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 and draft

instruments, 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: Use of Emergency Departments by HCH Clients--New

--The Health Care for the Homeless (HCH) Program is a Federal grant

program authorized by section 330(h) of the Public Health Service Act.

The HCH Program seeks to improve access by homeless individuals to

primary health care and substance abuse treatment. There are 122

community-based organization grantees which are community and migrant

health centers, local health departments and community coalitions. More

than 450,000 clients have been served. Specific activities of the HCH

program are:

Providing for primary health care and substance abuse

services at accessible locations;

Providing round-the-clock access to emergency services and

referring to hospital inpatient and/or to mental health services as

needed;

Helping homeless persons to establish eligibility for

assistance and to obtain services under entitlement programs.

Data will be collected in six East Coast cities in which there are

Health Care for the Homeless (HCH) grantees. Between 200-250 single

homeless persons will be interviewed at either homeless shelters or

soup kitchens in each of the six sites. The objective is a total sample

of 1,350.

The main research questions the data collection is intended to

answer are:

Is there a difference in the level of use of hospital

emergency departments by HCH program users and HCH program non-users?

Is there a difference in the inappropriate use of hospital

emergency departments by HCH program users and HCH program non-users?

Is hospital emergency department use by homeless people a

reasonable indicator of an HCH program's impact or success?

Do differences in emergency department utilization among

the homeless vary across specific broad classes of medical conditions?

Do the differences in emergency department utilization

among the homeless vary by age, gender, ethnicity, insurance, status or

family status?

There will be five categories of questions respondents will be

asked: Emergency Room Visits, Impatient Hospital Utilization,

Outpatient Health Care Utilization, Health Status and Perceived Need

for Health Care, and Demographics.

The estimated respondent burden is as follows:

[[Page 12104]]

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Number of Responses per Hours per Response

Type of respondent respondents respondent response burden (hours)

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Homeless individuals........................ 1350 1 .25 337

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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: March 2, 1998.

Jane Harrison,

Acting Director, Division of Policy Review and Coordination.

[FR Doc. 98-6297 Filed 3-11-98; 8:45 am]

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