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[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 17 (Monday, January 27, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4336-4337]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-01451]

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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Office of the Secretary

[Docket ID: DoD-2014-HA-0010]

Proposed Collection; Comment Request

AGENCY: Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health 
Affairs, DoD.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In compliance with Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1995, the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense 
for Health Affairs announces a proposed public information collection 
and seeks public comment on the provisions thereof. Comments are 
invited on: (a) Whether the proposed collection of information is 
necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, 
including whether the information shall have practical utility; (b) the 
accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed 
information collection; (c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and 
clarity of the information to be collected; and (d) ways to minimize 
the burden of the information collection on respondents, including 
through the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of 
information technology.

DATES: Consideration will be given to all comments received by March 
28, 2014.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by docket number and 
title, by any of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
     Mail: Federal Docket Management System Office, 4800 Mark 
Center Drive, East Tower, Suite 02G09, Alexandria, VA 22350-3100.
    Instructions: All submissions received must include the agency 
name, docket number and title for this Federal Register document. The 
general policy for comments and other submissions from members of the 
public is to make these submissions available for public viewing on the 
Internet at http://www.regulations.gov as they are received without 
change, including any personal identifiers or contact information.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To request more information on this 
proposed information collection or to obtain a copy of the proposal and 
associated collection instruments, please write to the Defense Health 
Cost Assessment & Program Evaluation Office, Defense Health Agency, 
ATTN: Dr. Kimberley Marshall, 7700 Arlington Blvd., Suite 5101, Falls 
Church, VA 22042-5101.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Title; and OMB Number: TRICARE Award Fee Provider Survey; OMB 
Control Number 0720-0048.
    Needs and Uses: The information collection requirement is necessary 
to obtain and record TRICARE network civilian provider-user 
satisfaction with the administrative processes/services of managed care 
support contractors (MCSC) in three TRICARE regions within the United 
States (North, West, and South) and three regions internationally 
(Europe, Pacific and Latin America). The survey will obtain provider 
opinions regarding claims processing, customer service, and 
administrative support by the TRICARE regional contractors. The reports 
of findings from these surveys, coupled with performance criteria from 
other sources, will be used by the TRICARE Regional Administrative 
Contracting Officers to determine award fees.
    Affected Public: Individuals or households; businesses or other 
for-profit; not for-profit institutions.
    Annual Burden Hours: 102
    Number of Respondents: 1224
    Responses per Respondent: 1
    Average Burden per Response: 5 minutes per respondent
    Frequency: On occasion
    The Defense Health Cost Assessment & Program Evaluation (DHCAPE) 
Office under the authority of the Office of the Assistant Secretary of 
Defense (Health Affairs)/Defense Health Agency will undertake a survey 
of TRICARE network providers to ask a series of questions regarding 
satisfaction with the TRICARE Health Plan. For these purposes, a 
provider is defined as a person, business, or institution that provides 
health care. For example, a doctor, hospital, or ambulance company is a 
provider. Providers must be authorized under TRICARE regulations and 
have their status certified by the regional contractors to provide 
services to TRICARE beneficiaries.
    Defense Health Agency (DHA), the Defense Department activity that 
administers the health care plan for the uniformed services, retirees 
and their families, serves more than 9.6 million eligible beneficiaries 
worldwide in the Military Health System. TRICARE supplements the health 
care resources of the uniformed services with networks of civilian 
professionals to provide high-quality health care services while 
maintaining the capability to support military operations. DHA has 
partnered with civilian regional contractors in the three U.S and three 
international regions to provide these health care services and support 
to beneficiaries.
    DOD has delegated oversight of the civilian provider network to the 
TRICARE Regional Offices. To improve DOD's oversight of the civilian 
provider network, GAO (Defense Health Care: Oversight of the Tricare 
Civilian Provider Network Should Be Improved; GAO-03-928; July 31, 
2003) has recommended the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health 
Affairs to explore options for improving the civilian

[[Page 4337]]

provider surveys so that the results of the surveys could be useful to 
DOD and to the contractors in identifying civilian provider concerns 
and developing actions that might mitigate concerns and help ensure the 
adequacy of the civilian provider network.
    As a result, the new Managed Care Support Contracts (MCSC) 
incorporates an incentive award fee component. The determination of the 
award fee is through an evaluation by the Government that rewards 
contractor performance that exceeds contract requirements. For 
assessment of awards, activities will include, in part, the collection 
and analyses of survey data obtained confidentially via telephone from 
network civilian providers within U.S. and international regions. The 
goal of this survey effort is to provide regional Administrative 
Contracting Officers with information on provider-user satisfaction 
with the administrative processes/services of MCSC. Specifically, 
confidential telephone surveys of civilian network providers will be 
conducted that focus on three basic business functions provided of 
claims processing, customer service, and administrative services by the 
MCSC.

    Dated: January 22, 2014.
Aaron Siegel,
Alternate OSD Federal Register Liaison Officer, Department of Defense.
[FR Doc. 2014-01451 Filed 1-24-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 5001-06-P
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