[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 231 (Monday, December 2, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 71579-71580]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-30384]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration


Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; 
Comment Request

    In compliance with Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the Paperwork Reduction 
Act of 1995 concerning opportunity for public comment on proposed 
collections of information, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health 
Services Administration will publish periodic summaries of proposed 
projects. To request more information on the proposed projects or to 
obtain a copy of the information collection plans, call the SAMHSA 
Reports Clearance Officer on (301) 443-7978.
    Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed collections of 
information are 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.
    Proposed Project: National Treatment Outcomes Monitoring System 
(NTOMS)--New--NTOMS is an extension and expansion of two pilot projects 
funded by the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), the Drug 
Evaluation Network System (DENS) and Random Access Monitoring of 
Narcotics Addicts (RAMONA). NTOMS will be a surveillance system that 
will provide periodic reporting on access to and effectiveness of drug 
abuse treatment using a nationally representative sample of patients 
receiving treatment for psychoactive substance dependence in a sample 
of specialty treatment providers throughout the United States. NTOMS 
will collect information from and about clients, and limited 
information about treatment facilities. A sample of 250 facilities and 
84,000 clients is planned. The clients will be sampled over a period of 
four years. NTOMS will permit SAMHSA's Center for Substance Abuse 
Treatment (CSAT) to enhance its ability to carry out statutory 
responsibilities to determine the quality and appropriateness of 
treatment, as required by Sections 507(b)(13) and (14) of the Public 
Health Service Act [42 U.S.C. 290bb].
    Specialized substance abuse treatment facilities will be sampled as 
clusters of service delivery units (SDU's). Facilities will be asked to 
complete a single instrument, the Addiction Treatment Inventory once 
per year to track changes in facility treatment programs and 
activities. Some facilities will thus complete this instrument four 
times; those that are recruited late in the beginning stages of the 
system will complete it less often. Replacements for dropouts and 
closures, or for the purpose of adjusting the facility sample to 
changes in the facility population, will also have fewer 
administrations.
    Upon admission, a baseline battery consisting of several different 
instruments will be administered to a sample of clients. The principal 
questionnaire will include the content of the Addiction Severity Index, 
an intake assessment instrument already widely used at treatment 
facilities. This content will impose no marginal burden on clients 
beyond the normal intake process. However, the Addiction Severity Index 
will be supplemented by additional items that are required for CSAT to 
meet its obligations under the Government Performance Results Act of 
1993 (GPRA) (31 U.S.C. 101) and by items concerning entering patients 
collected at publicly-funded treatment facilities as part of the 
Treatment Episode Data Set, a component of the Drug and Alcohol 
Services Information System. At admission, three other questionnaires 
will be administered. The Life History Interview (LHI) will obtain 
information about patterns of substance use over the past five years. 
The Waiting List Module will ask about access to treatment and how long 
entering patients have waited for admission since seeking treatment. 
The Locator/Tracking Form will request information needed to find 
clients six months after discharge to determine the outcome of their 
treatment. Clients will also be asked to read and sign a consent form 
for participation in subsequent stages of the study.
    During treatment, sampled clients who are still in treatment will 
be contacted periodically by telephone and asked the questions in the 
Treatment Services Review, an extant instrument used to determine the 
treatment services and activities actually delivered to clients. This 
instrument will be administered periodically. Therefore, clients who 
spend more than 30 days in treatment will be asked to complete it more 
than once. Because of high initial drop-out rates, it is estimated that 
only 60 percent of clients will be asked to complete at least one 
Treatment Services Review.
    Selected items from the expanded ASI will be administered to a 
sample of the original clients again shortly after they leave treatment 
and the sampled clients will be asked to confirm or update the locating 
information. Six months after discharge, a sample of 20 percent of the 
clients who left treatment will be interviewed in person or by 
telephone. The expanded ASI will be administered for a third time, and 
the LHI for a second time. Approximately one-third of this sample of 
clients, all interviewed in person, will also be asked to provide a 
urine sample for analysis.
    To obtain a response rate at both the institutional and client 
levels that will support estimates in larger populations, CSAT plans to 
offer incentives for participation in NTOMS to both facilities and 
clients. Estimated annual burden for NTOMS is shown below:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                                        Total
               Type of respondent and activity                 Number of    Responses/     Hours/       burden
                                                              respondents   respondent    response      hours
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                    Treatment Facilities
 
Addiction Treatment Inventory...............................          250            1         0.33           83
                                                             --------------
    Facility Subtotal.......................................          250  ...........  ...........           83
 
                           Clients
 
Instruments administered at admission or during treatment:
    Expanded ASI at admission \1\...........................       21,000            1         0.17        3,500
    LHI at admission........................................       21,000            1         0.50       10,500

[[Page 71580]]

 
    Waiting List questionnaire..............................       21,000            1         0.08        1,750
    Treatment Services Review...............................       12,600      \2\ 1.6         0.75       15,120
Instrument administered at discharge: Reduced ASI...........        5,250            1         0.50        2,625
Instruments administered six months after discharge:
    Follow-up interview.....................................        1,975            1         0.50          988
    Follow-up LHI...........................................        1,975            1         0.25          494
    Provision of urine sample...............................          670            1         0.08           56
                                                             --------------
        Client subtotal.....................................       21,000  ...........  ...........       35,033
                                                             --------------
            Total...........................................       21,250  ...........  ...........      35,116
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Time burden includes only marginal time required to administer NTOMS-specific items not normally included in
  the ASI when it is used as an intake instrument--GPRA items, TEDS minimum data set, locating information--and
  securing consent from patients.
\2\ Assumes that TSR is administered once to 60% of admission sample, twice to 18%, three times to 13%, four
  times to 6%.

    Send comments to Nancy Pearce, SAMHSA Reports Clearance Officer, 
Room 16-105, Parklawn Building, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, MD 20857. 
Written comments should be received within 60 days of this notice.

    Dated: November 24, 2002.
Richard Kopanda,
Executive Officer, SAMHSA.
[FR Doc. 02-30384 Filed 11-29-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4162-20-P