[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 61 (Wednesday, March 30, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18373-18374]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-06647]


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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; Application for Health 
Center Program Recipients for Deemed Public Health Service Employment 
With Liability Protections Under the Federal Tort Claims Act, 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 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 April 29, 
2022.

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: When submitting comments or requesting 
information, please include the information request collection title 
for reference.
    Information Collection Request Title: Application for Health Center 
Program Recipients for Deemed Public Health Service Employment with 
Liability Protections Under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA), OMB No. 
0906-0035--Revision.
    Abstract: Section 224(g)-(n) of the Public Health Service (PHS) Act 
(42 U.S.C. 233(g)-(n)), as amended, authorizes the ``deeming'' of 
entities receiving funds under section 330 of the PHS Act as PHS 
employees for the purposes of receiving FTCA coverage. The Health 
Center Program is 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.
    The FTCA Program has a web-based application system, the Electronic 
Handbooks. These electronic application forms decrease the time and 
effort required to complete the older, paper-based OMB 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, 
alternate terminology was utilized to provide greater clarity and 
specificity. These changes were based on stakeholder feedback and 
information received from the HRSA Health Center Program Support. These 
changes are not substantive in nature.
     Some questions were removed from Quality Improvement/
Quality Assurance Section, as these questions are similar to 
information that is also collected in the Risk Management Section. This 
change is intended to reduce duplicative information collection.
     For the Credentialing and Privileging Section, in this 
cycle, the application will return to the previous process of 
submitting a Credentialing List with providers' credentialing and 
privileging information.
    A 60-day notice published in the Federal Register, 86 Fed Reg. 
72250 (December 21, 2021). There were no public comments.

[[Page 18374]]

    Need and Proposed Use of the Information Deeming applications are 
required by law and must address certain specific 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)).
    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.

                                    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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FTCA Health Center Program                    35               1              35             2.5            87.5
 Initial Application............
FTCA Health Center Program                 1,125               1           1,125             2.5         2,812.5
 Redeeming Application..........
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    Total.......................           1,160  ..............           1,160  ..............           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. 2022-06647 Filed 3-29-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4165-15-P