[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 98 (Friday, May 20, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 29251-29252]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-12475]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Health Resources and Services Administration


Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection: 
Comment Request

    In compliance with the requirement for opportunity for public 
comment on proposed data collection projects (section 3506(c)(2)(A) of 
Title 44, United States Code, as amended by the Paperwork Reduction Act 
of 1995, Pub. L. 104-13), the Health Resources and Services 
Administration (HRSA) publishes periodic summaries of proposed projects 
being developed for submission to the Office of Management and Budget 
(OMB) under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. To request more 
information on the proposed project or to obtain a copy of the data 
collection plans and draft instruments, e-mail [email protected] or 
call the HRSA

[[Page 29252]]

Reports Clearance Officer at (301) 443-1129.
    Comments are invited on: (a) The proposed collection of information 
for the proper performance of the functions of the agency; (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.

Proposed Project: BHPr Performance Report for Grants and Cooperative 
Agreements (OMB No. 0915-0061)--Revision

    The HRSA Bureau of Health Professions (BHPr) is revising and 
updating its existing performance data collection system that is used 
to monitor and assess its grantee and program performance. The system 
was formally referred to as the Uniform Progress Report but is now 
referenced as the BHPr Performance Report for Grants and Cooperative 
Agreements to be referred to as the BPR. The BHPr Performance Report 
for Grants and Cooperative Agreements is a critical information and 
data management tool that supports BHPr in monitoring grantee 
activities funded by Title III, Title VII, and Title VIII of the Public 
Health Service Act. The data collected helps to assess the grantee's 
success in achieving project objectives as well as BHPr's cross-cutting 
programmatic goals. The current reporting system is comprised of two 
sets of measures. Part I of the performance report collects information 
on program-specific activities and Part II collects information on a 
set of cluster measures that are related to BHPr's strategic goals, 
objectives, and outcomes.
    The principal impetus for this review was the need to renew the 
Paperwork Reduction Act clearance of the data collection. In addition, 
the Affordable Care Act reauthorized many of these programs and the 
data collected needs to address shifts in programmatic emphases, as 
well as better account for the number of primary care providers 
trained. The review and revision seeks to insure that all of the 
critical outputs and outcomes that BHPr programs are charged with 
accomplishing are represented in the data collected at all points in 
the grantee process, including in the application, at award, and 
annually after award. For instance, baseline information at application 
is necessary as a means to identify performance trends and outcomes. 
The revised reporting system will provide an easier format and thus 
more flexibility for grantees to report quantitative and qualitative 
information on project targets and outcomes. BHPr will better be able 
to analyze grantee projections and accomplishments across program 
objectives.
    Over the last few months, BHPr staff has been reviewing existing 
measures and methodologies for measuring program impact, exploring the 
extent to which development of new measures or adaptation of existing 
measures is appropriate for specific programs, eliminating data 
duplication and unnecessary reporting burden, and identifying cross-
cutting areas and common performance measures. Existing data collection 
forms and accompanying guidance, including data definitions and 
descriptions of data sources, have been examined and revised as needed 
to support revised performance measures. Discussions were held, 
whenever possible, with current grantees to involve them in the review 
and revision process.
    This process has resulted in a set of refined measures, tools, and 
guidance to provide more accurate and programmatically relevant data 
for Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) and other reporting 
as well as to support evaluation activities. In addition to continuing 
the use of aggregated data for most program reporting, individual-level 
data collections have been added in selected specific program areas, 
including programs that produce primary care providers and programs 
designed to increase the diversity of the health workforce. Finally, 
limited data will be collected in applications and/or at the time of 
award to provide baseline data against which to measure progress.
    The estimated annual burden is as follows:

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                                     Number of     Responses per       Total         Hours per      Total hour
              Form                  respondents     respondent       responses       response         burden
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Performance Baselines and                   1500               1            1500               2           3,000
 Targets........................
BHPr Annual Performance Report..            1500               1            1500             9.5          14,250
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    Total.......................            1500  ..............            1500            11.5          17,250
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    The estimated annual burden for the new data collection is only a 
little higher than the data collection approved in the recent 
extension. This net increase in number of hours per response reflects 
some reductions due to eliminating unneeded data tables and improved 
electronic reporting, as well as some increases due to new data 
collection forms. The performance baseline and target information is 
not requesting new information from the grantees. In most cases, 
applicants currently provide the requested information in various 
places within the application. The new data forms provide a standard 
format for collecting this information so HRSA can more easily analyze 
the data properly.
    E-mail comments to [email protected] or mail comments to the HRSA 
Reports Clearance Officer, Room 10-29, Parklawn Building, 5600 Fishers 
Lane, Rockville, MD 20857. Written comments should be received by the 
Reports Clearance Officer within 60 days of this notice.

    Dated: May 16, 2011.
Reva Harris,
Acting Director, Division of Policy and Information Coordination.
[FR Doc. 2011-12475 Filed 5-19-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4165-15-P