[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 195 (Tuesday, October 9, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 61411-61412]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-24761]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

[60-Day-13-0212]


Proposed Data Collections Submitted for Public Comment and 
Recommendations

    In compliance with the requirement of Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the 
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 for opportunity for public comment on 
proposed data collection projects, the Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention (CDC) will publish periodic summaries of proposed projects. 
To request more information on the proposed projects or to obtain a 
copy of the data collection plans and instruments, call 404-639-7570 or 
send comments to Kimberly S. Lane, at 1600 Clifton Road, MS D-74, 
Atlanta, GA 30333 or send an email to [email protected].
    Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed collection of 
information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of 
the agency, including whether the information shall have practical 
utility; (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. Written comments should be received 
within 60 days of this notice.

Proposed Project

    The National Hospital Care Survey (NHCS)--Revision Exp. 4/30/2014--
National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), Centers for Disease 
Control and Prevention (CDC).

Background and Brief Description

    Section 306 of the Public Health Service (PHS) Act (42 U.S.C. 
242k), as amended, authorizes that the Secretary of Health and Human 
Services (DHHS), acting through NCHS, shall collect statistics on the 
extent and nature of illness and disability of the population of the 
United States. This three-year clearance request for the National 
Hospital Care Survey includes data collection from hospital inpatient 
departments; hospital ambulatory departments including emergency 
departments (ED), outpatient departments (OPD), and ambulatory surgery 
locations (ASLs); and freestanding ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs).
    The National Center for Health Statistics' (NCHS) surveys on 
hospital care include the National Hospital Discharge Survey (NHDS) 
(OMB No.0920-0212) and the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care 
Survey (NHAMCS) (OMB No. 0920-0234). NHDS, between 1965 and 2010, 
provided critical information on the utilization of the nation's non-
Federal short-stay hospitals and on the nature and treatment of illness 
among the inpatient hospitalized population. NHAMCS has provided data 
annually since 1992 concerning the nation's use of hospital emergency 
and outpatient departments. Beginning in 2009 NHAMCS collected data on 
hospital based ambulatory surgery locations, and in 2010 began 
collection of data from free-standing ambulatory surgery centers. 
NHAMCS data have been extensively used for monitoring changes and 
analyzing the types of outpatient care provided in the nation's 
hospitals.
    The Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN) (OMB No. 0930-0078, expired 
12/31/2011) collected specific information on drug-related visits to 
the ED. DAWN was previously funded by the Center for Behavioral Health 
Statistics & Quality (CBHSQ) of the Substance Abuse & Mental Health 
Services Administration (SAMHSA), DHHS.
    NCHS is integrating the data collected from NHDS, NHAMCS, and DAWN 
into one survey called the National Hospital Care Survey (NHCS). This 
integration will increase the wealth and depth of data on health care 
utilization and allow for linkages to other data sources such as the 
National Death Index and data from Centers for Medicare and Medicaid 
Services (CMS).
    Since May 2011, a sample of 500 hospitals drawn for NHCS is being 
recruited, and participating hospitals are submitting inpatient level 
data in the form of electronic Uniform Bill (UB-04) administrative 
claims data as well as facility level data. This activity continues in 
2013 in addition to the sampled hospitals being asked to provide data 
on the utilization of health care provided in their EDs, OPDs and ASLs, 
thus integrating the NHDS, NHAMCS, and DAWN into NHCS. If funding 
becomes available, a new sample of freestanding ASCs will be recruited 
sometime within the 3-year clearance period.
    NHCS will replace NHDS, NHAMCS, and DAWN, but continue to provide 
nationally representative data on utilization of hospital care and 
general purpose health care statistics on inpatient care as well as 
care delivered in EDs, OPDs, ASLs, and freestanding ASCs.
    Facility-level, patient-level, discharge-level, and visit-level, 
data items will be collected from the recruited hospitals and 
freestanding ASCs in NHCS. Facility- level data items will include 
ownership, number of staffed beds, clinical capabilities, financial 
information, and electronic health record adoption. Patient-level data 
items will be collected for both inpatient and ambulatory components 
and include basic demographic information, personal identifiers, name, 
address, social security number (if available), and medical record 
number (if available). For the inpatient component, discharge-level 
data will be collected through the UB-04 claims and will include: 
admission and discharge dates, diagnoses, diagnostic services, and 
surgical and non-surgical procedures. For the ambulatory component, 
visit-level data will be collected through the UB-04 claims as well as 
through abstraction of a sample of medical records, which includes 
reason for visit, diagnosis, procedures, medications, and patient 
disposition.
    We expect that the users of NHCS will be similar to the users of 
NHDS, NHAMCS, and DAWN data. These users include but are not limited to 
CDC, Congressional Research Office, Office of the Assistant Secretary 
for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE), National Institutes of Health, 
American Health Care Association, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid 
Services (CMS), Bureau of the Census, Office of National Drug Control 
Policy, state and local governments, and nonprofit organizations. Other 
users of these data include universities, research organizations, many 
in the private sector, foundations, and a variety of users in the print 
media.
    Data collected through NHCS are essential for evaluating health 
status of the population, for the planning of programs and policy to 
elevate the health status of the Nation, for studying morbidity trends, 
and for research activities in the health field. Historically, NHDS and 
NHAMCS data have been used extensively in the development and 
monitoring of goals

[[Page 61412]]

for the Year 2000, 2010, and 2020 Healthy People Objectives.
    There is no cost to respondents other than their time to 
participate.

                                        Estimated Annualized Burden Hours
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                      Average
                                                     Number of       Number of      burden per     Total burden
          Respondents                 Form          respondents    responses per   response (in        hours
                                                                    respondent        hours)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                    HOSPITAL
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hospital CEO/CFO..............  Hospital                     500               1               1             500
                                 Eligibility
                                 Questions.
Hospital CEO/CFO..............  Recruitment                  167               1               1             167
                                 Survey
                                 Presentation.
Hospital CEO/CFO..............  Annual Hospital              500               1               2            1000
                                 Interview
                                 (includes
                                 inpatient and
                                 ambulatory).
Medical and Health Services     Ambulatory Unit            2,000               1           15/60             500
 Manager.                        Induction.
Department of Health            Prepare and                  500               4               1           2,000
 Information Management (DHIM)   transmit UB-04
 or Health Information           (2013-2015) for
 Technology (DHIT) staff.        inpatient and
                                 ambulatory.
Medical Record Clerk..........  Pulling and re-            1,125             100            1/60           1,875
                                 filing Patient
                                 Records (ED,
                                 OPD, and ASL).
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                 FREESTANDING AMBULATORY SURGERY CENTERS (FSASC)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FSASC Chief Executive Officer.  Annual FSACS                 250               1           30/60             125
                                 Interview.
FSASC DHIM or DHIT............  Prepare and                  250               4               1            1000
                                 transmit UB-04
                                 (2013-2015).
FSASC Medical Record Clerk....  Pulling and re-              125             100            1/60             208
                                 filing Patient
                                 Records.
                                                 ---------------------------------------------------------------
    Total.....................  ................  ..............  ..............  ..............           7,375
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    Dated: October 2, 2012.
Ron A. Otten,
Director, Office of Scientific Integrity (OSI), Office of the Associate 
Director for Science (OADS), Office of the Director, Centers for 
Disease Control and Prevention.
[FR Doc. 2012-24761 Filed 10-5-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4163-18-P