[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 89 (Tuesday, May 7, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 38147-38148]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-09855]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
[60Day-24-0212; Docket No. CDC-2024-0035]
Proposed Data Collection Submitted for Public Comment and
Recommendations
AGENCY: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Department of
Health and Human Services (HHS).
ACTION: Notice with comment period.
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SUMMARY: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as part
of its continuing effort to reduce public burden and maximize the
utility of government information, invites the general public and other
federal agencies the opportunity to comment on a continuing information
collection, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. This
notice invites comment on a proposed information collection project
titled the National Hospital Care Survey (NHCS). The goal of the
project is to assess patient care in hospital-based settings and to
describe patterns of health care delivery and utilization in the United
States.
DATES: CDC must receive written comments on or before July 8, 2024.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by Docket No. CDC-2024-
0035 by any of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: www.regulations.gov. Follow
the instructions for submitting comments.
Mail: Jeffrey M. Zirger, Information Collection Review
Office, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Road
NE, MS H21-8, Atlanta, Georgia 30329.
Instructions: All submissions received must include the agency name
and Docket Number. CDC will post, without change, all relevant comments
to www.regulations.gov.
Please note: Submit all comments through the Federal eRulemaking
portal (www.regulations.gov) or by U.S. mail to the address listed
above.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To request more information on the
proposed project or to obtain a copy of the information collection plan
and instruments, contact Jeffrey M. Zirger, Information Collection
Review Office, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton
Road NE, MS H21-8, Atlanta, Georgia 30329; Telephone: 404-639-7570;
Email: [email protected].
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. In addition, the PRA also requires
federal agencies to provide a 60-day notice in the Federal Register
concerning each proposed collection of information, including each new
proposed collection, each proposed extension of existing collection of
information, and each reinstatement of previously approved information
collection before submitting the collection to the OMB for approval. To
comply with this requirement, we are publishing this notice of a
proposed data collection as described below.
The OMB is particularly interested in comments that will help:
1. Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is
necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency,
including whether the information will have practical utility;
2. Evaluate the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of
the proposed collection of information, including the validity of the
methodology and assumptions used;
3. Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to
be collected;
4. Minimize the burden of the collection of information on those
who are to respond, including through the use of appropriate automated,
electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or
other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting electronic
submissions of responses; and
5. Assess information collection costs.
Proposed Project
National Hospital Care Survey (NHCS) (OMB Control No. 0920-0212,
Exp. 12/31/2024)--Revision--National Center for Health Statistics
(NCHS), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Background and Brief Description
Section 306 of the Public Health Service (PHS) Act (42 U.S.C.
242k), as amended, authorizes that the Secretary of Health and Human
Services (DHHS), acting through NCHS, shall collect statistics on the
extent and nature of illness and disability of the population of the
United States. This three-year clearance request for National Hospital
Care Survey (NHCS) includes the collection of all inpatient and
ambulatory Uniform Bill-04 (UB-04) claims data or electronic health
record (EHR) data as well as the collection of hospital-level
information via a questionnaire from a sample of 608 hospitals.
The National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NAMCS) was conducted
intermittently from 1973 through 1985,
[[Page 38148]]
and annually since 1989. The survey is conducted under authority of
Section 306 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 242k). The
National Hospital Discharge Survey (NHDS) (OMB No. 0920-0212, Exp. Date
01/31/2019), conducted continuously between 1965 and 2010, was the
Nation's principal source of data on inpatient utilization of short-
stay, non-institutional, non-Federal hospitals, and was the principal
source of nationally representative estimates on the characteristics of
inpatients including lengths of stay, diagnoses, surgical and non-
surgical procedures, and patterns of use of care in hospitals in
various regions of the country. In 2011, NHDS was granted approval by
OMB to expand its content and to change its name to the National
Hospital Care Survey (NHCS).
In May 2011, recruitment of sampled hospitals for the NHCS began.
Hospitals in the NHCS are asked to provide data on all inpatients from
their UB-04 administrative claims, or EHRs. Hospital-level
characteristics and information about telemedicine usage in the
healthcare setting are collected through an Annual Hospital Interview.
NHCS will continue to provide the same national health-care statistics
on hospitals that NHDS provided. Additionally, NHCS collects more
information at the hospital level (e.g., volume of care provided by the
hospital), which allow for analyses on the effect of hospital
characteristics on the quality of care provided. NHCS data collected
from UB-04 administrative claims and EHRs include all inpatient
discharges, not just a sample. The confidential collection of
personally identifiable information (PII) allows NCHS to link episodes
of care provided to the same patient in the ED and/or OPD and as an
inpatient, as well as link patients to the National Death Index (NDI)
to measure post-discharge mortality, and Medicare and Medicaid data to
leverage comorbidities. The availability of patient identifiers also
makes analysis on hospital readmissions possible. This comprehensive
collection of data makes future opportunities for surveillance
possible, including analyzing trends and incidence of opioid misuse,
acute myocardial infarction, heart failure and stroke, as well as
trends and point prevalence of health care acquired infections and
antimicrobial use.
Beginning in 2013, in addition to inpatient hospital data,
hospitals participating in NHCS were asked to provide data on the
utilization of health care services in their ambulatory settings (e.g.,
EDs and OPDs). Due to low response rates and a high level of missing
data, OPD data were not collected in the last approval period (2022,
2023 and 2024). Collection of OPD may resume in future years.
Data collected through NHCS are essential for evaluating the health
status of the population, for the planning of programs and policy to
improve health care delivery systems of the Nation, for studying
morbidity trends, and for research activities in the health field.
Changes to the data collection survey include the removal of COVID-
19 questions from the Annual Hospital Interview (AHI). The burden hours
have been reduced due to a decrease in the sample size. The new total
annualized burden is 5,826 hours. There is no cost to respondents other
than their time to participate.
Estimated Annualized Burden Hours
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Number of Avg. burden
Respondents Form name Number of responses per per response Total burden
respondents respondent (in hours) (in hours)
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Hospital DHIM or DHIT......... Initial Hospital 123 1 1 123
Intake
Questionnaire.
Hospital CEO/CFO.............. Recruitment 30 1 1 30
Survey
Presentation.
Hospital DHIM or DHIT......... Prepare and 356 12 1 4,272
transmit UB-04
or State File
for Inpatient
and Ambulatory
(monthly).
Hospital DHIM or DHIT......... Prepare and 200 4 1 800
transmit EHR
for Inpatient
and Ambulatory
(quarterly).
Hospital CEO/CFO.............. Annual Hospital 601 1 1 601
Interview.
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Total..................... ................ .............. .............. .............. 5,826
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Jeffrey M. Zirger,
Lead, Information Collection Review Office, Office of Public Health
Ethics and Regulations, Office of Science, Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention.
[FR Doc. 2024-09855 Filed 5-6-24; 8:45 am]
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