[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 86 (Friday, May 5, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 21253-21254]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-09086]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Health Resources and Services Administration


Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection: 
Public Comment Request; Bureau of Primary Health Care Uniform Data 
System, OMB No. 0915-0193--Revision

AGENCY: Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Department 
of Health and Human Services.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In compliance with the requirement for opportunity for public 
comment on proposed data collection projects of the Paperwork Reduction 
Act of 1995, HRSA announces plans to submit an Information Collection 
Request (ICR), described below, to the Office of Management and Budget 
(OMB). Prior to submitting the ICR to OMB, HRSA seeks comments from the 
public regarding the burden estimate, below, or any other aspect of the 
ICR.

DATES: Comments on this ICR must be received no later than July 5, 
2017.

ADDRESSES: Submit statements and comments to [email protected] or by 
mail to the HRSA Information Collection Clearance Officer, 5600 Fishers 
Lane, Room 10-29, 14N39 Rockville, MD 20857.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To request more information on the 
proposed project or to obtain a copy of the data collection plans and 
draft instruments, email [email protected] or call the HRSA 
Information Collection Clearance Officer at (301) 443-1984.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: When submitting comments or requesting 
information, please include the information request collection title 
for reference.
    Information Collection Request Title: Bureau of Primary Health Care 
Uniform Data System, OMB No. 0915-0193--Revision.
    Abstract: The Uniform Data System (UDS) is the Bureau of Primary 
Health Care's (BPHC) annual reporting system for HRSA-supported health 
centers. UDS includes reporting requirements for Health Center Program 
look-alikes and grantees of the following: Community Health Center 
program, Migrant Health Center program, Health Care for the Homeless 
program, and Public Housing Primary Care program. A subset of 
recipients of the Bureau of Health Workforce's (BHW) Nurse Education, 
Practice, Quality and Retention (NEPQR) program, specifically those 
recipients that are funded under the practice priority areas listed 
under Public Health Service Act (PHSA) Section 831(b), are also 
required to complete UDS annual reporting.
    Need and Proposed Use of the Information: HRSA collects UDS data 
annually to ensure compliance with legislative and regulatory 
requirements, improve health center performance and operations, and 
report overall program accomplishments. The data help to identify 
trends, enabling HRSA to establish or expand targeted programs and 
identify effective services and interventions to improve the health of 
medically underserved communities and vulnerable populations. UDS data 
are compared with national health-related data, including the National 
Health Interview Survey and National Health and Nutrition Examination 
Survey, to explore potential differences between health center patient 
populations and the U.S. population at large, and those individuals and 
families who rely on the health care safety net for primary care. UDS 
data also inform Health Center Program partners and communities 
regarding the patients served by health centers. BHW uses the patient 
and provider-level data to determine the impact of health care services 
on patient outcomes. The data also enables BHW to establish or expand 
targeted programs and identify effective services and interventions to 
improve the health of underserved communities and vulnerable 
populations. In addition, the UDS data are useful to a subset of BHW 
recipients of the NEPQR program for performance and operations 
improvement, patient forecasts, identification of trends/patterns, 
implication of access barriers, and cost analysis to support long-term 
sustainability.
    The UDS data collection for 2018 will be revised in three ways. To 
support continued efforts to standardize data collection and reduce the 
burden per respondent of reporting for health centers, the measures 
stated below will be updated, where necessary, to align with Centers 
for Medicare & Medicaid Services electronic clinical quality measures 
(CMS e-CQMs) designated for the 2018 reporting period. Specifically:
     Poor glycemic control is defined as HbA1c > 9% per the CMS 
Meaningful Use and e-specifications.'' Therefore, HRSA is removing this 
column to be consistent with the Healthy People 2020 national benchmark 
and CMS and to reduce reporting burden.
     Patient Centered Medical Home (PCMH) recognition assesses 
a health center's approach to patient-centered care. HRSA collects PCMH 
data on a quarterly basis outside of UDS. Therefore, HRSA is removing 
this question to reduce reporting burden.
     Telehealth is increasingly used as a method of health care 
delivery for the health center patient population, especially those 
hard-to-reach patients living in geographically isolated communities. 
Collecting information on telehealth capacity and use of telehealth is 
essential for (1) the delivery of technical assistance for health 
centers and (2) improving the health of the nation's underserved 
communities and vulnerable populations by assuring access to 
comprehensive, culturally competent, quality primary health care 
services. Based on the uniqueness of telehealth data and its 
introduction into the UDS system, HRSA is proposing more robust 
questions to better capture this data.
    Likely Respondents: Respondents are HRSA BPHC Health Center Program 
grantees, look-alikes, and BHW NEPQR Program recipients.
    Burden Statement: Burden includes 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. While the overall burden estimate is increasing due to an 
increase in the number of respondents, the

[[Page 21254]]

proposed revisions will result in a reduction in burden per respondent 
due to the removal of two questions and the modification of a third set 
of questions. The total annual burden hours estimated for this ICR are 
summarized in the table below.

                                     Total Estimated Annualized Burden Hours
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                                                     Number of                    Average burden
            Form name                Number of     responses per       Total       per response    Total burden
                                    respondents     respondent       responses      (in hours)         hours
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Universal Report................           1,477               1           1,477             169         249,613
Grant Report....................             498               1             498              21          10,458
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    Total.......................           1,975  ..............           1,975  ..............         260,071
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    HRSA specifically requests comments on (1) the necessity and 
utility of the proposed information collection for the proper 
performance of the agency's functions; (2) the accuracy of the 
estimated burden; (3) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity 
of the information to be collected; and (4) the use of automated 
collection techniques or other forms of information technology to 
minimize the information collection burden.

Jason E. Bennett,
Director, Division of the Executive Secretariat.
[FR Doc. 2017-09086 Filed 5-4-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4165-15-P