[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 13 (Friday, January 19, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2799-2802]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-00825]


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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; Information Collection 
Request Title: National Practitioner Data Bank for Adverse Information 
on Physicians and Other Health Care Practitioners--OMB No. 0915-0126--
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 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. 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.

DATES: Comments on this ICR should be received no later than February 
20, 2018.

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 Lisa Wright-Solomon, 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: 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.

[[Page 2800]]

    Abstract: This is a request for a revision of OMB approval of the 
information collection 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. Administrative forms are also included to 
aid in monitoring compliance with Federal reporting and querying 
requirements. Responsibility for NPDB implementation and operation 
resides in HRSA's Bureau of Health Workforce.
    The intent of the 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 reporting forms, request for information forms (query forms), 
and administrative forms (used to monitor compliance) are accessed, 
completed, and submitted to the NPDB electronically through the NPDB 
website at https://www.npdb.hrsa.gov/. All reporting and querying is 
performed through the secure portal of this website. This revision 
proposes changes to eliminate redundant and unnecessary forms, improve 
user error recovery, and improve overall data integrity. There is no 
change to the average burden per response. The total estimated number 
of respondents has increased from 5 million in 2015 to over 6 million 
in 2017, primarily attributable to increases in use of the ``One-Time 
Query for an Individual'' and ``Continuous Query'' forms. The increase 
in total respondents resulted in an estimated increase of approximately 
47,000 total burden hours.
    Need and Proposed Use of the Information: 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 as authorized in Title 45 CFR part 60) 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.
    Likely Respondents: Eligible entities or individuals that are 
entitled to query and/or report to the NPDB as authorized in 
regulations found at 45 CFR part 60.
    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.

                                                        Total Estimated Annualized Burden--Hours
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                                                                                                                          Average burden
            Regulation citation                       Form name              Number of     Responses per       Total       per response    Total burden
                                                                            respondents     respondent       responses      (in hours)         hours
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Sec.   60.6: Reporting errors, omissions,   Correction, Revision to               11,114               1          11,114             .25           2,779
 revisions or whether an action is on        Action, Correction of
 appeal.                                     Revision to Action, Void,
                                             Notice of Appeal (manual).
                                            Correction, Revision to               17,966               1          17,966           .0003               6
                                             Action, Correction of
                                             Revision to Action, Void,
                                             Notice of Appeal
                                             (automated).
Sec.   60.7: Reporting medical malpractice  Medical Malpractice Payment           11,993               1          11,993             .75           8,995
 payments.                                   (manual).
                                            Medical Malpractice Payment              242               1             242           .0003               1
                                             (automated).
Sec.   60.8: Reporting licensure actions    State Licensure (manual)....          19,160               1          19,160             .75          14,370
 taken by Boards of Medical Examiners.      State Licensure (automated).          25,980               1          25,980           .0003               8
&.........................................
Sec.   60.9: Reporting licensure and
 certification actions taken by States..
Sec.   60.10: Reporting Federal licensure   DEA/Federal Licensure.......             698               1             698             .75             524
 and certification actions.

[[Page 2801]]

 
Sec.   60.11: Reporting negative actions    Peer Review Organization....              10               1              10             .75               8
 or findings taken by peer review           Accreditation...............              10               1              10             .75               8
 organizations or private accreditation
 entities.
Sec.   60.12: Reporting adverse actions     Title IV Clinical Privileges             698               1             698             .75             524
 taken against clinical privileges.          Actions.                                 49               1              49  ..............              37
                                            Professional Society........
Sec.   60.13: Reporting Federal or State    Criminal Conviction (Guilty            1,140               1           1,140             .75             855
 criminal convictions related to the         Plea or Trial) (manual).                688               1             688           .0003               1
 delivery of a health care item or service. Criminal Conviction (Guilty               54               1              54             .75              41
                                             Plea or Trial) (automated).
                                            Deferred Conviction or Pre-
                                             Trial Diversion.
                                            Nolo Contendere (No Contest)              85               1              85             .75              64
                                             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 (manual)           1,624               1           1,624             .75           1,218
 participation in Federal or State health   Exclusion/Debarment                    3,180               1           3,180           .0003               1
 care programs.                              (automated).
Sec.   60.16: Reporting other adjudicated   Government Administrative...           2,062               1           2,062             .75           1,547
 actions or decisions.                      Health Plan Action..........             335               1             335             .75             252
Sec.   60.18 Requesting Information from    One-Time Query for an              2,054,381               1       2,054,381             .08         164,351
 the NPDB.                                   Individual (manual).
                                            One-Time Query for an              2,813,341               1       2,813,341           .0003             844
                                             Individual (automated).
                                            One-Time Query for an                 39,695               1          39,695             .08           3,176
                                             Organization (manual).
                                            One-Time Query for an                 10,201               1          10,201           .0003               4
                                             Organization (automated).
                                            Self-Query on an Individual.         131,481               1         131,481             .42          55,223
                                            Self-Query on an                       1,545               1           1,545             .42             649
                                             Organization.
                                            Continuous Query (manual)...         643,860               1         643,860             .08          51,509
                                            Continuous Query (automated)         226,838               1         226,838           .0003              69
Sec.   60.21: How to dispute the accuracy   Subject Statement and                  3,547               1           3,547             .75           2,661
 of NPDB information.                        Dispute.                                 99               1              99               8             792
                                            Request for Dispute
                                             Resolution.
Administrative............................  Entity Registration                    1,073               1           1,073               1           1,073
                                             (Initial).
                                            Entity Registration (Renewal          14,060               1          14,060             .25           3,515
                                             & Update).
                                            Entity Profile..............           9,000               1           9,000             .25           2,250
                                            Licensing Board Data Request             146               1             146            10.5           1,533
                                            Licensing Board Attestation.             301               1             301               1             301
                                            Corrective Action Plan......              10               1              10             .08               1
                                            Reconciling Missing Actions.           7,981               1           7,981             0.8           6,385
                                            Agent Registration (Initial)              85               1              85               1              85
                                            Agent Registration (Renewal)             278               1             278             .08              23
                                            Electronic Transfer of Funds             654               1             654             .08              53
                                             (EFT) Authorization.
                                            Authorized Agent Designation             213               1             213             .25              54
                                            Account Discrepancy.........              10               1              10             .25               3
                                            New Administrator Request...           3,016               1           3,016             .08             242
                                            Query Credit Purchase.......             789               1             789             .08              64
                                            Educational Request.........              10               1              10             .08               1
                                            Account Balance Transfer....              10               1              10             .08               1

[[Page 2802]]

 
                                            Missing Report Form.........              29               1              29             .08               3
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    Total.................................  ............................       6,059,761  ..............       6,059,761  ..............         326,120
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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.

Amy McNulty,
Acting Director, Division of the Executive Secretariat.
[FR Doc. 2018-00825 Filed 1-18-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4165-15-P