[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 67 (Monday, April 8, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 20929-20931]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-08071]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Health Resources and Services Administration


Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission to OMB for 
Review and Approval; Public Comment Request

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In compliance with section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35), the Health Resources and 
Services Administration (HRSA) will submit an Information Collection 
Request (ICR) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Comments 
submitted during the first public review of this ICR will be provided 
to OMB. OMB will accept further comments from the public during the 
review and approval period. To request a copy of the clearance requests 
submitted to OMB for review, email [email protected] or call the HRSA 
Reports Clearance Office at (301) 443-1984.

Information Collection Request Title: National Practitioner Data Bank 
for Adverse Information on Physicians and Other Health Care 
Practitioners--45 CFR Part 60 Regulations and Forms OMB No. 0915-0126--
Revision

    Abstract: This is a request for a revision of OMB approval of the 
information collections contained in regulations found at 45 CFR part 
60 governing the National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB) and the forms 
to be used in registering with, reporting information to, and 
requesting information from the NPDB. Section 6403 of the Patient 
Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (Affordable Care Act) Public 
Law 111-148 requires the transfer of all data in the Healthcare 
Integrity and Protection Data Bank

[[Page 20930]]

(HIPDB) to the NPDB. Data collection will not change; however, the 
merger will consolidate forms from OMB No. 0915-0239 for HIPDB under 
OMB No. 0915-0126 for NPDB. Responsibility for NPDB implementation and 
operation resides in the Bureau of Health Professions, Health Resources 
and Services Administration (HRSA), Department of Health and Human 
Services (HHS). Operation of the HIPDB was delegated by the HHS Office 
of the Inspector General to HRSA. This rule eliminates duplicative data 
reporting and access requirements between the HIPDB [established 
through the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 
(HIPPA) under Section 1128(b)(5) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 
1320a-7e)] and the NPDB [established through the Health Care Quality 
Improvement Act of 1986 under Title IV (42 U.S.C. 11101 et seq.) and 
expanded by Section 1921 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396r-
2)]. Information previously collected and disclosed through the HIPDB 
will be collected and disclosed through the NPDB. Section 6403 of the 
Affordable Care Act consolidates the collection and disclosure of 
information from both data banks under Title 45 part 60 of the Code of 
Federal Regulations (CFR). HHS will subsequently remove Title 45 part 
61, which implemented the HIPDB.
    The intent of NPDB is to improve the quality of health care by 
encouraging hospitals, state licensing boards, professional societies, 
and other entities providing health care services, to identify and 
discipline those who engage in unprofessional behavior; and to restrict 
the ability of incompetent health care practitioners, providers, or 
suppliers to move from state to state without disclosure of previous 
damaging or incompetent performance. It also serves as a fraud and 
abuse clearinghouse for the reporting and disclosing of certain final 
adverse actions (excluding settlements in which no findings of 
liability have been made) taken against health care practitioners, 
providers, or suppliers by health plans, federal agencies, and state 
agencies.
    The NPDB acts primarily as a flagging system; its principal purpose 
is to facilitate comprehensive review of practitioners' professional 
credentials and background. Information is collected from, and 
disseminated to, eligible entities (entities that are entitled to query 
and/or report to the NPDB under the three aforementioned statutory 
authorities) on the following: (1) Medical malpractice payments, (2) 
licensure actions taken by Boards of Medical Examiners, (3) state 
licensure and certification actions, (4) federal licensure and 
certification actions, (5) negative actions or findings taken by peer 
review organizations or private accreditation entities, (6) adverse 
actions taken against clinical privileges, (7) federal or state 
criminal convictions related to the delivery of a health care item or 
service, (8) civil judgments related to the delivery of a health care 
item or service, (9) exclusions from participation in federal or state 
health care programs, and (10) other adjudicated actions or decisions. 
It is intended that NPDB information should be considered with other 
relevant information in evaluating credentials of health care 
practitioners, providers, and suppliers.
    The reporting forms and the request for information forms (query 
forms) are accessed, completed, and submitted to the NPDB 
electronically through the NPDB Web site at http://www.npdb-hipdb.hrsa.gov/. All reporting and querying is performed through this 
secure Web site.
    Burden Statement: Burden in this context means the time expended by 
persons to generate, maintain, retain, disclose or provide the 
information requested. This includes the time needed to review 
instructions, to develop, acquire, install and utilize technology and 
systems for the purpose of collecting, validating and verifying 
information, processing and maintaining information, and disclosing and 
providing information, to train personnel and to be able to respond to 
a collection of information, to search data sources, to complete and 
review the collection of information, and to transmit or otherwise 
disclose the information. The total annual burden hours estimated for 
this ICR are summarized in the table below.
    The annual estimate of burden is as follows:

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                                                                             Number of     Responses per       Total         Hours per     Total burden
            Regulation citation                       Form name             respondents     respondent       responses       response          hours
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Sec.   60.6: Reporting errors, omissions,   Correction, Revision to               38,785               1          38,785             .25           9,696
 revisions or whether an action is on        Action, Correction of
 appeal.                                     Revision to Action, Void,
                                             Notice of Appeal.
Sec.   60.7: Reporting medical malpractice  Medical Malpractice Payment.          14,193               1          14,193             .75          10,645
 payments.
Sec.   60.8: Reporting licensure actions    State Licensure.............          28,700               1          28,700             .75          21,525
 taken by Boards of Medical Examiners &
 Sec.   60.9: Reporting licensure and
 certification actions taken by States.
Sec.   60.10: Reporting Federal licensure   DEA/Federal Licensure.......             499               1             499             .75             374
 and certification actions.
Sec.   60.11: Reporting negative actions    Peer Review Organization....              10               1              10             .75               8
 or findings taken by peer review
 organizations or private accreditation
 entities.
                                            Accreditation...............              10               1              10             .75               8
Sec.   60.12: Reporting adverse actions     Title IV Clinical Privileges             962               1             962             .75             722
 taken against clinical privileges.          Actions.
                                            Professional Society........              71               1              71             .75              53

[[Page 20931]]

 
Sec.   60.13: Reporting Federal or State    Criminal Conviction (Guilty            1,023               1           1,023             .75             767
 criminal convictions to the delivery of a   Plea or Trial).
 health care item or service.
                                            Deferred Conviction or Pre-              126               1             126             .75              95
                                             Trial Diversion.
                                            Nolo Contendere (No Contest)              63               1              63             .75              47
                                             Plea.
                                            Injunction..................              10               1              10             .75               8
Sec.   60.14: Reporting civil judgments     Civil Judgment..............              10               1              10             .75               8
 related to the delivery of a health care
 item or service.
Sec.   60.15: Reporting exclusions from     Exclusion/Debarment.........           2,402               1           2,402             .75           1,802
 participation in Federal or State health
 care programs.
Sec.   60.16: Reporting other adjudicated   Government Administrative...           2,682               1           2,682             .75           2,012
 actions or decisions.
                                            Health Plan Action..........             561               1             561             .75             421
Sec.   60.18 Requesting Information from    One Time Query for an                986,552               1         986,552             .08          78,924
 the NPDB.                                   Individual.
                                            One Time Query for an                 18,892               1          18,892             .08           1,511
                                             Organization.
                                            Self-Query on an Individual.         154,824               1         154,824             .42          65,026
                                            Self-Query on an                       1,095               1           1,095             .42             460
                                             Organization.
                                            Continuous Query............         387,767               1         387,767             .08          31,021
Sec.   60.21: How to dispute the accuracy   Subject Statement and                  3,347               1           3,347             .75           2,510
 of NPDB information.                        Dispute.
                                            Request for Secretarial                   83               1              83               8             664
                                             Review.
Administrative............................  Entity Registration                   35,915               1          35,915               1          35,915
                                             (Initial).
                                            Entity Registration (Renewal          15,461               1          15,461             .08           1,237
                                             & Update).
                                            Agent Registration (Initial)             100               1             100             .25              25
                                            Agent Registration (Renewal              100               1             100             .25              25
                                             & Update).
                                            Electronic Transfer of Funds             562               1             562             .25             141
                                             (EFT)Authorization.
                                            Authorized Agent Designation           1,290               1           1,290             .25             323
                                            Account Discrepancy.........              20               1              20             .25               5
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    Total.................................  ............................       1,696,115  ..............       1,696,115  ..............         265,978
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ADDRESSES: Submit your comments to the desk officer for HRSA, either by 
email to [email protected] or by fax to 202-395-5806. Please 
direct all correspondence to the ``attention of the desk officer for 
HRSA.''
    Deadline: Comments on this ICR should be received within 30 days of 
this notice.

    Dated: April 1, 2013.
Bahar Niakan,
Director, Division of Policy and Information Coordination.
[FR Doc. 2013-08071 Filed 4-5-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4165-15-P