[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 155 (Friday, August 10, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 39755-39757]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-17175]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

[60Day-18-0234; Docket No. CDC-2018-0073]


Proposed Data Collection Submitted for Public Comment and 
Recommendations

AGENCY: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Department of 
Health and Human Services (HHS).

ACTION: Notice with comment period.

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SUMMARY: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as part 
of its continuing effort to reduce public burden and maximize the 
utility of government information, invites the general public and other 
Federal agencies the opportunity to comment on a proposed and/or 
continuing information collection, as required by the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1995. This notice invites comment on a proposed 
information collection project titled the National Ambulatory Medical

[[Page 39756]]

Care Survey (NAMCS). The goal of the project is to assess the health of 
the population through patient use of physician offices, community 
health centers (CHCs), and to monitor the characteristics of physician 
practices].

DATES: CDC must receive written comments on or before October 9, 2018.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by Docket No. CDC-2018-
0073 by any of the following methods:
    <bullet> Federal eRulemaking Portal: Regulations.gov. Follow the 
instructions for submitting comments.
    <bullet> Mail: Jeffrey M. Zirger, Information Collection Review 
Office, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Road 
NE, MS-D74, Atlanta, Georgia 30329.
    Instructions: All submissions received must include the agency name 
and Docket Number. CDC will post, without change, all relevant comments 
to Regulations.gov.
    Please note: Submit all comments through the Federal eRulemaking 
portal (regulations.gov) or by U.S. mail to the address listed above.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To request more information on the 
proposed project or to obtain a copy of the information collection plan 
and instruments, contact Jeffrey M. Zirger, Information Collection 
Review Office, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton 
Road NE, MS-D74, Atlanta, Georgia 30329; phone: 404-639-7570; Email: 
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#c0afada280a3a4a3eea7afb6"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="7d12101f3d1e191e531a120b">[email protected]</span></a>.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 
(PRA) (44 U.S.C. 3501-3520), Federal agencies must obtain approval from 
the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for each collection of 
information they conduct or sponsor. In addition, the PRA also requires 
Federal agencies to provide a 60-day notice in the Federal Register 
concerning each proposed collection of information, including each new 
proposed collection, each proposed extension of existing collection of 
information, and each reinstatement of previously approved information 
collection before submitting the collection to the OMB for approval. To 
comply with this requirement, we are publishing this notice of a 
proposed data collection as described below.
    The OMB is particularly interested in comments that will help:
    1. Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is 
necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, 
including whether the information will have practical utility;
    2. Evaluate the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of 
the proposed collection of information, including the validity of the 
methodology and assumptions used;
    3. Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to 
be collected; and
    4. Minimize the burden of the collection of information on those 
who are to respond, including through the use of appropriate automated, 
electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or 
other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting electronic 
submissions of responses.
    5. Assess information collection costs.

Proposed Project

    National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NAMCS) (OMB Control No. 
0920-0234, Exp. Date 03/31/2019)--Revision- National Center for Health 
Statistics (NCHS), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Background and Brief Description

    The National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NAMCS) was conducted 
intermittently from 1973 through 1985, and annually since 1989. The 
survey is conducted under authority of Section 306 of the Public Health 
Service Act (42 U.S.C. 242k).
    NAMCS is part of the ambulatory care component of the National 
Health Care Surveys (NHCS), a family of provider-based surveys that 
capture health care utilization from a variety of settings, including 
hospital inpatient and long-term care facilities. NCHS surveys of 
health care providers include NAMCS, the National Hospital Ambulatory 
Medical Care Survey (NHAMCS) (OMB No. 0920-0278, Exp. Date 06/30/2021), 
the National Hospital Care Survey (OMB No. 0920-0212, Exp. Date 01/31/
2019), and National Study of Long-term Care Providers (OMB No. 0920-
0943, Exp. Date 12/31/2019).
    An overarching purpose of NAMCS is to meet the needs and demands 
for statistical information about the provision of ambulatory medical 
care services in the United States; this fulfills one of NCHS missions, 
to monitor the nation's health. In addition, NAMCS provides ambulatory 
medical care data to study: (1) The performance of the U.S. health care 
system, (2) care for the rapidly aging population, (3) changes in 
services such as health insurance coverage change, (4) the introduction 
of new medical technologies, and (5) the use of EHRs. Ongoing societal 
changes have led to considerable diversification in the organization, 
financing, and technological delivery of ambulatory medical care. This 
diversification is evidenced by the proliferation of insurance and 
benefit alternatives for individuals, the development of new forms of 
physician group practices and practice arrangements (such as office-
based practices owned by hospitals), and growth in the number of 
alternative sites of care.
    Ambulatory services are rendered in a wide variety of settings, 
including physician offices and hospital outpatient and emergency 
departments. Since more than 80% of all direct ambulatory medical care 
visits occur in physician offices, NAMCS provides data on the majority 
of ambulatory medical care services.
    In addition to health care provided in physician offices and 
outpatient and emergency departments, community health centers (CHCs) 
play an important role in the health care community by providing care 
to people who might not be able to afford it otherwise. CHCs are local, 
non-profit, community-owned health care settings, which serve 
approximately 23 million individuals throughout the United States. 
Prior to 2006, visits made to CHCs, although captured in NAMCS, were 
not purposely included in the sampling plan; at that time, CHCs did not 
represent a separate NAMCS stratum. In an attempt to obtain a more 
accurate picture of health care provided in the United States, a sample 
of 104 CHCs was included in the 2006 NAMCS panel. There has been annual 
data collection from CHCs since that time, and these settings will 
continue to be sampled in 2019-2021. The total estimated annual number 
of Burden Hours are 4,953. There is no cost to respondents other than 
their time.

[[Page 39757]]



                                                            Estimated Annualized Burden Hours
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                                                                                                             Number of      Avg. burden
              Type of respondents                               Form name                    Number of     responses per   per response    Total burden
                                                                                            respondents     respondent       (in hrs.)       (in hrs.)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Traditional Office-based Physicians or Staff...  2018 Physician Induction Interview                  122               1           30/60              61
                                                  (NAMCS-1).
Traditional Office-based Physicians or Staff...  2019+ Physician Induction Interview               1,097               1           30/60             549
                                                  (NAMCS-1).
Traditional Office-based Physicians or Staff...  2018 Pulling, re-filing medical record               99              30            1/60              50
                                                  forms (FR abstracts).
Traditional Office-based Physicians or Staff...  2019+ Pulling, re-filing medical record             893              30            1/60             447
                                                  forms (FR abstracts).
MU Office-based Physician Staff................  2019+ MU Physician Induction Interview            2,000               1           45/60           1,500
                                                  (NAMCS-PFI).
MU Office-based Physician Staff................  2019+ Pulling, re-filing medical record           2,000               1           60/60           2,000
                                                  forms (MU Onboarding).
Community Health Center Executive/Medical        2018 Induction Interview--service                    12               1           30/60               6
 Directors.                                       delivery site (NAMCS-201).
Community Health Center Executive/Medical        2019+ Induction Interview--service                  104               1           30/60              52
 Directors.                                       delivery site (NAMCS-201).
Community Health Center Providers..............  2018 Induction Interview--Providers                  27               1           30/60              14
                                                  (NAMCS-1).
Community Health Center Providers..............  2019+ Induction Interview--Providers                234               1           30/60             117
                                                  (NAMCS-1).
Community Health Center Provider Staff.........  2018 Pulling, re-filing medical record               27              30            1/60              14
                                                  forms (FR abstracts).
Community Health Center Provider Staff.........  2019+ Pulling, re-filing medical record             234              30            1/60             117
                                                  forms (FR abstracts).
Traditional Physician Office-based and           2018 Pulling, re-filing medical record                3              10            1/60               1
 Community Health Center Staff.                   forms (FR abstracts) for the
                                                  Reabstraction Study.
Traditional Physician Office-based and           2019+ Reinterview Study................             100               1           15/60              25
 Community Health Center Staff.
                                                                                         ---------------------------------------------------------------
    Total......................................  .......................................  ..............  ..............  ..............           4,953
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Jeffrey M. Zirger,
Acting Chief, Information Collection Review Office, Office of 
Scientific Integrity, Office of the Associate Director for Science, 
Office of the Director, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
[FR Doc. 2018-17175 Filed 8-9-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4163-18-P


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