[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 59 (Monday, March 29, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15441-15443]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-6878]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Health Resources and Services Administration
Privacy Act of 1974; Report of an Altered System of Records
AGENCY: Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Department
of Health and Human Services (HHS).
ACTION: Notice of an Altered System of Records (SOR).
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SUMMARY: In accordance with the requirements of the Privacy Act of
1974, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) is
publishing notice of a proposal to alter the system of records for
Health Professions Planning and Evaluation (SORN 09-15-0046;
63FR14124).
The purpose of these alterations is to change the name, to update
addresses, authority for maintenance, to improve clarity and to add a
new routine use. The routine use is to allow the Department to use
information in the system of records for responding to potential
breaches to the security or confidentiality of records in the system.
These changes will have no known or perceived adverse effects on
individual privacy.
DATES: HRSA filed an altered system report with the Chair of the House
Committee on Government Reform and Oversight, the Chair of the Senate
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, and the
Administrator, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) on March 1, 2010. To ensure all parties
have adequate time in which to comment, the altered systems, including
the routine uses, will become effective 30 days from the publication of
the notice or 40 days from the date it was submitted to OMB and
Congress, whichever is later, unless HRSA receives comments that
require alterations to this notice.
ADDRESSES: Please address comments to Associate Administrator, Health
Resources and Services Administration, 5600 Fishers Lane, Room 9A-18,
Rockville, Maryland 20857. Comments received will be available for
inspection at this same address from 9 a.m. to 3
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p.m. (Eastern Standard Time Zone), Monday through Friday.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Director, Office of Workforce Policy
and Performance Management, 5600 Fishers Lane, Room 9A-18, Rockville,
MD (301) 443-0367. This is not a toll-free number.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: HRSA has completed the annual review of its
systems of records and is publishing changes which affect the public's
right or need to know, such as routine uses, system deletions, title
changes, and changes in the system location of records, or the
addresses of systems managers.
1. System of records, 09-15-0046, Health Professions Planning and
Evaluation, has been renamed to Health Professions Analysis and
Evaluation. The System Manager's name and address has been updated, and
the list of record storage has added ``electronic files,'' and card
files, microfilm, and microfiche have been deleted as these storage
devices have not been utilized. Under notification and records access
procedures, the words ``for proof of identity'' have been added to
clarify the requirements for identification.
2. A new routine use (5) has been added to implement OMB
Memorandum M-07-16, Safeguarding Against and Responding to the Breach
of Personally Identifiable Information.
3. The authorities for maintenance of the system have been updated
and modified. Authorized personnel are limited to HRSA staff and
contractor personnel directly involved in data collection, compilation,
and analysis. The specific data items collected and maintained will be
determined by the needs of the individual project and restricted to the
minimum set necessary to accomplish project objectives.
Dated: March 17, 2010.
Mary K. Wakefield,
Administrator.
System Number: 09-15-0046
SYSTEM NAME:
Health Professions Analysis and Evaluation, HHS/HRSA/BHPr.
SECURITY CLASSIFICATION:
None.
SYSTEM LOCATION:
This system of records is an umbrella system comprising separate
sets of records located either in the organizations responsible for
conducting evaluations or at the sites of programs or activities under
evaluation. Locations include the Health Resources and Services
Administration (HRSA) facilities in Rockville, Maryland (see address of
System Manager below), or facilities of contractors of HRSA. Write to
the System Manager for a list of current locations.
CATEGORIES OF INDIVIDUALS COVERED BY THE SYSTEM:
Health professionals and students in the various health professions
who are the subjects of studies or evaluations being conducted by HRSA.
Physicians, dentists, pharmacists, optometrists, podiatrists,
veterinarians, public health personnel, audiologists, speech
pathologists, health care administration personnel, nurses, allied
health personnel, medical technologists, chiropractors, clinical
psychologists, and other health personnel may be included.
CATEGORIES OF RECORDS IN THE SYSTEM:
Name, address, health profession, education history, academic
grades, employment history, nationality, race, ethnicity, economic
background, and sex. The specific data items collected and maintained
are determined by the needs of the individual project and are
restricted to the minimum set necessary to accomplish project
objectives.
AUTHORITY FOR MAINTENANCE OF THE SYSTEM:
Authority is found in the following sections of the Public Health
Service Act; section 761 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C.
294n), Health Professions Workforce Information and Analysis; section
792 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 295k), Health
Professions Data.
PURPOSE(S) FOR RECORDS IN THIS SYSTEM:
The Health Resources and Services Administration uses various
records in this system to identify problems in the health care training
and delivery systems to plan programs to correct those problems, and to
evaluate the effectiveness of the resultant programs. The agency
assesses the current supply of health professionals and predicts the
supply needs of the future. The agency determines nationwide
requirements as well as the needs of specific areas. The agency also
collects data on the educational system which supplies health
professionals and on specific health education programs. The data are
used to develop and test new methods of training and utilizing health
professionals.
ROUTINE USES OF RECORDS MAINTAINED IN THE SYSTEM, INCLUDING CATEGORIES
OF USERS AND THE PURPOSES OF SUCH USES:
1. Disclosure may be made to a congressional office from the record
of an individual in response to a verified inquiry from the
congressional office made at the written request of that individual.
2. A record may be disclosed for a research purpose, when the
Department: (a) Has determined that the use or disclosure does not
violate legal or policy limitations under which the record was
provided, collected, or obtained; (b) Has determined that the research
purpose (1) cannot be reasonably accomplished unless the record is
provided in individually identifiable form, and (2) warrants the risk
to the privacy of the individual that additional exposure of the record
might bring; (c) Has required the recipient to--(1) Establish
reasonable administrative, technical, and physical safeguards to
prevent unauthorized use or disclosure of the record, (2) remove or
destroy the information that identifies the individual at the earliest
time at which removal or destruction can be accomplished consistent
with the purpose of the research project, unless the recipient has
presented adequate justification of a research or health nature for
retaining such information, and (3) make no further use or disclosure
of the record except--(A) In emergency circumstances affecting the
health or safety of any individual, (B) for use in another research
project, under these same conditions, and with written authorization of
the Department, (C) for disclosure to a properly identified person for
the purpose of an audit related to the research project, if information
that would enable research subjects to be identified is removed or
destroyed at the earliest opportunity consistent with the purpose of
the audit, or (D) when required by law; and (d) Has secured a written
statement attesting to the recipient's understanding of, and
willingness to abide by these provisions.
3. Disclosure may be made to HHS contractors and their staff, in
order to accomplish any of the purposes of the system of records. The
recipients are required to protect such records from improper
disclosure and to maintain Privacy Act safeguards.
4. The Department may disclose information from this system of
records to the Department of Justice, or to a court or other tribunal,
when (a) HHS, or any component thereof; or (b) Any HHS employee in his
or her official capacity; or (c) Any HHS employee in his or her
individual capacity where the Department of Justice (or HHS, where it
is authorized to do so) has agreed to represent the employee; or (d)
The United States or any agency thereof where HHS determines that the
litigation is likely to affect HHS or any of its components, is a party
to litigation
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or has an interest in such litigation, and HHS determines that the use
of such records by the Department of Justice, the court or other
tribunal is relevant and necessary to the litigation and would help in
the effective representation of the governmental party, provided,
however, that in each case, HHS determines that such disclosure is
compatible with the purpose for which the records were collected.
5. The Department may disclose information to appropriate Federal
agencies and Department contractors that have a need to know the
information for the purpose of assisting the Department's efforts to
respond to a suspected or confirmed breach of the security or
confidentiality of information maintained in this system of records,
and the information disclosed is relevant and necessary for that
assistance.
DISCLOSURE TO CONSUMER REPORTING AGENCIES:
None.
POLICIES AND PRACTICES FOR STORING, RETRIEVING, ACCESSING, RETAINING,
AND DISPOSING OF RECORDS IN THE SYSTEM:
1. Storage: Electronic files, file folders, magnetic tape, and disk
storage. The needs of each project determine the types of storage
actually used.
2. Retrievability: By name or by an assigned number.
3. Safeguards: Locked building, locked rooms, locked file cabinets,
personnel screening, locked computer rooms and computer tape vault,
guard service, password protection of automated records and limited
access to only authorized personnel may be used. Particular safeguards
are selected as appropriate to the type of records included in each
project. Authorized personnel are limited to HRSA staff and contractor
personnel directly involved in data collection, compilation, and
analysis. (Safeguards are in accordance with Part 6, ADP Systems
Security, of the Department's Information Resources Management Manual,
with Chapter 45-13, Safeguarding Records Contained in Systems of
Records, of the Department's General Administration Manual, and with
supplementary Chapter PHS. 45-13.)
4. Retention and Disposal: The contractor removes personal
identifiers and destroys the records when they are no longer needed, as
appropriate to the specific project. (Records may be retired to a
Federal Records Center and subsequently disposed of in accordance with
the Records Control Schedule of the Health Resources and Services
Administration). You may obtain a copy of the disposal standard for a
particular project by writing to the System Manager.
SYSTEM MANAGER(S) AND ADDRESS:
Director, Office of Workforce Policy and Performance Management,
Bureau of Health Professions, HRSA, 5600 Fishers Lane, Room 9A-18,
Rockville, MD 20857.
NOTIFICATION PROCEDURE:
Requests concerning whether the system contains records about an
individual should be made to the Systems Manager.
Request in person: A subject individual who appears in person at a
specific location seeking access or disclosure of records relating to
him/her shall provide his/her name, current address, and at least one
piece of tangible identification such as driver's license, passport,
voter registration card, or union card. Identification papers with
current photographs are preferred but not required. Additional
identification may be requested when there is a request for access to
records which contain an apparent discrepancy between information
contained in the records and that provided by the individual requesting
access to the records. Where the subject individual has no
identification papers, the responsible agency official shall require
that the subject individual certify in writing that he/she is the
individual who he/she claims to be and that he/she understands that the
knowing and willful request or acquisition of a record concerning an
individual under false pretenses is a criminal offense subject to a
$5,000 fine.
Requests by mail: A written request must contain the name and
address of the requester and his/her signature, which is either
notarized to verify his/her identify or includes a written
certification that the requester is a person he/she claims to be and
that he/she understands that the knowing and willful request or
acquisition of records pertaining to an individual under false
pretenses is a criminal offense subject to a $5,000 fine.
Requests by telephone: Because positive identification of the
caller cannot be established, no requests by telephone will be honored.
RECORDS ACCESS PROCEDURES:
To obtain access to your record, contact the System Manager and
provide suitable identification for proof of identity, a reasonable
description of the record and, if possible, information about the
specific project. You may also request a list of accountable
disclosures that have been made of your record.
CONTESTING RECORDS PROCEDURES:
To correct your record, contact the System Manager and provide:
a. Suitable identification for proof of identity,
b. A reasonable description of the record,
c. The specific information you want corrected, and
d. A precise description of the correction, with supporting
justification. The right to contest records is limited to information
which is incomplete, irrelevant, or untimely (obsolete).
RECORD SOURCE CATEGORIES:
Subject individuals, State and local health departments, other
health providers, health professions schools, and health professions
associations may provide information depending on the individual
project involved.
SYSTEMS EXEMPTED FROM CERTAIN PROVISIONS OF THE PRIVACY ACT:
None.
[FR Doc. 2010-6878 Filed 3-26-10; 8:45 am]
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