[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 120 (Friday, June 21, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 29217-29218]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-13195]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Health Resources and Services Administration


Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection: 
Public Comment Request Information Collection Request Title: Small 
Rural Hospital Transition Project (SRHT), OMB No. 0906-0026--Extension

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 Information Collection Request must be received 
no later than August 20, 2019.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments to [email protected] or mail the HRSA 
Information Collection Clearance Officer, Room 14N136B, 5600 Fishers 
Lane, Rockville, Maryland 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 Lisa Wright-
Solomon, the HRSA Information Collection Clearance Officer at (301) 
443-1984.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: When submitting comments or requesting 
information, please include the

[[Page 29218]]

information request collection title for reference.
    Information Collection Request Title: Small Rural Hospital 
Transition Project (SRHT), OMB No. 0906-0026--Extension.
    Abstract: Under Section 330A of the Public Health Service Act (42 
U.S.C. 254c), the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (FORHP) funds 
grant programs supporting expanding access to, coordinating, 
restraining the cost of, and improving the quality of essential health 
care services in rural and frontier communities. Small rural hospitals 
are facing many challenges in the new health care environment including 
the concurrent need to better measure and account for quality of care 
in all settings, improve transitions of care as patients move from one 
care setting to another, the evolution of new payment approaches such 
as value-based purchasing, and new approaches to care delivery such as 
accountable care organizations (ACO) and patient-centered medical 
homes. Success in this new environment will require bridging the gaps 
between the current system and the newly emerging system of healthcare 
delivery and payment. Because little is known about how these new 
models might impact rural communities, there is a need to help 
hospitals understand and consider those factors that would make them 
logical participants in health care systems that focus on quality, 
rather than the quantity of care provided to patients. The Small Rural 
Hospital Transition (SRHT), also funded by Section 330A, assists small 
rural hospitals facing these challenges. The purpose of the project is 
to provide on-site technical assistance to nine small rural hospitals 
residing in persistent poverty counties. Technical assistance is 
provided in the areas of: (1) Conducting financial assessments, (2) 
creating a quality-focused environment, (3) aligning services to 
community need, and (4) to the extent that financial and quality core 
areas have been stabilized, providing assistance to help recipients of 
technical assistance consider factors that would make them logical 
participants in health care systems that focus on value (e.g., ACOs, 
shared savings programs, and primary care medical homes).
    Need and Proposed Use of the Information: This information 
collection request consists of two forms: The SRHT Online Application 
and the Assessment. The application form is designed to solicit 
information that will be scored and ranked to aid in the selection of 
nine small rural hospitals to receive on-site technical assistance. The 
assessment determines applicant capacity in specific key areas leading 
to performance excellence across the organization (e.g., leadership, 
strategic planning, operations, and processes).
    Likely Respondents: The likely respondents are small rural 
hospitals located in a rural community. Hospitals must be (1) rural, as 
defined by FORHP and reside in a persistent poverty county or (2) 
reside in the rural census tract of a metro county (non-rural county) 
that is also a persistent poverty county and have 49 staffed beds or 
less as reported on the hospital's most recently filed Medicare Cost 
Report. Hospitals may be for-profit or not-for-profit.
    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
                                     Number of       Number of         Total        burden per
            Form name               respondents    responses per     responses     response (in        Total
                                                    respondent                        hours)
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SRHT Online Application.........              30               1              30             .50            15.0
Assessment: Performance                       30               1              30             .25             7.5
 Excellence for Rural Hospitals.
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    Total.......................            * 30  ..............              60  ..............            22.5
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* The same individuals complete the SRHT Online Application and the Assessment for a total of 30 respondents.

    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.

Maria G. Button,
Director, Division of the Executive Secretariat.
[FR Doc. 2019-13195 Filed 6-20-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4165-15-P