§1621m Epidemiology centers

Summary

The Secretary must set up an epidemiology center in each Service area to do public health work for Indian and urban Indian communities. New centers created after March 23, 2010 can be run under grants, but grant money cannot be split up. Centers are subject to the Indian Self‑Determination and Education Assistance Act, but their funds also cannot be divided. Each center will collect and track health data and progress on health goals, check how health and data systems are working, help tribes and urban Indian groups pick their top health priorities using data, and suggest where and how services should be focused. Centers will recommend ways to improve health care delivery, give technical help to local leaders and health staff about disease rates and local health planning, do disease surveillance, and help promote public health. The Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention must offer technical help to the centers. The Secretary may award grants to tribes, tribal organizations, Indian organizations, and eligible intertribal consortia to do epidemiology studies. A consortia must be formed mainly to improve Indian health and must represent the tribes or urban Indian communities in its area. Grant applicants must show they have the needed technical, administrative, and financial skills, coordinate with other health providers, and have local tribal or urban organization support. Grants may fund the center duties, provide information and advice to tribal and urban leaders and health staff, and help develop ideas for improving Indian health. Centers run by grant recipients are treated as public health authorities under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, get access to the Secretary’s protected health data, and may use data for approved research and for preventing and controlling disease, injury, or disability.