[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 105 (Thursday, May 31, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 32126-32127]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-13125]


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

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. 3501 et seq.). 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) 443-1984.
    The following request has been submitted to the Office of 
Management and Budget for review under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 
1995:

Proposed Project: Rural Health Information Technology Network 
Development (OMB No. 0915-xxxx)--[New]

    The purpose of the Rural Health Information Technology Network 
Development (RHITND) Program, authorized under the Public Health 
Service Act, Section 330A(f) (42 U.S.C. 254c(f)) as amended by Section 
201, Public Law 107-251, of the Health Care Safety Net Amendments of 
2002, is to improve health care and support the adoption of Health 
Information Technology (HIT) in rural America by providing targeted HIT 
support to rural health networks. HIT plays a significant role in the 
advancement of the Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) 
priority policies to improve health care delivery. Some of these 
priorities include: Improving health care quality, safety, efficiency 
and reducing disparities, engaging patients and families in managing 
their health, enhancing care coordination, improving population and 
public health and ensuring adequate privacy and security of health 
information.
    The intent of the RHITND Program is to support the adoption and use 
of electronic health records (EHR) in coordination with the ongoing HHS 
activities related to the Health Information Technology for Economic 
and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act (Pub. L. 111-5). This legislation 
provides HHS with the authority to establish programs to improve health 
care quality, safety, and efficiency through the promotion of health 
information technology, including EHR. For this program, performance 
measures were drafted to provide data useful to the program and to 
enable HRSA to provide aggregate program data required by Congress 
under the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) of 1993 (Pub. 
L. 103-62). These measures cover the principal topic areas of interest 
to the Office of Rural Health Policy, including: (a) Access to care; 
(b) the underinsured and uninsured; (c) workforce recruitment and 
retention; (d) sustainability; (e) health information technology; (f) 
network development; and (g) health related clinical measures. Several 
measures will be used for this program. These measures will speak to 
the Office's progress toward meeting the goals set.

[[Page 32127]]

    The Agency received no comments in response to the 60-day notice 
published in the Federal Register on February 21, 2012, vol. 77, No. 
34; page 9949.
    The annual estimate of burden is as follows:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                     Number of     Responses per       Total         Hours per     Total burden
           Instrument               respondents     respondent       responses       response          hours
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rural Health Information                      41               1              41            3.77          154.57
 Technology Network Development
 Program........................
                                 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Total.......................              41               1              41            3.77          154.57
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    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: May 24, 2012.
Reva Harris,
Acting Director, Division of Policy and Information Coordination.
[FR Doc. 2012-13125 Filed 5-30-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4165-15-P