[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 64 (Thursday, April 3, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15914-15915]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-8449]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Health Resources and Services Administration


Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection: 
Comment Request

    In compliance with the requirement for opportunity for public 
comment on proposed data collection projects (section 3506(c)(2)(A) of 
Title 35, United States Code, as amended by the

[[Page 15915]]

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104-13), the Health 
Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) will publish periodic 
summaries of proposed projects being developed for submission to OMB 
under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. To request more information 
on the proposed project or to obtain a copy of the data collection 
plans, call the HRSA Reports Clearance Officer on (301) 443-1129.
    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 collection 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 on respondents, 
including through the use of automated collection techniques or other 
forms of information technology.

Proposed Project: Performance Outcome Demonstration Study--New

    Through Titles VII and VIII programs, the Bureau of Health 
Professions provides both policy leadership and support for health 
professions workforce enhancement and educational infrastructure 
development. An outcome-based performance measurement system is central 
to the ability of the Bureau to measure whether program support is 
meeting its national health workforce objectives, and to signal where 
program course correction is necessary.
    In addition, the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) 
requires each agency to develop comprehensive strategic plans, to 
submit annual performance plans that set specific performance goals for 
each program activity, and to report annually on the actual performance 
achieved compared to the performance goals.
    The Bureau of Health Professions has developed a comprehensive 
program which consists of cross-cutting indicators designed to capture 
the common activities across programs, cluster level indicators 
designed to capture common activities for programs with a similar 
focus, and program specific indicators designed to capture activities 
which are specific to selected individual programs. At the core of the 
Bureau's performance measurement system are four cross-cutting goals 
with respect to workforce quality, supply, diversity and distribution. 
External customer input was utilized to validate the Bureau's proposed 
outcomes and indicators, and to assist with a preliminary assessment of 
the suitability of data sources. A pilot study of nine program sites 
within the Washington metropolitan area was completed to determine the 
availability of the data along with the clarity of the definitions and 
instructions. The results of the pilot indicate that these data can be 
collected from grantees.
    A wider demonstration will be done to assess the ability of current 
grantees, in the second year of the project period or later, to supply 
the data without the benefit of a site visit and to further refine the 
definitions and instructions. Since data are collected by discipline, 
the estimate of burden hours per response is different for projects 
that involve a single discipline and projects that involve multiple 
disciplines.
    It is expected that the data collection tool for the demonstration 
may be distributed through the Internet, as has been done for the grant 
application materials for these programs, and returned to the Bureau in 
the mail. However, when this data collection system is fully 
implemented, it is expected that the distribution and submission will 
be fully automated and that the data collection tool will be an 
interactive program which prompts respondents to report only those data 
relevant to their programs. Burden estimates are as follows:

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                                                                           Responses                    Total   
                     Type of respondent                         No. of        per      Burden hours     burden  
                                                             respondents   respondent  per response     hours   
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Projects involving a single discipline.....................          400            1           8          3,200
Projects involving multiple disciplines....................           16            1          40            640
    Total..................................................          416            1           9.2        3,840
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    Send comments to Patricia Royston, HRSA Reports Clearance Officer, 
Room 14-36, Parklawn Building, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, MD 20857. 
Written comments should be received within 60 days of this notice.

    Dated: March 27, 1997.
J. Henry Montes,
Director, Office of Policy and Information Coordination.
[FR Doc. 97-8449 Filed 4-2-97; 8:45 am]
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