[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 237 (Monday, December 10, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 63711-63712]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-30397]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

[60 Day-02-13]


Proposed Data Collections Submitted for Public Comment and 
Recommendations

    In compliance with the requirement of section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the 
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 for opportunity for public comment on 
proposed data collection projects, the Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention (CDC) will publish periodic summaries of proposed projects. 
To request more information on the proposed projects or to obtain a 
copy of the data collection plans and instruments, call the CDC Reports 
Clearance Officer on (404) 639-7090.
    Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed collection of 
information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of 
the agency, including whether the information shall have practical 
utility; (b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the 
proposed collection of information; (c) ways to enhance the quality, 
utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and (d) ways 
to minimize the burden of the collection of information on respondents, 
including through the use of automated collection techniques or other 
forms of information technology. Send comments to Anne O'Connor, CDC 
Assistant Reports Clearance Officer, 1600 Clifton Road, MS-D24, 
Atlanta, GA 30333. Written comments should be received within 60 days 
of this notice.
    Proposed Project: National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey OMB No. 
0920-0234--Revision--National Center for Health Statics (NCHS), Centers 
for Disease Control and Prevention, (CDC). The National Ambulatory 
Medical Care Survey (NAMCS) was conducted annually from 1973 to 1981, 
again in 1985, and resumed as an annual survey in 1989. It is directed 
by the Division of Health Care Statistics, National Center for Health 
Statistics, CDC. The purpose of NAMCS is to meet the needs and demands 
for statistical information about the provision of ambulatory medical 
care services in the United States. Ambulatory services are rendered in 
a wide variety of settings, including physicians' offices and hospital 
outpatient and emergency departments. The NAMCS target population 
consists of all office visits within the United States made by 
ambulatory patients to non-Federal office-based physicians (excluding 
those in the specialties of anesthesiology, radiology, and pathology) 
who are engaged in direct patient care. Since more than 80 percent of 
all direct ambulatory medical care visits occur in physicians' offices, 
the NAMCS provides data on the majority of ambulatory medical care 
services. To complement these data, in 1992 NCHS initiated the National 
Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NHAMCS, OMB No. 0920-0278) to 
provide data concerning patient visits to hospital outpatient and 
emergency departments. The NAMCS, together with the NHAMCS constitute 
the ambulatory component of the National Health Care Survey (NHCS), and 
will provide coverage of more than 90 percent of ambulatory medical 
care.
    The NAMCS provides a range of baseline data on the characteristics 
of the users and providers of ambulatory medical care. Data collected 
include the patients' demographic characteristics and reason(s) for 
visit, and the physicians' diagnosis(es) and diagnostic services, 
medications and disposition. These data, together with trend data, may 
be used to monitor the effects of change in the health care system, 
provide new insights into ambulatory medical care, and stimulate 
further research on the use, organization, and delivery of ambulatory 
care.
    Users of NAMCS data include, but are not limited to, congressional 
and other

[[Page 63712]]

federal government agencies such as NIH and FDA, state and local 
governments, medical schools, schools of public health, colleges and 
universities, private businesses, nonprofit foundations and 
corporations, professional associations, as well as individual 
practitioners, researchers, administrators and health planners. Uses 
vary from the inclusion of a few selected statistics in a large 
research effort, to an in-depth analysis of the entire NAMCS data set 
covering several years.
    To calculate the burden hours the number of respondents for NAMCS 
is based on a sample of 3,150 physicians with a 50 percent 
participation rate (this includes physicians who are out-of-scope as 
well as those who refuse). The total cost to respondents is estimated 
to be $300,000.

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                                                                     Number of     Avg. burden/      Response
                   Respondents                       Number of       response/    responses  (in    burden  (in
                                                    respondents     respondent         hrs.)           hrs.)
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Office-based physicians Induction form..........           1,575               1           25/60             656
Patient record form.............................           1,575              30            5/60           3,938
                                                 ---------------------------------------------------------------
    Total.......................................  ..............  ..............  ..............           4,594
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    Dated: November 30, 2001.
Nancy E. Cheal,
Acting Associate Director for Policy, Planning and Evaluation, Centers 
for Disease Control and Prevention.
[FR Doc. 01-30397 Filed 12-7-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4163-18-P