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) publishes 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) 443-1891.

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: Year 2000 Community Health Center and National

Health Service Corps User/Visit Survey (OMB No. 0915-0185)

The purpose of this study is to conduct a sample survey which has

three components: (1) A pilot study, including an evaluation of both

retrospective and prospective sampling methodologies; (2) a personal

interview survey of Community Health Center (CHC) and National Health

Service Corps (NHSC) site users; and (3) a record-based study of visits

to CHCs and NHSC sites. CHCs and NHSC sites serve predominantly poor

minority medically underserved populations. The proposed user and visit

survey will collect in-depth information about CHC and NHSC site users,

their health status, the reasons they seek care, their diagnoses, and

the services utilized in a medical encounter.

The Year 2000 User/Visit Survey builds on a 1995 User/Visit Survey

which was conducted to learn about the process and outcomes of care in

CHC users. The 1995 User/Visit Survey included a personal interview of

approximately 2000 users of 48 selected CHCs as well as medical record

abstractions for about 3000 visits to these same health centers. The

interview questionnaire was derived from the National Health Interview

Survey (NHIS) conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics

(NCHS) and the visit survey was an adaptation of the NCHS National

Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NHAMCS). Conformance with the

NHIS and NHAMCS allowed comparisons between these NCHS surveys and the

User/Visit Survey.

The Year 2000 User/Visit Survey was developed using similar

questionnaire methodology in conjunction with a contractor and will

allow longitudinal comparisons for CHCs with the 1995 version of the

survey data, including monitoring of process outcomes over time. The

Year 2000 User/Visit Survey is the first year that NHSC non-grantee,

freestanding sites will be surveyed.

The estimated response burden for the pilot test is as follows:

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Number of Responses per Total Hours per Total burden

Pilot survey respondents respondent respondents response hours

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CHCs............................ 350 1 350 1.3 455

NHSC............................ 150 1 150 1.3 195

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Total....................... .............. .............. 500 .............. 650

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The estimated response burden for the main survey is as follows:

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Number of Responses per Total Hours per Total burden

Main survey respondents respondent respondents response hours

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CHCs............................ 2300 1 2300 1.3 2990

NHSC............................ 1000 1 1000 1.3 1300

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Total....................... .............. .............. 3300 .............. 4290

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Send comments to Susan G. Queen, Ph.D., HRSA Reports Clearance

Officer, Room 14-33, Parklawn Building, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville,

MD 20857. Written comments should be received within 60 days of this

notice.

Dated: July 14, 1999.

James J. Corrigan,

Associate Administrator for Management and Program Support.

[FR Doc. 99-18584 Filed 7-20-99; 8:45 am]

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