[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 75 (Friday, April 17, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Page 21447]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-08080]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Health Resources and Services Administration
National Practitioner Data Bank Temporary Waiver of User Fees for
Eligible Entities
AGENCY: Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Department
of Health and Human Services.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: Pursuant to its authority under federal regulations for the
National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB), HRSA's Division of Practitioner
Data Bank announces a temporary waiver of user fees for NPDB queries
from March 1, 2020, through May 31, 2020, to support our eligible
entities in making credentialing, hiring, privileging, and licensing
decisions in combatting the COVID-19 pandemic. The waiver includes all
one-time queries and continuous queries during the waiver time period.
Fees for self-queries will not be waived. The NPDB is a confidential
information clearinghouse created by Congress and is intended to
facilitate a comprehensive review of the professional credentials of
health care practitioners, entities, providers, and suppliers. In
response to President Trump's declaration of a national emergency and
associated emergency declarations by all states, the federal
government, state governments, and many health care entities have taken
unprecedented steps regarding licensure portability and the deployment
of health workforce resources, including the expansion of telemedicine
and granting of disaster privileges. HRSA's NPDB is in a unique
position to temporarily waive fees, granting NPDB access to the
nation's hospitals, health centers, health plans, state licensing
boards, federal agencies, and other eligible health care entities in
support of their efforts to mobilize and appropriately deploy health
workforce professionals.
DATES: The NPDB waiver is effective immediately, but will have
retroactive effect to March 1, 2020, and will remain in effect through
May 31, 2020.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: David Loewenstein, Director, Division
of Practitioner Data Bank, Bureau of Health Workforce, HRSA, (301) 443-
2300, [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The NPDB will waive fees retroactively from
March 1, 2020, through May 31, 2020, for eligible entity queries (one-
time query and continuous query). The NPDB will not refund the cost of
queries performed, but can issue query credits to reimburse entities
for one-time and continuous queries performed beginning March 1, 2020.
Regulations regarding the NPDB are codified at 45 CFR part 60.
Thomas J. Engels,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2020-08080 Filed 4-16-20; 8:45 am]
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