Board of Scientific Counselors (BSC)
Charter
PDF Version 32 KB
Purpose
The Secretary is authorized under Section 306 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. § 217a), as amended to: (1) conduct and support statistical and epidemiological activities for the purpose of improving the effectiveness, efficiency, and quality of health services in the United States (including collecting statistics on the extent and nature of illness and disability of the population, as well as life expectancy, incidence of various acute and chronic illnesses, and infant and maternal morbidity and mortality; impact of illness and disability of the population on the economy of the U.S. and on other aspects of the well-being of its population; environmental, social, and other health hazards; determinants of health; health resources, including physicians, dentists, nurses, and other health professionals, by specialty and type of practice and the supply of services by hospitals, extended care facilities, home health agencies, and other health institutions; utilization of health care, both ambulatory health services and services of hospitals, extended care facilities, home health agencies, and other institutions; health care costs and financing, including trends in health care prices and cost, sources of payments for health care services, and Federal, State, and local governmental expenditures for health care services; family formation, growth, and dissolution); (2) undertake and support research, demonstrations, and evaluations respecting new or improved methods for obtaining current data on matters pertaining to (1) above; (3) conduct epidemiological research, demonstrations, and evaluations on matters described in (1) above; (4) collect, furnish, tabulate, and analyze statistics and prepare studies on matters described in (1) above upon request of public and nonprofit private entities; (5) provide technical assistance to assist State and local jurisdictions in the development of model laws dealing with issues of confidentiality and comparability of data; (6) cooperate and consult with public and nonprofit entities to carry out its mandate; and (7) provide to public and nonprofit private entities technical assistance in the effective use in such activities of statistics collected or compiled by the Center.
Authority
Section 222 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. § 217a), as amended. The board is governed by provisions of Public Law 92-463, as amended (5 U.S.C. App. 2), which sets forth standards for the formation and use of advisory committees.
Function
The Board of Scientific Counselors, National Center for Health Statistics, shall provide advice and make recommendations to the Secretary; Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Director, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC); and the Director, National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), regarding the scientific and technical program goals and objectives, strategies, and priorities of NCHS. The Board shall provide advice and guidance on statistical and epidemiological research and activities that focus on issues such as: determinants of health; extent and nature of illness and disability, including life expectancy; incidence of various acute and chronic illnesses/impairments and accidental injuries; prevalence of chronic diseases and impairments; infant and maternal morbidity and mortality; nutrition status; environmental, social, and other hazards affecting health status; health resources associated with physician and dental visits, hospitalizations, nursing, extended care facilities, home health agencies, and other health institutions; utilization of health care in a broad array of settings; trends in prices/costs and sources of payments; Federal, State, and local government expenditures for health care services; the relationship between demographic and socioeconomic characteristics and health characteristics; family formation, growth, and dissolution; new or improved methods for obtaining current data on the aforementioned factors; data security and confidentiality and comparability of data; and standardized means to collect information and statistics. Additionally, the board shall make recommendations about opportunities for NCHS programs to examine and employ new approaches to monitoring and evaluating key public health, health policy, and welfare policy changes, with particular attention to means to automate the collection of data, apply new data processing and analytic tools, and store and disseminate data in a more timely and accessible manner. Further, the board may provide second-level scientific and programmatic review for applications for grants-in-aid for research/demonstration and training activities that focus on the above matters. Members will be responsible for surveying the state-of-the-art of their respective disciplines, reporting, as appropriate, to the full board and recommending convening of workshops or symposia to educate or update all board members.
Structure
The board shall consist of 15 members, including the Chair. Members and the Chair shall be selected by the Secretary, HHS, from authorities knowledgeable in statistical, demographic, and epidemiological research (such as biostatistics/biometry, survey methodology and polling, sociology, reproductive health, minority health, nutrition, social and behavioral health sciences, population-based public and environmental health); public health practice (e.g., State and local -3- health data systems); operations research, health policy and health services research (including health economics and econometrics); provision of health services (medicine, nursing, rehabilitation, other allied health care, preventive medicine); health quality measurement and health indicators; health promotion; medical informatics; and data and health information security, storage, confidentiality, and dissemination (including print, computerized, and other digital media). The board shall consist of a nonvoting ex officio from the Office of Management and Budget, a nonvoting liaison representative from the National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics, and such other nonvoting ex officio or liaison representatives as the Secretary, HHS deems necessary to effectively carry out the functions of the board. Members shall be invited to serve for overlapping terms of up to four years, except that any member appointed to fill a vacancy for an unexpired term shall be appointed for the remainder of that term. Terms of more than two years are contingent upon the renewal of the board by appropriate action prior to its termination. A member may serve 180 days after the expiration of that member’s term if a successor has not taken office. Subcommittees may be established from time to time with the approval of the Secretary, HHS, or designee. The Department Committee Management Officer will be notified upon establishment of each subcommittee, and will be provided information on its name, membership, function, and estimated frequency of meetings. Management and support services shall be provided by the National Center for Health Statistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Meetings
Meetings shall be held approximately three times a year at the call of the Designated Federal Officer, in consultation with the Chair. The Designated Federal Officer shall also approve the agenda and shall be present at all meetings. Meetings shall be open to the public except as determined otherwise by the Secretary, HHS, or other official to whom the authority has been delegated, in accordance with the Government in the Sunshine Act (5 U.S.C. 552b(c)) and Section 10(d) of the Federal Advisory Committee Act; notice of all meetings shall be given to the public. Meetings shall be conducted, and records of the proceedings kept, as required by applicable laws and Departmental regulations.
Compensation
Members who are not full-time Federal employees shall be paid at the rate of $250 per day, or at the rate of $31.25 per hour, as determined by the agency, but not to exceed $250 per day; plus per diem and travel expenses in accordance with Standard Government Travel Regulations.
Annual Cost Estimate
Estimated annual cost for operating the board, including compensation and travel expenses for members but excluding staff support, is $125,592. Estimate of annual person-years of staff support required is 0.40, at an estimated annual cost of approximately $39,220.
Reports
In the event a portion of a meeting is closed to the public, as determined by the Secretary, HHS, in accordance with the Government in the Sunshine Act (5 U.S.C. 552b(c)) and Section 10(d) of the Federal Advisory Committee Act, a report shall be prepared, which shall contain, as a minimum, a list of members and their business addresses, the board’s function, and recommendations made during the fiscal year. A copy of the report shall be provided to the Department Committee Management Officer.
Termination Date
Unless renewed by appropriate action prior to its expiration, the Board of Scientific Counselors, National Center for Health Statistics, will terminate on January 19, 2009.
Page Last Modified: October 24, 2008
National Center for Health
Statistics
3311 Toledo Road
Hyattsville, MD 20782
Phone:
1-800-232-4636
cdcinfo@cdc.gov
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Rd, Atlanta, GA 30333, U.S.A
Tel: (404) 639-3311 / Public Inquiries: (404) 639-3534 / (800) 311-3435