[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 83 (Tuesday, April 29, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 23254-23255]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-9258]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Indian Health Service


Request for Public Comment: 60-Day Proposed Information 
Collection: Behavioral Health Preventive Care Assessment Focus Group 
Guide

AGENCY: Indian Health Service, HHS.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In compliance with Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1995 which requires 60 days for public comment on 
proposed information collection projects, the Indian Health Service 
(IHS) is publishing for comment a summary of a proposed information 
collection to be submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) 
for review.
    Proposed Collection: Title: 0917-NEW, ``Behavioral Health 
Preventive Care Assessment Focus Group Guide.'' Type of Information 
Collection Request: Three-year approval of this new information 
collection, 0917-NEW, ``Behavioral Health Preventive Care Assessment 
Focus Group Guide.'' Form(s): None. Need and Use of Information 
Collection: The IHS goal is to raise the health status of the American 
Indian and Alaska Native people to the highest possible level by 
providing comprehensive health care and preventive health services. To 
support the IHS mission, IHS uses the Government Performance Act (GPRA) 
to assess quality of care among its Federal, Urban, and Tribal health 
programs. The IHS has been largely successful in meeting GPRA targets 
for selected clinical performance measures at the national level. 
However, there is significant variability in performance among IHS and 
Tribal service units.
    Until this time, IHS has not undertaken any comprehensive studies 
to evaluate the reasons for that variability or the factors that 
contribute to high quality care at the local level. The IHS has three 
GPRA measures relating to behavioral health, a high priority for the 
Agency and one of the IHS Director's Initiatives. This study will focus 
on these three GPRA behavioral health measures: Depression Screening in 
adults age 18 and over, Domestic/Intimate Partner Violence screening in 
women ages 14-15, and Alcohol Screening (to prevent Fetal Alcohol 
Syndrome) in women ages 15-44.
    Tribal programs voluntarily report their GPRA results quarterly and 
annually for national reporting. GPRA data collected for these three 
behavioral health measures includes: the number of patients eligible 
for a screening (denominator), number of eligible patients who receive 
a screening (numerator), and the resulting screening rate (percentage). 
IHS has developed a methodology to identify superior and poor 
performers on these measures in both Tribal and Federal sites using 
fiscal year 2005, 2006, and 2007 GPRA performance results.
    IHS will convene focus groups with employees at 17 of these 
programs (7 IHS and 10 Tribal) in order to identify the factors 
contributing to (and when appropriate, the barriers preventing) the 
provision of high quality behavioral health care at the local level. 
These focus groups will allow employees to provide detailed data 
regarding program practices, screening and documentation procedures, 
initiatives, resources, and other factors relating to the provision of 
behavioral health preventive care at their health program. A total of 
two to three focus groups, organized by occupational specialty, will be 
convened at each program.
    Using the Chronic Care Model and Institute of Medicine 
recommendations, IHS will analyze the information collected during 
these site visits, along with background information that is publicly 
available (e.g., information found on clinic web pages), on other 
qualitative and quantitative features of individual programs, such as 
staffing and funding levels, community demographics, and organizational 
structure, to develop a behavioral health preventive care model 
relevant to the unique system of IHS delivery. Affected Public: 
Individuals. Type of Respondents: Tribal employees at Tribal health 
programs.
    The table below provides: Types of data collection instruments, 
Estimated number of respondents, Number of responses per respondent, 
Annual number of responses, Average burden hour per response, and Total 
annual burden hour(s).

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                                     Number of     Responses per   Total annual     Burden hour    Annual burden
  Data collection instrument(s)     respondents     respondent       response     per response *       hours
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Administrators/Supervisor Focus               30               1              30               2              60
 Group Guide....................
Provider Focus Group Guide......              30               1              30               2              60
Behavioral Health Provider Focus              15               1              15               2              30
 Group Guide....................
Data Entry Focus Group Guide....              15               1              15               2              30
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    Total.......................              90  ..............  ..............  ..............             180
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    There are no Capital Costs, Operating Costs, and/or Maintenance 
Costs to report.
    Request for Comments: Your written comments and/or suggestions are 
invited on one or more of the following points: (a) Whether the 
information collection activity is necessary to carry out an agency 
function; (b) whether the agency processes the information collected in 
a useful and timely fashion; (c) the accuracy of the public burden 
estimate (the estimated amount of time needed for individual 
respondents to provide the requested information); (d) whether the 
methodology and assumptions used to determine the estimates are 
logical; (e) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the 
information being collected; and (f) ways to minimize the public burden 
through the use of automated, electronic, mechanical, or other 
technological collection techniques or other forms of information 
technology.
    Send Comments and Requests for Further Information: Send your 
written comments, requests for more information on the proposed 
collection, or requests to obtain a copy of the data

[[Page 23255]]

collection instrument(s) and instructions to: Ms. Chris Rouleau, IHS 
Reports Clearance Officer, 801 Thompson Avenue, TMP 450, Rockville, MD 
20852-1627; call non-toll free (301) 443-5938; send via facsimile to 
(301) 594-0899; or send your e-mail requests, comments, and return 
address to: [email protected].
    Comment Due Date: Comments regarding this information collection 
are best assured of having full effect if received within 60 days of 
the date of this publication.

    Dated: April 18, 2008.
Robert G. McSwain,
Acting Director, Indian Health Service.
[FR Doc. E8-9258 Filed 4-28-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4165-16-M