[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 15 (Friday, January 23, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3378-3379]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-1385]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Health Resources and Services Administration


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

    Periodically, the Health Resources and Services Administration 
(HRSA) publishes abstracts of information collection requests under 
review by the Office of Management and Budget, in compliance with the 
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35). To request a 
copy of the clearance requests submitted to OMB for review, call the 
HRSA Reports Clearance Office on (301) 443-1129.
    The following request has been submitted to the Office of 
Management and Budget for review under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 
1995:

Proposed Project: National Practitioner Data Bank for Adverse 
Information on Physicians and Other Health Care Practitioners: 
Regulations and Forms (OMB No. 0915-0126)--Revision

    The National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB) was established through 
Title IV of Public Law 99-660, the Health Care Quality Improvement Act 
of 1986, as amended. Final regulations governing the NPDB are codified 
at 45 CFR part 60. Responsibility for NPDB implementation and operation 
resides in the Bureau of Health Professions, Health Resources and 
Services Administration, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 
(DHHS). The NPDB began operation on September 1, 1990.
    The intent of Title IV of Public Law 99-660 is to improve the 
quality of health care by encouraging hospitals, State licensing 
boards, professional societies, and other entities providing health 
care services to identify and discipline those who engage in 
unprofessional behavior; and to restrict the ability of incompetent 
physicians, dentists, and other health care practitioners to move from 
State to State without disclosure of the practitioner's previous 
damaging or incompetent performance.
    The NPDB acts primarily as a flagging system; its principal purpose 
is to facilitate comprehensive review of practitioners' professional 
credentials and background. Information on medical malpractice 
payments, adverse licensure actions, adverse clinical privileging 
actions, adverse professional society actions and Medicare/Medicaid 
exclusions is collected from, and disseminated to, eligible entities. 
It is intended that NPDB information should be considered with other 
relevant information in evaluating a practitioner's credentials.
    This request is for a revision of reporting and querying forms 
previously approved on April 30, 2002. The reporting forms and the 
request for information forms (query forms) must be accessed, 
completed, and submitted to the NPDB electronically through the NPDB 
Web site at www.npdb-hipdb.com. All reporting and querying is performed 
through this secure website. Due to overlap in requirements for the 
Healthcare Integrity and Protection Data Bank (HIPDB), some of the 
NPDB's burden has been subsumed under the HIPDB.
    Estimates of burden are as follows:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                     Number of     Frequency of     Minutes per    Total burden
                   Regulation                       respondents      responses       response          hours
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
60.6(a) Errors & Omissions......................             303            5.08              15          384.75
60.6(b).........................................             115            1.11              30           64
60.7(b) Malpractice Payment Report..............             485           39.1               45       14,235.75
60.8(b) Adverse Action Reports--State Boards....           \1\ 0            0                  0            0
60.9(a)3 Adverse Action Clinical Privileges &                686            1.52              45          784.5
 Professional Society...........................
Requests for Hearings by Entities...............               1            1                480            8
60.10(a)(1) Queries by Hospital--Practitioner              6,000           37.24               5       18,615.39
 Applications...................................
60.10(a)(2) (Queries by Hospitals--Two-Yr. Cycle           6,000          148.9                5       74,461.67
60.11(a)(1) Disclosure to Hospitals.............           \2\ 0            0                  0            0
60.11(a)(2) Disclosure to Practitioners (Self              \3\ 0            0                  0            0
 Query).........................................
60.11(a)(3) Disclosure to Licensure Boards......              80          224.95               5        1,439.68
60.11(a)(4) Queries by Non-Hospital Health Care            4,938          436.8                5      179,673.26
 Entities.......................................
60.11(a)(5) Queries by Plaintiffs' Attorneys....               5            5                 30            2.5
60.11(a)(6) Queries by Non-Hospital Health Care            \4\ 0            0                  0            0
 Entities-Peer Review...........................
60.11(a)(7) Requests by Researchers for                       84            1                 30           42
 Aggregated Data................................
60.14(b) Practitioner Places a Report in                     666            1                 15          166.5
 Disputed Status................................
60.14(b) Practitioner Statement.................           2,325            1                 45        1,743.75
60.14(b) Practitioner Requests for Secretarial               117            1                480          936
 Review.........................................
60.3 Entity Registration--Initial...............             500            1                 60          500
60.3 Entity Registration--Update................             643            1                  5           53.56
60.11(a) Authorized Agent Designation--Initial..             500            1                 15          125
60.11(a) Authorized Agent--Update...............              86            1                  5            7.16
60.12(c) Account Discrepancy Report.............             300            1                 15           75
60.12(c) Electronic Funds Transfer Authorization             363            1                 15           90.75
60.3 Entity Reactivation........................             100            1                 60          100
                                                 ---------------------------------------------------------------
    Total.......................................  ..............  ..............  ..............      293,509.22 
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\1\ Included in estimate for reporting adverse licensure actions to the HIPDB in 45 CFR part 61.
\2\ Included in estimates for 60.10(a)(1).
\3\ Included in estimate for self queries to the HIPDB in 45 CFR part 61.
\4\ Included in estimate for hospital queries under 60.11(a)(4).


[[Page 3379]]

    Written comments and recommendations concerning the proposed 
information collection should be sent within 30 days of this notice to: 
John Morrall, Human Resources and Housing Branch, Office of Management 
and Budget, New Executive Office Building, Room 10235, Washington, DC 
20503.

    Dated: January 15, 2004.
Tina M. Cheatham,
Acting Director, Division of Policy Review and Coordination.
[FR Doc. 04-1385 Filed 1-22-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4165-15-P