[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 112 (Monday, June 14, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 31506-31507]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-12381]


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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; Small Health Care Provider 
Quality Improvement Program, OMB No. 0915-0387--Extension

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 July 14, 
2021.

[[Page 31507]]


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: Small Health Care Provider 
Quality Improvement Program, OMB No. 0915-0387 Extension.
    Abstract: This program is authorized by Title III, Public Health 
Service Act, Section 330A(g) (42 U.S.C. 254c(g)), as amended; Public 
Law 115-245. This authority authorizes HRSA's Federal Office of Rural 
Health Policy (FORHP) to issue grants that expand access to, 
coordinate, contain the cost of, and improve the quality of essential 
health care services, including preventive and emergency services, 
through the development of health care networks in rural and frontier 
areas and regions. Across these various programs, the authority allows 
HRSA to provide funds to rural communities to support the direct 
delivery of health care and related services, expand existing services, 
or enhance health service delivery through education, promotion, and 
prevention programs.
    The purpose of the Small Health Care Provider Quality Improvement 
Grant (Rural Quality) Program is to provide support to rural primary 
care providers for implementation of quality improvement activities. 
The goal of the program is to promote the development of an evidence-
based culture and delivery of coordinated care in the primary care 
setting. Additional objectives of the program include improved health 
outcomes for patients, enhanced chronic disease management, and better 
engagement of patients and their caregivers. Organizations 
participating in the program are required to use an evidence-based 
quality improvement model, perform tests of change focused on 
improvement, and use health information technology (HIT) to collect and 
report data. HIT may include an electronic patient registry or an 
electronic health record, and is a critical component for improving 
quality and patient outcomes. With HIT it is possible to generate 
timely and meaningful data, which helps providers track and plan care.
    A 60-day Notice published in the Federal Register on February 24, 
2021, vol. 86, No. 35; pp. 11306. There were no public comments.
    Need and Proposed Use of the Information: For this program, 
performance measures were drafted to provide data to the program and to 
enable HRSA to provide aggregate program data required by Congress 
under the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993. These 
measures cover the principal topic areas of interest to FORHP, 
including: (a) Access to care; (b) population demographics; (c) 
staffing; (d) consortium/network; (e) sustainability; and (f) project 
specific domains. All measures will speak to FORHP's progress toward 
meeting the goals set.
    FORHP collects this information to quantify the impact of grant 
funding on access to health care, quality of services, and improvement 
of health outcomes. FORHP uses the data for program improvement and 
grantees use the data for performance tracking. No changes are proposed 
from the current data collection effort.
    Likely Respondents: The respondents would be recipients of the 
Small Health Care Provider Quality Improvement Program.
    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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Quality Program PIMS Measures...              32               1              32               8             256
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    Total.......................              32  ..............              32  ..............             256
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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. 2021-12381 Filed 6-11-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4165-15-P