2017-14038. Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission to OMB for Review and Approval; Public Comment Request; Information Collection Request Title: Small Health Care Provider Quality Improvement Program, OMB No. 0915-0387-Extension

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 has submitted an Information Collection Request (ICR) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval. OMB will accept comments from the public during the review and approval period.

DATES:

Comments on this ICR should be received no later than August 4, 2017.

ADDRESSES:

Submit your comments, including the ICR Title, to the desk officer for HRSA, either by email to [e-mail] or by fax to 202-395-5806.

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, in compliance with Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

Information Collection Request Title: Small Health Care Provider Quality Improvement Program, OMB No. 0915-0387 − Extension

Abstract: This program is authorized by Title III, Public Health Service Act, Section 330A(g) (42 U.S.C. 254c(g)), as amended by Section 201, Public Law 107-251, and Section 4, Public Law 110-355. This authority directs the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (FORHP) to support grants that expand access to, coordinate, contain the cost of, and improve the quality of essential health care services, including preventive and emergency services, through the development of health care networks in rural and frontier areas and regions. The authority allows HRSA to provide funds to rural and frontier communities to support the direct delivery of health care and related services, expand existing services, or enhance health service delivery through education, promotion, and prevention programs.

The purpose of the Small Health Care Provider Quality Improvement Grant (Rural Quality) Program is to provide support to rural primary care providers for implementation of quality improvement activities. The program promotes the development of an evidence-based culture and delivery of coordinated care in the primary care setting. Additional objectives of the program include improved health outcomes for patients, enhanced chronic disease management, and better engagement of patients and their caregivers. Organizations participating in the program are required to use an evidence-based quality improvement model; develop, implement and assess effectiveness of quality improvement initiatives; and use health information technology (HIT) to collect and report data. HIT may include an electronic patient registry or an electronic health record, and is a critical component for improving quality and patient outcomes. With HIT, it is possible to generate timely and meaningful data, which helps providers track and plan care.

Need and Proposed Use of the Information: FORHP collects this information to quantify the impact of grant funding on access to health care, quality of services, and improvement of health outcomes. FORHP uses the data for program improvement, and grantees use the data for performance tracking. No changes are proposed from the current data collection effort. A 60-day notice was published in the Federal Register (81 FR 95621, (December 28, 2016)). There were no public comments.

Likely Respondents: Grantees of the Small Health Care Provider Quality Improvement Program.

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. Burden is decreasing from 480 to 256 hours due to a decrease in number of respondents, while the amount of time per respondent (8 hours) remains the same. 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
Small Health Care Provider Quality Improvement Program Performance Improvement and Measurement System Measures	32	1	32	8	256
Total	32		32		256

Jason E. Bennett,

Director, Division of the Executive Secretariat.