[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 91 (Monday, May 11, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 27746-27747]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-09987]


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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; Shortage Designation 
Management System

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 June 10, 
2020.

ADDRESSES: Written comments and recommendations for the proposed 
information collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of 
this notice to www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. Find this particular 
information collection by selecting ``Currently under Review--Open for 
Public Comments'' or by using the search function.

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.
    Information Collection Request Title: Shortage Designation 
Management System OMB No. 0906-0029--Revision.
    Abstract: HRSA's Bureau of Health Workforce is committed to 
improving the health of the Nation's underserved communities and 
vulnerable populations by developing, implementing, evaluating, and 
refining programs that strengthen the nation's health workforce. The 
Department of Health and Human Services relies on two federal shortage 
designations to identify and dedicate resources to areas and 
populations in greatest need of providers: Health Professional Shortage 
Area (HPSA) designations and Medically Underserved Area/Medically 
Underserved Population (MUA/P) designations. HPSA designations are 
geographic areas, population groups, and facilities that are 
experiencing a shortage of health professionals. The authorizing 
statute for the National Health Service Corps (NHSC) created HPSAs to 
fulfill the statutory requirement that NHSC personnel be directed to 
areas of greatest need. To further differentiate areas of greatest 
need, HRSA calculates a score for each HPSA. There are three categories 
of HPSAs based on health discipline: Primary care, dental health, and 
mental health. Scores range from 1 to 25 for primary care and mental 
health and from 1 to 26 for dental, with higher scores indicating 
greater need. They are used to prioritize applications for NHSC Loan 
Repayment Program award funding, and determine service sites eligible 
to receive NHSC Scholarship and Students-to-Service participants.
    MUA/P designations are geographic areas, or population groups 
within geographic areas, that are experiencing a shortage of primary 
care health care services based on the Index of Medical Underservice 
(IMU). MUAs are designated for the entire population of a particular 
geographic area. MUA/P designations are limited to particular subset of 
the population within a geographic area. Both designations were created 
to aid the federal government in identifying areas with healthcare 
workforce shortages.
    As part of HRSA's cooperative agreement with the State Primary Care 
Offices (PCOs), the State PCOs conduct needs assessment in their 
states, determine what areas are eligible for designations, and submit 
designation applications for HRSA review via the Shortage Designation 
Management System (SDMS). Requests that come from other sources are 
referred to the PCOs for their review, concurrence, and submission via 
SDMS. In order to obtain a federal shortage designation for an area, 
population, or facility, PCOs must submit a shortage designation 
application through SDMS for review and approval by HRSA. Both the HPSA 
and MUA/P application request local, state, and national data on the 
population that is experiencing a shortage of health professionals and 
the number of health professionals relative to the population covered 
by the proposed designation. The information collected on the 
applications is used to determine which areas, populations, and 
facilities have qualifying shortages.
    In addition, interested parties, including the Governor, the State 
Primary Care Association, state professional associations, etc. are 
notified of each designation request submitted via SDMS for their 
comments and recommendations.
    HRSA reviews the HPSA applications submitted by the State PCOs, 
and--if they meet the designation eligibility criteria for the type of 
HPSA or MUA/P the application is for--designates the HPSA or MUA/P on 
behalf of the Secretary. HPSAs are statutorily required to be annually 
reviewed and revised as necessary after initial designation to reflect 
current data. HPSAs scores, therefore may and do change from time to 
time. Currently, MUA/Ps do not gave a statutorily mandated review 
period.
    The lists of designated HPSAs are published annually in the Federal 
Register. In addition, lists of HPSAs are updated on the HRSA website, 
https://data.hrsa.gov/tools/shortage-area, so that interested parties 
can access the information.
    A 60-day notice published in the Federal Register on February 26, 
2020, vol. 85, No. 38; pp. 11094-95. There was one public comment.
    Need and Proposed Use of the Information: In 2014, SDMS was 
launched to facilitate the collection of information needed to 
designate HPSAs and MUA/Ps. The information obtained from the SDMS 
Application is used to determine which areas, populations, and 
facilities have critical shortages of health professionals per PCO 
application submission. The SDMS

[[Page 27747]]

HPSA application and SDMS MUA/P Application are used for these 
designation determinations. Applicants must submit a SDMS application 
to HRSA to obtain a federal shortage designation. The application asks 
for local, state, and national data required to determine the 
application's eligibility to obtain a federal shortage designation. In 
addition, applicants must enter in detailed information explaining how 
the area, population, or facility faces a critical shortage of health 
professionals.
    Likely Respondents: State Primary Care Offices interested in 
obtaining a primary care, dental, or mental HPSA designation or a MUA/P 
in their state.
    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     Total burden
            Form name               respondents    responses per     responses     response  (in       hours
                                                    respondent                        hours)
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Designation Planning and                      54              48           2,592            8.00          20,736
 Preparation....................
SDMS Application................              54              83           4,482            4.00          17,928
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    Total.......................              54  ..............           7,074  ..............          38,664
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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.

Maria G. Button,
Director, Executive Secretariat.
[FR Doc. 2020-09987 Filed 5-8-20; 8:45 am]
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