[Federal Register: September 25, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 186)]
[Notices]
[Page 55395-55396]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr25se03-62]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
[60Day-03-123]
Proposed Data Collections Submitted for Public Comment and
Recommendations
In compliance with the requirement of section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 for opportunity for public comment on
proposed data collection projects, the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC) will publish periodic summaries of proposed projects.
To request more information on the proposed projects or to obtain a
copy of the data collection plans and instruments, call the CDC Reports
Clearance Officer on (404) 498-1210.
Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed collection of
information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of
the agency, including whether the information shall have practical
utility; (b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the
proposed collection of information; (c) ways to enhance the quality,
utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and (d) ways
to minimize the burden of the collection of information on respondents,
including through the use of automated collection techniques or other
forms of information technology. Send comments to Seleda Perryman, CDC
Assistant Reports Clearance Officer, 1600 Clifton Road, MS-D24,
Atlanta, GA 30333. Written comments should be received within 60 days
of this notice.
Proposed Project: National Nosocomial Infections Surveillance
(NNIS) System--Extension--National Center for Infectious Disease
(NCID). The NNIS system, which was instituted in 1970, is an ongoing
surveillance system currently involving 345 hospitals that voluntarily
report their nosocomial infections data to the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC), who aggregate the data into a national
database. The data are collected using surveillance protocols developed
by CDC for high risk patient groups (ICU, high-risk nursery, and
surgical patients). Instructional manuals, training of surveillance
personnel, and a computer surveillance software are among the support
that CDC provides without cost to participating hospitals to ensure the
reporting of accurate and uniform data.
In the very near future this data collection will be merged with
two other collections to form the National Healthcare Safety Network
(NHSN). This network will be a computer-based system. Since this system
will be phased in over time, CDC will need to continue using the forms
within this clearance request until the transformation has been
completed.
The purpose of the NNIS system is to provide national data on the
incidence of nosocomial infections and their risk factors, and on
emerging antibiotic resistance. The data are used to determine the
magnitude of various nosocomial infection problems and trends in
infection rates among patient with similar risks. They are used to
detect changes in the epidemiology of nosocomial infections resulting
from new medical therapies and changing patient risks. New to the NNIS
system is the monitoring of antibiotic resistance and antimicrobial use
in groups of patients to describe the epidemiology of antibiotic
resistance and to understand the role of antimicrobial therapy to this
growing problem. The NNIS system can also serve as a sentinel system
for the detection of nosocomial infection outbreaks in the event of
national distribution of a contaminated medical product or device.
The respondent burden is not the same in each hospital since the
hospitals can select from a wide variety of surveillance options. A
typical hospital will monitor patients for infections in two ICUs and
surgical site infections following three surgical operations. The
respondent burden includes the time and cost to collect data on
nosocomial infections in patients in these groups and the denominator
data to characterize risk factors in the patients who are being
monitored; to enter the data as well as a surveillance plan into the
surveillance software; to send the data to CDC by electronic
transmission; and complete a short annual survey and administrative
forms. The respondent burden is expected to increase since an estimated
10 hospitals are expected to enroll into the NNIS system each year.
There is no cost to the respondent.
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Average
Number of Number of burden/ Total burden
Year respondents responses/ response (in (in hours)
respondent hours)
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2003............................................ 345 1 925 319,000
2004............................................ 355 1 927 329,000
2005............................................ 365 1 929 339,000
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Total....................................... .............. .............. .............. 987,000
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[[Page 55396]]
Dated: September 19, 2003.
Thomas A. Bartenfeld,
Acting Associate Director for Policy, Planning and Evaluation, Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention.
[FR Doc. 03-24277 Filed 9-24-03; 8:45 am]
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