2023-27567. Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission to OMB for Review and Approval; Public Comment Request; Maternal Health Portfolio Evaluation Design

AGENCY:

Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Department of Health and Human Services.

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, HRSA submitted an Information Collection Request (ICR) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval. Comments submitted during the first public review of this ICR will be provided to OMB. OMB will accept further comments from the public during the review and approval period. OMB may act on HRSA's ICR only after the 30-day comment period for this notice has closed.

DATES:

Comments on this ICR should be received no later than January 16, 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 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 [e-mail] or call (301) 443–3983.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Information Collection Request Title: Maternal Health Portfolio Evaluation Design OMB No. 0906–0059—Revision.

Abstract: HRSA programs provide health care to people who are geographically isolated, economically, or medically vulnerable. HRSA programs help those in need of high-quality primary health care, such as pregnant women and mothers. Improving maternal health outcomes and access to quality maternity care services is a key component of the HRSA mission. HRSA's Maternal and Child Health Bureau provides funding to address some of the most urgent issues influencing the high rates of maternal mortality. With this emphasis on improving maternal health across the life course and promoting optimal health for all mothers, HRSA is employing a multipronged strategy to address maternal mortality and severe maternal morbidity through the following suite of programs:

1. The State Maternal Health Innovation Program,

2. The Alliance for Innovation on Maternal Health Program,

3. The Alliance for Innovation on Maternal Health—Community Care Initiative,

4. The Rural Maternity and Obstetrics Management Strategies Program, and

5. The Supporting Maternal Health Innovation Program.

HRSA's Maternal and Child Health Bureau is conducting a portfolio-wide evaluation of HRSA-supported maternal health programs with a primary focus on reducing maternal mortality. Through this evaluation, HRSA seeks to identify individual and/or collective strategies, interrelated activities, and common themes within and across the maternal health programs that may be contributing to or driving improvements in key maternal health outcomes. HRSA seeks to ascertain which components should be elevated and replicated to the national level, as well as inform future investments to reduce rates of maternal mortality and severe maternal morbidity.

A 60-day notice published in the Federal Register on September 18, 2023, 88 FR 63965–66. There were three public comments received. Two comments were informational and did not require changes and one comment was a request for more information, which was provided.

Need and Proposed Use of the Information: HRSA seeks to understand the impact of HRSA's investments into maternal health programs. These five HRSA maternal health programs represent a total of 12 state-based grantees and three grantees with the potential for national reach. In understanding the strategies that are most effective in reducing maternal morbidity and mortality, HRSA will be able to determine which program elements could be replicated and/or scaled up nationally.

Likely Respondents: Likely respondents are recipients of the cooperative agreements mentioned above (State Maternal Health Innovation Program, Alliance for Innovation on Maternal Health Program, Alliance for Innovation on Maternal Health—Community Care Initiative, and Supporting Maternal Health Innovation Program) which include state health agencies, national organizations, and academic organizations.

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.

Total Estimated Annualized Burden Hours

Form name	Number of respondents	Number of responses per respondent	Total responses	Average burden per response (in hours)	Total burden hours
Instrument 1: Interview guide for grantee staff	60	1.0	60	1.125	67.50
Instrument 2: Interview guide for HRSA Project Officers	7	1.0	7	1.500	10.50
Instrument 3: Partnership Survey	290	0.5	145	0.250	36.25
Instrument 4: Web-based data collection tool	12	1.0	12	0.500	6.00
Total	369		224		120.25

Maria G. Button,

Director, Executive Secretariat.