E7-8796. Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission for OMB Review-Comment Request

Periodically, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) publishes abstracts of information collection requests under review by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), in compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35). To request a copy of the clearance requests submitted to OMB for review, call the HRSA Reports Clearance Office on [phone].

The following request has been submitted to OMB for review under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995:

Proposed Project: National Practitioner Data Bank for Adverse Information on Physicians and Other Health Care Practitioners: Regulations and Forms (OMB No. 0915-0126)—Extension

The National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB) was established through Title IV of Public Law (Pub. L.) 99-660, the Health Care Quality Improvement Act of 1986, as amended. Final regulations governing the NPDB are codified at 45 CFR part 60. Responsibility for NPDB implementation and operation resides in the Bureau of Health Professions, Health Resources and Services Administration, Department of Health and Human Services. The NPDB began operation on September 1, 1990.

The intent of Title IV of Pub. L. 99-660 is to improve the quality of health care by encouraging hospitals, State licensing boards, professional societies, and other entities providing health care services, to identify and discipline those who engage in unprofessional behavior; and to restrict the ability of incompetent physicians, dentists, and other health care practitioners to move from State-to-State without disclosure of the practitioner's previous damaging or incompetent performance.

The NPDB acts primarily as a flagging system; its principal purpose is to facilitate comprehensive review of practitioners' professional credentials and background. Information on medical malpractice payments, adverse licensure actions, adverse clinical privileging actions, adverse professional society actions, and Medicare/Medicaid exclusions is collected from, and disseminated to, eligible entities. It is intended that NPDB information should be considered with other relevant information in evaluating a practitioner's credentials.

The reporting forms and the request for information forms (query forms) are accessed, completed, and submitted to the NPDB electronically through the NPDB Web site at http://www.npdb-hipdb.hrsa.gov. All reporting and querying is performed through this secure Web site. Due to overlap in requirements for the Healthcare Integrity and Protection Data Bank (HIPDB), some of the NPDB's burden has been subsumed under the HIPDB.

Estimates of annualized burden are as follows:

Regulation citation	No. of respondents	Frequency of responses	Hours per response (minutes)	Total burden hours
60.6(a) Errors & Omissions	315	4	15	315
60.6(b) Revisions to Actions	109	1	30	54.5
60.7(b) Medical Malpractice Payment Reports	519	29	45	11,288.25
60.8(b) Adverse Action Reports—State Boards	0	0	0
60.9(a)3 Adverse Action Reports—Clinical Privileges & Professional Society	480	2	45	720
Requests for Hearings by Entities	0	0	480	0
60.10(a)(1) Queries by Hospital—Practitioner Applications	0	0	0	0
60.10(a)(2) Queries by Hospitals—2 Year Cycle	5,996	213	5	106,429
60.11(a)(1) Disclosure to Hospitals	0	0	0	0
60.11(a)(2) Disclosure to Practitioners (Self-Query)	0	0	0	0
60.11(a)(3) Disclosure to Licensure Boards	87	645	5	4,676.25
60.11(a)(4) Queries by Non-Hospital Health Care Entities	7,305	322	5	196,017.5
60.11(a)(5) Queries by Plaintiffs' Attorneys	5	1	30	2.5
60.11(a)(6) Queries by Non-Hospital Health Care Entities-Peer Review	0	0	0	0
60.11(a)(7) Requests by Researchers for Aggregate Data	20	1	30	10
60.14(b) Practitioner Places a Report in Disputed Status	404	1	15	101
60.14(b) Practitioner Statement	1,415	1	45	1,061.25
60.14(b) Practitioner Requests for Secretarial Review	27	1	480	216
60.3 Entity Registration—Initial	1,447	1	60	1,447
60.3 Entity Registration—Update	13,115	1	5	1,092.92
60.11(a) Authorized Agent Designation—Initial	717	1	15	179.25
60.11(a) Authorized Agent—Update	139	1	5	11.58
60.12(c) Account Discrepancy Report	5	1	15	1.25
60.12(c) Electronic Funds Transfer Authorization	284	1	15	71
60.3 Entity Reactivation	0	1
Total Burden Hours				323,694.25
Numbers in the table may not add up exactly due to rounding.

Written comments and recommendations concerning the proposed information collection should be sent within 30 days of this notice to: Karen Matsuoka, Human Resources and Housing Branch, Office of Management and Budget, New Executive Office Building, Room 10235, Washington, DC 20503.

Dated: May 2, 2007.

Caroline Lewis,

Associate Administrator for Management.