[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 82 (Monday, April 29, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Page 20975]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-10399]



[[Page 20975]]

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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

[60Day-02-45]


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) 498-1210.
    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 Hospital Discharge Survey OMB No. 0920-
0212--Extension--National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), Centers 
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The National Hospital 
Discharge Survey (NHDS), which has been conducted continuously by the 
National Center for Health Statistics, CDC, since 1965, is the 
principal source of data on in-patient utilization of short-stay, non-
Federal hospitals and is the only annual source of nationally 
representative estimates on the characteristics of discharges, the 
lengths of stay, diagnoses, surgical and non-surgical procedures, and 
the patterns of use of care in hospitals in various regions of the 
country. It is the benchmark against which special programmatic data 
sources are compared. Data collected through the NHDS are essential for 
evaluating health status of the population, for the planning of 
programs and policy to elevate the health status of the Nation, for 
studying morbidity trends, and for research activities in the health 
field. NHDS data have been used extensively in the development and 
monitoring of goals for the Year 2000 and 2010 Health Objectives. In 
addition, NHDS data provide annual updates for numerous tables in the 
Congressionally-mandated NCHS report, Health, United States. Data for 
the NHDS are collected annually on approximately 300,000 discharges 
from a nationally representative sample of noninstitutional hospitals, 
exclusive of Federal, military and Veterans' Administration hospitals. 
The data items collected are the basic core of variables contained in 
the Uniform Hospital Discharge Data Set (UHDDS) in addition to two data 
items (admission type and source) which are identical to those needed 
for billing of in-patient services for Medicare patients. Data for 
approximately forty-five percent of the responding hospitals are 
abstracted from medical records while the remainder of the hospitals 
supply data through commercial abstract service organizations, state 
data systems, in-house tapes or printouts. There is no actual cost to 
respondents since hospital staff who actively participate in the data 
collection effort are compensated by the government for their time.

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                                                                                          Average
                                                               Number of    Number of     burden/       Total
                  Medical record abstracts                    respondents   responses/    response      burden
                                                              (hospitals)   respondent   (in hours)     hours
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Primary Procedure Hospitals.................................           68          250         5/60        1,417
Alternate Procedure Hospitals...............................          130          250         1/60          542
In-House Tape or Printout Hospitals.........................           80           12        12/60          192
Update Form (Abstract Service Hospital).....................          156            2         2/60           10
Induction Forms.............................................           15            1            2           30
Special Studies.............................................          100           23        12/60          460
                                                                                                    ------------
    Total...................................................  ...........  ...........  ...........        2,651
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    Dated: April 19, 2002.
Nancy E. Cheal,
Acting Associate Director for Policy, Planning and Evaluation Centers 
for Disease Control and Prevention.
[FR Doc. 02-10399 Filed 4-26-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4163-18-P