[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 108 (Tuesday, June 4, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47960-47962]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-12236]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

[60Day-24-1102; Docket No. CDC-2024-0047]


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 Information Collection for Tuberculosis Data from Panel 
Physicians. The data collection is designed to collect tuberculosis 
(TB) data from medical exams of U.S.--bound immigrants and refugees who 
seek permanent residence in the U.S.

DATES: CDC must receive written comments on or before August 5, 2024.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by Docket No. CDC-2024-
0047 by either 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

[[Page 47961]]

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

    Information Collection for Tuberculosis Data from Panel Physicians 
(OMB Control No. 0920-1102, Exp. 12/31/2024))--Revision--National 
Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases (NCEZID), Centers 
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Background and Brief Description

    The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC), National 
Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases (NCEZID), Division 
of Global Migration Health (DGMH), Immigrant and Refugee Health Branch 
(IRHB), requests approval for a Revision of an existing information 
collection. This project pertains to collecting annual reports on 
certain tuberculosis (TB) data from U.S. panel physicians.
    The respondents for this data collection are panel physicians. More 
than 760 panel physicians from 336 panel sites perform overseas pre-
departure medical examinations in accordance with requirements, 
referred to as Technical Instructions (TI), provided by DGMH's Quality 
Assessment Program (QAP). The role of QAP is to assist and guide panel 
physicians in the implementation of the TI; to evaluate the quality of 
the overseas medical examination for U.S.-bound immigrants and 
refugees; to assess potential panel physician sites; and to provide 
recommendations to the U.S. Department of State in matters of immigrant 
medical screening.
    To achieve DGMH's mission, the IRHB works with domestic and 
international programs to improve the health of U.S.-bound immigrants 
and refugees to protect the U.S. public by preventing the importation 
of infectious disease. These goals are accomplished through IRHB's 
oversight of medical exams required for all U.S.--bound immigrants and 
refugees who seek permanent residence in the U.S. IRHB is responsible 
for assisting and training the international panel physicians with the 
implementation of medical exam TI. The TIs are detailed requirements 
and national policies regarding the medical screening and treatment of 
all U.S.-bound immigrants and refugees.
    Screening for TB is a particularly important component of the 
immigration medical exam and allows panel physicians to diagnose active 
TB disease prior to arrival in the United States. As part of the TI 
requirements, panel physicians perform chest x-rays and laboratory 
tests that aid in the identification of TB infection (Class B1 
applicants) and diagnosis of active TB disease (Class A, inadmissible 
applicants). CDC uses these classifications to report new immigrant and 
refugee arrivals with a higher risk of developing TB disease to U.S. 
State and local health departments for further follow-up. Some 
information that panel physicians collect as part of the medical exam 
is not reported on the standard Department of State forms (DS-forms), 
thereby preventing CDC from evaluating TB trends in globally mobile 
populations and monitoring program effectiveness.
    Currently, CDC is requesting this data be sent by panel physicians 
once per year. The consequences of reducing this frequency would be the 
loss of monitoring program impact and TB burdens in mobile populations 
and immigrants and refugees coming to the United States on an annual 
basis. A prior estimate of 7.5 hours has been reduced to three hours 
based on the knowledge that most panel physicians have established 
electronic tracking systems since the last OMB approval period, thereby 
reducing the amount of time needed to report this data to CDC. CDC has 
also reduced burden by removing four variables related to pending lab 
results since the last OMB approval period. The introduction of a web-
based data collection tool using REDCap will reduce the burden by 
improving the efficiency of data reporting and reducing the time to 
fill out the previous excel spreadsheet and send via email. This new 
web-based data collection will improve efficiencies by having built in 
validation rules that will reduce potential data reporting errors. The 
new web-based data collection tool will be easier for panel physicians 
to submit data back to CDC by hitting submit rather than emailing a 
spreadsheet back.
    Based on improved IT capacity at most panel sites and an overall 
reduction in variables collected since the last OMB approval period, 
the updated annual burden hours is decreased. The annual burden hours 
requested is 999. There is no cost to the respondents other than their 
time.

[[Page 47962]]



                                        Estimated Annualized Burden Hours
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                                                                                          Average
                                                           Number of       Number of     burden per     Total
       Type of respondents              Form name         respondents    responses per    response   burden  (in
                                                                          respondent     (in hours)     hours)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
International Panel Physicians     TB Indicators                   333               1            3          999
 (All sites).                       REDCap web form.
                                                       ---------------------------------------------------------
    Total........................  ...................  ..............  ..............  ...........          999
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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. 2024-12236 Filed 6-3-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4163-18-P