[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 175 (Monday, September 12, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55823-55824]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-19583]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

[Document Identifier OS-0955-0019]


Agency Information Collection Request; 30-Day Public Comment 
Request

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, HHS.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In compliance with the requirement of the Paperwork Reduction 
Act of 1995, the Office of the Secretary (OS), Department of Health and 
Human Services, is publishing the following summary of a proposed 
collection for public comment.

DATES: Comments on the ICR must be received on or before October 12, 
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 30-day Review--
Open for Public Comments'' or by using the search function.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sherrette Funn, [email protected] 
or (202) 264-0041. When submitting comments or requesting information, 
please include the document identifier 0955-0019-30D and project title 
for reference.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Interested persons are invited to send 
comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this 
collection of information, including any of the following subjects: (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.
    Title of the Collection: National Survey of Health Information 
Exchange Organizations (HIO).
    Type of Collection: Reinstatement w/change.
    OMB No. 0955-0019.
    Abstract: Electronic health information exchange (HIE) was one of 
three goals specified by Congress in the 2009 Health Information 
Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act to ensure that 
the $30 billion federal investment in certified electronic health 
records (CEHRTs) resulted in higher-quality, lower-cost care. In 
subsequent rulemaking and regulations, ensuring that providers can 
share data electronically across EHRs and other health information 
systems has been a top priority.
    Beginning prior to HITECH, there has been substantial ongoing 
assessment of trends in the capabilities of health information 
organizations to support clinical exchange. These surveys have 
collected data on organizational structure, financial viability, 
geographic coverage, scope of services, scope of participants, 
perceptions of information blocking, and participation in national 
networks and TEFCA. While past surveys assessed HIOs' capacity to 
support HIE in a variety of ways, they did not closely examine how HIOs 
support public health exchange. Each of these areas of data collection 
will be useful to constructing a current and more comprehensive picture 
of HIOs' role in addressing public health emergencies.
    Given the evolving nature of the pandemic, assessing HIOs' current 
capabilities is critical as there are ongoing needs to share varied 
types of information that HIOs may be supporting. The survey will 
collect data from HIOs across the nation. These organizations 
facilitate electronic exchange of health information across disparate 
providers, labs, pharmacies, public health departments, and beyond. 
Little information exists on how HIOs can address information gaps 
related to public health. Thus, a first step to addressing these gaps, 
we need to better characterize existing capabilities of HIOs. The 
success of managing the current pandemic, and future public health 
emergencies, relies on the ability to efficiently share key data 
regarding health system capacity, contact tracing, testing, detecting 
new outbreaks, vaccine updates, and patient demographics to help 
address disparities in our response efforts. In addition to measuring 
the capabilities to support public health, it is also necessary to 
understand the broader picture of HIO capabilities to support 
electronic health information exchange, their maturity and challenges 
they face. There are four key areas that require this broader 
assessment: (1) adoption of technical standards; (2) perceptions 
related to information blocking; (3) HIE coordination at the federal 
level; and (4) organizational demographics, including technical 
capabilities offered by HIOs and the challenges they face in supporting 
electronic health information exchange.
    The ultimate goal of our project is to administer a survey 
instrument to HIOs in order to generate the most current national 
statistics and associated actionable insights to inform policy

[[Page 55824]]

efforts. The timely collection of national data from our survey will 
assess current capabilities to support effective electronic information 
sharing within our healthcare system related to COVID-19 and other 
public health relevant data.
    This is a 3-year request for OMB approval.
    Likely respondents: U.S. based public and private HIOs; Frequency: 
annual; Affected public: public and private businesses.

                                        Estimated Annualized Burden Table
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                                                                      Number      Average burden
               Type of respondent                    Number of     responses per   per response    Total burden
                                                    respondents     respondent      (in hours)         hours
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                                                             105               1           45/60              79
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    Total.......................................             105  ..............  ..............              79
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Sherrette A. Funn,
Paperwork Reduction Act Reports Clearance Officer, Office of the 
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2022-19583 Filed 9-9-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4150-45-P