[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 114 (Tuesday, June 15, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 32060-32061]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-15086]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Indian Health Service
Request for Public Comment: 30-Day Proposed Collection: Indian
Health Service Medical Staff Credentials and Privileges Files
SUMMARY: In compliance with section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the Paperwork
Reduction Act of 1995, the Indian Health Service (IHS) provided an
opportunity for public comment on the proposed agency information
collection project. A notice was previously published in the Federal
Register on May 1, 1998, (63 FR 24185) and allowed 60 days for public
comment. No public comment was received in response to the notice. As
required by section 3507(a)(1)(D) of the Act, the proposed information
collection has been submitted to the Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) for review and approval. The purpose of this notice is to allow
an additional 30 days for public comment to be submitted directly to
OMB.
Proposed Collection
Title: 0917-0009, ``Indian Health Service Medical Staff Credentials
and Privileges Files''. Type of Information Collection Request:
Reinstatement, with minor change, of a previously approved information
collection for which approval expired October 31, 1998. Form Number:
Instruction and information collection formats are contained in an IHS
Circular, ``Credentials and Privileges Review Process for the Medical
Staff.'' Need and Use of Information Collection: The IHS operates
health care facilities that provide health care services to American
Indians and Alaska Natives. To provide these services, the IHS employs
(directly and under contract) several categories of health care
providers, including physicians (M.D. and D.O.), dentists,
psychologists, optometrists, podiatrists, and audiologists; and in some
States, physician assistants, certified registered nurse anesthetists,
nurse practitioners, and certified nurse midwives. The IHS policy
specifically requires physicians and dentists to be members of the
health care facility medical staff where they practice. Health care
providers become medical staff members, depending on the local health
care facility's capabilities and medical staff bylaws. There are three
types of IHS medical staff applicants: (1) Health care providers
applying for direct employment with the IHS, (2) contract health care
providers who do not seek to become IHS employees, and (3) employed IHS
health care providers who seek to transfer between IHS health care
facilities.
National health care standards developed by the Health Care
Financing Administration and by the Joint Commission on Accreditation
of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) require health care facilities to
review, evaluate, and verify the credentials, training, and experience
of medical staff applicants prior to granting medical staff privileges.
To meet these standards, IHS health care facilities require each
medical staff applicant to provide information concerning their
education, training, licensure, and work experience and any adverse
disciplinary actions taken against them or medical malpractice payments
made on their behalf based on clinical services they performed. This
information is then verified with references supplied by the applicant
and may include former employers, educational institutions, licensure
and certification boards, the American Medical Association, the
Federation of State Medical Boards, the National Practitioner Data
Bank, and the applicants themselves.
In addition to the initial granting of medical staff membership and
clinical privileges, JCAHO standards require that a review of the
medical staff be conducted no less than every two years. This review
evaluates the current competence of the medical staff and verifies
whether they are maintaining their licensure and the certification
requirements of their speciality.
The medical staff credentials and privileges records are maintained
at the heatlh care facility where the health care provider is a medical
staff member. The establishment of these records at IHS health care
facilities is not optional; such records must be established and
maintained at all health care facilities in the United States that are
accredited by JCAHO. This information collection activity is used to
evaluate individual health care providers applying for medical staff
privileges at IHS health care facilities. Affected Pubic: Individuals,
businesses or other for-profit, not-for-profit institutions, and State,
local or tribal governments. Type of Respondents: Health care providers
requesting Medical staff privileges at IHS health facilities.
[[Page 32061]]
The table below provides the following: types of data collection
instruments, estimated number of respondents, number of responses per
respondent, annual number of responses, average burden hour per
response, and total annual burden hour.
Table 1
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Estimated
Data collection instrument number of Responses per Annual number Average burden hour per response * Total annual
respondents respondent of responses burden hours
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Application to Medical Staff................ 600 1 600 0.75 (45 mins)............................ 450.0
Reference letter............................ 1800 1 1800 0.33 (20 mins)............................ 600.0
Reappointment request....................... 644 1 644 1.00 (60 mins)............................ 644.0
Medical Privileges.......................... 387 1 387 1.00 (60 mins)............................ 387.0
Ob-Gyn Privileges........................... 25 1 25 1.00 (60 mins)............................ 25.0
Surgical Privileges......................... 23 1 23 1.00 (60 mins)............................ 23.0
Psychiatric Privileges...................... 18 1 18 1.00 (60 mins)............................ 18.0
Anesthesia Privileges....................... 16 1 16 1.00 (60 mins)............................ 16.0
Dental Privileges........................... 128 1 128 0.33 (20 mins)............................ 42.2
Optometic Privileges........................ 21 1 21 0.33 (20 mins)............................ 6.9
Psychology Privileges....................... 23 1 23 0.17 (10 mins)............................ 3.9
Audiologic Privileges....................... 6 1 6 0.08 (5 mins)............................. 0.5
Podiatric Privileges........................ 6 1 6 0.08 (5 mins)............................. 0.5
Radiology Privileges........................ 9 1 9 0.33 (20 mins)............................ 3.0
Pathology Privileges........................ 3 1 3 0.33 (20 mins)............................ 1.01
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Total................................... 3,709 .............. 3,709 .......................................... 2,221.0
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* For ease of understanding, burden hours are also provided in actual minutes.
There are no capital costs, operating costs or maintenance costs to
report.
Request for Comments
Your written comments and/or suggestions are invited on one or more
of the following points: (1) Whether the information collection
activity is necessary to carry out an agency function; (2) whether the
IHS processes the information collected in a useful and timely fashion;
(3) the accuracy of the public burden estimate (this is the amount of
time needed for individual respondents to provide the requested
information); (4) whether the methodology and assumptions used to
determine the estimate are logical; (5) ways to enhance the quality,
utility, and clarity of the information being collected; and (6) ways
to minimize the public burden through the use of automated, electronic,
mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or other forms
of information technology.
Direct Comments To OMB: Send your written comments and suggestions
regarding the proposed information collection contained in this notice,
especially regarding the estimated public burden and associated
response time, to: Office of Management and Budget, Office of
Regulatory Affairs, New Executive Office Building, Room 10235,
Washington, D.C. 20503, Attention: Desk Officer for IHS.
To request more information on the proposed collection or to obtain
a copy of the data collection instrument(s) and/or instruction(s),
contact: Mr. Lance Hodahkwen, Sr., M.P.H., IHS Reports Clearance
Officer, 12300 Twinbrook Parkway, Suite 450, Rockville, MD 20852-1601;
call non-toll free (301) 443-5938 or send via fax to (301) 443-1522; or
send your e-mail requests, comments, and return address to:
1hodahkw@hqe.ihs.gov.
Comment Due Date: Comments regarding this information collection
are best assured of having their full effect if received on or before
August 16, 1999.
Dated: June 7, 1999.
Michael H. Trujillo,
Assistant Surgeon General, Director.
[FR Doc. 99-15086 Filed 6-14-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4160-16-M
