Privacy Act: [09-35-0002]...

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[2001 Privacy Act]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access]


[Page 18940-18941]



                 Agency for Health Care Policy and Research

                                                   Table of Contents

         09-35-0001  Agency Management Information System/Grants (AMIS/
   GRANTS and CONTRACTS), HHS/AHRQ/OM.
         09-35-0002  Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Medical 
   Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) and National Medical Expenditure 
   Survey 2 (NMES 2), HHS/AHRQ/CCFS.

   #..09-35-0001

   #....System name: 

       Agency Management Information System/Grants (AMIS/GRANTS) and 
   CONTRACTS), HHS/AHRQ/OM.
     Security classification: 
       None.
     System location: 
       Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Office of Management, 
   Executive Office Center, Suite 601, 2101 E. Jefferson Street, 
   Rockville, Maryland 20852.
       Program Support Center, Office of Management, Division of 
   Acquisition Management, Parklawn building, Room 5C-10, 5600 Fishers 
   Lane, Rockville, Maryland 20857.
       For a list of contractors, please write to the system manager at 
   the address listed below.
       Inactive records will be stored at: Washington National Records 
   Center, 4205 Suitland Road, Suitland, Maryland 20746-8001.
     Categories of individuals covered by the system: 
       Research training and career development grant applicants and 
   principal investigators, research training grant program directors, 
   and research fellowship recipients; peer and other special reviewers; 
   contract project directors and other contractor key personnel.
     Categories of records in the system: 
       Research grant, research training grant, research career 
   development, research fellowship, and contract files, including 
   applications, proposals, award notices, and summary comments of peer 
   reviewers.
     Authority for maintenance of the system: 
       AHRQ grants and contract administration authorities: secs. 902, 
   922, 924, 926 Public Health Service (PHS) Act (42 U.S.C. 299a, 299c-
   1, 299c-3, 299c-5); Sec. 1142 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 
   1320b-12) and sec. 487 PHS Act (42 U.S.C. 288) (National Research 
   Service Awards).
   Purposes(s):
       The information in this system is used to facilitate day-to-day 
   grants and contracts management operations and for purposes of 
   review, analysis, planning and policy formulation by AHRQ staff 
   members and by other components of DHHS which conduct research. AHRQ 
   also may refer these records to the appropriate office in the 
   Department for the purpose of monitoring payback; if necessary, debt 
   collection; and investigation of alleged scientific misconduct.
     Routine uses of records maintained in the system, including 
   categories of users and the purpose of such uses:
       1. Disclosure may be made to a congressional office from the 
   records of an individual in response to an inquiry from the 
   congressional office made at the request of the individual.
       2. The Department may disclose information from this system of 
   records to the Department of Justice, 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 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 of 
   which the records were collected.
       3. AHRQ may disclose information about an individual grant or 
   contract applicant or fellowship applicant to credit reporting 
   agencies to obtain a credit report in order to determine his/her 
   credit worthiness.
       4. Disclosure may be made to the National Technical Information 
   Service (NTIS), U.S. Department of Commerce, to contribute to the 
   Smithsonian Science Information Exchange, for dissemination of 
   scientific and fiscal information on funded awards (abstracts and 
   relevant administrative and financial data.)
       5. Disclosure may be made to qualified experts, not within the 
   definition of Department employees, for opinions, as a part of the 
   grant application review award process.
       6. Disclosure may be made to an AHRQ grantee or contractor for 
   the purposes of (a) carrying out research, or (b) providing services 
   relating to grant review, or for carrying out quality assessment, 
   program evaluation, and/or management reviews. They will be required 
   by written agreement to maintain Privacy Act safeguards with respect 
   to such records.
       7. Disclosure may be made to a Federal Agency, in response to its 
   request, in connection with the hiring or retention of an employee, 
   the issuance of security clearance, the reporting of an investigation 
   of an employee, the letting of a contract, or the issuance of a 
   license, grant, or other benefit of the requesting agency, to the 
   extent that the record is relevant and necessary to the requesting 
   agency's decision on the matter.
       8. Where Federal agencies having power to subpoena other Federal 
   agencies' records, such as the Internal Revenue Service or the Civil 
   Rights Commission, issue a subpoena to the Department for records in 
   this system of records, the Department will make such records 
   available.
       9. Disclosure may be made to the cognizant Audit Agency for 
   auditing.
       10. In the event that a system of records maintained by the 
   Department indicates a violation of potential violation of law, 
   whether civil, criminal or regulatory in nature, and whether arising 
   by statute or by regulation, rule or order issued pursuant thereto, 
   the relevant records in system of records may be referred for 
   purposes of litigation, as a routine use, to the appropriate agency, 
   whether Federal (e.g., the Department of Justice), or State (e.g., 
   the State's Attorney General's Office) charged with the 
   responsibility of investigating or processing such violation or 
   charged with enforcing or implementing the statute or rule, 
   regulation or order issued pursuant thereto.
       11. Disclosure may be made to the grants/contractor institution 
   in connection with performance or administration under the terms and 
   condition of the award, or in connection with problems that might 
   arise in performance or administration if an award is made on a 
   grant/contract proposal.
   Disclosure to consumer reporting agencies:
       Disclosure pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552a(b)(12): Disclosure may be 
   made from this system to ``consumer reporting agencies'' as defined 
   in the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681ff. or the Federal 
   Claims Collection Act of 1966 (31 U.S.C. 3701(a)(3)). The purpose of 
   this disclosure is to aid in the collection of outstanding debts owed 
   to the Federal Government; typically, to provide an incentive for 
   debtors to repay delinquent Federal Government debts by making these 
   debts part of their credit records. Disclosure of records is limited 
   to the individual's name, address, Social Security number, and other 
   information necessary to establish the individual's identity; the 
   amount, status, and history of the claim; and the agency program 
   under which the claim arose. This disclosure will be made only after 
   the procedural prerequisites of 31 U.S.C. 3711 have been followed.
     Policies and practices for Storing, retrieving, accessing, 
   retaining, and disposing of records in the system:  
     Storage: 
       Records are stored on hard disks with magnetic tape backup was 
   well as in manual files (file folders).
     Retrievability: 
       Electronic records are retrievable by key data fields such as 
   investigator name, application, grant or contract number. Paper 
   records are retrievable by name of principal investigator and/or 
   grant/contract number.
     Safeguards: 
       1. Authorized users: All AHRQ staff who work with grants or 
   contracts have access to the system. Level of access will be granted 
   by the System Manager. Only staff members of the Division of Grants 
   Management and Division of Contracts Management have regular access 
   to their Division's paper grant and contract files. Limited access to 
   official grant and contract files is granted to other AHRQ and DHHS 
   staff with need-to-know about AHRQ research projects, only with 
   authorization of the responsible Division Director.
       2. Physical safeguards: File servers and database servers are 
   maintained in areas secured by combination lock. Data is backed up 
   from hard drive to magnetic tape daily. Paper records are

[[Page 18940]]

   secured in locked file cabinets in locked offices. All file cabinet 
   and computer equipment is maintained under general building security.
       3. Procedural safeguards: Access to electronic records by non-
   AHRQ personnel is through the Systems Manager only. DHHS staff may 
   inspect AHRQ grant and contract records on a need-to-know basis only, 
   with the approval of the responsible of the responsible Division 
   Director. Visitors are not left unattended in the office containing 
   the files. Offices are locked when not in use. Grant and contract 
   records are either transmitted in sealed envelopes or are hand-
   carried.
       4. Technical safeguards: Initial electronic access is through the 
   AHRQ local area network which is controlled by password. Subsequent 
   level of security exist for access to the Agency Management 
   Information System/Grants and contracts (AMIS/GRANTS and CONTRACTS) 
   system itself and, within the system, individual users are granted 
   appropriate levels of access (read on, read/write) depending upon 
   individual need. Levels of access are granted by the System Manager.
     Retention and disposal: 
       Electronic records containing portions of information from the 
   paper applications and proposal of unfunded grant and contract 
   applications will be retained and accessible at AHRQ for ten years. 
   The complete paper applications and proposals of unfunded grants and 
   contracts will be retired to the Federal Records Retention Center 
   after one year and subsequently disposed of in accordance with the 
   records retention schedule. Electronic records containing portions of 
   information from the paper applications of funded grants or contracts 
   will be retained and made accessible at AHRQ for fifteen years 
   following final payment. Paper records of funded grant applications 
   and contracts and their respective files are retained at AHRQ for one 
   year beyond the termination date of the grant or until after the 
   final report is received, whichever is sooner. They are then retired 
   to the Federal Records Center and disposed of twelve years after 
   final payment in accordance with the National Archives and Records 
   Administration General Records Schedule. The pertinent records 
   retention control schedule may be obtained by writing a System 
   Manager at the following address.
     System manager(s) and address: 
       For administrative information: AMIS/GRANTS and CONTRACTS Policy-
   Coordinating Official/Administrator, 301-594-1439
       For grants information: Director, Division of Grants Management, 
   301-594-1447
       For contracts information: Director, Division of Contracts 
   Management, 301-594-1445
       All System Managers are located at the following address: Office 
   of Management, AHRQ, Executive Officer Center, Suite 601, 2101 E. 
   Jefferson Street, Rockville, Maryland 20852.
     Notification procedure: 
       To determine if a record exists, write to the System Manager at 
   the above address. The requester must also verify his or her identity 
   by providing either a notarization of the request or a written 
   certification that the requester is who he or she claims to be. The 
   requester should specify name or number of grant/contract. The 
   requester must also sign a statement indicating an understanding that 
   the knowing and willful request for acquisition of information from a 
   protected record pertaining to an individual under false pretense is 
   a criminal offense under the Act, punishable by a five thousand 
   dollar fine.
     Record access procedures: 
       Same as notification procedures. Requester should also reasonably 
   specify the record contents being sought. Positive identification of 
   the requester as above is required. Subject individuals may also 
   request an accounting of disclosures that have been made of their 
   record, if any.
     Contesting record procedures: 
       Contact the official at the address specified under the System 
   Manager subheading above and reasonably identify the record, specify 
   the information being contested, and state the corrective action 
   sought and reason(s) for requesting the correction, along with 
   supporting information to show how the record is inaccurate, 
   incomplete, untimely, or irrelevant.
     Record source categories: 
       Grant applications, contractor project directors, reports and 
   correspondence from the research community, and statement from grant 
   review committees; consumer reporting agencies; DHHS System of 
   Records 09-25-0036, Extramural Awards: IMPAC (Grant/Contract/
   Cooperative Agreement Information), HHS/NIH/DRG.
     Systems exempted from certain provisions of the act: 
       None.

   #..09-35-0002

   #....System name: 

       Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) and National Medical 
   Expenditure Survey 2 (NMES 2), HHS/AHRQ/CCFS.
     Security classification: 
       None.
     System location: 
       Center for Cost and Financing Studies, AHRQ, Executive Office 
   Center, Suite 500, 2101 E. Jefferson Street, Rockville, Maryland 
   20852-4993.
     Categories of individuals covered by the system: 
       (1) Individuals and members of households selected by probability 
   sampling techniques to be representative of the civilian 
   noninstitutionalized population of the United States; health care 
   providers, staff responding on behalf of health insurers and the 
   employers of members of sampled households; (2) residents and next-
   of-kin of such residents of nursing and personal care homes, selected 
   by probability sampling techniques to be representative of residents 
   of such homes, and facilities and the staff responding on behalf of 
   such facilities.
     Categories of records in the system: 
       Records containing information on: (1) The incidence of illness 
   and accidental injuries, prevalence of diseases and impairments, the 
   extent of disability, the use, expenditures and sources of payment 
   for health care services, and other characteristics of individuals 
   obtained in household interviews (demographic and socioeconomic 
   characteristics such as age, martial status, education, occupation 
   and family income) and the names, telephone numbers and addresses of 
   the responding staffs of health care providers, health insurers, and 
   employers; (2) the utilization of long-term care, nursing home care, 
   care in personal care homes through data on residents (demographic 
   and social characteristics, health status and charges and sources of 
   payment for care); through data facility characteristics (general 
   characteristics, certification, services offered and corresponding 
   expenses), and through data on next-of-kin or representative of 
   residents (demographic and social characteristics, health status, and 
   expenditures for health care of residents); and (3) Medicare claims 
   records of members of sampled households and of sampled residents of 
   nursing and personal care homes.

[[Page 18941]]

     Authority for maintenance of the system: 
       Section 913 and 306 of the Public Health Service (PHS) Act (42 
   U.S.C. 299b-2 and 242k(b)). Sections 924(c) and 308(d) of the PHS Act 
   (42 U.S.C. 299c-3(c) and 242m(d)) provide authority for additional 
   restrictions on identifiable information about individuals.
   Purpose(s):
       The data are used in aggregated form for statistical and health 
   services research purposes respecting analysis and evaluation of 

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