V.  Vote To Approve Final Report

Dr. Fielding asked for a motion to approve the report, subject to the minor revisions discussed by the full Committee. All Committee members who were present voted to approve the Phase I report to the Secretary. (9 in favor, 4 absent.)

Dr. Fielding congratulated the Committee members on their work. He estimated that minor edits to the report would be completed within a week. Once the report had been finalized, the Committee would submit it to ODPHP. ODPHP would submit the report to the Assistant Secretary for Health, who would send it through appropriate channels to the HHS Secretary’s Office. The report would be embargoed for 30 days, to permit the Secretary adequate time to review, and allow the report to be made 508 (c) compliant to ensure accessibility to all populations. It would then be released to the public.

VI.  Next Steps

Dr. Fielding proposed discussing the agenda for the Committee’s next meeting (scheduled for December 17, 2008 1:00 PM-3:00 PM EST), when the Advisory Committee would begin its Phase II efforts. He also reviewed potential topics for the Committee’s next in-person meeting, which would be held in Washington, DC on January 7-8, 2009. He suggested that NORC develop briefing papers in advance of these meetings to ensure productive discussions. Members offered additional suggestions, as summarized below. Each agenda item was designated to either the December or January agenda. The description of each item is followed by the month of the meeting in which it will take place (in parentheses). A final list of topics for each meeting is provided in Table 2.

Agenda Topic 1.      Progress of the FIW

Dr. Fielding suggested having a presentation on the FIW’s work and progress. He felt it would be useful for the FIW to identify issues and areas that the Committee’s recommendations could be helpful and to perhaps have a short paper on that topic. Dr. Fielding said that the FIW’s work is a high priority and should be the centerpiece of the December discussion, with key issues carried over into the January meeting. (December)

Dr. Kumanyika noted that some time should be allocated to discussing the relationship between the Committee’s work and the FIW’s work. She said that she did not fully understand that relationship. She wished to avoid duplicating efforts, while also maximizing the chance that the advice that the Committee offers will actually be taken. (January)

Agenda Topic 2.      Selection of Objectives

The criteria for selecting objectives should be a topic for discussion in December. Dr. Fielding suggested producing a short paper that highlighted the FIW’s criteria for selecting objectives. (December)

Agenda Topic 3.      Healthy People Consortium

RADM Royall mentioned that she would announce the revitalization of Healthy People Consortium at the American Public Health Association conference in San Diego, California. She would invite participants in that meeting to join Healthy People efforts towards developing objectives and targets. She noted that a hallmark of Healthy People has been its reputation as an open and transparent process. The Healthy People Consortium would be a comprehensive group of dedicated public health workers and others who wish to participate in the process of developing Healthy People 2020 objectives. She asked the Committee members to help ensure that this happens. Dr. Fielding asked RADM Royall to update the Advisory Committee on the Healthy People Consortium at the upcoming December WebEx meeting. (December)

Agenda Topic 4.      New Subcommitte on System Specifications

Dr. Fielding suggested creating a small subcommittee that would work to outline system specifications for the proposed relational database and make recommendations to HHS for a Web-accessible version of Healthy People 2020. He noted that at this stage it would not be necessary to have a high level of detail. A specifications briefing paper would be useful for laying out the Committee’s ideas in a more developed form. What features should the database have in order to be useful to target audiences? He asked for volunteers for the subcommittee. Dr. Manderscheid agreed to serve as chair, and Dr. Evans, Dr. Fielding, and Dr. Lisa Iezzoni agreed to serve on the committee. (Dr. Remington was absent for this part of the discussion, but had agreed to be involved in such efforts at an earlier meeting.) (January)