2011-20690. Negotiated Rulemaking Committee on Designation of Medically Underserved Populations and Health Professional Shortage Areas; Notice of Meeting

AGENCY:

Health Resources and Services Administration, HHS.

ACTION:

Negotiated Rulemaking Committee meeting.

SUMMARY:

In accordance with section 10(a)(2) of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. 92-463), notice is hereby given of the following meeting of the Negotiated Rulemaking Committee on Designation of Medically Underserved Populations and Health Professional Shortage Areas.

DATES:

Meetings will be held on September 20, 2011, 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.; September 21, 2011, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.; and September 22, 2011, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

ADDRESSES:

Meetings will be held at the Legacy Hotel and Meeting Centre, 1775 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852, [phone].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

For more information, please contact Jessica Sitko, Office of Policy Coordination, Bureau of Health Professions, Health Resources and Services Administration, Room 9-29, Parklawn Building, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, Maryland 20857, Telephone [phone], E-mail: [e-mail] or visit http://www.hrsa.gov/​advisorycommittees/​shortage/​.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Status: The meeting will be open to the public.

Purpose: The purpose of the Negotiated Rulemaking Committee on Designation of Medically Underserved Populations and Health Professional Shortage Areas is to establish a criteria and a comprehensive methodology for Designation of Medically Underserved Populations and Primary Care Health Professional Shortage Areas, using a Negotiated Rulemaking (NR) process. It is hoped that use of the NR process will yield a consensus among technical experts and stakeholders on a new rule for designation of medically underserved populations and primary care health professions shortage areas, which would be published as an Interim Final Rule in accordance with Section 5602 of the Affordable Care Act, Public Law 111-148.

Agenda: The meeting will be held on Tuesday, September 20; Wednesday, September 21; and Thursday, September 22. It will include a review of previous decisions and analyses regarding the proposed methodologies for identifying areas of shortage and underservice that are based on the recommendations of the Committee in the previous meeting. The Committee will seek to make final recommendations based on these analyses and deliberations. The Committee's final report is due to the Secretary by the end of October.

Members of the public will have the opportunity to provide comments during the meeting on Friday afternoon. Requests from the public to make oral comments or to provide written comments to the Committee should be sent to Jessica Sitko at the contact address above at least 10 days prior to the first day of the meeting, Wednesday, September 20. The meetings will be open to the public as indicated above, with attendance limited to space available. Individuals who plan to attend and need special assistance, such as sign language interpretation or other reasonable accommodations, should notify the contact person listed above at least 10 days prior to the meeting.

Dated: August 10, 2011.

Reva Harris,

Acting Director, Division of Policy and Information Coordination.