities

excluded from health care programs.

ROUTINE USES OF RECORDS MAINTAINED IN THE

SYSTEM, INCLUDING CATEGORIES OF USERS AND

PURPOSES OF SUCH USES:

1. Information maintained by this

system may be disclosed, as a routine

use, to Federal, State, local, public and

private agencies and organizations, as

follows:

a. Agencies or organizations which

reimburse or regulate individuals or

entities with respect to the furnishing of

health-related services or items.

b. Agencies or organizations which

license, certify, or otherwise regulate the

health-related activities of individuals

and entities which provide health care

services or items, to alert them to

possibly disqualifying actions, practices

or conditions.

c. Agencies or organizations charged

with investigating or prosecuting

possible violations indicated in items a

and b.

d. Agencies and their agents or

representatives enforcing debarments,

suspensions and exclusions under the

Federal Acquisition Streamlining Act of

1994.

e. Upon written request, agencies and/

or their contractors or organizations

seeking information in connection with

the hiring or retention of an employee,

the issuance of a security clearance, the

reporting of an investigation of an

employee, the awarding of a contract, or

the issuance of a license, grant or other

benefit by the requesting agency, to the

extent that the record is relevant and

necessary to the requesting agency’s

decision on the matter.

f. Professional and business

organizations concerned with standards

and conduct of individuals and entities

engaged in providing health care items

and services.

g. Scholars or other researchers

investigating trends and characteristics

in the health care field.

2. Disclosure may be made to a

Congressional office from the record of

an individual or entity in response to an

inquiry from the Congressional office

made at the request of that individual or

entity.

3. In the event of litigation,

information from the system of records

may be disclosed to the Department of

Justice, to a judicial or administrative

tribunal, opposing counsel, and

witnesses, in the course of proceedings

involving HHS, any HHS employee

(where the matter pertains to the

employee’s official duties), or the

United States, or any agency thereof

where the litigation is likely to affect

HHS, or HHS is a party or has an

interest in the litigation and the use of

the information is relevant and

necessary to the litigation.

POLICIES AND PRACTICES FOR STORING,

RETRIEVING, REVEALING, RETAINING, AND

DISPOSING OF RECORDS IN THE SYSTEM:

STORAGE:

Paper records, which includes

program exclusion case files, are kept in

files and file folders. Electronic records

are stored on hard or floppy disks and

tapes.

RETRIEVABILITY:

The agency retrieves records from

files indexed alphabetically by

geographic region. Both paper records

and electronic records are retrievable by

agency-assigned internal case control

numbers, name, personal identifier

fields such as date of birth, UPIN, Social

Security or Employer Identification

number, address, specialty/occupation,

program violated, date of exclusion, and

type of exclusion.

Indirect access to the database on

public records fields is available to the

general public on the OIG’s Internet site

(http://www.dhhs.gov/progorg/oig).

SAFEGUARDS:

Paper records are stored in secured

cabinets behind a locked door with

access limited to authorized personnel.

Computer based records are available

only to authorized users and are

safeguarded in accordance with the

provisions of the National Bureau of

Standards Federal Information

Processing Standards 41 and 31, and the

HHS Information Processing Standards,

HHS ADP Systems Manual, Part 6,

‘‘ADP Systems Security.’’ All computer

tapes are password protected

prohibiting unauthorized access.

RETENTION AND DISPOSAL:

The OIG maintains the hardcopy

records and files for one year, after

which they are transferred to the

Federal Records Center for an additional

5 years. The electronic records system is

maintained for an indefinite period of

time.

SYSTEM MANAGER(S) AND ADDRESS:

The Systems Manager is an employee

of Office of Investigations, Office of

Inspector General, Department of Health

and Human Services, 330 Independence

Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20201.

The OIG web site is managed by the

Office of Information Technology, Office

of Inspector General, at this same

address.

NOTIFICATION PROCEDURE:

An individual who wishes to be

notified whether the system contains a

record should make a request

electronically to the OIG web site at

http://www.dhhs.gov/progorg/oig.

9868 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 29 / Monday, February 12, 2001 / Notices

Media inquiries should be directed to

the HHS/OIG External Affairs Office,

330 Independence Avenue, SW.,

Washington, DC 20201. Requests for

written documentation should be

submitted in writing, together with a

printout from the OIG web site

identifying the individual or entity, to

the Office of Investigations, Health Care

Administrative Sanctions, Room N2–

01–26, 7500 Security Boulevard,

Baltimore, MD 21244–1850.

RECORD ACCESS PROCEDURE:

Same as notification procedure.

CONTESTING RECORD PROCEDURES:

An individual who wishes to contest

the record procedures should contact

the Office of Health Care Administrative

Sanctions, Office of Investigations,

Office of Inspector General, Department

of Health and Human Services, Room

N2–01–26, 7500 Security Boulevard,

Baltimore, MD 21244–1850. The

individual or entity should reasonably

identify the record and specify the

information to be contested, the

corrective action sought and the reasons

for the correction, with supporting

documentation.

RECORD SOURCE CATEGORIES:

The sources are Government and

private agencies and organizations.

SYSTEMS EXEMPTED FROM CERTAIN PROVISIONS

OF THE ACT:

None.

[FR Doc. 01–3419 Filed 2–9–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4152–01–P

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND

HUMAN SERVICES

National Institutes of Health

National Cancer Institute; Notice of

Closed Meeting

Pursuant to section 10(d) of the

Federal Advisory Committee Act, as

amended (5 U.S.C. Appendix 2), notice

is hereby given of the following

meeting.

The meeting will be closed to the

public in accordance with the

provisions set forth in sections

552b(c)(4) and 552b(c)(6), Title 5 U.S.C.,

as amended. The grant applications and

the discussions could disclose

confidential trade secrets or commercial

property such as patentable material,

and personal information concerning

individuals associated with the grant

applications, the disclosure of which

would constitute a clearly unwarranted

invasion of personal privacy.

Name of Committee: National Cancer

Institute Initial Review Group, Subcommittee

F—Manpower & Training.

Date: March 4–7, 2001.

Time: 6:30 p.m. to 3 p.m.

Agenda: To review and evaluate grant

applications.

Place: Holiday Inn—Georgetown, 2101

Wisconsin Avenue, NW., Washington, DC

20007.

Contact Person: Mary Bell, PhD., Scientific

Review Administrator, Grants Review

Branch, Division of Extramural Activities,

National Cancer Institute, National Institutes

of Health, PHS, DHHS, 6116 Executive

Boulevard, Room 8113, Bethesda, MD 20892–

8328, 301–496–7978.

(Catalogue of Federal Domestic Assistance

Program Nos. 93.392, Cancer Construction;

93.393, Cancer Cause and Prevention

Research; 93.394, Cancer Detection and

Diagnosis Research; 93.395, Cancer

Treatment Research; 93.396, Cancer Biology

Research; 93.397, Cancer Centers Support;

93.398, Cancer Research Manpower,; 93.399,

Cancer Control, National Institutes of Health,

HHS)

Dated: February 2, 2001.

LaVerne Y. Stringfield,

Director, Office of Federal Advisory

Committee Policy.

[FR Doc. 01–3454 Filed 2–9–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4140–01–M

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND

HUMAN SERVICES

National Institutes of Health

National Cancer Institute; Notice of

Closed Meeting

Pursuant to section 10(d) of the

Federal Advisory Committee Act, as

amended (5 U.S.C. Appendix 2), notice

is hereby given of the following

meeting.

The meeting will be closed to the

public in accordance with the

provisions set forth in sections

552b(c)(4) and 552b(c)(6), Title 5 U.S.C.,

as amended. The grant applications and

the discussions could disclose

confidential trade secrets or commercial

property such as patentable material,

and personal information concerning

individuals associated with the grant

applications, the disclosure of which

would constitute a clearly unwarranted

invasion of personal privacy.

Name of Committee: National Cancer

Institute Special Emphasis Panel Small

Grants Program for Behavioral Research in

Cancer Control.

Date: March 1, 2001.

Time: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Agenda: To review and evaluate grant

applications.

Place: Ramada Inn, 1775 Rockville Pike,

Rockville, MD 20852.

Contact Person: Mary Jane Slesinski, PhD.,

Scientific Review Administrator, Special

Review and Resources Branch, Division of

Extramural Activities, National Cancer

Institute, National Institutes of Health, 6116

Executive Boulevard, Room 8045, Bethesda,

MD 20892, 301/594–1566.

(Catalogue of Federal Domestic Assistance

Program Nos. 93.392, Cancer Construction;

93.393, Cancer Cause and Prevention

Research; 93.394, Cancer Detection and

Diagnosis Research; 93.395, Cancer

Treatment Research; 93.396, Cancer Biology

Research; 93.397, Cancer Centers Support;

93.398, Cancer Research Manpower; 93.399,

Cancer Control, National Institutes of Health,

HHS)

Dated: February 2, 2001.

LaVerne Y. Stringfield,

Director, Office of Federal Advisory

Committee Policy.

[FR Doc. 01–3455 Filed 2–9–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4140–01–M

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND

HUMAN SERVICES

National Institutes of Health

National Cancer Institute; Notice of

Closed Meetings

Pursuant to section 10(d) of the

Federal Advisory Committee Act, as

amended (5 U.S.C. Appendix 2), notice

is hereby given of meetings of the Board

of Scientific Counselors, National

Cancer Institute.

The meetings will be closed to the

public as indicated below in accordance

with the provisions set forth in section

552b(c)(6), Title 5 U.S.C., as amended

for the review, discussion, and

evaluation of individual intramural

programs and projects conducted by the

National Cancer Institute, including

consideration of personnel

qualifications and performance, and the

competence of individual investigators,

the disclosure of which would

constitute a clearly unwarranted

invasion of personal privacy.

Name of Committee: Board of Scientific

Counselors, National Cancer Institute

Subcommittee B—Basic Sciences.

Date: March 5, 2001.

Time: 12:15 p.m. to 5 p.m.

Agenda: To review and evaluate personal

qualifications and performance, and

competence of individual investigators.

Place: National Cancer Institute, Building

31, C Wing, 6th Floor, Conference Rooms 6,

9000 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, MD 20892.

Contact Person: Florence E. Farber, PhD.,

Health Scientist Administrator, Institute

Review Office, Office of the Director,

National Cancer Institute, National Institutes

of Health, 6116 Executive Boulevard, Room

7017, Bethesda, MD 20892, 301/496–7628.

Name of Committee: Board of Scientific

Counselors, National Cancer Institute,

Subcommittee A—Clinical Sciences and

Epidemiology.