[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 127 (Wednesday, July 5, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 31065-31066]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-14038]


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

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; Information Collection 
Request Title: Small Health Care Provider Quality Improvement Program, 
OMB No. 0915-0387--Extension

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

ACTION: Notice.

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

SUMMARY: In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, HRSA 
has submitted an Information Collection Request (ICR) to the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval. OMB will accept 
comments from the public during the review and approval period.

DATES: Comments on this ICR should be received no later than August 4, 
2017.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, including the ICR Title, to the desk 
officer for HRSA, either by email to [email protected] or by 
fax to 202-395-5806.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To request a copy of the clearance 
requests submitted to OMB for review, email the HRSA Information 
Collection Clearance Officer at [email protected] or call (301) 443-
1984.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: When submitting comments or requesting 
information, please include the information request collection title 
for reference, in compliance with Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the 
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.
    Information Collection Request Title: Small Health Care Provider 
Quality Improvement Program, OMB No. 0915-0387 - Extension
    Abstract: This program is authorized by Title III, Public Health 
Service Act, Section 330A(g) (42 U.S.C. 254c(g)), as amended by Section 
201, Public Law 107-251, and Section 4, Public Law 110-355. This 
authority directs the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (FORHP) to 
support grants that expand access to, coordinate, contain the cost of, 
and improve the quality of essential health care services, including 
preventive and emergency services, through the development of health 
care networks in rural and frontier areas and regions. The authority 
allows HRSA to provide funds to rural and frontier communities to 
support the direct delivery of health care and related services, expand 
existing services, or enhance health service delivery through 
education, promotion, and prevention programs.
    The purpose of the Small Health Care Provider Quality Improvement 
Grant (Rural Quality) Program is to provide support to rural primary 
care providers for implementation of quality improvement activities. 
The program promotes the development of an evidence-based culture and 
delivery of coordinated care in the primary care setting. Additional 
objectives of the program include improved health outcomes for 
patients, enhanced chronic disease management, and better engagement of 
patients and their caregivers. Organizations participating in the 
program are required to use an evidence-based quality improvement 
model; develop, implement and assess effectiveness of quality 
improvement initiatives; and use health information technology (HIT) to 
collect and report data. HIT may include an electronic patient registry 
or an electronic health record, and is a critical component for 
improving quality and patient outcomes. With HIT, it is possible to 
generate timely and meaningful data, which helps providers track and 
plan care.
    Need and Proposed Use of the Information: FORHP collects this 
information to quantify the impact of grant funding on access to health 
care, quality of services, and improvement of health outcomes. FORHP 
uses the data for program improvement, and grantees use the data for 
performance tracking. No changes are proposed from the current data 
collection effort. A 60-day notice was published in the Federal 
Register (81 FR 95621, (December 28, 2016)). There were no public 
comments.
    Likely Respondents: Grantees of the Small Health Care Provider 
Quality Improvement Program.
    Burden Statement: Burden in this context means the time expended by 
persons to generate, maintain, retain,

[[Page 31066]]

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. 
Burden is decreasing from 480 to 256 hours due to a decrease in number 
of respondents, while the amount of time per respondent (8 hours) 
remains the same. The total annual burden hours estimated for this ICR 
are summarized in the table below.

                                    Total Estimated Annualized Burden--Hours
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                      Average
                                     Number of       Number of         Total        burden per     Total  burden
            Form name               respondents    responses per     responses     response  (in       hours
                                                    respondent                        hours)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Small Health Care Provider                    32               1              32               8             256
 Quality Improvement Program
 Performance Improvement and
 Measurement System Measures....
                                 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Total.......................              32  ..............              32  ..............             256
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Jason E. Bennett,
Director, Division of the Executive Secretariat.
[FR Doc. 2017-14038 Filed 7-3-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4165-15-P