Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission to OMB for Review and Approval; Public Comment Request; Shortage Designation Management System
| Published date | 11 May 2020 |
| Citation | 85 FR 27746 |
| Record Number | 2020-09987 |
| Section | Notices |
| Court | Health Resources And Services Administration |
Federal Register, Volume 85 Issue 91 (Monday, May 11, 2020)
[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 91 (Monday, May 11, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 27746-27747]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-09987]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Health Resources and Services Administration
Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission to OMB for
Review and Approval; Public Comment Request; Shortage Designation
Management System
AGENCY: Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Department
of Health and Human Services.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, HRSA
submitted an Information Collection Request (ICR) to the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval. Comments submitted
during the first public review of this ICR will be provided to OMB. OMB
will accept further comments from the public during the review and
approval period. OMB may act on HRSA's ICR only after the 30 day
comment period for this Notice has closed.
DATES: Comments on this ICR should be received no later than June 10,
2020.
ADDRESSES: Written comments and recommendations for the proposed
information collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of
this notice to www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. Find this particular
information collection by selecting ``Currently under Review--Open for
Public Comments'' or by using the search function.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To request a copy of the clearance
requests submitted to OMB for review, email Lisa Wright-Solomon, the
HRSA Information Collection Clearance Officer at [email protected] or
call (301) 443-1984.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: When submitting comments or requesting
information, please include the information request collection title
for reference.
Information Collection Request Title: Shortage Designation
Management System OMB No. 0906-0029--Revision.
Abstract: HRSA's Bureau of Health Workforce is committed to
improving the health of the Nation's underserved communities and
vulnerable populations by developing, implementing, evaluating, and
refining programs that strengthen the nation's health workforce. The
Department of Health and Human Services relies on two federal shortage
designations to identify and dedicate resources to areas and
populations in greatest need of providers: Health Professional Shortage
Area (HPSA) designations and Medically Underserved Area/Medically
Underserved Population (MUA/P) designations. HPSA designations are
geographic areas, population groups, and facilities that are
experiencing a shortage of health professionals. The authorizing
statute for the National Health Service Corps (NHSC) created HPSAs to
fulfill the statutory requirement that NHSC personnel be directed to
areas of greatest need. To further differentiate areas of greatest
need, HRSA calculates a score for each HPSA. There are three categories
of HPSAs based on health discipline: Primary care, dental health, and
mental health. Scores range from 1 to 25 for primary care and mental
health and from 1 to 26 for dental, with higher scores indicating
greater need. They are used to prioritize applications for NHSC Loan
Repayment Program award funding, and determine service sites eligible
to receive NHSC Scholarship and Students-to-Service participants.
MUA/P designations are geographic areas, or population groups
within geographic areas, that are experiencing a shortage of primary
care health care services based on the Index of Medical Underservice
(IMU). MUAs are designated for the entire population of a particular
geographic area. MUA/P designations are limited to particular subset of
the population within a geographic area. Both designations were created
to aid the federal government in identifying areas with healthcare
workforce shortages.
As part of HRSA's cooperative agreement with the State Primary Care
Offices (PCOs), the State PCOs conduct needs assessment in their
states, determine what areas are eligible for designations, and submit
designation applications for HRSA review via the Shortage Designation
Management System (SDMS). Requests that come from other sources are
referred to the PCOs for their review, concurrence, and submission via
SDMS. In order to obtain a federal shortage designation for an area,
population, or facility, PCOs must submit a shortage designation
application through SDMS for review and approval by HRSA. Both the HPSA
and MUA/P application request local, state, and national data on the
population that is experiencing a shortage of health professionals and
the number of health professionals relative to the population covered
by the proposed designation. The information collected on the
applications is used to determine which areas, populations, and
facilities have qualifying shortages.
In addition, interested parties, including the Governor, the State
Primary Care Association, state professional associations, etc. are
notified of each designation request submitted via SDMS for their
comments and recommendations.
HRSA reviews the HPSA applications submitted by the State PCOs,
and--if they meet the designation eligibility criteria for the type of
HPSA or MUA/P the application is for--designates the HPSA or MUA/P on
behalf of the Secretary. HPSAs are statutorily required to be annually
reviewed and revised as necessary after initial designation to reflect
current data. HPSAs scores, therefore may and do change from time to
time. Currently, MUA/Ps do not gave a statutorily mandated review
period.
The lists of designated HPSAs are published annually in the Federal
Register. In addition, lists of HPSAs are updated on the HRSA website,
https://data.hrsa.gov/tools/shortage-area, so that interested parties
can access the information.
A 60-day notice published in the Federal Register on February 26,
2020, vol. 85, No. 38; pp. 11094-95. There was one public comment.
Need and Proposed Use of the Information: In 2014, SDMS was
launched to facilitate the collection of information needed to
designate HPSAs and MUA/Ps. The information obtained from the SDMS
Application is used to determine which areas, populations, and
facilities have critical shortages of health professionals per PCO
application submission. The SDMS
[[Page 27747]]
HPSA application and SDMS MUA/P Application are used for these
designation determinations. Applicants must submit a SDMS application
to HRSA to obtain a federal shortage designation. The application asks
for local, state, and national data required to determine the
application's eligibility to obtain a federal shortage designation. In
addition, applicants must enter in detailed information explaining how
the area, population, or facility faces a critical shortage of health
professionals.
Likely Respondents: State Primary Care Offices interested in
obtaining a primary care, dental, or mental HPSA designation or a MUA/P
in their state.
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. The total annual burden hours estimated for
this ICR are summarized in the table below.
Total Estimated Annualized Burden Hours
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Average
Number of Number of Total burden per Total burden
Form name respondents responses per responses response (in hours
respondent hours)
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Designation Planning and 54 48 2,592 8.00 20,736
Preparation....................
SDMS Application................ 54 83 4,482 4.00 17,928
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Total....................... 54 .............. 7,074 .............. 38,664
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HRSA specifically requests comments on (1) the necessity and
utility of the proposed information collection for the proper
performance of the agency's functions, (2) the accuracy of the
estimated burden, (3) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity
of the information to be collected, and (4) the use of automated
collection techniques or other forms of information technology to
minimize the information collection burden.
Maria G. Button,
Director, Executive Secretariat.
[FR Doc. 2020-09987 Filed 5-8-20; 8:45 am]
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