[Federal Register: May 12, 2009 (Volume 74, Number 90)]
[Notices]
[Page 22171-22172]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr12my09-43]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Office of the Secretary
Public Meeting of the Federal Coordinating Council on Comparative
Effectiveness Research
AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, HHS.
ACTION: Notice of public meeting.
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SUMMARY: Authorized by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of
2009 (ARRA), the Federal Coordinating Council for Comparative
Effectiveness Research will help coordinate research and guide
investments in comparative effectiveness research funded by the
Recovery Act. The Coordinating Council is holding this meeting to hear
from the public about their views on the Council's activities.
DATES: The meeting, which is the second of three public meetings that
the Coordinating Council expects to convene, will be held on Wednesday,
May 13, 2009, from 2:30 p.m.-5:30 p.m. CDT.
ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at the University of Illinois at
Chicago Forum, 725 W. Roosevelt Rd., (MC 126) Chicago, IL 60608. In
addition, the meeting will be Web cast and individuals may also
participate by audioconference.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Patrick Conway, Office of the
Secretary, HHS, Telephone: 202-690-7858; E-mail:
Patrick.conway@hhs.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Coordinating Council will assist the
agencies of the Federal Government, including HHS, Departments of
Veterans Affairs and Defense, as well as others, to coordinate
comparative effectiveness and related health services research. The
Coordinating Council also will provide input on priorities for the $400
million fund in the Recovery Act that the Secretary will allocate to
advance this type of research.
The Coordinating Council will not recommend clinical guidelines for
payment, coverage or treatment. The Coordinating Council will consider
the needs of populations served by Federal programs and opportunities
to build and expand on current investments and priorities.
Registration and Other Information About the Meeting: Individuals
may participate in the meeting either by attending in person, viewing
the meeting over the Internet, or by audioconference. Individuals may
also nominate themselves to make a 3-minute statement before the
Coordinating Council. In addition, individuals may submit written
statements for the Coordinating Council's consideration, regardless of
whether individuals are chosen to give an oral statement. The
Coordinating Council does request that individuals nominating
themselves to make an oral statement make every effort to be present to
give their statement in person. However, to facilitate hearing as many
different viewpoints as possible, consideration will be given to
individuals who would make their oral statements via audioconference.
Oral statements, as well as written statements submitted for the
Coordinating Council's consideration, should address the following
kinds of questions:
What types of investments in infrastructure for
comparative effectiveness research should the Coordinating Council
consider?
What criteria should the Coordinating Council consider
when evaluating different investment options?
What Federal government activities in the area of
comparative effectiveness research should the Coordinating Council
focus its attention on?
How can the Coordinating Council best foster integration
of these activities across the programs managed by the Departments of
Health and Human Services, Defense, and Veterans Affairs?
What steps should the Coordinating Council consider to
help ensure that public- and private-sector efforts in the area of
comparative effectiveness research are mutually supportive?
What information on the Coordinating Council's activities
would be most useful?
The Office of the Secretary requests that interested persons
register to participate and indicate (a) whether they will attend in
person, view the Coordinating Council's meeting over the Internet, or
listen by audioconference; (b) whether they are nominating themselves
to give a 3-minute oral statement; and/or, (c) if they intend to submit
a written statement for the Coordinating Council to consider. Per
Section 3, ``Ensuring Responsible Spending of Recovery Act Funds,'' 74
FR 12531, 12533 (March 25, 2009), individuals who wish to make an oral
statement will be asked to disclose whether they are registered
lobbyists.
Individuals should register to participate no later than Monday,
May 11, at 5 p.m., EDT. Due to time constraints, not everyone who
volunteers to make an oral statement will be able to do so. However,
all statements received will be considered by the Coordinating Council
as part of their deliberations.
To register, go to http://www.hhs.gov/recovery/programs/CER/
index.html. Individuals who do not register in advance will only be
able to attend the meeting in person if space is available. Information
on how to view the meeting over the Internet and participate by
audioconference will be sent to registered participants in advance and
posted on the Recovery.gov Web site on Tuesday, May 12, 2009. The
number of audioconference lines for non-registered participants may be
limited.
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, 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:
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 111-50'').
Also, the Office of the Secretary has an e-mail notification list
to provide interested parties with automatic notification of relevant
information posted on Recovery.gov and the HHS Web site (http://
www.hhs.gov/recovery/programs/CER/index.html) concerning the Federal
Coordinating Council. To be added to the e-mail notification list, send
your e-mail address to CoordinatingCouncil@bls.com, and use
[[Page 22172]]
the words ``Add me to the list'' in the subject line.
Dated: May 6, 2009.
Patrick Conway,
Executive Director, Federal Coordinating Council for Comparative
Effectiveness Research.
[FR Doc. E9-11044 Filed 5-7-09; 4:15 pm]
BILLING CODE 4150-05-P