[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 133 (Monday, July 13, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Page 37583]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-18448]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics: Meetings
Pursuant to the Federal Advisory Committee Act, the Department of
Health and Human Services announces the following advisory committee
meeting.
Name: National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics (NCVHS).
Subcommittee on Standards and Security.
Times and Dates: 10:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m., July 20, 1998; 9:00 a.m.-
6:00 p.m., July 21, 1998.
Place: James R. Thompson Center, Room 9-040, 100 West Randolph
Street, Chicago, Illinois.
Status: Open.
Purpose: Under the Administrative Simplification provisions of
P.L. 104-191, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability
Act of 1996 (HIPAA), the Secretary of Health and Human Services is
required to adopt standards for specified transactions to enable
health information to be exchanged electronically. The law requires
that, within 24 months of adoption, all health plans, health care
clearinghouses, and health care providers who choose to conduct
these transactions electronically must comply with these standards.
The law also requires the Secretary to adopt a number of supporting
standards including standards for unique health identifiers for
providers, plans, employers and individuals. The Secretary is
required to consult with the National Committee on Vital and Health
Statistics (NCVHS) in complying with these provisions. The NCVHS is
the Department's federal advisory committee on health data, privacy
and health information policy.
The NCVHS already has provided recommendations and advice to HHS
relating to most of the transaction and supporting standards, and
HHS is in the process of publishing several Notices of Proposed
Rulemaking that describe the proposed standards for public review
and comment in the Federal Register. HIPAA also requires the
Secretary to adopt a standard for unique identifier for individuals
for use in the health care system. Because of privacy concerns and
because no consensus exists in the industry concerning the standard
for a unique health identifier, HHS is planning to issue, later this
summer, a Notice of Intent, i.e., a request for information on
various alternatives and issues at this stage rather than proposing
a standard.
To assist in developing the NCVHS recommendations to HHS
relating to the standard for unique health identifier, the NCVHS
Subcommittee on Standards and Security has scheduled a public
meeting on July 20-21, 1998 in Chicago, Illinois. For the meeting,
the Subcommittee is inviting specific, interested and affected
organizations and individuals to provide their views, perspectives
and concerns, to address specific questions relating to the unique
health identifier, and to answer further questions from the
Subcommittee. Other individuals and organizations that would also
like to submit written or oral statements to the Subcommittee on
these issues are invited to do so at the meeting. Speakers will be
asked to address a series of questions relating to the unique health
identifier. The tentative agenda for the meeting, as well as a
description of the panels of speakers and the list of questions are
posted on the NCVHS website: http://aspe.os.dhhs.gov/ncvhs. To
further assist speaker, a white paper that outlines the various
potential alternatives for the standard for the unique health
identifier as well as issues relating to privacy, implementation and
other considerations has been posted on the HHS administrative
simplification website: http://aspe.os.dhhs.gov.admnsimp.
The NCVHS plans to hold additional public hearings on the unique
health identifier and related issues, including a planned hearing in
Washington, DC in September. The dates of subsequent meetings will
be announced as they are selected.
Contact Person for More Information: Substantive program
information as well as summaries of the meeting and a roster of
subcommittee members may be obtained from Bill Braithwaite, lead
Subcommittee staff, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning
and Evaluation, DHHS, Room 440-D, Humphrey Building, 200
Independence Avenue S.W., Washington, D.C. 20201, telephone (202)
260-0546, or Marjorie S. Greenberg, Executive Secretary, NCVHS,
NCHS, CDC, Room 1100, Presidential Building, 6525 Belcrest Road,
Hyattsville, Maryland 20782, telephone (301) 436-7050. Information
also is available on the NCVHS home page of the HHS website: http://
aspe.os.dhhs.gov/ncvhs.
Dated July 6, 1998.
James Scanlon,
Director, Division of Data Policy, Office of the Assistant Secretary
for Planning and Evaluation.
[FR Doc. 98-18448 Filed 7-10-98; 8:45 am]
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