[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 54 (Monday, March 21, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15315-15316]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-6504]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

[30Day-11-11BM]


Agency Forms Undergoing Paperwork Reduction Act Review

    The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) publishes a 
list of information collection requests under review by the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) in compliance with the Paperwork Reduction 
Act (44 U.S.C. chapter 35). To request a copy of these requests, call 
the CDC Reports Clearance Officer at (404) 639-5960 or send an e-mail 
to [email protected]. Send written comments to CDC Desk Officer, Office of 
Management and Budget, Washington, DC 20503 or by fax to (202) 395-
5806. Written comments should be received within 30 days of this 
notice.

Proposed Project

    Healthcare System Surge Capacity at the Community Level--New-
National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, 
(NCEZID), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, (CDC).

Background and Brief Description

    The Healthcare Preparedness Activity, Division of Healthcare 
Quality Promotion (DHQP) at the Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention (CDC) works with other federal agencies, state governments, 
medical societies and other public and private organizations to promote 
collaboration amongst healthcare partners, and to integrate healthcare 
preparedness into federal, state and local public health preparedness 
planning. The goal of the Activity is to help local communities' 
healthcare delivery and public health sectors effectively and 
efficiently prepare for and respond to urgent and emergent threats.
    Surge is defined as a marked increase in demand for resources such 
as personnel, space and material. Health care providers manage both 
routine surge (predictable fluctuations in demand associated with the 
weekly calendar, for example) as well as unusual surge (larger 
fluctuations in demand caused by rarer events such as pandemic 
influenza). Except in extraordinary cases, providers are expected to 
manage surge while adhering to their existing standards for quality and 
patient safety.
    Currently, health care organizations are expected to prepare for 
and respond to surges in demand ranging from a severe catastrophe (for 
example, a nuclear detonation) to more common, less severe events (for 
example, a worse-than-usual influenza season). CDC and other federal 
agencies have dedicated considerable funding and technical assistance 
towards developing and coordinating community-level responses to surges 
in demand, but it remains a difficult task.
    While there is extensive research on managing collaborations during 
times of extraordinary pressure where response to surge takes 
precedence over other activities, less is known about developing and 
maintaining integrated collaborations during periods where the system 
must respond to unusual surge but also continue the routine provision 
of health care. In particular, studies have not explored how these 
collaborations can build on sustainable relationships between a broad 
range of stakeholders (including primary care providers) in communities 
with different market structures and different degrees of investment in 
public health.
    This study aims to generate information about the role of 
community-based collaborations in disaster preparedness that the CDC 
can use to develop its programs guiding and supporting these 
collaborations. This project will explore barriers and facilitators to 
coordination on surge response in ten communities, eight of which have 
been studied longitudinally since the mid-1990s as part of the Center 
for Studying Health System Change's (HSC's) Community Tracking Study 
(CTS). Interviews of local healthcare stakeholders will be conducted at 
10 sites.
    Interviews will be conducted at a total of 63 organizations over 
the two years of this project. Within each of the ten communities 
studied, two emergency practitioner respondents (one from a safety-net 
hospital and one from a non-safety-net hospital), two primary care 
providers (one from a large practice and one from a small practice) and 
two local preparedness experts (one from the County or local public 
health agency, and one coordinator or collaboration leader) will be 
interviewed. In three sites (Phoenix, Greenville and Seattle) an 
additional respondent will be identified from an outlying rural area to 
offer the perspective of providers in those communities. There is no 
cost to respondents except their time. The total annualized burden is 
63 hours.

[[Page 15316]]



                                        Estimated Annualized Burden Hours
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                                      Average
                                                                     Number of       Number of        burden
                       Respondent category                          respondents    responses per   response (in
                                                                                    respondent        hours)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Emergency Department and Primary Care...........................              43               1               1
Public Health and Preparedness/Coalition Leader.................              20               1               1
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Petunia Gissendaner,
Acting Reports Clearance Officer, Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention.
[FR Doc. 2011-6504 Filed 3-18-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4163-18-P