[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 226 (Wednesday, November 24, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 68375-68376]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-26023]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

[60Day-05-0212]


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 404-498-1210 or 
send comments to Sandi Gambescia, CDC Assistant Reports Clearance 
Officer, 1600 Clifton Road, MS-E11, Atlanta, GA 30333 or send an e-mail 
to [email protected].
    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. 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) has been conducted 
continuously by CDC, National Center for Health Statistics since 1965. 
It is the principal source of data on inpatient 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 the health status of the population, planning of programs 
and policy to elevate the health status of the Nation, studying 
morbidity trends, and 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

[[Page 68376]]

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 inpatient services for 
Medicare patients. In the 2003 NHDS, 426 hospitals participated. Data 
for approximately forty-four percent of the responding hospitals (186) 
are abstracted from medical records. The remaining hospitals supply 
data through in-house tapes or printouts (80 hospitals) or are 
hospitals that belong to commercial abstract service organizations or 
state data systems (160 hospitals) from which electronic data files are 
purchased. 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 burden
                Medical record abstracts                   respondents   responses/     response        hours
                                                           (hospitals)   respondent     (in hrs.)
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Primary Procedure Hospitals.............................            62           250          5/60         1,292
Alternate Procedure Hospitals...........................           124           250          1/60           517
In-House Tape or Printout Hospitals.....................            80            12         12/60           192
Induction Forms.........................................            15             1             2            30
Non-response Study......................................            50             1             2           100
                                                         ---------------
    Total...............................................  ............  ............  ............         2,131
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    Dated: November 12, 2004.
B. Kathy Skipper,
Acting Director, Management Analysis and Services Office, Centers for 
Disease Control and Prevention.
[FR Doc. 04-26023 Filed 11-23-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4163-18-P