[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 242 (Tuesday, December 21, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 72250-72251]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-27557]



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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Health Resources and Services Administration


Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection: 
Public Comment Request; Application for Health Center Program Award 
Recipients for Deemed Public Health Service Employment With Liability 
Protections Under the Federal Tort Claims Act, OMB No. 0906-0035--
Revision

AGENCY: Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Department 
of Health and Human Services.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In compliance with the requirement for opportunity for public 
comment on proposed data collection projects of the Paperwork Reduction 
Act of 1995, HRSA announces plans to submit an Information Collection 
Request (ICR), described below, to the Office of Management and Budget 
(OMB). Prior to submitting the ICR to OMB, HRSA seeks comments from the 
public regarding the burden estimate, below, or any other aspect of the 
ICR.

DATES: Comments on this Information Collection Request must be received 
no later than February 22, 2022.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments to [email protected] or mail the HRSA 
Information Collection Clearance Officer, Room 14N136B, 5600 Fishers 
Lane, Rockville, MD 20857.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To request more information on the 
proposed project or to obtain a copy of the data collection plans and 
draft instruments, email [email protected] or call Samantha Miller, 
the acting HRSA Information Collection Clearance Officer at (301) 443-
9094.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: When submitting comments or requesting 
information, please include the information request collection title 
for reference.
    Information Collection Request Title: Application for Health Center 
Program Award Recipients for Deemed Public Health Service (PHS) 
Employment with Liability Protections under the Federal Tort Claims Act 
(FTCA), OMB No. 0906-0035--Revision.
    Abstract: Section 224(g)-(n) of the PHS Act (42 U.S.C. 233(g)-(n)), 
as amended, authorizes the Secretary to ``deem'' entities receiving 
funds under section 330 of the PHS Act as PHS employees for the 
purposes of establishing eligibility for liability protections for 
covered activities and individuals under the FTCA. The Health Center 
Program and the Health Center FTCA Program are administered by HRSA's 
Bureau of Primary Health Care (BPHC). Health centers submit deeming 
applications annually to BPHC in the prescribed form and manner in 
order to obtain deemed PHS employee status for this purpose.
    Need and Proposed Use of the Information: Deeming applications are 
required by law and must address certain specified criteria in order 
for deeming determinations to be issued. The application submissions 
provide BPHC with the information essential for evaluation of 
compliance with legal requirements and making a deeming determination 
under Section 224(g)-(n) of the PHS Act (42 U.S.C. 233(g)-(n)).
    The FTCA Program uses a web based application system within HRSA's 
Electronic Handbooks system. These electronic application forms 
decrease the time and effort required to complete the older, paper-
based approved FTCA application forms. The application includes: 
Contact information; Section 1: Review of Risk Management Systems; 
Section 2: Quality Improvement/Quality Assurance; Section 3: 
Credentialing and Privileging; Section 4: Claims Management; and 
Section 5: Additional Information, Certification, and Signatures.
    HRSA is proposing several changes to the Application for Health 
Center Program Award Recipients for Deemed PHS Employment with 
Liability Protections Under the FTCA, to be used for Health Center 
deeming applications for Calendar Year 2022 and thereafter, to clarify 
questions posed and required documentation. Specifically, the 
Application includes the following proposed changes:
     Updated application language: Throughout the application, 
revised terminology was utilized to provide greater clarity and 
specificity. These changes were based on stakeholder feedback and 
inquiries received from HRSA's Health Center Program Support. These 
changes are not substantive in nature.
     Some questions were removed from the application's Quality 
Improvement/Quality Assurance Section, as these questions were similar 
to questions collected in the Risk Management Section. This change is 
intended to reduce duplicative information collection.
     For the Credentialing and Privileging Section, the 
application will return to the previous process of requiring the 
submission of a Credentialing List with providers' credentialing and 
privileging information. This change is intended to enhance HRSA's 
oversight and verification capabilities as it relates to continuous 
compliance with the FTCA statute.
    Likely Respondents: Respondents include recipients of Health Center 
Program funds seeking deemed PHS employee status under Section 224(g)-
(n) of the PHS Act (42 U.S.C. 233(g)-(n)).
    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.

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                                     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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Application for Health Center                 35               1              35             2.5            87.5
 Program Deemed Public Health
 Service Employment Status
 (Initial)......................
Application for Health Center              1,125               1           1,125             2.5         2,812.5
 Program Deemed Public Health
 Service Employment Status
 (Redeeming)....................
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    Total.......................           1,160               2           1,160               5           2,900
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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. 2021-27557 Filed 12-20-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4165-15-P