[Federal Register: February 24, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 37)]
[Notices]
[Page 9558]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr24fe06-83]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
Meetings on Patient Safety and Quality Improvement
AGENCY: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), HHS.
ACTION: Notice of public meetings, including telephone call-in.
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SUMMARY: We are considering how to implement the Patient Safety and
Quality Improvement Act of 2005 (Act), including such questions as how
the Act might be applied to various organizational configurations and
how best to ensure that the statute's fundamental confidentiality
objectives are achieved. To help us better understand the thinking and
plans of providers that are interested in seeking out patient safety
organization (PSO) services, and of entities that anticipate
establishing such an organization, this notice invites the public to
provide information that may assist the Agency, either in person or by
telephone call-in, at three related public meetings.
DATES: The three public meetings will be held on Wednesday, March 8,
2006; Monday, March 13, 2006; and Thursday, March 16, 2006. Each
meeting will be held from 12:30 p.m. EST until finished (no later than
3:30 p.m. EST).
ADDRESSES: The meetings on March 8 and 13 will be held at AHRQ, John M.
Eisenberg Building, 540 Gaither Road, Rockville, MD 20850. The meeting
on March 16 will be held at Hilton Washington Embassy Row, 2015
Massachusetts Ave. NW., Washington, DC 20036.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Eileen Hogan, Agency for Healthcare
Research and Quality, 540 Gaither Road, Rockville, MD 20850; Telephone:
301-427-1307; E-mail: Eileen.Hogan@ahrq.hhs.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Act is intended to help health care
providers improve patient safety, reduce the incidence of events that
adversely effect patient safety, and otherwise improve the quality of
health care delivery. More specifically, the Act, by establishing a
Federal privilege and mandating confidentiality protection, encourages
health care providers to contract with PSOs to collect and analyze data
on patient safety events (including ``near misses,'' ``close calls,''
and ``no-harm'' events as well as other types of patient safety
events), to develop and disseminate information to improve patient
safety, and to provide feedback and assistance to reduce patient risk.
The decision to contract with a PSO is voluntary.
Registration and Other Information About the Meetings
We request that interested persons register with the Cygnus
Corporation on the Internet at http://www.cygnusc.com/ to participate
in one or more meetings either in person or by telephone. The contact
at Cygnus Corporation is Megan Griggs who can be reached by telephone
at (301) 231-7537, ext. 260 and by e-mail at griggsm@cygnus.com.
Interested persons should register at least the day before a meeting in
which they wish to participate. Non-registered individuals will be able
to attend a meeting in person if space is available. However, we will
not be able to provide a telephone hook-up for those that do not
register at least the day before the meeting.
If sign language interpretation or other reasonable accommodation
for a disability is needed, please contact Mr. Donald L. Inniss,
Director, Office of Equal Employment Opportunity Program Support
Center, on (301) 443-1144.
Each public meeting is scheduled for a three-hour period, but will
end sooner if participants have finished providing input before the
time period expires. We are asking for input concerning specific topics
as follows:
March 8, 2006: Provider--PSO relationships, contracts, and
disclosures. March 13, 2006: Operation of a component PSO (a PSO that
is part of another organization). March 16, 2006: Security and
Confidentiality issues.
We request that input regarding the specified topics be provided at
the meeting scheduled for that topic. After those who wish to provide
input on the specific topics have finished, participants will be
welcome to provide input on other issues regarding the implementation
of the Act. The format for the meetings is intended to allow
participants not only to provide input, but also to respond to the
input provided by others. We especially request input from entities
interested in becoming or creating PSOs and from providers interested
in contracting with PSOs.
To help interested individuals prepare for the meetings, we invite
review of the Act. The full text is set forth on the Internet at:
http://www.gpoaccess.gov/plaws/ (search for ``Public Law 109--41.'')
Also, we will establish an e-mail notification list to provide
interested parties with automatic notification of relevant information
posted on the AHRQ Web site (http://www.ahrq.gov) concerning the PSO
program. To be added to the e-mail notification list, send your e-mail
address to Eileen.Hogan@ahrq.hhs.gov and use the words ``Add me to the
list'' in the subject line.
These meetings will be primarily listening sessions for the Agency
and potentially an opportunity for dialogue among participants. We
believe that the input received at the public meetings will be most
helpful in providing the Agency with background information, fostering
fact finding, and broadening awareness of issues raised by the
legislation. We generally will not respond to the presentations during
the meetings and will not regard them as formal comments that must be
addressed in later rulemaking documents.
Dated: February 17, 2006.
Carolyn M. Clancy,
Director.
[FR Doc. 06-1725 Filed 2-23-06; 8:45 am]
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