Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 242 / Tuesday, December 18, 2018 / Notices 64835 

Federal Communications Commission. 

Cecilia Sigmund, 

Federal Register Liaison Officer, Office of the 

Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2018–27272 Filed 12–17–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6712–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 

GENERAL SERVICES 

ADMINISTRATION 

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND 

SPACE ADMINISTRATION 

[OMB Control No. 9000–0198; Docket No. 

2018–0003; Sequence No. 20] 

Submission for OMB Review; 

Violations of Arms Control Treaties or 

Agreements With the United States 

AGENCY: Department of Defense (DOD), 

General Services Administration (GSA), 

and National Aeronautics and Space 

Administration (NASA). 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: Under the provisions of the 

Paperwork Reduction Act, the 

Regulatory Secretariat Division will be 

submitting to the Office of Management 

and Budget (OMB) a request to review 

and approve an existing OMB 

emergency clearance notice regarding 

violations of arms control treaties or 

agreements with the United States. 

DATES: Submit comments on or before 

January 17, 2019. 

ADDRESSES: Submit comments regarding 

this burden estimate or any other aspect 

of this collection of information, 

including suggestions for reducing this 

burden to: Office of Information and 

Regulatory Affairs of OMB, Attention: 

Desk Officer for GSA, Room 10236, 

NEOB, Washington, DC 20503. 

Additionally submit a copy to GSA by 

any of the following methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: This 

website provides the ability to type 

short comments directly into the 

comment field or attach a file for 

lengthier comments. Go to http://

www.regulations.gov and follow the 

instructions on the site. 

• Mail: General Services 

Administration, Regulatory Secretariat 

Division (MVCB), 1800 F Street NW, 

Washington, DC 20405. ATTN: Ms. 

Mandell/IC 9000–0198, Violations of 

Arms Control Treaties or Agreements 

with the United States. 

Instructions: Please submit comments 

only and cite Information Collection 

9000–0198, Violations of Arms Control 

Treaties or Agreements with the United 

States, in all correspondence related to 

this collection. Comments received 

generally will be posted without change 

to http://www.regulations.gov, including 

any personal and/or business 

confidential information provided. To 

confirm receipt of your comment(s), 

please check www.regulations.gov, 

approximately two to three days after 

submission to verify posting (except 

allow 30 days for posting of comments 

submitted by mail). 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. 

Cecelia L. Davis, Procurement Analyst, 

Federal Acquisition Policy Division, at 

202–219–0202 or email 

cecelia.davis@gsa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

A. Purpose 

This is a requirement for an extension 

of OMB control number 9000–0198, 

Violations of Arms Control Treaties or 

Agreements with the United States. 

Section 1290 of Public Law 114–328 

(codified at 22 U.S.C. 2593e) went into 

effect on December 23, 2016. The 

implementation of this FAR case will 

protect against doing business with 

entities that engage in any activity that 

contributed to or is a significant factor 

in a country’s failure to comply with 

arms control treaties or agreements with 

the United States. This action is 

necessary because of statutory 

requirements relating to a national 

security function of the United States. 

A notice was published in the Federal 

Register at 83 FR 28145, on June 15, 

2018, as part of an interim rule under 

FAR Case 2017–018, Violations of Arms 

Control Treaties or Agreements with the 

United States. 

B. Public Comment 

A 60-day notice published in the 

Federal Register at 83 FR 29117 on June 

22, 2018. No comments were received. 

C. Annual Reporting Burden 

Number of Respondents: 11,634. 

Responses per Respondent: 8.6. 

Total Responses: 99,796. 

Average Burden Hours per Response: 

0.4 hours. 

Total Burden Hours: 40,478. 

Obtaining Copies of Proposals: 

Requesters may obtain a copy of the 

information collection documents from 

the General Services Administration, 

Regulatory Secretariat Division (MVCB), 

1800 F Street NW, Washington, DC 

20405, telephone 202–501–4755. Please 

cite OMB Control No. 9000–0198, 

Violations of Arms Control Treaties or 

Agreements with the United States. 

Janet Fry, 

Director, Federal Acquisition Policy Division, 

Office of Governmentwide Acquisition Policy, 

Office of Acquisition Policy, Office of 

Governmentwide Policy. 

[FR Doc. 2018–27365 Filed 12–17–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6820–EP–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

Agency for Healthcare Research and 

Quality 

Agency Information Collection 

Activities: Proposed Collection; 

Comment Request 

AGENCY: Agency for Healthcare Research 

and Quality, HHS. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: This notice announces the 

intention of the Agency for Healthcare 

Research and Quality (AHRQ) to request 

that the Office of Management and 

Budget (OMB) approve the proposed 

information collection project: ‘‘Online 

Application Order Form for Products 

from the Healthcare Cost and 

Utilization Project (HCUP).’’ 

DATES: Comments on this notice must be 

received by February 19, 2019. 

ADDRESSES: Written comments should 

be submitted to: Doris Lefkowitz, 

Reports Clearance Officer, AHRQ, by 

email at doris.lefkowitz@AHRQ.hhs.gov. 

Copies of the proposed collection 

plans, data collection instruments, and 

specific details on the estimated burden 

can be obtained from the AHRQ Reports 

Clearance Officer. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Doris Lefkowitz, AHRQ Reports 

Clearance Officer, (301) 427–1477, or by 

email at doris.lefkowitz@AHRQ.hhs.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Proposed Project 

Online Application Order Form for 

Products from the Healthcare Cost and 

Utilization Project (HCUP) 

In accordance with the Paperwork 

Reduction Act, 44 U.S.C. 3501–3521, 

AHRQ invites the public to comment on 

this proposed information collection. 

The Healthcare Cost and Utilization 

Project (HCUP, pronounced ‘‘H-Cup’’) is 

a vital resource helping the Agency 

achieve its research agenda, thereby 

furthering its goal of improving the 

delivery of health care in the United 

States. HCUP is a family of health care 

databases and related software tools and 

products developed through a FederalVerDate Sep<11>2014 00:45 Dec 18, 2018 Jkt 247001 PO 00000 Frm 00027 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 E:\FR\FM\18DEN1.SGM 18DEN1

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64836 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 242 / Tuesday, December 18, 2018 / Notices 

State-Industry partnership and 

sponsored by AHRQ. HCUP includes 

the largest collection of longitudinal 

hospital care data in the United States, 

with all-payer, encounter-level 

information beginning in 1988. The 

HCUP databases are annual files that 

contain anonymous information from 

hospital discharge records for inpatient 

care and certain components of 

outpatient care, such as emergency care 

and ambulatory surgeries. The project 

currently releases seven types of 

databases created for research use on a 

broad range of health issues, including 

cost and quality of health services, 

medical practice patterns, access to 

health care programs, and outcomes of 

treatments at the national, State, and 

local market levels. HCUP also produces 

a large number of software tools to 

enhance the use of administrative health 

care data for research and public health 

use. Software tools use information 

available from a variety of sources to 

create new data elements, often through 

sophisticated algorithms, for use with 

the HCUP databases. 

HCUP’s objectives are to: 

• Create and enhance a powerful source of 

national, state, and all-payer health care data. 

• Produce a broad set of software tools and 

products to facilitate the use of HCUP and 

other administrative data. 

• Enrich a collaborative partnership with 

statewide data organizations (that voluntarily 

participate in the project) aimed at increasing 

the quality and use of health care data. 

• Conduct and translate research to inform 

decision making and improve health care 

delivery. 

This project is being conducted by 

AHRQ through its primary contractor 

and subcontractor, IBM Watson Health 

and Social & Scientific Systems, Inc., 

pursuant to AHRQ’s statutory authority 

to conduct and support research on 

health care and on systems for the 

delivery of such care, including 

activities with respect to the outcomes, 

cost, cost-effectiveness, and use of 

health care services and access to such 

services. 42 U.S.C. 299a(a)(3). 

Method of Collection 

The HCUP releases seven types of 

databases for public research use: 

(1) The National Inpatient Sample 

(NIS) is the largest all-payer inpatient 

care database in the United States, 

yielding national estimates of hospital 

inpatient stays. The NIS approximates 

20 percent of the discharges from all 

U.S. community hospitals and contains 

data from approximately 7 million 

hospital stays each year. NIS data 

releases are available for purchase from 

the HCUP Central Distributor for data 

years beginning in 1988. 

(2) The Kids’ Inpatient Database (KID) 

is the only all-payer inpatient care 

database for children in the United 

States. The KID was specifically 

designed to permit researchers to study 

a broad range of conditions and 

procedures related to child health 

issues. The KID contains a sample of 2 

to 3 million discharges for children age 

20 and younger from more than 4,200 

U.S. community hospitals. KID data 

releases are available every third year 

starting in 1997. 

(3) The Nationwide Emergency 

Department Sample (NEDS) is the 

largest all-payer ED database in the 

United States. It is constructed to 

capture information both on ED visits 

that do not result in an admission and 

on ED visits that result in an admission 

to the same hospital. The NEDS 

contains more than 31 million 

unweighted records for ED visits at 

about 950 U.S. community hospitals 

and approximates a 20-percent stratified 

sample of U.S. hospital-based EDs. 

NEDS data releases are available 

beginning with data year 2006. 

(4) The State Inpatient Databases (SID) 

contain the universe of inpatient 

discharge abstracts from data 

organizations in 48 States and the 

District of Columbia that currently 

participate in the SID. Together, the SID 

encompass approximately 97 percent of 

all U.S. community hospital discharges. 

Most States that participate in the SID 

make their data available for purchase 

through the HCUP Central Distributor. 

Files are available beginning with data 

year 1990. 

(5) The State Ambulatory Surgery and 

Services Databases (SASD) contain 

encounter-level data from ambulatory 

surgery and other outpatient services 

from hospital-owned facilities. In 

addition, some States provide data for 

ambulatory surgery and outpatient 

services from nonhospital-owned 

facilities. Currently, 35 States 

participate in the SASD. Files are 

available beginning with data year 1997. 

(6) The State Emergency Department 

Databases (SEDD) contain data from 

hospital-owned emergency departments 

(ED) for visits that do not result in a 

hospitalization. Currently, 38 States 

participate in the SEDD. Files are 

available beginning with data year 1999. 

(7) A new database called the 

Nationwide Readmissions Database 

(NRD) is planned for release in late 

2019. The NRD is designed to support 

various types of analyses of national 

readmission rates. This database 

addresses a large gap in health care 

data—the lack of nationally 

representative information on hospital 

readmissions. The NRD is a calendaryear, discharge-level database 

constructed from the HCUP State 

Inpatient Databases (SID). 

To support AHRQ’s mission to 

improve health care through scientific 

research, HCUP databases and software 

tools are disseminated to users outside 

of the Agency through a mechanism 

known as the HCUP Central Distributor 

at https://www.hcup-us.ahrq.gov/ 

tech_assist/centdist.jsp. The HCUP 

Central Distributor assists qualified 

researchers to access uniform research 

data across multiple states with the use 

of one application process. The HCUP 

databases disseminated through the 

Central Distributor are referred to as 

‘‘restricted access public release files’’; 

that is, they are publicly available, but 

only under restricted conditions. 

This information collection request is 

for the activities associated with the 

HCUP database application process, not 

the collection of health care data for 

HCUP databases. The activities 

associated with this application include: 

(1) HCUP Application. All persons 

requesting access to the HCUP databases 

must complete an application at https:// 

distributor.hcup-us.ahrq.gov/. 

Applications for HCUP State databases 

require a brief description of the 

planned research use to ensure that the 

intended use is consistent with HCUP 

policies and with the HCUP Data Use 

Agreement (DUA). Paper versions of all 

application packages are also available 

for downloading at http://www.hcupus.ahrq.gov/tech_assist/centdist.jsp. 

(2) HCUP DUA Training. All persons 

wanting access to the HCUP databases 

must complete an online training 

course. The purpose of the training is to 

emphasize the importance of data 

protection, reduce the risk of 

inadvertent violations, and describe the 

individual’s responsibility when using 

HCUP data. The training course can be 

accessed and completed online at http:// 

www.hcup-us.ahrq.gov/techassist/ 

dua.jsp. 

(3) HCUP DUA. All persons wanting 

access to the HCUP databases must sign 

a data use agreement. An example DUA 

for the Nationwide databases is 

available at http://www.hcupus.ahrq.gov/team/NationwideDUA.jsp. 

HCUP databases are released to 

researchers outside of AHRQ after the 

completion of required training and 

submission of an application that 

includes a signed HCUP DUA. In 

addition, before restricted access public 

release state-level databases are 

released, AHRQ must review and 

approve the applicant’s statement of 

intended use to ensure that the planned 

use is consistent with HCUP policies 

and with the HCUP DUA. Fees are set 


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Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 242 / Tuesday, December 18, 2018 / Notices 64837 

for databases released through the 

HCUP Central Distributor depending on 

the type of database. The fee for sale of 

state-level data is determined by each 

participating Statewide Data 

Organization and reimbursed to those 

organizations. 

Information collected in the HCUP 

Application process will be used for two 

purposes only: 

1. Business Transaction: In order to 

deliver the HCUP databases and 

software, contact information is 

necessary for shipping some types of 

HCUP data on disk (or any other media 

used in the future). 

2. Enforcement of the HCUP DUA: 

The HCUP DUA contains several 

restrictions on use of the data. Most of 

these restrictions have been put in place 

to safeguard the privacy of individuals 

and establishments represented in the 

data. For example, data users can only 

use the data for research, analysis, and 

aggregate statistical reporting and are 

prohibited from attempting to identify 

any persons in the data. Contact 

information on HCUP DUAs is retained 

in the event that a violation of the DUA 

takes place. 

Estimated Annual Respondent Burden 

Exhibit 1 shows the estimated 

annualized burden associated with the 

applicants’ time to order any of the 

HCUP databases. An estimated 1,500 

persons will order HCUP data annually. 

Each of these persons will complete an 

application (10 minutes), the DUA 

training (15 minutes) and a DUA (5 

minutes). The total burden is estimated 

to be 750 hours annually. 

Exhibit 2 shows the estimated 

annualized cost burden associated with 

the applicants’ time to order HCUP data. 

The total cost burden is estimated to be 

$29,662 annually. 

EXHIBIT 1—ESTIMATED ANNUALIZED BURDEN HOURS

Form name Number of 

respondents 

Number of 

responses per 

respondent 

Hours per 

response 

Total burden 

hours 

HCUP Application Form .................................................................. 1,500 1 .............................. 10/60 ..................... 250 

HCUP DUA Training ....................................................................... 1,500 1 .............................. 15/60 ..................... 375 

HCUP DUA ..................................................................................... 1,500 1 .............................. 5/60 ....................... 125 

Total ......................................................................................... 4,500 na ............................ na .......................... 750 

EXHIBIT 2—ESTIMATED ANNUALIZED COST BURDEN

Form name Number of 

respondents 

Total 

burden hours 

Average hourly 

wage rate * 

Total cost 

burden 

HCUP Application Form ....................................................................... 1,500 250 ....................... $39.55 ................. $9,887 

HCUP DUA Training ............................................................................ 1,500 375 ....................... 39.55 ................... 14,831 

HCUP DUA .......................................................................................... 1,500 125 ....................... 39.55 ................... 4,944 

Total ..................................................................................................... 4,500 750 ....................... na ........................ 29,662 

* Based upon the mean of the average wages for Life Scientists, All Other (19–1099), National Compensation Survey: 

Occupational Employment Statistics, May 2017 National Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates United States, U.S. Department of 

Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_nat.htm#b29-0000. 

Request for Comments 

In accordance with the Paperwork 

Reduction Act, comments on AHRQ’s 

information collection are requested 

with regard to any of the following: (a) 

Whether the proposed collection of 

information is necessary for the proper 

performance of AHRQ health care 

research and health care information 

dissemination functions, including 

whether the information will have 

practical utility; (b) the accuracy of 

AHRQ’s estimate of burden (including 

hours and costs) of the proposed 

collection(s) 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 upon the 

respondents, including the use of 

automated collection techniques or 

other forms of information technology. 

Comments submitted in response to 

this notice will be summarized and 

included in the Agency’s subsequent 

request for OMB approval of the 

proposed information collection. 

All comments will become a matter of 

public record. 

Francis D. Chesley, Jr., 

Acting Deputy Director. 

[FR Doc. 2018–27359 Filed 12–17–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4160–90–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

Agency for Healthcare Research and 

Quality 

Supplemental Evidence and Data 

Request on Diagnostic and Treatment 

of Clinical Alzheimer’s-Type Dementia 

(CATD) 

AGENCY: Agency for Healthcare Research 

and Quality (AHRQ), HHS. 

ACTION: Request for supplemental 

evidence and data submissions. 

SUMMARY: The Agency for Healthcare 

Research and Quality (AHRQ) is seeking 

scientific information submissions from 

the public. Scientific information is 

being solicited to inform our review of 

Diagnostic and Treatment of Clinical 

Alzheimer’s-type Dementia (CATD), 

which is currently being conducted by 

the AHRQ’s Evidence-based Practice 

Centers (EPC) Program. Access to 

published and unpublished pertinent 

scientific information will improve the 

quality of this review. 

DATES: Submission Deadline on or 

before January 17, 2019. 

ADDRESSES:

Email submissions: 

epc@ahrq.hhs.gov. 

Print submissions: 

Mailing Address: Center for Evidence 

and Practice Improvement, Agency for 

Healthcare Research and Quality, 

ATTN: EPC SEADs Coordinator, 5600 

Fishers Lane, Mail Stop 06E53A, 

Rockville, MD 20857. 


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