Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection: Comment Request

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Health Resources and Services Administration

Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection:

Comment Request

In compliance with the requirement for opportunity for public

comment on proposed data collection projects (section 3506(c)(2)(A) of

Title 44, United States Code, as amended by the Paperwork Reduction Act

of 1995, Pub. L. 104-13), the Health Resources and Services

Administration (HRSA) will publish periodic summaries of proposed

projects being developed for submission to OMB under the Paperwork

Reduction Act of 1995. To request more information on the proposed

project or to obtain a copy of the data collection plans, call the HRSA

Reports Clearance Officer on (301) 443-1129.

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.

Proposed Project: Reporting Requirements for the National Health

Service Corps (NHSC) Non-Grant Sites--New--The National Health Service

Corps (NHSC) is a component of the Bureau of Primary Health Care,

Health Resources and Services Administration, Department of Health and

Human Services. The mission of the NHSC is to assist in the

development, recruitment, and retention of community-responsive,

culturally competent, primary care providers to serve people in health

professional shortage areas. The mission is implemented through

assignment of personnel to 365 BPHC grant-supported health care sites

and 312 sites receiving no grant support.

The NHSC is required to collect specific data from the sites to

which NHSC providers are assigned. For grant-supported sites, this is

accomplished through the Uniform Data System (UDS)(OMB No. 0915-0193).

The UDS data are utilized to comply with congressionally mandated

actions such as billing sites for the reimbursement of the cost of NHSC

assignees and preparing reports for Congress. The UDS data are also

utilized for evaluating the overall effectiveness of the NHSC to

include appropriateness of NHSC assignee placements and expenditure of

funds.

This request is to collect a subset of the UDS data from the non-

grant supported sites in order to facilitate full compliance with the

congressionally mandated billing and reporting requirements.

For this purpose a modified reporting tool with less burden has

been developed for the non-grant supported sites which will collect

information on services provided, populations served, staffing and

utilization, finances, and managed care enrollment.

The following burden table was developed based on experience with

[[Page 41967]]

grant supported sites in completing the UDS:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

No. Of Responses per Hours per Total Hour

Type of instrument Respondents Respondent Response Burden

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Modified UDS................................ 312 1 5.6 1,747

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The annual burden estimates shown above for the non-grant supported

sites to complete the required six Tables will be refined through field

testing at nine randomly selected sites.

Send comments to Patricia Royston, HRSA Reports Clearance Officer,

Room 14-36, Parklawn Building, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, MD, 20857.

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

Dated: July 25, 1997.

Jane Harrison,

Acting Director, Division of Policy Review and Coordination.

[FR Doc. 97-20453 Filed 8-1-97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4160-15-P