Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission to OMB for Review and Approval; Public Comment Request; Shortage Designation Management System

Published date11 May 2020
Citation85 FR 27746
Record Number2020-09987
SectionNotices
CourtHealth 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]
                BILLING CODE 4165-15-P
                

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