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[Federal Register: March 22, 2010 (Volume 75, Number 54)]
[Notices]               
[Page 13543-13544]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr22mr10-59]                         

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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

[Document Identifier: CMS-10315]

 
Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; 
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) 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 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.
    1. Type of Information Collection Request: New collection; Title of 
Information Collection: Patient Safety Survey Under the 9th Scope of 
Work: Nursing Home in Need (NHIN) Use: The Centers for Medicare & 
Medicaid Services (CMS) is requesting OMB clearance for the Nursing 
Homes in Need (NHIN) Survey. The NHIN is a component of the Patient 
Safety Theme of the Quality Improvement Organization (QIO) Program's 
9th Scope of Work (SOW). The statutory authority for this scope of work 
is found in Part B of Title XI of the Social Security Act (the Act) as 
amended by the Peer Review Improvement Act of 1982. The Act established 
the Utilization and Quality Control Peer Review Organization Program, 
now known as the Quality Improvement Organization (QIO) Program.
    The QIO in each State will provide special technical assistance to 
a small number of nursing homes in need of assistance with quality 
improvement efforts. This special technical assistance will be for the 
QIO to conduct a root cause analysis (RCA) with one nursing home in its 
State per year (three over three years). Under this component, it is 
expected that within the first quarter of the contract period, CMS will 
assign one nursing home to each QIO. The determination of which nursing 
homes are eligible under this component will be made by CMS. Some of 
these facilities may meet criteria for Special Focus Facilities (SFF). 
The intent of this component is that each State QIO will work with 
three nursing homes over the three-year contract period; these 
assignments are expected to be spaced out so that each State QIO will 
get one nursing home assigned approximately every 12 months.
    The NHIN Survey is a new information collection to be used by CMS 
to obtain information on nursing home satisfaction with technical 
assistance strategies delivered as a component of the NHIN. The NHIN 
Survey will be a census of 53 nursing homes working with their 
respective QIOs. The survey will be conducted one time for each of the 
nursing homes assisted in the first two years under the 9th SOW and it 
will be conducted twice with nursing homes assisted in the third year. 
The information collected through this survey will allow CMS to help 
focus the NHIN task to maximize the benefit to participating nursing 
homes. The NHIN Survey will be administered via telephone by trained 
and experienced interviewers. Responses will be entered into a pre-
programmed Computer-Assisted Telephone Interviewing (CATI) interface.
    The NHIN Survey will include questions to determine if the QIO has 
conducted a root cause analysis and developed an action plan. These 
will be followed by questions about their satisfaction with the QIO and 
their perceived value of the QIO's assistance. The NHIN Survey will 
address the following:
     Background information;
     Current work--information and assessment;
     Satisfaction with QIOs;
     Value of QIO assistance;
     Sources of information; and
     Respondent comments.

All survey protocol and correspondence will be translated into Spanish 
and bi-lingual telephone interviewers will be used as needed. Form 
Number: CMS-10315 (OMB: 0938-New); Frequency:

[[Page 13544]]

Occasionally; Affected Public: Businesses and other for-profit and not-
for-profit institutions; Number of Respondents: 53; Total Annual 
Responses: 106; Total Annual Hours: 17.5 hours (years 1 and 2), 35 
hours (year 3). (For policy questions regarding this collection contact 
Bob Kambic 410-786-1515. 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 at http://www.cms.hhs.gov/PaperworkReductionActof1995, or e-
mail 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 May 21, 2010:
    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, Room C4-26-05, 7500 Security Boulevard, Baltimore, 
Maryland 21244-1850.

    Dated: March 15, 2010.
Michelle Shortt,
Director, Regulations Development Group, Office of Strategic Operations 
and Regulatory Affairs.
[FR Doc. 2010-6238 Filed 3-19-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4120-01-P
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