Answer. Large numbers of health professionals in our nation do not have easy access to biomedical information--because of geographic isolation, non-affiliation with a hospital or medical school library, or lack of information about NLM's products and services. With the increased funding available for outreach, we have identified institutions and individuals to help us reach out to these underserved health professionals; libraries in our own Regional Medical Library network have stepped forward, as well as other institutions, in response to NLM solicitations for help. It is clear that within the population of health professionals in underserved areas, there is a sub-group of health professionals serving minority populations who have a special set of problems in accessing information. NLM has geared a variety of new outreach initiatives to these rural and minority communities. Results of these outreach initiatives include: Extensive efforts to train physicians and other health professionals on the use of GRATEFUL MED in 50 communities in 32 states. This is being accomplished through special projects at the Regional Medical Libraries, and awards to individual small-to-medium sized libraries in the network, with an emphasis on libraries in rural and inner city areas. Faster and easier access to documents identified in online searches. For those health professionals who are not affiliated with a medical library, LOANSOME DOC, NLM's new link between the GRATEFUL MED user and a network library, allows electronic ordering of documents. Demonstration projects in the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas and Meharry Medical College in Tennessee to identify impediments to use and test innovative strategies for improving access among health professionals serving predominantly minority populations in geographically isolated areas, including the use of a circuit librarian (Rio Grande Valley) and training residents in GRATEFUL MED use, who will go on to train their preceptors (Meharry). A total of 18 outreach projects have a minority focus. A new initiative in NLM's Toxicology Information Program (TIP) is aimed at establishing a mechanism which would strengthen the capacity of historically black colleges and universities to train medical and other health professionals in the use of toxicological, environmental, and occupational information resources developed at NLM. This audience represents a group that would otherwise not get exposure to these valuable information sources and also is considered one of the high priority groups within NLM's outreach efforts. Continuing efforts to publicize the programs and services of the Library. Publicity activities are targeted both to health professionals and to general audiences, and include exhibits at meetings as well as training kits, press releases, videos, and a campaign to inform dental professionals about the benefits of GRATEFUL MED. These institutions that are collaborating with us now represent the most needy, and the projects are now being undertaken. Question. Both the Long Range Planning Panel and the DeBakey report recommend increased training and retraining for health sciences librarians. However, the NLM budget justification appears to place primary emphasis training in medical informatics and biotechnology information in the disciplines of molecular biology and genetics. Please comment. This Answer. Both the 1987 NLM Long Range Plan and the recent DeBakey Outreach Report recommended training health science librarians in the use of computer technologies in medicine. is still of great interest to NLM. As NLM was beginning to formulate the issues for a planning panel on the training of medical librarians, the Medical Library Association convened a Knowledge and Skills Task Force. This Task Force is attempting to define the knowledge and skills required of the health science librarians of the future, and the educational policies which will assure the maintenance of those abilities throughout a professional career. The findings of this Task Force will be an important input into the NLM planning process. NLM has been kept regularly apprised of the progress of the Task Force and intends to convene its own planning panel of health professionals, librarians, and other information professionals following the issuance of the Task Force Report. Meanwhile, NLM continues to address the problem that there are not adequate numbers of persons in biomedical fields, including medical librarianship, who have had training in the use of modern computer and communications systems. Such training is supported through medical informatics training grants. This is a key concept of the HPCC initiative. Question. The Integrated Academic Information Management System (IAIMS) Program appears to incorporate some of the goals of the NREN project; does the President's budget request reflect an increase over 1991 funding for IAIMS grants? Answer. The IAIMS program is completely compatible with the NREN concepts. Indeed in many ways it directly exceeds these ideas. The IAIMS program is directed toward the institution-wide use of communications and information processing techniques to link and relate library systems with individual and constituent data bases and files inside and outside the institution for patient care, research, education and administration. The goal is to create an organizational mechanism within health institutions to manage biomedical knowledge more effectively, and to provide for a system of comprehensive information access. This is indeed in line with the goals of the High Performance Computing Program. Funding for IAIMS is sufficient to maintain the same level of funding as in FY 1991. SUBCOMMITTEE RECESS Senator HARKIN. Thank you. The subcommittee will stand in recess until 9:30 a.m., Tuesday, March 19, when we will meet in SD192 to hear from the Department of Education. [Whereupon, at 5:36 p.m., Thursday, March 14, the subcommittee was recessed, to reconvene at 9:30 a.m., Tuesday, March 19.] LIST OF WITNESSES, COMMUNICATIONS, AND PREPARED STATEMENTS Adams, Hon. Brock, U.S. Senator from Washington, questions submitted by Biographical sketch Archer, William R., M.D., Deputy Assistant Secretary for Population Affairs, Barnhart, Hon. Jo Anne B., Assistant Secretary, Family Support Administra- Page 70 923 930 925 361 77 82 Prepared statement 81 Bart, Kenneth J., M.D., M.P.H., Deputy Director, National Vaccine Program, 361 Bowen, Dr. G. Stephen, Acting Director, Bureau of Health Resources Development, Health Resources and Services Administration, Department of Health and Human Services 587 Briggs, Ethel, Executive Director, National Council on Disability Broder, Dr. Samuel, Director, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services 742 Burdick, Hon. Quentin N., U.S. Senator from North Dakota, questions submitted by...... 920, 1130 Bumpers, Hon. Dale, U.S. Senator from Arkansas, questions submitted by 428, 523, 803, 886, 939, 1028, 1076, 1180, 1138 Byrd, Hon. Robert C., U.S. Senator from West Virginia, questions submitted by.. 520, 884 439 442 Clinton, Dr. J. Jarrett, Acting Administrator, Agency for Health Care Policy Cochran, Hon. Thad, U.S. Senator from Mississippi: Prepared statement Questions submitted by 654 Diggs, Dr. John, Deputy Director, Extramural Research, National Institutes Enoff, Louis D., Deputy Commissioner for Programs, Social Security Administration, Department of Health and Human Services 291 Biographical sketch 319 Evans, Willard B., Jr., Acting Director, Office of Planning and Resource Management, Agency for Health Care Policy and Research, Department of Health and Human Services Fauci, Dr. Anthony S., Director and Associate Director for HIV Research, Prepared statement ...... Page .... 685, 855 862 857 Gall, Mary Sheila, Assistant Secretary, Office of Human Development Services, Department of Health and Human Services Biographical sketch Letter from Prepared statement Gannon, John, Chairperson, Health Insurance Committee, National Council on Disability Biographical sketch Gaston, Dr. Marilyn, Director, Bureau of Health Care Delivery and Assistance, Health Resources and Services Administration, Department of Health and Human Services Goldstein, Dr. Murray, Director, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services Biographical sketch Prepared statement Goodwin, Frederick K., M.D., Administrator, Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health Administration, Department of Health and Human Services Biographical sketch Prepared statement Gorden, Dr. Phillip, Director, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive 131 133 139 132 657 670 587 973 981 976 531 540 535 893 900 Prepared statement 895 Gordis, Enoch, M.D., Director, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health Administration, Department of Health and Human Services 531 1051 127 587 595 Gorton, Hon. Slade, U.S. Senator from Washington, questions submitted by ... Hatfield, Hon. Mark O., U.S. Senator from Oregon, questions submitted by 115, 175, 287, 357, 731, 942, 990 Hinshaw, Dr. Ada Sue, Director, National Center for Nursing Research, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services Biographical sketch Hoel, Dr. David, Acting Director, National Institute of Environmental Health 1117 1124 1119 945 951 948 67, 796 Hollings, Hon. Ernest F., U.S. Senator from South Carolina, questions sub- Hutchins, Dr. Vince L., Acting Director, Maternal and Child Health Bureau, 587 Inouye, Hon. Daniel K., U.S. Senator from Hawaii, questions submitted by ..... 69, 419, 885, 1113, 1136 Itteilag, Anthony L., Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health Management Johnson, Elaine M., Ph.D., Director, Office for Substance Abuse and Preven- 361 531 Page King, Gwendolyn S., Commissioner, Social Security Administration, Department of Health and Human Services 291 Biographical sketch 318 Prepared statement 294 Kirschstein, Dr. Ruth, Director, National Institute of General Medical 1011 Biographical sketch 1018 Prepared statement 1013 Kupfer, Dr. Carl, Director, National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Kusserow, Richard P., Inspector General, Office of Inspector General, Department of Health and Human Services 179 Biographical sketch 184 Prepared statement 182 Lee, Dr. Leamon, Director, Division of Financial Management, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services 685 Lenfant, Dr. Claude, Director, National Heart, Lung, and Blood_Institute, 815 822 Prepared statement 817 Leshner, Alan I., Ph.D., Acting Director, National Institute of Mental Health, Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health Administration, Department of 531 Lindberg, Dr. Donald, Director, National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services 1163 Biographical sketch 1170 Prepared statement 1165 Little, W. Harell, Director, Division of Public Health Service Budget, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health, Department of Health and Human Services 361 Löe, Dr. Harald, Director, National Institute of Dental Research, National 841 848 Prepared statement 843 Long, Stephen W., Director, Division of Financial Management, Alcohol, Drug 531 Mahoney, John, Associate Director, Office of Administration, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services 685. Mason, Dr. James O., Assistant Secretary, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health, Department of Health and Human Services 361 Biographical sketch 370 Prepared statement 364 McGinnis, J. Michael, M.D., Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health (disease prevention and health promotion), Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health, Department of Health and Human Services Mullan, Dr. Fitzhugh S.M., Bureau of Health Professions, Health Resources Parrino, Sandra S., Chairperson, National Council on Disability Pickelsimer, Claude, Director, Financial Management Office, Centers for Dis- 465 531 Raub, Dr. William F., Acting Director, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services Reid, Hon. Harry, U.S. Senator from Nevada, questions submitted by 358, 431, 524, 716, 888 |