CFSAC November 8-9, 2011 meeting: Minutes and Recommendations to HHS posted
January 14, 2012
CFSAC November 8-9, 2011 meeting: Minutes and Recommendations to HHS posted
Shortlink Post #129: http://wp.me/pKrrB-1Fn
The fall meeting of the Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Advisory Committee (CFSAC) took place on November 8-9, 2011.
Minutes and Committee’s Recommendations to HHS have now been posted on the CFSAC website.
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Advisory Committee (CFSAC)
The Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Advisory Committee (CFSAC) provides advice and recommendations to the Secretary of Health and Human Services via the Assistant Secretary for Health of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on issues related to chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). These include:
• factors affecting access and care for persons with CFS;
• the science and definition of CFS; and
• broader public health, clinical, research and educational issues related to CFS.Administrative and management support for CFSAC activities is provided by the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health (OASH). However, staffing will continue to be provided primarily from the Office on Women’s Health, which is part of OASH.
Dr. Nancy C. Lee, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health – Women’s Health, is the Designated Federal Officer for CFSAC.
The Meetings page is here
Minutes Day One CFSAC Fall 2011 meeting
Minutes Day Two CFSAC Fall 2011 meeting
Presentations, Public Testimony and links for Videos for Day One and Day Two
The Agenda item with the most relevance for this site was the issue of the current proposals for chapter placement and coding for Chronic fatigue syndrome in the forthcoming US specific ICD-10-CM, the proposals presented for consideration at the September meeting of the ICD-9-CM Coordination and Maintenance Committee on behalf of the Coalition for ME/CFS, and an alternative proposal presented by NCHS.
See this Dx Revision Watch post (Post #118, December 27, 2011) for a report on the Fall 2012 Meeting presentation by Donna Pickett (NCHS) and discussions of proposals for ICD-10-CM:
CFSAC November 2011 meeting: videos, presentations and Day One Agenda item:
International Classification of Diseases – Clinical Modification (ICD-CM): Presentation by Donna Pickett, RHIA, MPH, National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS)
Recommendations out of the Fall 2011 CFSAC Meeting
CFSAC Recommendations – November 8-9, 2011
The specific recommendations articulated by the Committee are:
1. This recommendation addresses the process by which CFSAC transmits recommendations to the Secretary and the Secretary communicates back to CFSAC whether or not a recommendation was acted upon. CFSAC recommends that this process be transparent and clearly articulated to include regular feedback on the status of the committee’s recommendations. This communication could originate directly from the Office of the Secretary or be transmitted via the relevant agency or agencies.
2. CFSAC recommends to the Secretary that the NIH or other appropriate agency issue a Request for Applications (RFA) for clinical trials research on chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME).
3. CFSAC would like to encourage and support the creation of the DHHS Interagency Working Group on Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and ask this group to work together to pool resources that would put into place the “Centers of Excellence” concept that has been recommended repeatedly by this advisory committee. Specifically, CFSAC encourages utilizing HHS agency programs and demonstration projects, available through the various agencies, to develop and coordinate an effort supporting innovative platforms that facilitate evaluation and treatment, research, and public and provider education. These could take the form of appropriately staffed physical locations, or be virtual networks comprising groups of qualified individuals who interact through a variety of electronic media. Outreach and availability to underserved populations, including people who do not have access to expert care, should be a priority in this effort.
4. This multi‐part recommendation pertains to classification of CFS in ICD classification systems:
a) CFSAC considers CFS to be a multi‐system disease and rejects any proposal to classify CFS as a psychiatric condition in the U.S. disease classification systems.
b) CFSAC rejects the current classification of CFS in Chapter 18 of ICD‐9‐CM under R53.82, chronic fatigue unspecified, chronic fatigue syndrome, not otherwise specified.
c) CFSAC continues to recommend that CFS should be classified in ICD‐10‐CM in Chapter 6 under Diseases of the Nervous System at G93.3 in line with ICD‐10, the World Health Organization, and ICD‐10‐CA, the Canadian Clinical Modification and in accordance with CFSAC’s recommendations of August 2005 and May 2011. CFSAC rejects CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics Option 2 and recommends that CFS remain in the same code and the same subcode as myalgic encephalomyelitis because CFS includes both viral and non‐viral triggers.
d) CFSAC recommends that an “excludes one” [sic *] be added to G93.3 for chronic fatigue, R53.82, and neurasthenia, F48.8. CFSAC recommends that these changes be made in ICD‐10‐CM prior to its rollout in 2013.
This final recommendation was also provided to the National Center for Statistics at the CDC prior to the November 18, 2011 deadline for comments along with the following rationale:
We feel that the interests of patients, the scientific and medical communities, continuity and logic are best served by keeping CFS, (B)ME (Benign Myalgic Encephalomyelitis) and PVFS (Post Viral Fatigue Syndrome) in the same broad grouping category. Current scientific evidence would indicate there are more similarities between the three entities than there are differences. Whether they are synonyms for the same underlying concept, disease entities and sub‐entities, or merely the best coding guess is unclear. In reality, any or all of the above may be correct. While the relationship between CFS, B(ME) and PVFS is not stated, that they are grouped together in ICD 10 (WHO) would indicate some rationale for a connection. Our understanding is that this association will be maintained in the ICD 11, which may also include further description of the relationship. Exclusions specific to chronic fatigue (a symptom present in many illnesses) and neurasthenia (not a current diagnosis) also seem to be under consideration for ICD 11.
*Ed: Should be “Excludes1”. For definitions for “Excludes1” and “Excludes2” see Post #118
November 2011 Recommendations Letter to the Secretary (PDF 31 KB)
The Minute for Ms Pickett’s presentation “International Classification of Diseases—Clinical Modification (ICD‐CM) Donna Pickett, National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS/Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)” and Committee discussions in response to that presentation can be found on Pages 4-10 of the PDF for Minutes Day One (November 8, 2011).
Video of presentation in Post #118. Ms Pickett’s presentation slides here in PDF format.
The Minute for the proposal and unanimous approval of a revised and expanded Recommendation to HHS on the coding of CFS in ICD-10-CM can be found on Pages 43-44 of the PDF for Minutes Day Two (November 9, 2011). Video in Post #118.
As reported in Post #118, following the September 14 meeting of the ICD-9-CM Coordination and Maintenance Committee, NCHS had invited comments from stakeholders on the proposals in Option 1 (presented by the Coalition for ME/CFS) and Option 2 (alternative proposals by NCHS).
The closing date for comments was November 18, 2011.
A decision was expected before the end of December but since any decision that might have been reached on these proposals has yet to be announced, I have raised some queries with Ms Pickett around the decision making process (see Post #118). I will update when a response has been received from Ms Pickett’s office or a public announcement made.
Related post
CFSAC November 2011 meeting: videos, presentations and Day One Agenda item:
International Classification of Diseases – Clinical Modification (ICD-CM): Presentation by Donna Pickett, RHIA, MPH, National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), November 27, 2011
dx revision watch 