[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 11 (Wednesday, January 18, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2938-2940]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-00819]
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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; The National Health
Service Corps Loan Repayment Programs
AGENCY: Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Department
of Health and Human Services.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, HRSA
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 Information Collection Request must be received
no later than February 17, 2023.
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 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 301-594-
4394.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Information Collection Request Title: The National Health Service
Corps Loan Repayment Programs OMB No. 0915-0127--Revision.
Abstract: The National Health Service Corps (NHSC) Loan Repayment
Program (LRP) was established to assure an adequate supply of trained
primary care health professionals to provide services in Health
Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs) of the United States with the
greatest need. The NHSC Substance Use Disorder Workforce LRP and the
NHSC Rural Community LRP were established to recruit and retain a
health professional workforce with specific training and credentials to
provide evidence-based substance use disorder treatment in HPSAs. Under
these programs, the Department of Health and Human Services agrees to
repay the qualifying educational loans of selected primary care health
professionals. In return, the health professionals agree to serve for a
specified period of time in an NHSC-approved site located in a
federally-designated HPSA approved by the Secretary of Health and Human
Services for LRP participants.
The forms used by each LRP include the following: (1) the NHSC LRP
Application, (2) the Authorization for Disclosure of Loan Information
Form, (3) the Privacy Act Release Authorization Form, and, if
applicable, (4) the Verification of Disadvantaged Background Form, and
(5) the Private Practice Option Form. The first four of the
aforementioned NHSC LRP Forms collect information that is needed for
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selecting participants and repaying qualifying educational loans. The
last referenced form, the Private Practice Option Form, is needed to
collect information for all participants who have applied for that
service option.
NHSC-approved sites are health care facilities that provide
comprehensive outpatient, ambulatory, primary health care services to
populations residing in HPSAs. Related in-patient services may be
provided by NHSC-approved Critical Access Hospitals and Indian Health
Service hospitals. In order to become an NHSC-approved site, new sites
must submit a Site Application for review and approval. Existing NHSC-
approved sites are required to complete a Site Recertification
Application every 3 years in order to maintain their NHSC-approved
status. Both the NHSC Site Application and Site Recertification
Application request information on the clinical service site,
sponsoring agency, recruitment contact, staffing levels, service users,
charges for services, employment policies, and fiscal management
capabilities. Assistance in completing these applications may be
obtained through the appropriate State Primary Care Offices and the
NHSC. The information collected on the applications is used for
determining the eligibility of sites for the assignment of NHSC health
professionals and to verify the need for NHSC clinicians. NHSC service
site approval is valid for 3 years.
A 60-day notice was published in the Federal Register on October
31, 2022, vol. 87, No. 209; pp. 65598-00. There were no public
comments.
Need and Proposed Use of the Information: The need and proposed use
of this information collection is to assess an LRP applicant's
eligibility and qualifications for the LRP, and to obtain information
for NHSC site applicants. The NHSC LRP application asks for personal,
professional, and financial/loan information.
The proposed revisions in this ICR include asking applicants to
provide their educational information on the completion of postgraduate
training. The NHSC will use this information to identify graduates or
completers of the following HRSA-funded programs: the Primary Care
Training and Enhancement: Training Primary Care Champions Program, the
Addiction Medicine Fellowship Program, the Teaching Health Center
Graduate Medical Education Program, the Advanced Nursing Education
Nurse Practitioner Residency Program, and the Advanced Nursing
Education Nurse Practitioner Residency Integration Program. To identify
the graduates or completers of these HRSA-funded programs, the NHSC
will require applicants to respond to the following additional
questions:
(1) Have you completed a postgraduate training?
(2) Applicants who selected ``yes'' to the question above are
required to submit the National Practitioner Identifier number.
(3) Further, if applicable, applicants are asked to enter the
residency identification number and their residency completion
certificate, if available.
NHSC policy requires behavioral health providers to practice in a
community-based setting that provides access to comprehensive
behavioral health services. Accordingly, for those sites seeking to be
assigned behavioral health NHSC participants, additional site
information will be collected from an NHSC Comprehensive Behavioral
Health Services Checklist. NHSC sites that do not directly offer all
required behavioral health services must demonstrate a formal
affiliation with a comprehensive, community-based primary behavioral
health setting or facility to provide these services.
Likely Respondents: Likely respondents include (1) licensed primary
care medical, dental, and behavioral health providers who are employed
or seeking employment, and are interested in serving underserved
populations; (2) health care facilities interested in participating in
the NHSC and becoming an NHSC-approved service site; and (3) NHSC sites
providing behavioral health care services directly, or through a formal
affiliation with a comprehensive community-based primary behavioral
health setting or facility providing comprehensive behavioral health
services.
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 Information Collection Request are summarized in the table below.
Total Estimated Annualized Burden Hours
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Average
Number of Number of Total burden per Total burden
Form name respondents responses per responses response (in hours
respondent hours)
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NHSC LRP........................ 9,020 1 9,020 1.00 9,020
Application.....................
Authorization for Disclosure of 7,150 1 7,150 .10 715
Loan Information Form..........
Privacy Act Release 303 1 303 .10 30
Authorization Form.............
Verification of................. 660 1 660 .50 330
Disadvantaged Background Form...
Private Practice Option Form.... 330 1 330 .10 33
NHSC Comprehensive Behavioral 4,400 1 4,400 .13 572
Health Services Checklist......
NHSC Site Application........... 4,070 1 4,070 .5 2,035
(including recertification).....
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Total....................... 25,933 .............. 25,933 .............. 12,735
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[[Page 2940]]
Maria G. Button,
Director, Executive Secretariat.
[FR Doc. 2023-00819 Filed 1-17-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4165-15-P