Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 63 / Friday, April 1, 2022 / Notices 19177 

4The current inventory exhibits a total burden of 

250 hours while the total burden of this notice is 

793 hours. The increase in burden hours is due to 

an anticipated increase in the number of responses. 

5FRA used an hourly rate of $27 per hour for the 

value of the public’s time. FRA obtained this data 

from the Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor 

Statistics. 

a crossing or attempting to beat a train 

through a crossing without gates, in 

order to avoid a lengthy delay if they are 

aware that trains routinely block a 

crossing for extended periods of time. 

There are also potential economic 

impacts that affect businesses, such as 

stores or restaurants not being accessible 

to a customer base for an extended 

period of time. Finally, highway-rail 

grade crossings that are blocked for 

extended periods of time may create 

societal nuisances, such as roadway 

congestion, delayed mail service and 

deliveries, disrupted school and work 

arrival and dismissal, or missed 

appointments. 

Type of Request: Revision of a 

currently approved collection. 

Affected Public: Public individuals 

and law enforcement personnel. 

Form(s): FRA F 6180.175. 

Respondent Universe: Public 

individuals and law enforcement 

personnel. 

Frequency of Submission: On 

occasion. 

Reporting Burden: 

Form 4 Total annual 

responses 

Average time 

per response 

(minutes) 

Total annual 

burden hours 

Total cost 

equivalent 

(A) (B) (C) = A * B (D) = C * 

wage rate 5

General Public via the unrestricted form on the FRA website ........................ 15,500 3 775 $20,925 

Law Enforcement Personnel via the limited access form on the FRA 

website ......................................................................................................... 350 3 18 486 

Total .......................................................................................................... 15,850 N/A 793 21,411 

Total Estimated Annual Responses: 

15,850. 

Total Estimated Annual Burden: 793 

hours. 

Total Estimated Annual Burden Hour 

Dollar Cost Equivalent: $21,411. 

Under 44 U.S.C. 3507(a) and 5 CFR 

1320.5(b) and 1320.8(b)(3)(vi), FRA 

informs all interested parties that a 

respondent is not required to respond 

to, conduct, or sponsor a collection of 

information that does not display a 

currently valid OMB control number. 

Authority: 44 U.S.C. 3501–3520. 

Brett A. Jortland, 

Deputy Chief Counsel. 

[FR Doc. 2022–06944 Filed 3–31–22; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–06–P 

DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS 

AFFAIRS 

Privacy Act of 1974; Matching Program 

AGENCY: Department of Veterans Affairs 

(VA). 

ACTION: Notice of a re-established 

matching program. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with subsection 

(e)(12) of the Privacy Act of 1974, as 

amended, VA is providing notice of a reestablished matching program between 

VA and the Department of Health and 

Human Services (HHS) Centers for 

Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) 

entitled ‘‘Disclosure of Information to 

Support the Veterans Affairs’ Seek to 

Prevent Fraud, Waste, and Abuse 

Initiative.’’ 

DATES: Comments on this matching 

program must be received no later than 

May 2, 2022. If no public comment is 

received during the period allowed for 

comment or unless otherwise published 

in the Federal Register by VA, the new 

agreement will become effective a 

minimum of 30 days after date of 

publication in the Federal Register. If 

VA receives public comments, VA shall 

review the comments to determine 

whether any changes to the notice are 

necessary. This matching program will 

be valid for 18 months from the effective 

date of this notice. 

ADDRESSES: Comments may be 

submitted through www.Regulations.gov 

or mailed to VA Privacy Service, 810 

Vermont Avenue NW, (005R1A), 

Washington, DC 20420. Comments 

should indicate that they are submitted 

in response to ‘‘Disclosure of 

Information to Support the Veteran 

Affairs’ Seek to Prevent Fraud, Waste, 

and Abuse Initiative.’’ Comments 

received will be available at 

regulations.gov for public viewing, 

inspection or copies. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Maggie Drye, Director, VA Office of 

Business Oversight Program Integrity 

Office, 1615 Woodward Street, Austin, 

TX 78772, (512) 386–2218. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This 

Agreement establishes the terms, 

conditions, and procedures under 

which CMS will provide certain data to 

VA that supports the VA’s Seek to 

Prevent Fraud, Waste, and Abuse 

initiative. The data will be provided 

from CMS’ database of enrolled 

Medicare providers and suppliers 

(System of Records Notice [SORN] No. 

09–70–0532, Provider Enrollment, 

Chain, and Ownership System 

[PECOS]). Using PECOS data in a 

matching program for this purpose will 

provide VA prompt access to extant 

information, using an efficient process 

that both eliminates the need to 

manually compare substantial numbers 

of data-intensive files and enables VA to 

leverage, instead of duplicating, the 

costly Advance Provider Screening 

process that CMS uses to check 

suitability of Medicare providers and 

generate the data in PECOS. 

Participating Agencies: VA and CMS. 

Authority for Conducting the 

Matching Program: This Agreement is 

executed pursuant to the Privacy Act (5 

United States Code [U.S.C.] § 552a) and 

the regulations and guidance 

promulgated thereunder; Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) 

Circular A–108, Federal Agency 

Responsibilities for Review, Reporting, 

and Publication under the Privacy Act, 

published at 81 FR 94424 (December 23, 

2016); and OMB guidelines pertaining 

to computer matching published at 54 

FR 25818 (June 19, 1989). Title 38 

U.S.C. 7301(b) states that the primary 

function of VA is to provide a complete 

medical and hospital service for the care 

of eligible Veterans. In carrying out this 

function, including through contracts 

with external entities and providers, VA 

has an obligation to (1) ensure providers 

furnish care that is appropriate and safe 

and meets or exceeds professional 

standards for quality and (2), in the case 

of external providers, maintain billing 

integrity and compliance with 

contractual terms. The VA 


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19178 Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 63 / Friday, April 1, 2022 / Notices 

Accountability First Act of 2017 

provides the VA Secretary the authority 

to expeditiously remove, demote, or 

suspend any VA employee, including 

Senior Executive Service employees, for 

performance or misconduct. 

Purpose(s): Under this matching 

program, VA internal and external 

providers will be matched against the 

database of Medicare providers and 

suppliers who have been revoked by 

CMS pursuant to 42 Code of Federal 

Regulations (CFR) 424.535. VA intends 

to review the information provided, 

perform additional validation, and if 

deemed appropriate, conduct further 

investigation or refer the matter to the 

VA Office of the Inspector General (OIG) 

for further investigation. Based on 

additional validation or investigation, 

should VA determine VA program 

requirements have been violated, VA 

intends to take action (or refer to the 

OIG for action) against the VA internal 

and external providers. Such action may 

be based on activities that endanger VA 

patients and/or reflect improper or 

erroneous billing practices related to 

claims for health care provided to VA 

beneficiaries. Actions VA may take 

include (1) terminating or modifying 

existing contractual or provider 

agreements; (2) stopping referral of VA 

patients to the VA external providers; 

(3) referring the VA internal and 

external providers to the OIG; (4) 

performing pre- or post-payment 

reviews of claims paid or submitted; or 

(5) taking disciplinary actions or 

removing, demoting, or suspending VA 

internal providers. 

Categories of Individuals: VA internal 

and external health care providers will 

be matched against the database of 

Medicare providers who have been 

revoked by CMS under 42 CFR 424.535. 

‘‘Provider’’ is defined by 42 CFR 

400.202 as a ‘‘hospital, a Critical Access 

Hospital, a skilled nursing facility, a 

comprehensive outpatient rehabilitation 

facility, a home health agency, or a 

hospice that has in effect an agreement 

to participate in Medicare, or a clinic, a 

rehabilitation agency, or a public health 

agency that has in effect a similar 

agreement but only to furnish outpatient 

physical therapy or speech pathology 

services, or a community mental health 

center that has in effect a similar 

agreement but only to furnish partial 

hospitalization services.’’ 

Categories of Records: VA will 

provide CMS electronic files, in a format 

defined by CMS, containing identifying 

information required to match VA 

records with CMS records. Data fields 

will include one or more of the 

following elements: (1) Name of 

Provider/Business; (2) Tax Identification 

Number (TIN) (EIN, ITIN or SSN); (3) 

National Provider Identifier (NPI); (4) 

State(s) in which the provider is 

providing services; and (5) Specialty 

Code or Taxonomy Code. Upon 

matching the TIN or NPI, CMS will 

provide VA the matched data elements 

above and the following additional 

fields: (1) NPI (for individuals) where 

VA provided a TIN; (2) Current 

Enrollment Status; (3) Current 

Enrollment Status Effective Date; (4) 

Status Reason (PECOS codes used to 

denote the specific reason(s) on which 

the final revocation was based); and (5) 

All NPIs associated with a revoked TIN 

to include all above fields (1–4) and 

Enrollment State, Specialty, Role, 

Enrollment Bar status, and Enrollment 

Bar Expiration Date (if applicable). 

System(s) of Records: VA will provide 

information covered by SORN 

77VA10A4, Health Care Provider 

Credentialing and Privileging RecordsVA, last published in full at 85 FR 7395 

(February 7, 2020), routine uses 1 and 

2; SORN 23VA10NB3, Non-VA Care 

(Fee) Records-VA, last published in full 

at 80 FR 45590 (July 30, 2015), routine 

use 2 and 30; and SORN 02VA135, 

Applicants for Employment under Title 

38, U.S.C.-VA, last published in full at 

42 FR 49728 (September 27, 1977), and 

updated at 51 FR 25969 (July 17, 1986), 

55 FR 42534 (October 19, 1990), and 58 

FR 40852 (July 30, 1993). See routine 

uses 1 and 2 published at 42 FR 49728. 

CMS will provide information covered 

by SORN 09–70–0532, Provider 

Enrollment, Chain, and Ownership 

System (PECOS), last published in full 

at 71 FR 60536 (October 13, 2006) and 

updated at 78 FR 32257 (May 29, 2013) 

and 83 FR 6591 (February 14, 2018). See 

routine use 6 published at 71 FR 60536 

and the unnumbered routine use 

published at 78 FR 32257); and SORN 

09–70–0555, National Plan and 

Provider Enumeration System, last 

published in full at 75 FR 30411 (June 

1, 2010), and updated at 78 FR 32257 

(May 29, 2013) and 83 FR 6591 

(February 14, 2018). See routine use 5 

published at 75 FR 30411 and the 

unnumbered routine use published at 

78 FR 32257. 

Signing Authority 

The Senior Agency Official for 

Privacy, or designee, approved this 

document and authorized the 

undersigned to sign and submit the 

document to the Office of the Federal 

Register for publication electronically as 

an official document of the Department 

of Veterans Affairs. Joseph S. Stenaka, 

Executive Director for Information 

Security Operations, Chief Privacy 

Officer and Chair of the VA Data 

Integrity Board approved this document 

on February 17, 2022 for publication. 

Dated: March 29, 2022. 

Amy L. Rose, 

Program Analyst, VA Privacy Service, Office 

of Information Security, Office of Information 

and Technology, Department of Veterans 

Affairs. 

[FR Doc. 2022–06908 Filed 3–31–22; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE P 


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