[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 20 (Thursday, January 30, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5455-5456]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-01713]


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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; Nurse Corps Loan Repayment 
Program, OMB No. 0915-0140 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 
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. OMB may act on HRSA's ICR only after the 30-day 
comment period for this Notice has closed.

DATES: Comments on this ICR should be received no later than March 2, 
2020.

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: 
    Information Collection Request Title: Nurse Corps Loan Repayment 
Program OMB No. 0915-0140--Revision.
    Abstract: The Nurse Corps Loan Repayment Program (Nurse Corps LRP) 
assists in the recruitment and retention of professional Registered 
Nurses (RNs) by decreasing the financial barriers associated with 
pursuing a nursing education. RNs in this instance include advanced 
practice RNs (e.g., nurse practitioners, certified registered nurse 
anesthetists, certified nurse-midwives, and clinical nurse specialists) 
dedicated to working at eligible health care facilities with a critical 
shortage of nurses (i.e., a Critical Shortage Facility) or working as 
nurse faculty in eligible, accredited schools of nursing. The Nurse 
Corps LRP provides loan repayment assistance to these nurses to repay a 
portion of their qualifying educational loans in exchange for full-time 
service at a public or private nonprofit Critical Shortage Facility 
(CSF) or in an eligible, accredited school of nursing.
    A 60-day notice was published in the Federal Register on October, 
10, 2019 vol. 84, No. 197; pp. 54617-51619.
    Need and Proposed Use of the Information: This information 
collection is used by the Nurse Corps program to make award decisions 
about Nurse Corps LRP applicants and to monitor a participant's 
compliance with the program's service requirements. Individuals must 
submit an application in order to participate in the program. The 
application asks for personal, professional, educational, and financial 
information required to determine the applicant's eligibility to 
participate in the Nurse Corps LRP.
    The revised information collection request includes a new form and 
updates to existing forms for the Nurse Corps LRP in order to expand 
the service options for awarded participants, promote the use of 
telehealth for delivering care throughout the nation especially in 
rural areas, and to reduce the application burden on respondents.
    New Form #1--Applicants will be asked to submit a Disadvantaged 
Background Form. This new form asks the applicant's site Point of 
Contact to certify whether the applicant is from a disadvantaged 
background. The form provides eligibility criteria for the 
determination.
    Updated Form #1--The Participant Semi-Annual Employment 
Verification Form will be updated to include additional information 
about the participant's service including information about telehealth 
services and whether they work at multiple CSF sites. Telehealth helps 
expand the reach of providers especially in rural areas where medical 
service sites are more remote. The information collected will assist 
Program with determining the impact and utilization of telehealth 
services in various health care settings which will be used to inform 
our telehealth policies. Enabling multiple CSF site service will also 
allow greater flexibility for providers who rotate or split time 
between multiple sites which

[[Page 5456]]

benefits both the participants and the underserved communities-
especially in our Federally Qualified Health Centers which support many 
of our Nurse Corps Nurse Practitioners.
    Updated Form #2--The Nurse Corps LRP application will include 
questions for applicants to provide information regarding telehealth 
services, multiple CSF sites, and verification of base salary to 
determine the debt to salary ratio used to rank applicants for award 
consideration. The application will also be updated to identify 
applicants eligible for Nurse Corps LRP psychiatric nurse practitioner 
funding.
    Likely Respondents: Professional RNs or advanced practice RNs who 
are interested in participating in the Nurse Corps LRP and official 
representatives at their service sites.
    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 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: The estimates of reporting 
burden for Applications are as follows:

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                                                     Number of                    Average burden
            Form name                Number of     responses per       Total       per response    Total burden
                                    respondents     respondent       responses      (in hours)         hours
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Nurse Corps LRP Application *...           7,100               1           7,100            2.00          14,200
Authorization to Release                   7,100               1           7,100             .10             710
 Information Form * *...........
Employment Verification Form * *           7,100               1           7,100             .10             710
Disadvantaged Background Form...             450               1             450             .20              90
Confirmation of Interest Form...             500               1             500             .20             100
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    Total for Applicants........          22,250  ..............          22,250  ..............          15,810
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* The burden hours associated with this instrument account for both new and continuation applications.
  Additional (uploaded) supporting documentation is included as part of this instrument and is reflected in the
  burden hours.
* * The same respondents are completing these instruments.

    The estimates of reporting for Participants are as follows:

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                                                     Number of                    Average burden
            Form name                Number of     responses per       Total       per response    Total burden
                                    respondents     respondent       responses      (in hours)         hours
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Participant Semi-Annual In                   500               2           1,000             .50             500
 Service Verification Form......
Nurse Corps CSF Verification                 500               1             500             .10              50
 Form...........................
Nurse Corps Nurse Faculty                    450               1             450             .20              90
 Employment Verification Form...
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    Total for Participants......           1,450  ..............           1,950  ..............             640
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        Total for Applicants and          23,700  ..............          24,200  ..............        * 16,450
         Participants...........
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* The 16,450 figure is the sum of total burden hours for applicants and participants. This revision adds an
  additional form (the Disadvantaged Background Form).


Maria G. Button,
Director, Executive Secretariat.
[FR Doc. 2020-01713 Filed 1-29-20; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4165-15-P