2014-05801. Proposed Data Collections Submitted for Public Comment and Recommendations

In compliance with the requirement of Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 for opportunity for public comment on proposed data collection projects, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will publish periodic summaries of proposed projects. To request more information on the proposed projects or to obtain a copy of the data collection plans and instruments, call 404-639-7570 or send comments to Leroy Richardson, at 1600 Clifton Road, MS D74, Atlanta, GA 30333 or send an email to [e-mail].

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. Written comments should be received within 60 days of this notice.

Proposed Project

The National Hospital Care Survey (NHCS) (OMB No. 0920-0212, Expires 04-30-2016)—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 NHCS includes the collection of all impatient and ambulatory Uniform Bill-04 (UB-04) claims data or electronic health record (EHR) data from a sample of 581 hospitals as well as the collection of additional clinical data from a sample of emergency department (ED) and outpatient department (OPD) visits (including ambulatory surgeries) through the abstraction of medical records.

NHCS integrates the former National Hospital Discharge Survey (OMB No. 0920-0212), the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NHAMCS) (OMB No. 0920-0278) and the Drug-Abuse Warning Network (DAWN) (OMB No. 0930-0078, expired 12/31/2011) previously conducted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's (SAMHSA). Integration of NHAMCS and DAWN into the NHCS is part of a broader strategy to improve efficiency by minimizing redundancy in data collection; broadening our capability to collect more relevant data on transitions of care; and identifying opportunities to exploit electronic and administrative clinical data systems to augment primary data collection.

NHCS consists of a nationally representative sample of 581 hospitals. These hospitals are currently being recruited, and participating hospitals are submitting all of their inpatient and ambulatory care patient data in the form of electronic UB-04 administrative claims or EHR data. Currently, hospital-level data are collected through a paper questionnaire and additional clinical data are being abstracted from a sample of visits to EDs and OPDs. This activity continues in 2014, and as more hospitals choose to send EHR data that includes clinical information, the need to conduct abstraction will be reduced.

This revision seeks approval to continue voluntary recruitment and data collection for NHCS, including inpatient, outpatient and emergency care; to revise the hospital-level questionnaire with additional items needed to improve weighting procedures; to combine the OPD and ambulatory surgery location patient record forms to more effectively capture ambulatory procedures in these settings; to continue collection of substance-involved ED visit data previously collected by DAWN; and to eliminate data collection from freestanding ambulatory surgery centers in order to concentrate efforts on hospital-based settings of care.

NHCS collects data items at the hospital, patient, inpatient discharge, and visit levels. Hospital-level data items include ownership, number of staffed beds, hospital service type, and EHR adoption. Patient-level data items are collected from both electronic data and abstraction components and include basic demographic information, personal identifiers, name, address, social security number (if available), and medical record number (if available). Discharge-level data are collected through the UB-04 claims or EHR data and include admission and discharge dates, diagnoses, diagnostic services, and surgical and non-surgical procedures. Visit-level data are collected through either EHR data, or for those hospitals submitting UB-04 claims, through the claims as well as through abstraction of medical records for a sample of visits. These visit-level data include reason for visit, diagnosis, procedures, medications, substances involved, and patient disposition.

NHCS users include, but are not limited to, CDC, Congressional Research Office, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE), National Institutes of Health, American Health Care Association, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), SAMHSA, Bureau of the Census, Office of National Drug Control Policy, state and local governments, and nonprofit organizations. Other users of these data include universities, research organizations, many in the private sector, foundations, and a variety of users in the media.

Data collected through NHCS are essential for evaluating 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. Historically, data have been used extensively in the development and monitoring of goals for the Year 2000, 2010, and 2020 Healthy People Objectives.

There is no cost to respondents other than their time to participate.

Estimated Annualized Burden Hours

Respondents	Form name	Number of respondents	Number of responses per respondent	Average burden per response (in hours)	Total burden hours
Hospital DHIM or DHIT	Initial Hospital Intake Questionnaire	160	1	1	160
Hospital CEO/CFO	Recruitment Survey Presentation	160	1	1	160
Hospital CEO/CFO	Annual Hospital Interview	581	1	2	1,162
Hospital CEO/CFO	Annual Ambulatory Hospital Interview	465	1	1.5	698
Hospital DHIM or DHIT	Prepare and transmit UB-04 for Inpatient and Ambulatory data	481	12	1	5,772
Hospital DHIM or DHIT	Prepare and transmit EHR for Inpatient and Ambulatory data	100	4	1	400
Total					8,352

LeRoy Richardson,

Chief, Information Collection Review Office, Office of Scientific Integrity, Office of the Associate Director for Science, Office of the Director, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.