2013-12340. Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission to OMB for Review and Approval; Public Comment Request

AGENCY:

Health Resources and Services Administration, HHS.

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

In compliance with Section 3507(a)(1)(D) of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) has submitted an Information Collection Request (ICR) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). 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.

Information Collection Request Title: Rural Health Information Technology Network Development Program (OMB No. 0915-0354)—REVISION

The purpose of the Rural Health Information Technology Network Development (RHITND) Program, authorized under the Public Health Service Act, Section 330A(f) (42 U.S.C. 254c(f)) as amended by the Health Care Safety Net Amendments of 2002 (Pub. L. 107-251), is to improve health care and support the adoption of health information technology (HIT) in rural America by providing targeted HIT support to rural health networks. HIT plays a significant role in the advancement of the Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) priority policies to improve health care delivery. Some of these priorities include: improving health care quality, safety, and efficiency; reducing disparities; engaging patients and families in managing their health; enhancing care coordination; improving population and public health; and ensuring adequate privacy and security of health information.

The intent of RHITND is to support the adoption and use of electronic health records (EHR) in coordination with the ongoing HHS activities related to the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act, enacted as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Pub. L. 111-5). The HITECH Act provides HHS with the authority to establish programs to improve health care quality, safety, and efficiency through the promotion of health information technology, including EHR.

For this program, performance measures were drafted to provide data useful to the program and to enable HRSA to provide aggregate program data required by Congress under the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 (Pub. L. 103-62). These measures cover the principal topic areas of interest to the Office of Rural Health Policy, including: (a) Access to care; (b) the underinsured and uninsured; (c) workforce recruitment and retention; (d) sustainability; (e) health information technology; (f) network development; and (g) health related clinical measures. Several measures will be used for this program. These measures will speak to the Office's progress toward meeting the goals set.

A 60-day Federal Register Notice regarding this collection request was published in the Federal Register on March 7, 2013, (Vol. 78, No. 45; page. 14804). There were no public comments.

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

Instrument	Number of respondents	Responses per respondent	Total responses	Hours per response	Total burden hours
Rural Health Information Technology Network Development Program	41	1	41	5.68	232.88
Total	41	1	41	5.68	232.88

ADDRESSES:

Submit your comments to the desk officer for HRSA, either by email to [e-mail] or by fax to 202-395-5806. Please direct all correspondence to the “attention of the desk officer for HRSA.”

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

To request a copy of the clearance requests submitted to OMB for review, email the HRSA Information Collection Clearance Officer at [e-mail] or call [phone].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

When submitting comments or requesting information, please include the information request collection title for reference.

Deadline: Comments on this ICR should be received within 30 days of this notice.

Dated: May 17, 2013.

Bahar Niakan,

Director, Division of Policy and Information Coordination.