[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 190 (Monday, October 1, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 49404-49405]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-21252]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration


Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission for OMB 
Review; Comment Request

    Periodically, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services 
Administration (SAMHSA) will publish a summary of information 
collection requests under OMB review, in compliance with the Paperwork 
Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35). To request a copy of these 
documents, call the SAMHSA Reports Clearance Officer on (240) 276-1243.

Project: Testing of Electronic Health Records Questions for the 
National Survey of Substance Abuse Treatment Services (N-SSATS) and the 
National Mental Health Services Survey (N-MHSS)--NEW

    The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration 
(SAMHSA), Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality (CBHSQ), 
is requesting approval for conducting cognitive testing on the use of 
electronic health records (EHRs) by substance abuse and mental health 
treatment facilities in the United States. The final goal of this 
cognitive testing is to incorporate questions on electronic health 
records to SAMHSA's National Survey of Substance Abuse Treatment 
Services (N-SSATS) and the National Mental Health Services Survey (N-
MHSS).
    Currently, there is a lack of national level data that exists on 
behavioral health care providers' progress toward interoperability. The 
National Council

[[Page 49405]]

for Behavioral Health in 2011/2012 conducted a survey to determine 
health information technology (IT) readiness. This data focused only on 
the membership of the National Council for Behavioral Health and does 
not provide national baseline data on the four domains of 
interoperability that are outlined in the Interoperability Roadmap 
(finding, sending, receiving and integrating data into EHRs) for 
behavioral health care providers. Currently, these providers are not 
eligible to participate in interoperability driving efforts such as the 
Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA) 
initiative. However, some behavioral health providers may be eligible 
in the future to participate in value-based payment initiatives such as 
the Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS). Measuring and 
reporting the state of interoperability will help to determine the type 
of support these providers need and their readiness to participate in 
delivery system reform efforts in the future.
    Collaboration between the Office of the National Coordinator for 
Health Information Technology (ONC) and SAMHSA on this data collection 
effort will provide an efficient manner to track trends in health IT 
adoption, use, and interoperability among behavioral health care 
providers. In addition, this collaboration will contribute to the 
development of strategic efforts to leverage health IT in behavioral 
health care settings to provide cost effective, high quality and 
patient-centered care. Results from this testing will allow ONC and 
SAMHSA to work together to quantitatively assess health IT adoption and 
interoperability among behavioral health care providers using SAMHSA's 
current national surveys, the National Survey of Substance Abuse 
Treatment Services (N-SSATS) and the National Mental Health Services 
Survey (N-MHSS).
    The information obtained from these efforts will be used to develop 
a new set of questions on the use and implementation of EHRs in 
behavioral health facilities for the N-SSATS and the N-MHSS surveys. 
Specifically, the information from the testing will be used to reduce 
respondent burden while simultaneously improving the quality of the 
data collected in these surveys.
    Data from this testing will be collected mostly via telephone 
interviews, and few cases conducted with in-person interviews. Results 
of this test will not be disseminated or used to inform policy, 
program, or budget decisions. Findings will be shared between ONC and 
SAMHSA staff to decide how the tested questions will be incorporated in 
the surveys.
    It is estimated that the total burden for this project is 40 hours, 
based on a maximum of 80 interviews with an average of 30 minutes per 
interview.
    The request for OMB seeks approval to conduct this testing of EHR 
questions during the Fall of 2018 for possible implementation starting 
in 2020.
    The total estimated burden for this study is 39.2 hours for the 
period from September through December 2018.

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                                                                        Number of      Responses per     Total number      Hours per       Total burden
                               Survey                                  respondents       respondent      of responses       response          hours
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Interviews.........................................................              80                1               80              .50               40
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    Written comments and recommendations concerning the proposed 
information collection should be sent by October 31, 2018 to the SAMHSA 
Desk Officer at the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, 
Office of Management and Budget (OMB). To ensure timely receipt of 
comments, and to avoid potential delays in OMB's receipt and processing 
of mail sent through the U.S. Postal Service, commenters are encouraged 
to submit their comments to OMB via email to: 
[email protected]. Although commenters are encouraged to send 
their comments via email, commenters may also fax their comments to: 
202-395-7285. Commenters may also mail them to: Office of Management 
and Budget, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, New Executive 
Office Building, Room 10102, Washington, DC 20503.

Summer King,
Statistician.
[FR Doc. 2018-21252 Filed 9-28-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4162-20-P