01-473. Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection: Comment Request

In compliance with the requirement for opportunity for public comment on proposed data collection projects (section 3506(c)(2)(A) of Title 44, United States Code, as amended by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104-13), the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) publishes periodic summaries of proposed projects being developed for submission to OMB under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. To request more information on the proposed project or to obtain a copy of the data collection plans and draft instruments, call the HRSA Reports Clearance Officer on [phone].

Comments are invited on: (a) whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including whether the information shall have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of information; (c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on respondents, including through the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology.

Proposed Project: Community Health Center and National Health Service Corps User/Visit Survey (OMB No. 0915-0185)

The purpose of this study is to conduct a sample survey which has the following components: (1) a personal interview survey of Community Health Center (CHC) and National Health Service Corps (NHSC) site users; and (2) a record-based study of visits to CHCs and NHSC sites. CHCs and NHSC sites serve predominantly poor minority medically underserved populations. The proposed user and visit survey will collect in-depth information about CHC and NHSC site users, their health status, the reasons they seek care, their diagnoses, and the services utilized in a medical encounter.

The proposed User/Visit Survey builds on a 1995 User/Visit Survey which was conducted to learn about the process and outcomes of care in CHC users. The 1995 User/Visit Survey included a personal interview of approximately 2000 users of 48 selected CHCs as well as medical record abstractions for about 3000 visits to these same health centers. The interview questionnaire was derived from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) and the visit survey was an adaptation of the NCHS National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NHAMCS). Conformance with the NHIS and NHAMCS allowed comparisons between these NCHS surveys and the User/Visit Survey.

The proposed User/Visit Survey was developed using similar questionnaire methodology in conjunction with a contractor and will allow longitudinal comparisons for CHCs with the 1995 version of the survey data, including monitoring of process outcomes over time. This User/Visit Survey is the first year that NHSC non-grantee, freestanding sites will be surveyed.

The estimated response burden is as follows:

Form	Number of respondents	Responses per respondent	Total respondents	Hours per response	Total burden hours
Site induction	65 sites	1	65	1	65
Site sampling method	65 sites	1	65	1.5	97.5
User survey	40 users at 65 sites	1	2,600	2	5,200
Visit survey	65 sites	50 records	3,250	.5	1,625
Total	2,795		5,980		6,987.5

Send comments to Susan G. Queen, Ph.D., HRSA Reports Clearance Officer, Room 14-33, Parklawn Building, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, MD 20857. Written comments should be received within 60 days of this notice.

Dated: January 2, 2001.

Jane M. Harrison,

Director, Division of Policy Review and Coordination.