[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 144 (Monday, July 28, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 44346-44347]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-19058]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration


Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission for OMB 
Review; Comment Request

    Periodically, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services 
Administration (SAMHSA) will publish a summary of information 
collection requests under OMB review, in compliance with the Paperwork 
Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35). To request a copy of these 
documents, call the SAMHSA Reports Clearance Officer on (301) 443-7978.
    Practitioner Services Network Initiative--New--SAMHSA's Center for 
Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT) plans to obtain information about the 
providers, care and characteristics of clients with substance abuse 
disorders and related co-morbidities that receive treatment from 
practitioners in private practice and organizational settings. This 
information is needed to complement available information about

[[Page 44347]]

the substance abuse treatment provided in institutional and publicly 
funded settings, in order to more completely describe the full range 
and nature of substance abuse problems affecting the nation.
    The CSAT Practitioner Services Network initiative will provide 
support to four of the largest behavioral health associations in the 
nation to design and implement surveys using representative samples of 
their members and the clients they serve. The membership of the 
selected Associations collectively represent a significant proportion 
of the behavioral health professionals in the country. Two additional 
associations, the American Psychiatric Association and the American 
Psychological Association, have separately functioning Internet-based 
PSN infrastructures; from these two groups CSAT will be able to 
purchase reports based on the data they have already collected.
    For the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy; the 
American Counseling Association; NAADAC, The Association for Addiction 
Professionals; and the National Association of Social Workers, CSAT 
will sponsor new data collection efforts to provide a core set of data 
elements to be collected in their upcoming membership surveys. The four 
Associations conduct periodic sample surveys of their memberships 
through their individual Practitioner Services Network infrastructures 
and will incorporate a common set of specific substance-abuse questions 
that are of importance to CSAT into these studies. CSAT will sponsor 
data collection and purchase, from each Association, a report that 
addresses the characteristics of practitioners who may be expected to 
encounter clients with substance abuse disorders, the characteristics 
of clients with behavioral and/or substance abuse disorders, and the 
nature of services rendered to these clients.
    The reports to be purchased by CSAT will be based on the 
Associations' surveys of a representative sample of 500 of their 
members. Practitioners in the sample will abstract demographic and 
encounter-specific data from two of their current patients' records. No 
client identifying information will be collected as part of this study. 
Data collection methods will include mailed surveys with mailed 
reminders and follow-up phone calls in order to achieve a target 
response rate of 80 percent. This information will complement CSAT's 
and SAMHSA's existing data collection efforts and provide a more 
comprehensive view of the populations in need of services, the 
prevalence of substance abuse and mental health co-morbidities, and the 
qualifications and training of private practitioners who serve these 
clients. The burden estimates are summarized in the following table.

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                                                                                   Estimated
               Estimated number of respondents                  Responses per   completion time    Total burden
                                                                  respondent        (hours)           hours
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2,000........................................................               1              .33              660
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    Written comments and recommendations concerning the proposed 
information collection should be sent within 30 days of this notice to: 
Allison Herron Eydt, Human Resources and Housing Branch, Office of 
Management and Budget, New Executive Office Building, Room 10235, 
Washington, DC 20503; due to potential delays in OMB's receipt and 
processing of mail sent through the U.S. Postal Service, respondents 
are encouraged to submit comments by fax to: (202) 395-6974.

    Dated: July 21, 2003.
Anna Marsh,
Acting Executive Officer, SAMHSA.
[FR Doc. 03-19058 Filed 7-25-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4162-20-P