[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 61 (Wednesday, March 31, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16139-16140]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-7253]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Indian Health Service


Request For Public Comment: 30-Day Proposed Information 
Collection: Indian Health Service Medical Staff Credentials and 
Privileges Files

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 30 days for public comment on 
proposed information collection projects, the Indian Health Service 
(IHS) has submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) a 
request to review and approve the information collection listed below. 
This proposed information collection project was previously published 
in the Federal Register (74 FR 63754) on December 4, 2009 and allowed 
60 days for public comment. No public comment was received in response 
to the notice. The purpose of this notice is to allow 30 days for 
public comment to be submitted directly to OMB.
    Proposed Collection: Title: 0917-0009, ``Indian Health Service 
Medical Staff Credentials and Privileges Files.''
    Type of Information Collection Request: Extension, without 
revision, of currently approved information collection, 0917-0009, 
``Indian Health Service Medical Staff Credentials and Privileges 
Files'' agreement.
    Form Numbers(s): None.
    Need and Use of Information Collection: This collection of 
information is used to evaluate individual health care providers 
applying for medical staff privileges at IHS health care facilities. 
The Department of Health and Human Services operates health care 
facilities that provide health care services to American Indians and 
Alaska Natives. To provide these services, the IHS employs (directly 
and under contract) several categories of health care providers 
including: Physicians (M.D. and D.O.), dentists, psychologists, 
optometrists, podiatrists, audiologists, physician assistants, 
certified registered nurse anesthetists, nurse practitioners, and 
certified nurse midwives. IHS policy specifically requires physicians 
and dentists to be members of the health care facility medical staff 
where they practice. Health care providers become medical staff 
members, depending on the local health care facility's capabilities and 
medical staff bylaws. There are three types of IHS medical staff 
applicants: (1) Health care providers applying for direct employment 
with IHS; (2) contractors who will not seek to become IHS employees; 
and (3) employed IHS health care providers who seek to transfer between 
IHS health care facilities.
    National health care standards developed by the Centers for 
Medicare and Medicaid Services (formerly the Health Care Financing 
Administration), the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of 
Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO), and other accrediting organizations 
require health care facilities to review, evaluate and verify the 
credentials, training and experience of medical staff applicants prior 
to granting medical staff privileges. In order to meet these standards, 
IHS health care facilities require all medical staff applicants to 
provide information concerning their education, training, licensure, 
and work experience and any adverse disciplinary actions taken against 
them. This information is then verified with references supplied by the 
applicant and may include: Former employers, educational institutions, 
licensure and certification boards, the American Medical Association, 
the Federation of State Medical Boards, the National Practitioner Data 
Bank, and the applicants themselves.
    In addition to the initial granting of medical staff membership and 
clinical privileges, JCAHO standards require that a review of the 
medical staff be conducted not less than every two years. This review 
evaluates the current competence of the medical staff and verifies 
whether they are maintaining the licensure or certification 
requirements of their specialty.
    The medical staff credentials and privileges records are maintained 
at the health care facility where the health care provider is a medical 
staff member. The establishment of these records at IHS health care 
facilities is not optional; such records must be established and 
accredited by JCAHO. Prior to the establishment of this JCAHO 
requirement, the degree to which medical staff applications were

[[Page 16140]]

maintained at all health care facilities in the United States that are 
verified for completeness and accuracy varied greatly across the 
Nation.
    The application process has been streamlined and is using 
information technology to make the application electronically available 
on the Internet.
    Affected Public: Individuals and households.
    Type of Respondents: Individuals.
    The table below provides: Types of data collection instruments, 
Estimated number of respondents, Number of annual number of responses, 
Average burden per response, and Total annual burden hours.

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                                  Estimated number    Responses per    Average burden hour per    Total annual
  Data collection instrument(s)    of respondents      respondent             response*           burden hours
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Application to Medical Staff....               570                 1  1.00 (60 mins)..........               570
Reference Letter................              1710                 1  0.33 (20 mins)..........               570
Reappointment Request...........               190                 1  1.00 (60 mins)..........               190
Ob-Gyn Privileges...............                20                 1  1.00 (60 mins)..........                20
Internal Medicine...............               325                 1  1.00 (60 mins)..........               325
Surgery Privileges..............                20                 1  1.00 (60 mins)..........                20
Psychiatry Privileges...........                13                 1  1.00 (60 mins)..........                13
Anesthesia Privileges...........                15                 1  1.00 (60 mins)..........                15
Dental Privileges...............               150                 1  0.33 (20 mins)..........                50
Optometry Privileges............                21                 1  0.33 (20 mins)..........                 7
Psychology Privileges...........                30                 1  0.17 (10 mins)..........                 5
Audiology Privileges............                 7                 1  0.08 (5 mins)...........                 1
Podiatry Privileges.............                 7                 1  0.08 (5 mins)...........                 1
Radiology Privileges............                 8                 1  0.33 (20 mins)..........                 3
Pathology Privileges............                 3                 1  0.33 (20 mins)..........                 1
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    Total.......................             3,089  ................  ........................             1,791
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* For ease of understanding, burden hours are provided in actual minutes. There are no capital costs, operating
  costs and/or maintenance costs to respondents.

    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 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 estimate is 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.
    Direct Comments to OMB: Send your written comments and suggestions 
regarding the proposed information collection contained in this notice, 
especially regarding the estimated public burden and associated 
response time to: Office of Management and Budget, Office of Regulatory 
Affairs, Attention: Desk Officer for IHS, New Executive Office 
Building, Room 10235, Washington, DC 20503.
    Send Comments and Requests for Further Information: To request more 
information on the proposed collection or to obtain a copy of the data 
collection instrument(s) and/or instruction(s) contact: Mr. Hershel 
Gorham, Reports Clearance Officer, 801 Thompson Avenue, TMP, Suite 450, 
Rockville, MD 20852-1627; call non-toll free (301) 443-5932; send via 
facsimile to (301) 443-9879; 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 30 days of 
the date of this publication.

    Dated: March 19, 2010.
Yvette Roubideaux,
Director, Indian Health Service.
[FR Doc. 2010-7253 Filed 3-30-10; 8:45 am]
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