[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 199 (Monday, October 15, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 51962-51963]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-22344]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

[Document Identifier OS-0990-new]


Agency Information Collection Request. 60-Day Public Comment 
Request

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, HHS.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In compliance with the requirement of the Paperwork Reduction 
Act of 1995, the Office of the Secretary (OS), Department of Health and 
Human Services, is publishing the following summary of a proposed 
collection for public comment.

DATES: Comments on the ICR must be received on or before December 14, 
2018.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments to [email protected] or by calling 
(202) 795-7714.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: When submitting comments or requesting 
information, please include the document identifier 0990-New-60D and 
project title for reference, to [email protected], or call 202-
795-7714, the Reports Clearance Officer.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Interested persons are invited to send 
comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this 
collection of information, including any of the following subjects: (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.
    Information Collection Request Title: National Survey of Health 
Information Exchange Organizations (HIO).
    Abstract: Electronic health information exchange (HIE) is one of 
three goals specified by Congress in the 2009 Health Information 
Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act to ensure that 
the $30 billion federal investment in electronic health records (EHRs) 
results in higher-quality, lower-cost care. The ability of providers to 
share data electronically is a core goal of HITECH and a central 
feature of a high-performing healthcare delivery system. Greater EHR 
adoption without data flowing between systems substantially limits 
quality and efficiency gains as well as reduces the value of the health 
IT investment.
    There is growing consensus that achieving broad-based HIE is one of 
the most difficult components of HITECH. This is because successful HIE 
at scale involves coordination between many stakeholders, including but 
not limited to federal and state policymakers, healthcare delivery 
organizations, EHR and HIE vendors, and specific organizations 
supporting HIE, such as health information organizations (HIOs) and 
health information service providers (HISPs). Further, the issues 
requiring coordination are diverse, spanning technical standards, 
consent regulations, business models and incentives, workflow 
integration, trust and governance, and information privacy and 
security.
    Three HIE issues have proven particularly challenging: 
Implementation of and use of standards, information blocking, and 
sustainability. The ultimate goal of our project is to administer a 
survey instrument to HIOs in order to generate the most current 
national statistics and associated actionable insights on electronic 
health information exchange to inform policy efforts.
    Need and Proposed Use of the Information: Collecting timely, 
national data from HIOs in the three domains of standards, information 
blocking, and sustainability is valuable to inform both HIE-specific 
policy efforts as well as broader health system reform efforts. By 
developing a survey instrument addressing these topics, collecting 
national data from a census of HIOs (and related HIE efforts), and 
analyzing the data to identify important new insights, the proposed 
project fills a critical gap in current knowledge and will provide 
policymakers with actionable results to inform progress towards greater 
interoperability and exchange of clinical data.
    Likely Respondents: Given the relatively small number of HIOs in 
the U.S.

                                    Total Estimated Annualized Burden--Hours
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                                                                     Number of    Average burden
                    Form name                        Number of     responses per   per response    Total burden
                                                    respondents     respondent      (in hours)         hours
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HIO Survey......................................             200               1           20/60              67
                                                 ---------------------------------------------------------------
    Total.......................................  ..............  ..............  ..............              67
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[[Page 51963]]

Terry Clark,
Office of the Secretary, Paperwork Reduction Act Reports Clearance 
Officer.
[FR Doc. 2018-22344 Filed 10-12-18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4150-45-P