[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 38 (Monday, February 27, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Page 11558]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-4555]



[[Page 11558]]

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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Indian Health Service


Request for Public Comment; 60-Day Proposed Information 
Collection: Indian Health Service; Loan Repayment Program (LRP)

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: 0917-0014, ``Indian Health Service Loan 
Repayment Program.'' Type of Information Collection Request: Revision 
of currently approved information collection, 0917-0014, ``Indian 
Health Service Loan Repayment Program.'' The LRP application has been 
revised so that it is now available in an electronically fillable and 
fileable format. Form(s): The IHS LRP Information Booklet contains the 
instructions and the application formats. Need and Use of Information 
Collection: The IHS LRP identifies health professionals with pre-
existing financial obligations for education expenses that meet program 
criteria and who are qualified and willing to serve at, often remote, 
IHS health care facilities. Under the program, eligible health 
professionals sign a contract through which the IHS agrees to repay 
part or all of their indebtedness for professional training time in IHS 
health care facilities. This program is necessary to augment the 
critically low health professional staff at IHS health care facilities.
    Any health professional wishing to have their health education 
loans repaid may apply to the IHS LRP. A two-year contract obligation 
is signed by both parties, and the individual agrees to work at an IHS 
location and provide health services to American Indian and Alaska 
Native individuals.
    The information collected via the on-line application from 
individuals is analyzed and a score is given to each applicant. This 
score will determine which applicants will be awarded each fiscal year. 
The administrative scoring system assigns a score to the geographic 
location according to vacancy rates for that fiscal year and also 
considers whether the location is in an isolated area. When an 
applicant accepts employment at a location, they in turn ``pick-up'' 
the score of that location. Affected Public: Individuals and 
households. Type of Respondents: Individuals.
    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).

                                             Estimated Burden Hours
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                                                                  Number of     Average  burden
        Data Collection Instrument(s)            Number of      responses  per   per  response     Total annual
                                                respondents       respondent       (in hours)       responses
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LRP Application.............................             510                1              1.5              765
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    There are no Capital Costs, Operating Costs, and/or Maintenance 
Costs to report.
    Requests for Comments: Your 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 
estimates are logical;
    (e) Ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the 
information being collected; and
    (f) How the newly created online application assists the applicant 
efficiently and effectively.
    Send your comments, requests for more information on the proposed 
collection, or requests to obtain a copy of the data collection 
instruments to: Ms. Tamara Clay, Acting IHS Reports Clearance Officer, 
801 Thompson Avenue, TMP, Suite 450-30, Rockville, MD 20852-1627; call 
non-toll free (301) 443-4750; send via facsimile to (301) 443-2316; or 
send your email requests, comments, and return address to: 
[email protected]. Comment Due Date: April 27, 2012. Your comments 
regarding this information collection are best assured of having full 
effect if received within 60 days of the date of this publication.

    Dated: February 13, 2012.
Yvette Roubideaux,
Indian Health Service Director.
[FR Doc. 2012-4555 Filed 2-24-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4165-16-P