[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 6 (Tuesday, January 10, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Page 1495]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-224]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Health Resources and Services Administration


Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission for OMB 
Review; Comment Request

    Periodically, the Health Resources and Services Administration 
(HRSA) publishes abstracts of information collection requests under 
review by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), in compliance with 
the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35). To request 
a copy of the clearance requests submitted to OMB for review, email 
[email protected] or call the HRSA Reports Clearance Office on (301) 
443-1129.
    The following request has been submitted to the Office of 
Management and Budget for review under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 
1995:

Proposed Project: HIV Clinician Workforce Study (OMB No. 0915-NEW)

    HRSA's HIV/AIDS Bureau (HAB) is planning to conduct a 24-month HIV 
clinician workforce study to provide HRSA and other state and federal 
agencies with national and state-level estimates of the number of 
primary care clinicians currently providing medical care to people 
living with HIV or AIDS in the United States, as well as projections of 
the magnitude of the expected shortage or surplus of HIV related 
primary care clinicians through 2015. The study will focus on the 
supply and demand of health professionals who independently manage 
patients with HIV/AIDS. The study will have two main components:
    a. Design and implementation of a forecasting model to estimate and 
project the supply of and demand for HIV clinicians at the national and 
regional levels; and
    b. Implementation of two surveys to collect the information needed 
to develop HIV-specific input parameters for the forecasting model, as 
well as to help address other research questions of the study.
    HRSA is requesting OMB approval to conduct a HIV clinician survey 
and a HIV practice survey. The HIV clinician survey will focus on the 
individual provider of care and will include questions related to:
    a. The clinician's age, gender, medical profession, and medical 
specialty;
    b. The number of hours spent in direct patient care;
    c. The size and characteristics of HIV patient load;
    d. The primary practice characteristics and patient management 
strategies; and
    e. The plans to increase or decrease number of hours spent in 
direct patient care, as well as plans for retirement.
    The HIV practice survey will also focus on the practice site and 
will include questions related to type and size of clinic, clinic 
specialty and affiliation, number and acuity of patients, number and 
composition of staff, type of staffing model and patient management 
strategies, meaningful use of electronic medical record systems, as 
well as appointment scheduling practices and policies. HRSA plans to 
administer the clinician survey using both web and paper modes, with 
computer-assisted telephone interviewing follow-up. HRSA plans to 
administer the practice survey using paper mode, with computer-assisted 
telephone interviewing follow-up.
    HRSA will use claims data, supplemented with a list of members of 
HIV medical societies, and attendees at the 2010 HIV clinical 
conference, to identify the frame of clinicians (physicians, nurse 
practitioners, and physician assistants) in all 50 states and the 
District of Columbia who provide a significant amount of medical care 
to patients with HIV or AIDS. By using a national probability sampling 
strategy, the results of the clinician survey can be used to generate 
national and regional estimates of HIV clinician supply.
    HRSA will use quantitative and qualitative methods to document and 
quantify the extent of the HIV clinician workforce surplus or shortage, 
predict the future requirements for and supply of HIV clinicians, and 
identify best practice models and strategies for expanding the capacity 
of HIV practices and providers to meet the growing demand for care.
    The ultimate goal of the study will be to develop proposed action 
steps that HRSA and other federal and state agencies can use to enhance 
the capacity of the HIV clinician workforce to achieve the targets set 
forth in the 2010 White House Office of HIV/AIDS Policy's National HIV/
AIDS Strategy and Implementation Plan.
    The annual estimate of burden of the two surveys is as follows:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                     Number of     Responses per       Total         Hours per     Total burden
           Instrument               respondents     respondent       responses       response          hours
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HIV Clinician Survey............           3,500               1           3,500            0.33           1,155
HIV Practice Survey.............             350               1             350            0.50             175
                                 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Total.......................           3,850  ..............           3,850  ..............           1,330
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Written comments and recommendations concerning the proposed 
information collection should be sent within 30 days of this notice to 
the desk officer for HRSA, either by email to [email protected] or by fax to (202) 395-6974. Please direct all 
correspondence to the ``attention of the desk officer for HRSA.''

    Dated: December 30, 2011.
Reva Harris,
Acting Director, Division of Policy and Information Coordination.
[FR Doc. 2012-224 Filed 1-9-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4165-15-P