[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 63 (Tuesday, April 2, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19721-19723]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-07596]


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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 Medical Staff Credentials And 
Privileges Files

AGENCY: Indian Health Service, HHS.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In compliance with Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the Paperwork

[[Page 19722]]

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: 0917-0009, ``Indian Health Service Medical Staff Credentials 
and Privileges Files.'' Type of Information Collection Request: 
Extension, without revision, of currently approved information 
collection, 0917-0009, ``Indian Health Service Medical Staff 
Credentials and Privileges Files.'' Form Numbers: 0917-0009. Need and 
Use of Information Collection: This collection of information is used 
to evaluate individual health care providers applying for medical staff 
privileges at IHS health care facilities. The IHS operates health care 
facilities that provide health care services to American Indians and 
Alaska Natives. To provide these services, the IHS employs (directly 
and under contract) several categories of health care providers 
including: Physicians (M.D. and D.O.), dentists, psychologists, 
optometrists, podiatrists, audiologists, physician assistants, 
certified registered nurse anesthetists, nurse practitioners, and 
certified nurse midwives. IHS policy specifically requires physicians 
and dentists to be members of the health care facility medical staff 
where they practice. Health care providers become medical staff 
members, depending on the local health care facility's capabilities and 
medical staff bylaws. There are three types of IHS medical staff 
applicants: (1) Health care providers applying for direct employment 
with IHS; (2) contractors who will not seek to become IHS employees; 
and (3) employed IHS health care providers who seek to transfer between 
IHS health care facilities.
    National health care standards developed by the Centers for 
Medicare and Medicaid Services, the Joint Commission, and other 
accrediting organizations require health care facilities to review, 
evaluate and verify the credentials, training and experience of medical 
staff applicants prior to granting medical staff privileges. In order 
to meet these standards, IHS health care facilities require all medical 
staff applicants to provide information concerning their education, 
training, licensure, and work experience and any adverse disciplinary 
actions taken against them. This information is then verified with 
references supplied by the applicant and may include: former employers, 
educational institutions, licensure and certification boards, the 
American Medical Association, the Federation of State Medical Boards, 
the National Practitioner Data Bank, and the applicants themselves.
    In addition to the initial granting of medical staff membership and 
clinical privileges, the Joint Commission standards require that a 
review of the medical staff be conducted not less than every two years. 
This review evaluates the current competence of the medical staff and 
verifies whether they are maintaining the licensure or certification 
requirements of their specialty.
    The medical staff credentials and privileges records are maintained 
at the health care facility where the health care provider is a medical 
staff member. The establishment of these records at IHS health care 
facilities is a Joint Commission requirement. Prior to the 
establishment of this Joint Commission requirement, the degree to which 
medical staff applications were maintained at all health care 
facilities in the United States that are verified for completeness and 
accuracy varied greatly across the Nation.
    The application process has been streamlined and is using 
information technology to make the application electronically available 
on the Internet. The application may be found at the IHS.gov Web site 
address: http://www.ihs.gov/IHM/index.cfm?module=dsp_ihm_pc_p3c1_ex#Manual Exhibit 3-1-A.
    Affected Public: Individuals and households. Type of Respondents: 
Individuals.
    The table below provides: Types of data collection instruments, 
Estimated number of respondents, Number of annual number of responses, 
Average burden per response, and Total annual burden hours.

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                                        Estimated
   Data collection instrument(s)        number of     Responses per    Average burden hour per     Total annual
                                       respondents     Respondent             response*            burden hours
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Application to Medical Staff.......             570               1  1.00 (60 mins).............             570
Reference Letter...................            1710               1  0.33 (20 mins).............             570
Reappointment Request..............             190               1  1.00 (60 mins).............             190
Ob-Gyn Privileges..................              20               1  1.00 (60 mins).............              20
Internal Medicine..................             325               1  1.00 (60 mins).............             325
Surgery Privileges.................              20               1  1.00 (60 mins).............              20
Psychiatry Privileges..............              13               1  1.00 (60 mins).............              13
Anesthesia Privileges..............              15               1  1.00 (60 mins).............              15
Dental Privileges..................             150               1  0.33 (20 mins).............              50
Optometry Privileges...............              21               1  0.33 (20 mins).............               7
Psychology Privileges..............              30               1  0.17 (10 mins).............               5
Audiology Privileges...............               7               1  0.08 (5 mins)..............               1
Podiatry Privileges................               7               1  0.08 (5 mins)..............               1
Radiology Privileges...............               8               1  0.33 (20 mins).............               3
Pathology Privileges...............               3               1  0.33 (20 mins).............               1
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    Total..........................           3,089  ..............  ...........................           1,791
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* For ease of understanding, burden hours are provided in actual minutes.
There are no capital costs, operating costs and/or maintenance costs to respondents.

    Request for Comments: Your written 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 estimate is logical; (e) ways to 
enhance

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the quality, utility, and clarity of the information being collected; 
and (f) ways to minimize the public burden through the use of 
automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection 
techniques or other forms of information technology.
    Send Comments and Requests for Further Information: For the 
proposed collection or requests to obtain a copy of the data collection 
instrument(s) and instructions to: Paul R. Fowler D.O., J.D., Risk 
Management Officer, 801 Thompson Avenue, TMP, Suite 331, Rockville, MD 
20852, call non-toll free (301) 443-6372, send via facsimile to (301) 
594-6213, or send your email requests, comments, and return address to: 
[email protected].
    Comment Due Date: Your comments regarding this information 
collection is best assured of having full effect if received within 60 
days of the date of this publication.

    Dated: March 26, 2013.
Yvette Roubideaux,
Director, Indian Health Service.
[FR Doc. 2013-07596 Filed 4-1-13; 8:45 am]
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