[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 25 (Tuesday, February 6, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8202-8203]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-02306]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

[Document Identifier: CMS-10552]


Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission for OMB 
Review; Comment Request

AGENCY: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Health and Human 
Services (HHS).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is 
announcing an opportunity for the public to comment on CMS' intention 
to collect information from the public. Under the Paperwork Reduction 
Act of 1995 (PRA), Federal agencies are required to publish notice in 
the Federal Register concerning each proposed collection of 
information, including each proposed extension or reinstatement of an 
existing collection of information, and to allow a second opportunity 
for public comment on the notice. Interested persons are invited to 
send comments regarding the burden estimate or any other aspect of this 
collection of information, including the necessity and utility of the 
proposed information collection for the proper performance of the 
agency's functions, the accuracy of the estimated burden, ways to 
enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be 
collected, and the use of automated collection techniques or other 
forms of information technology to minimize the information collection 
burden.

DATES: Comments on the collection(s) of information must be received by 
the OMB desk officer by March 7, 2024.

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.
    To obtain copies of a supporting statement and any related forms 
for the proposed collection(s) summarized in this notice, please access 
the CMS PRA website by copying and pasting the following web address 
into your web browser: https://www.cms.gov/Regulations-and-Guidance/Legislation/PaperworkReductionActof1995/PRA-Listing.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: William Parham at (410) 786-4669.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 
(PRA) (44 U.S.C. 3501-3520), Federal agencies must obtain approval from 
the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for each collection of 
information they conduct or sponsor. The term ``collection of 
information'' is defined in 44 U.S.C. 3502(3) and 5 CFR 1320.3(c) and 
includes agency requests or requirements that members of the public 
submit reports, keep records, or provide information to a third party. 
Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the PRA (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)) requires 
Federal agencies to publish a 30-day notice in the Federal Register 
concerning each proposed collection of information, including each 
proposed extension or reinstatement of an existing collection of 
information, before submitting the collection to OMB for approval. To 
comply with this requirement, CMS is publishing this notice that 
summarizes the following proposed collection(s) of information for 
public comment:
    1. Type of Information Collection Request: Revision of a currently 
approved collection; Title of Information Collection: Implementation of 
Medicare Programs;--Medicare Promoting Interoperability Program; Use: 
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is requesting 
approval to collect information from eligible hospitals and critical 
access hospitals (CAHs). We have finalized changes to this program as 
discussed in the FY 2024 Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS)/
Long-term Care Hospital Prospective Payment System (LTCH PPS) final 
rule. This is a revision of the information collection request.
    The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) 
(Pub. L. 111-5) was enacted on February 17, 2009. Title IV of division 
B of the Recovery Act amended titles XVIII and XIX of the Social 
Security Act (the Act) by establishing incentive payments to eligible 
professionals (EPs), eligible hospitals and CAHs, and Medicare 
Advantage (MA) organizations participating in the Medicare and Medicaid 
programs that adopt and successfully demonstrate meaningful use of 
certified EHR technology (CEHRT). These Recovery Act provisions, 
together with title XIII of division A of the Recovery Act, may be 
cited as the ``Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical 
Health Act'' or the ``HITECH Act.''
    The HITECH Act created incentive programs for EPs, eligible 
hospitals including CAHs, and MA organizations

[[Page 8203]]

in the Medicare Fee-for-Service (FFS), and Medicaid programs that 
successfully demonstrated meaningful use of CEHRT. In their first 
payment year, Medicaid EPs, eligible hospitals including MA 
organizations and CAHs could adopt, implement, or upgrade to certified 
EHR technology. It also allowed for negative payment adjustments in the 
Medicare FFS and MA programs starting in 2015 for EPs, eligible 
hospitals including MA organizations and CAHs participating in Medicare 
that are not meaningful users of CEHRT. The Medicaid Promoting 
Interoperability Program did not authorize negative payment 
adjustments, but its participants were eligible for incentive payments 
until December 31, 2021, when the program ended.
    In CY 2017, we began collecting data from eligible hospitals and 
CAHs to determine the application of the Medicare payment adjustments. 
This information collection was also used to make incentive payments to 
eligible hospitals in Puerto Rico from 2016 through 2021. At this time, 
Medicare eligible professionals no longer reported to the EHR Incentive 
Program, as they began reporting under the Merit-based Incentive 
Payment System's (MIPS) Promoting Interoperability Performance 
Category. In 2019, the EHR Incentives Program for eligible hospitals 
and CAHs was subsequently renamed the Medicare Promoting 
Interoperability Program. In subsequent years, we have focused on 
balancing reporting burden for eligible hospitals and CAHs while also 
implementing changes designed to incentivize the advanced use of CEHRT 
to support health information exchange, interoperability, advanced 
quality measurement, and maximizing clinical effectiveness and 
efficiencies.
    In the FY 2024 IPPS/LTCH PPS final rule, we finalized the following 
policy changes for eligible hospitals and CAHs that attest to CMS under 
the Medicare Promoting Interoperability Program. None of the policies 
we finalized will affect the information collection burden: (i) to 
adopt three electronic clinical quality measures (eCQMs) beginning with 
the CY 2025 reporting period: (1) Hospital Harm--Pressure Injury eCQM; 
(2) Hospital Harm--Acute Kidney Injury eCQM; and (3) Excessive 
Radiation Dose or Inadequate Image Quality for Diagnostic Computed 
Tomography (CMT) in Adults eCQM; (ii) to modify the Safety Assurance 
Factors for EHR Resilience (SAFER) Guides measure to require eligible 
hospitals and CAHs to submit a ``yes'' attestation to fulfill the 
measure beginning with the EHR reporting period in CY 2024; and (iii) 
to establish an EHR reporting period of a minimum of any continuous 
180-day period in CY 2025. Form Number: CMS-10552 (OMB control number: 
0938-1278); Frequency: Annually; Affected Public: State, Local or 
Private Government; Business and for-profit and Not-for-profit; Number 
of Respondents: 4,500; Total Annual Responses: 4,500; Total Annual 
Hours: 29,625. (For policy questions regarding this collection, contact 
Jessica Warren at 410-786-7519.)

William N. Parham, III,
Director, Division of Information Collections and Regulatory Impacts, 
Office of Strategic Operations and Regulatory Affairs.
[FR Doc. 2024-02306 Filed 2-5-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4120-01-P