[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 245 (Monday, December 27, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 73286-73287]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-28032]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

[30Day-22-0852]


Agency Forms Undergoing Paperwork Reduction Act Review

    In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Centers 
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has submitted the information 
collection request titled Prevalence Survey of Healthcare-Associated 
Infections and Antimicrobial Use in U.S. Acute Care Hospitals to the 
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval. CDC 
previously published a ``Proposed Data Collection Submitted for Public 
Comment and Recommendations'' notice on August 13, 2021 to obtain 
comments from the public and affected agencies. CDC received one non-
substantive comment related to the previous notice. This notice serves 
to allow an additional 30 days for public and affected agency comments.
    CDC will accept all comments for this proposed information 
collection project. The Office of Management and Budget is particularly 
interested in comments that:
    (a) Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is 
necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, 
including whether the information will have practical utility;
    (b) Evaluate the accuracy of the agencies estimate of the burden of 
the proposed collection of information, including the validity of the 
methodology and assumptions used;
    (c) Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to 
be collected;
    (d) Minimize the burden of the collection of information on those 
who are to respond, including, through the use of appropriate 
automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection 
techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting 
electronic submission of responses; and
    (e) Assess information collection costs.
    To request additional information on the proposed project or to 
obtain a copy of the information collection plan and instruments, call 
(404) 639-7570. 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. Direct 
written comments and/or suggestions regarding the items contained in 
this notice to the Attention: CDC Desk Officer, Office of Management 
and Budget, 725 17th Street NW, Washington, DC 20503 or by fax to (202) 
395-5806. Provide written comments within 30 days of notice 
publication.

Proposed Project

    Prevalence Survey of Healthcare-Associated Infections and 
Antimicrobial Use in U.S. Acute Care Hospitals (OMB Control No. 0920-
0852, Exp. 10/31/2022)--Extension--National Center for Emerging and 
Zoonotic Infectious Diseases (NCEZID), Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention (CDC).

Background and Brief Description

    Preventing healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) and improving 
antimicrobial use (AU) are CDC and national priorities. An essential 
step in reducing the occurrence of HAIs is to accurately estimate the 
burden of these infections in U.S. acute care hospitals and to describe 
the types of HAIs and causative pathogens. Periodic assessments of the 
magnitude and types of HAIs and AU occurring in all patient populations 
within acute care hospitals are needed to inform decisions by policy 
makers and hospital infection control personnel (ICP) regarding 
appropriate targets and strategies for HAI prevention and antimicrobial 
stewardship.
    Since 2009, CDC has conducted four prevalence surveys (i.e., pilot 
survey in 2009, limited-scale survey in 2010, and two full-scale 
surveys in 2011 and 2015) in partnership with the CDC's Emerging 
Infections Program (EIP) sites. Findings from the most recent survey 
showed a reduction in the percentage of patients with healthcare-
associated infections compared with 2011. We granted approval from OMB 
to conduct the fifth survey in 2020, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic 
the survey was postponed to 2023.
    Minor adjustments to data collection instruments since the previous 
2019 OMB approval have been made. These adjustments were made to 
enhance future analyses and utility of the survey data. These changes 
are non-substantive and are not expected to increase the public 
reporting burden. An extension of the prevalence survey's existing OMB 
approval is sought to allow a repeat HAI and AU Prevalence Survey to be 
performed in 2023. A repeat survey will allow assessment of changes in 
HAI and AU prevalence, pathogen distribution, and quality of 
antimicrobial prescribing. These data will also allow CDC and its 
partners to continue to monitor HAI and AU trends, to measure progress 
in meeting national targets, and to further refine prevention 
strategies.
    In the 2023 survey, data collection will occur within acute care 
general hospitals of varying size in each of the 10 EIP sites (i.e., 
CA, CO, CT, GA, MD, MN, NM, NY, OR, & TN). Infection Control Personnel 
in participating hospitals may assist EIP site personnel in collecting 
demographic and limited clinical data from the electronic or paper-
based medical records of a sample of randomly selected patients on a 
single day in 2023. Patients will not be interviewed, and no direct 
interaction with patients will occur. Hospital and patient-level data 
will be collected using unique identification codes. EIP site personnel 
will submit hospital and patient-level data to CDC using a secure data 
management system.
    Based on experiences from previous surveys, the time required to 
complete the Healthcare Facility Assessment Form (HFA) and Patient 
Information Form (PIF) is estimated to be 45 and 17 minutes, 
respectively. To conduct the full-scale survey in a three-year approval 
period, 100 hospital respondents will complete the HFA once, and the 
PIF on average 63 times per year. The total estimated annualized public 
burden is 1,860 hours, which represents no change from the 2019 OMB 
approval.
    To assess changes in HAIs and AU over time, EIP sites will seek 
participation from the same hospitals that participated in prior 
surveys. These hospitals were originally selected for participation 
using a stratified random

[[Page 73287]]

sampling scheme based on the number of staffed acute care beds (i.e., 
small: <150 staffed beds; medium: 151-399 staffed beds; large: >400 
staffed beds). Each site will also have the option to recruit 
additional hospitals for a total of up to 30 in each site. As in 
previous surveys, hospital participation will remain voluntary. Within 
each participating hospital, EIP site personnel will establish patient 
sample size targets based on the number of staffed acute care beds 
(e.g., up to 75 patients in small hospitals, 75 patients in medium 
hospitals, and 100 patients in large hospitals).

                                        Estimated Annualized Burden Hours
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                                                                                                      Average
                                                                     Number of       Number of      burden per
          Type of respondents                   Form name           respondents    responses per   response  (in
                                                                                    respondent        hours)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hospital Staff (Infection               HFA.....................             100               1           45/60
 Preventionist).
                                        PIF.....................             100              63           17/60
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Jeffrey M. Zirger,
Lead, Information Collection Review Office, Office of Scientific 
Integrity, Office of Science, Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention.
[FR Doc. 2021-28032 Filed 12-23-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4163-18-P