[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 157 (Thursday, August 13, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 49385-49386]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-17729]


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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; Information Collection 
Request Title: Teaching Health Center Graduate Medical Education 
Program Cost Evaluation, OMB No. 0906-XXXX--NEW

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 
has 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 September 
14, 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 30-day 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: Information Collection Request Title: 
Teaching Health Centers Graduate Medical Education Program Cost 
Evaluation, OMB No. 0906-XXXX--NEW.
    Abstract: The Teaching Health Center Graduate Medical Education 
(THCGME) program, authorized by Section 340H of the Public Health 
Service Act, was established by Section 5508 of Public Law (Pub. L.) 
111-148. The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 (Pub. L. 115-123) provided 
continued funding for the THCGME Program for fiscal years 2018 and 2019 
and the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act extends 
funding for FY 2020 and for the first two months of FY 2021 (until 
November 30, 2020). The THCGME program provides funding support for new 
and the expansion of existing primary care residency training programs 
in community-based settings. The primary goals of this program are to 
increase the production of primary care providers who are better 
prepared to practice in community settings, particularly with 
underserved populations, and improve the geographic distribution of 
primary care providers.
    Need and Proposed Use of the Information: Statute requires the 
Secretary to determine an appropriate THCGME program payment for 
indirect medical expenses (IME) as well as to update, as deemed 
appropriate, the per resident amount used to determine the Program's 
payment for direct medical expenses (DME). To inform these 
determinations and to increase understanding of this model of residency 
training, George Washington University (GW), under contract with HRSA, 
is conducting an evaluation of the costs associated with training 
residents in the THC model. GW has developed a standardized THCGME 
Costing Instrument to gather data from all THCGME programs, which they 
will use to gather costing information related to both DME and IME. The 
information gathered in the THCGME Costing Instrument includes, but is 
not limited to, resident and faculty full-time equivalents, salaries 
and benefits, residency administration costs, educational costs, 
residency clinical operations and administrative costs, patient visits 
and clinical revenue generated by medical residents, financial reports, 
as well as general program information to understand the 
characteristics of the THCGME program and sponsoring institutions that 
are involved in residency training.
    A 60-day notice published in the Federal Register on April 30, 
2020, vol. 85, No. 84; pp. 23975-76. One public comment was received. 
GW also consulted with a GME Expert Panel to provide an external 
informed review of the THCGME Costing Instrument. Recommendations were 
received from the GME Expert Panel and minor changes were made. The 
feedback provided by the public comment and the GME Expert Panel 
included recommendations to: (1) Collect information on telehealth 
visits in 2018-2019 as a benchmark for telehealth activity post COVID-
19 pandemic; (2) change to academic year 2018-2019 for the data 
collection period; and (3) further solidify the IME methodology for the 
non-THC Federally Qualified Health Center comparison group; and (4) 
enhance the THCGME Costing Instrument instructions.
    HRSA is collecting costing information related to both DME and IME 
in an effort to establish a THC's total cost of running a residency 
program, to assist the Secretary in determining an appropriate update 
to the per resident amount used to calculate the payment for DME and an 
appropriate IME payment. The described data collection activities will 
serve to inform these statutory requirements for the Secretary in a 
uniform and consistent manner.
    Likely Respondents: The likely respondents to the THCGME Costing 
Instrument are the THCGME program award recipients.
    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.

[[Page 49386]]



                                    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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Teaching Health Center Costing                56               1              56              10             560
 Instrument.....................
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    Total.......................              56  ..............              56  ..............             560
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Maria G. Button,
Director, Executive Secretariat.
[FR Doc. 2020-17729 Filed 8-12-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4165-15-P