[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 199 (Tuesday, October 19, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 57838-57839]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-22737]


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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; Rural Health Care Services 
Outreach Program Performance Improvement and Measurement Systems (PIMS) 
Measures, OMB No. 0906-0009--Revision

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 
18, 2021.

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 Samantha Miller, the acting 
HRSA Information Collection Clearance Officer at [email protected] or 
call (301) 443-9094.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Information Collection Request Title: Rural Health Care Services 
Outreach Program Performance Improvement and Measurement Systems (PIMS) 
Measures, OMB No. 0906-0009--Revision.

[[Page 57839]]

    Abstract: The Rural Health Care Services Outreach (Outreach) 
Program is authorized by Section 330A(e) of the Public Health Service 
(PHS) Act (42 U.S.C. 254c(e)) and Public Law 116-136, to ``promote 
rural health care services outreach by improving and expanding the 
delivery of health care services to include new and enhanced services 
in rural areas, through community engagement and evidence-based or 
innovative, evidence-informed models.'' The goals for the Outreach 
Program are as follows: (1) Expand the delivery of health care services 
to include new and enhanced services exclusively in rural communities; 
(2) deliver health care services through a strong consortium, in which 
every consortium member organization is actively involved and engaged 
in the planning and delivery of services; (3) utilize community 
engagement and evidence-based or innovative, evidence-informed model(s) 
in the delivery of health care services; and (4) improve population 
health, and demonstrate health outcomes and sustainability.
    A 60-day notice published in the Federal Register, 86 FR 38725, 
(July 22, 2021). There were no public comments.
    Need and Proposed Use of the Information: The PIMS measures for the 
Outreach Program enable HRSA and the Federal Office of Rural Health 
Policy to capture awardee-level and aggregate data that illustrate the 
impact and scope of federal funding. The collection of this information 
helps further inform and substantiate the focus and objectives of the 
grant program. The measures encompass the following topics: (a) Access 
to care; (b) population demographics; (c) consortium/network; (d) 
sustainability; and (f) project specific domains.
    There have been changes to the previously approved Outreach Program 
PIMS measures. The proposed Outreach PIMS measures reflect an increase 
in the number of measures including the following:
    (1) The addition of project-specific measures related to the Rural 
Healthy Hometown Initiative (HRHI) (includes 17 required and 20 
optional measures for a total of 37 additional measures) applicable 
only to Outreach awardees who apply to be part of the HRHI track 
(anticipated total of 16 out of 61 awardees) to focus on one or more of 
the five causes of excess death in rural communities (heart disease, 
cancer, unintentional injury/substance use, chronic lower respiratory 
disease, and stroke);
    (2) Addition of project-specific measures (three additional 
measures) only applicable to Outreach Awardees with a focus on 
telehealth (anticipated total of 15 out of 61 awardees);
    (3) The addition of social determinants of health measures (three 
additional measures) only applicable to Outreach Awardees addressing 
social determinants of health as part of their grant funded activities 
(anticipated total of 15 out of 61 awardees);
    (4) The consolidation of the access to care measures from singular 
to composite measure format (currently 14, previously 16) applicable to 
all awardees (anticipated total of 61 awardees);
    (5) Removal of an outdated project specific measure (one measure 
removed) applicable to awardees focused on childhood obesity;
    (6) Removal of an outdated project specific applicable to awardees 
providing clinical services (currently 7, previously 8) related to 
Healthy People 2020; and
    (7) Removal of the outdated project specific Health Improvement 
Special Project measure (one measure removed). In total, proposed 
changes reflect the addition of 43 measures and the removal of 5 
measures for an increase in measures by a total of 38 measures. Of 
these measures, 17 are required and 26 are optional. All additional 
measures proposed are project specific (only applicable to anticipated 
total ranging from 15-16 out of 61 awardees). All measures will not be 
applicable to all 61 respondents. Project specific measures will remain 
applicable only to Outreach Awardees focusing on the respective project 
specific topic.
    Note that the number from the ``total burden hours'' column on the 
burden table was collected from the current cohort of Outreach Program 
grant recipients, therefore it is different from the number of hours 
listed on the previous Notice of Action, which was collected from the 
previous cohort of Outreach Program grant recipients. This change in 
burden also correlates with the increase in the total number of current 
Outreach Program grant recipients compared to previous cohort of 
Outreach Program grant recipients (61 respondents anticipated, 
previously 25).
    Likely Respondents: The respondents would be award recipients of 
the Rural Health Care Services Outreach 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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                                                     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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Rural Health Care Services                    61               1              61             7.5           457.5
 Outreach PIMS..................
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    Total.......................              61  ..............              61  ..............           457.5
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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. 2021-22737 Filed 10-18-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4165-15-P