25182 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 82 / Friday, April 27, 2012 / Notices 

Respondents: 2,700,000; Total Annual 

Responses: 2,700,000; Total Annual 

Hours: 1,360,000. (For policy questions 

regarding this collection contact Debbie 

Skinner at 410–786–7480. For all other 

issues call 410–786–1326.) 

To obtain copies of the supporting 

statement and any related forms for the 

proposed paperwork collections 

referenced above, access CMS’ Web Site 

address at http://www.cms.hhs.gov/ 

PaperworkReductionActof1995, or 

Email your request, including your 

address, phone number, OMB number, 

and CMS document identifier, to 

Paperwork@cms.hhs.gov, or call the 

Reports Clearance Office on (410) 786– 

1326. 

In commenting on the proposed 

information collections please reference 

the document identifier or OMB control 

number. To be assured consideration, 

comments and recommendations must 

be submitted in one of the following 

ways by June 26, 2012: 

1. Electronically. You may submit 

your comments electronically to http:// 

www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

instructions for ‘‘Comment or 

Submission’’ or ‘‘More Search Options’’ 

to find the information collection 

document(s) accepting comments. 

2. By regular mail. You may mail 

written comments to the following 

address: CMS, Office of Strategic 

Operations and Regulatory Affairs, 

Division of Regulations Development, 

Attention: Document Identifier/OMB 

Control Number llllllll, 

Room C4–26–05, 7500 Security 

Boulevard, Baltimore, Maryland 21244– 

1850. 

Dated: April 24, 2012. 

Martique Jones, 

Director, Regulations Development Group, 

Division B Office of Strategic Operations and 

Regulatory Affairs. 

[FR Doc. 2012–10231 Filed 4–26–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4120–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid 

Services 

[Document Identifier CMS–10102, CMS–R– 

263 and CMS–855(O)] 

Agency Information Collection 

Activities: Submission for OMB 

Review; Comment Request 

AGENCY: Centers for Medicare & 

Medicaid Services, HHS. 

In compliance with the requirement 

of section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the 

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid 

Services (CMS), Department of Health 

and Human Services, is publishing the 

following summary of proposed 

collections for public comment. 

Interested persons are invited to send 

comments regarding this burden 

estimate or any other aspect of this 

collection of information, including any 

of the following subjects: (1) The 

necessity and utility of the proposed 

information collection for the proper 

performance of the Agency’s function; 

(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. 

1. Type of Information Collection 

Request: Revision of a currently 

approved collection; 

Title of Information Collection: 

National Implementation of Hospital 

Consumer Assessment of Healthcare 

Providers and Systems (HCAHPS); Use: 

The HCAHPS (Hospital Consumer 

Assessment of Healthcare Providers and 

Systems) survey is the first national, 

standardized, publicly reported survey 

of patients’ perspectives of hospital 

care. HCAHPS (pronounced ‘‘H-caps’’), 

also known as the CAHPS® Hospital 

Survey, is a survey instrument and data 

collection methodology for measuring 

patients’ perceptions of their hospital 

experience. While many hospitals have 

collected information on patient 

satisfaction for their own internal use, 

until HCAHPS there was no national 

standard for collecting and publicly 

reporting information about patient 

experience of care that allowed valid 

comparisons to be made across hospitals 

locally, regionally and nationally. 

Three broad goals have shaped 

HCAHPS. First, the survey is designed 

to produce data about patients’ 

perspectives of care that allow objective 

and meaningful comparisons of 

hospitals on topics that are important to 

consumers. Second, public reporting of 

the survey results creates new 

incentives for hospitals to improve 

quality of care. Third, public reporting 

serves to enhance accountability in 

health care by increasing transparency 

of the quality of hospital care provided 

in return for the public investment. 

With these goals in mind, the Centers 

for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) 

has taken substantial steps to assure that 

the survey is credible, useful, and 

practical. Hospitals implement HCAHPS 

under the auspices of the Hospital 

Quality Alliance (HQA), a private/ 

public partnership that includes major 

hospital and medical associations, 

consumer groups, measurement and 

accrediting bodies, government, and 

other groups that share an interest in 

improving hospital quality. Both the 

HQA and the National Quality Forum 

have endorsed HCAHPS. 

The enactment of the Deficit 

Reduction Act of 2005 created an 

additional incentive for acute care 

hospitals to participate in HCAHPS. 

Since July 2007, hospitals subject to the 

Inpatient Prospective Payment System 

(IPPS) annual payment update 

provisions (‘‘subsection (d) hospitals’’) 

must collect and submit HCAHPS data 

in order to receive their full IPPS annual 

payment update. IPPS hospitals that fail 

to publicly report the required quality 

measures, which include the HCAHPS 

survey, may receive an annual payment 

update that is reduced by 2.0 percentage 

points. Non-IPPS hospitals, such as 

Critical Access Hospitals, may 

voluntarily participate in HCAHPS. 

The Patient Protection and Affordable 

Care Act of 2010 (Pub. L. 111–148) 

includes HCAHPS among the measures 

to be used to calculate value-based 

incentive payments in the Hospital 

Value-Based Purchasing program, 

beginning with discharges in October 

2012. 

Currently the HCAHPS survey asks 

discharged patients 27 questions about 

their recent hospital stay. The survey 

contains 18 core questions about critical 

aspects of patients’ hospital experiences 

(communication with nurses and 

doctors, the responsiveness of hospital 

staff, the cleanliness and quietness of 

the hospital environment, pain 

management, communication about 

medicines, discharge information, 

overall rating of hospital, and would 

they recommend the hospital). The 

survey also includes four items to direct 

patients to relevant questions, three 

items to adjust for the mix of patients 

across hospitals, and two items that 

support Congressionally-mandated 

reports. 

This revision is being submitted in 

order to add five new items to the 

survey: three items that comprise a Care 

Transitions composite; one item that 

asks whether the patient was admitted 

through the emergency room; and one 

item that asks about the patient’s overall 

mental health. This marks the first 

addition of items to the HCAHPS 

Survey since its national 

implementation in 2006. Form Number: 

CMS–10102 (OCN: 0938–0981); 

Frequency: Occasionally; Affected 

Public: Individuals or Households, 

Private Sector—Business or other forprofits and not-for-profit institutions. 

Number of Respondents: 2,713,812; 

Total Annual Responses: 2,713,812; 

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Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 82 / Friday, April 27, 2012 / Notices 25183 

Total Annual Hours: 365,136. (For 

policy questions regarding this 

collection contact William Lehrman at 

410–786–1037. For all other issues call 

410–786–1326.) 

2. Type of Information Collection 

Request: Reinstatement with change of a 

previously approved collection; Title of 

Information Collection: Site 

Investigation for Durable Medical 

Equipment (DME) Suppliers ; Use: CMS 

is mandated to identify and implement 

measures to prevent fraud and abuse in 

the Medicare program. To meet this 

challenge, CMS has moved forward to 

improve the quality of the process for 

enrolling suppliers into the Medicare 

program by establishing a uniform 

application for enumerating suppliers of 

durable medical equipment, prosthetics, 

orthotics, and supplies (DMEPOS). 

Implementation of enhanced procedures 

for verifying the enrollment information 

has also improved the enrollment 

process. As part of this process, 

verification of compliance with supplier 

standards is necessary. The site 

investigation form has been used in the 

past to aid the Medicare contractor (the 

National Supplier Clearinghouse and/or 

its subcontractors) in verifying 

compliance with the required supplier 

standards found in 42 CFR 424.57(c). 

The primary function of the site 

investigation form is to provide a 

standardized, uniform tool to gather 

information from a DMEPOS supplier 

that tells us whether it meets certain 

qualifications to be a DMEPOS supplier 

(as found in 42 CFR 424.57(c)) and 

where it practices or renders its 

services. 

This site investigation form collects 

the same information as its predecessor, 

with the exception of one new yes/no 

question under the ‘‘Records and 

Telephone’’ section (question 11(a)) 

used to verify if the DMEPOS supplier 

maintains physician ordering/referring 

records for the supplies and/or services 

it renders to Medicare beneficiaries (if 

applicable). This information is required 

by section 1833(q) of the Social Security 

Act (the Act) which states that all 

physicians and non-physician 

practitioners that meet the definitions at 

section 1861(r) and 1842(b)(18)(C) of the 

Act, be uniquely identified for all claims 

for services that are ordered or referred. 

Other information collected on this site 

investigation remains unchanged, but 

has been reformatted for greater 

functionality. Form Number: CMS–R– 

263 (OCN: 0938–0749); Frequency: 

Once; Affected Public: Private Sector— 

Business or other for-profits and not-forprofit institutions; Number of 

Respondents: 30,000; Total Annual 

Responses: 30,000; Total Annual Hours: 

15,000. (For policy questions regarding 

this collection contact Kimberly 

McPhillips at 410–786–5374. For all 

other issues call 410–786–1326.) 

3. Type of Information Collection 

Request: Revision of a currently 

approved collection; 

Title of Information Collection: 

Medicare Registration Application; Use: 

The CMS 855O allows a physician to 

receive a Medicare identification 

number (without being approved for 

billing privileges) for the sole purpose of 

ordering and referring Medicare 

beneficiaries to Medicare approved 

providers and suppliers. This new 

Medicare registration application form 

allows physicians who do not provide 

services to Medicare beneficiaries to be 

given a Medicare identification number 

without having to supply all the data 

required for the submission of Medicare 

claims. It also allows the Medicare 

program to identify ordering and 

referring physicians without having to 

validate the amount of data necessary to 

determine claims payment eligibility 

(such as banking information), while 

continuing to identify the physician’s 

credentials as valid for ordering and 

referring purposes. Since the physicians 

and non-physician practitioners 

submitting this application are not 

enrolling in Medicare to submit claims 

but are only registering with Medicare 

as eligible to order and refer, CMS 

believes changing the title from 

Medicare Enrollment Application to 

Medicare Registration Application 

better captures the actual purpose of 

this form. 

Where appropriate, CMS has changed 

all references to enrollment or enrolling 

to registration and registering and 

Medicare billing number to National 

Provider Identifier. CMS also added a 

check box to allow physicians and nonphysician practitioners to withdraw 

from the ordering and referring registry. 

A section to collect information on 

professional certifications was added for 

those practitioners who are not 

professionally licensed. Editorial and 

formatting corrections were made in 

response to prior comments received 

during the approval of the current 

version of this application. Other minor 

editorial and formatting corrections 

were made to better clarify the purpose 

of this application. Form Number: 

CMS–855(O) (OCN: 0938–1135); 

Frequency: Occasionally; Affected 

Public: Individuals; Number of 

Respondents: 48,500; Total Annual 

Responses: 48,500; Total Annual Hours: 

24,125. (For policy questions regarding 

this collection contact Kimberly 

McPhillips at 410–786–5374. For all 

other issues call 410–786–1326.) 

To obtain copies of the supporting 

statement and any related forms for the 

proposed paperwork collections 

referenced above, access CMS Web Site 

address at http://www.cms.hhs.gov/ 

PaperworkReductionActof1995, or 

Email your request, including your 

address, phone number, OMB number, 

and CMS document identifier, to 

Paperwork@cms.hhs.gov, or call the 

Reports Clearance Office on (410) 786– 

1326. 

To be assured consideration, 

comments and recommendations for the 

proposed information collections must 

be received by the OMB desk officer at 

the address below, no later than 5 p.m. 

on May 29, 2012. 

OMB, Office of Information and 

Regulatory Affairs, Attention: CMS Desk 

Officer, Fax Number: (202) 395–6974, 

Email: OIRA_submission@omb.eop.gov. 

Dated: April 24, 2012. 

Martique Jones, 

Director, Regulations Development Group, 

Division B, Office of Strategic Operations and 

Regulatory Affairs. 

[FR Doc. 2012–10225 Filed 4–26–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4120–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

Food and Drug Administration 

[Docket No. FDA–2012–N–0001] 

Circulatory System Devices Panel of 

the Medical Devices Advisory 

Committee; Notice of Meeting 

AGENCY: Food and Drug Administration, 

HHS. 

ACTION: Notice. 

This notice announces a forthcoming 

meeting of a public advisory committee 

of the Food and Drug Administration 

(FDA). The meeting will be open to the 

public. 

Name of Committee: Circulatory System 

Devices Panel of the Medical Devices 

Advisory Committee. 

General Function of the Committee: To 

provide advice and recommendations to the 

Agency on FDA’s regulatory issues. 

Date and Time: The meeting will be held 

on June 13, 2012, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. 

Location: Hilton Washington DC North/ 

Gaithersburg, Salons A, B, C, and D, 620 

Perry Pkwy., Gaithersburg, MD 20877. The 

hotel telephone number is 301–977–8900. 

Contact Person: Jamie Waterhouse, Center 

for Devices and Radiological Health, Food 

and Drug Administration, 10903 New 

Hampshire Ave., Silver Spring, MD 20993, or 

FDA Advisory Committee Information Line, 

1–800–741–8138 (301–443–0572 in the 

Washington, DC area), and follow the 

prompts to the desired center or product 

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