[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 6 (Tuesday, January 9, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1103-1105]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-00210]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Health Resources and Services Administration


Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection: 
Public Comment Request; Information Collection Request Title: Bureau of 
Health Workforce Performance Data Collection, OMB No. 0915-0061--
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 ICR should be received no later than February 
8, 2024.

ADDRESSES: Written comments and recommendations for the proposed 
information collection should be sent

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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 Joella Roland, the HRSA 
Information Collection Clearance Officer, at [email protected] or call 
(301) 443-3983.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: When submitting comments or requesting 
information, please include the information request collection title 
for reference.
    Information Collection Request Title: Bureau of Health Workforce 
Performance Data Collection, OMB No. 0915-0061--Revision.
    Abstract: Over 50 Bureau of Health Workforce (BHW) programs award 
grants to health professions schools and training programs across the 
United States to develop, expand, and enhance training, and to 
strengthen the distribution of the health workforce. These programs are 
governed by titles III, VII, and VIII of the Public Health Service Act. 
Performance information is collected in the HRSA Performance Report for 
Grants and Cooperative Agreements. Data collection activities 
consisting of an annual progress report and an annual performance 
report satisfy statutory and programmatic requirements for performance 
measurement and evaluation (including specific title III, VII and VIII 
requirements), as well as Government Performance and Results Act of 
1993, the Government Performance and Results Act Modernization Act of 
2010, and the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018 
requirements. The performance measures were last revised in 2022 to 
ensure they addressed programmatic changes, met evolving program 
management needs, and responded to emerging workforce concerns. As 
these changes were successful, BHW will continue with its current 
performance management strategy and make additional changes that reduce 
burden, simplify reporting, reflect new Department of Health and Human 
Services and HRSA priorities, and enable longitudinal analysis of 
program performance. Specifically, an Excel upload feature was 
implemented for all programs to reduce burden. Questions on 
partnerships were revised and standardized across forms to understand 
the type and purposes of partnerships associated with grant funding. 
Employment-related questions were standardized across programs and 
forms to provide consistent outcomes on employment location, type of 
employment, and hiring organization. New questions were added for 
programs using apprenticeships. Specifically, questions were added to 
measure additional employment outcomes including role at the employment 
site and vulnerable populations served and to measure program 
satisfaction and types of competencies graduates were ready to perform.
    A 60-day notice published in the Federal Register on October 19, 
2023, 88 FR 72086-87. There was one public comment. The commenter was 
complementary of BHW's efforts to consolidate performance data into one 
collection and raised questions related to collaborating with other 
departments on the data collection, defining apprenticeships, and 
making individual-level data publicly available. Specifically, the 
commenter asked how HRSA collaborates on data collection with agencies 
outside of the Department of Health and Human services. Our response to 
the commenter explained the data collected via this OMB package are 
performance metrics specific to HRSA grant programs and the data are 
used to meet obligations for performance budgeting. This is in 
alignment with the Government's authorization to collect data to meet 
reporting requirements. The commenter also asked how HRSA defines 
apprenticeships and how it aligns with definitions from other agencies. 
HRSA responded that it uses the Department of Labor's definition of 
apprentices and that it included questions from the Department of 
Labor's Employment and Training Administration instrument to reduce 
reporting burden and made data comparable across the agencies. Lastly, 
the commenter requested that HRSA make more individual-level data 
available, but statute prohibits HRSA from doing so (see 42 U.S.C. 292 
et seq.). There was a follow-up comment from the same commenter 
regarding HRSA working with external researchers to analyze data on 
workforce program participants. HRSA's response was that HRSA does not 
work with external researchers to analyze data collected on workforce 
programs. Aggregated data is publicly available to external researchers 
via HRSA's data warehouse.
    Need and Proposed Use of the Information: The purpose of the 
proposed data collection is to continue analysis and reporting of 
grantee training activities and education, identify details about the 
practice locations where trainees work (or plan to work) after program 
completion, and report outcomes of funded initiatives. Data collected 
from these grant programs will also provide a description of the 
program activities of approximately 1,828 reporting grantees to inform 
policymakers on the barriers, opportunities, and outcomes involved in 
health care workforce development. The proposed measures focus on four 
key outcomes:
    (1) increasing the workforce supply of well-educated practitioners 
in needed professions,
    (2) increasing the number of practitioners that practice in 
underserved and rural areas,
    (3) enhancing the quality of education, and
    (4) supporting educational infrastructure to increase the capacity 
to train more health professionals in high demand areas.
    Likely Respondents: Respondents are awardees of BHW health 
professions grant programs.
    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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Direct Financial Support Program             619               1             619             2.7         1,671.3
Infrastructure Program..........             219               1             219             4.8         1,051.2
Multipurpose or Hybrid Program..           1,044               1           1,044             3.1         3,236.4
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    Total.......................           1,882  ..............           1,882  ..............         5,958.9
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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. 2024-00210 Filed 1-8-24; 8:45 am]
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