[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 203 (Tuesday, October 20, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 66569-66570]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-23114]


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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: Maternal Health Portfolio Evaluation Design, 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 of 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 November 
19, 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: Information Collection Request Title: 
Maternal Health Portfolio Evaluation Design, OMB No. 0906-xxxx [NEW].
    Abstract: HRSA programs provide health care to people who are 
geographically isolated, economically, or medically vulnerable. HRSA 
programs help those in need of high quality primary health care, such 
as pregnant women and mothers. Improving maternal health outcomes and 
access to quality maternity care services is a key component of the 
HRSA mission. HRSA's Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB) provides 
funding to address some of the most urgent issues influencing the high 
rates of maternal mortality. Recent efforts to address persistent 
disparities in maternal, infant, and child health have employed a 
``life course'' perspective and health equity lens focused on health 
promotion and disease prevention. Life course approach can be defined 
as analyzing people's lives within structural, social, and cultural 
contexts through a defined sequence of age categories that people are 
normally expected to pass through as they progress from birth to death. 
Health equity is defined as the attainment of the highest level of 
health for all people.
    Achieving health equity for pregnant and postpartum women will 
require attention to barriers in access to quality health services and 
promotion of equal opportunities to seek the highest possible level of 
health and well-being. Achieving health equity also requires a focus on 
social determinants of health.
    With this emphasis on improving maternal health across the life 
course and promoting optimal health for all mothers, HRSA is employing 
a multipronged strategy to address maternal mortality and severe 
maternal morbidity through the following suite of programs:
    1. The State Maternal Health Innovation Program;

[[Page 66570]]

    2. The Alliance for Innovation on Maternal Health Program:
    3. The Alliance for Innovation on Maternal Health--Community Care 
Initiative;
    4. The Rural Maternity and Obstetrics Management Strategies 
Program; and,
    5. The Supporting Maternal Health Innovation Program.
    MCHB is conducting a portfolio-wide evaluation of HRSA-supported 
Maternal Health (MH) Programs with a primary focus on reducing maternal 
mortality. Through this evaluation, MCHB seeks to identify individual 
and/or collective strategies, interrelated activities, and common 
themes within and across the MH Programs that may be contributing to or 
driving improvements in key maternal health outcomes. MCHB seeks to 
ascertain which components should be elevated and replicated to the 
national level, as well as inform future investments to reduce rates of 
maternal mortality and severe maternal morbidity.
    A 60-day notice was published in the Federal Register on June 8, 
2020, vol. 85, No. 110; pp. 34739-40. There were no public comments.
    Need and Proposed Use of the Information: MCHB seeks to understand 
the impact of HRSA's investments in MH programs. These five programs 
represent a total of 12 state-based programs and three programs with 
the potential for national reach. In understanding the strategies that 
are most effective in reducing maternal morbidity and mortality, 
program elements could be replicated and/or scaled up nationally.
    Likely Respondents: Likely respondents are recipients of the 
cooperative agreements mentioned above (The State Maternal Health 
Innovation Program; The Alliance for Innovation on Maternal Health 
Program; The Alliance for Innovation on Maternal Health--Community Care 
Initiative; The Rural Maternity and Obstetrics Management Strategies 
Program; and, The Supporting Maternal Health Innovation Program) which 
represents 11 state health agencies, two national organizations, and 
two academic organizations.
    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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                                                      Number                      Average burden
            Form name                Number of     responses per       Total       per response    Total burden
                                    respondents     respondent       responses      (in hours)         hours
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Instrument 1: Interview guide                 75               1              75            1.00            75.0
 for grantee staff..............
Instrument 2: Interview guide                  7               1               7            1.50            10.5
 for HRSA POs...................
Instrument 3: Partnership Survey             290               1             290            0.25            72.5
Instrument 4: Web-based data                  15               1              15            0.50             7.5
 collection tool................
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    Total.......................             387  ..............             387  ..............           165.5
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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. 2020-23114 Filed 10-19-20; 8:45 am]
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