68886 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 223 / Wednesday, November 19, 2014 / Notices 

Leroy A. Richardson, 

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. 2014–27351 Filed 11–18–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4163–18–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

Centers for Disease Control and 

Prevention 

[30Day–15–0234] 

Agency Forms Undergoing Paperwork 

Reduction Act Review 

The Centers for Disease Control and 

Prevention (CDC) has submitted the 

following information collection request 

to the Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB) for review and approval in 

accordance with the Paperwork 

Reduction Act of 1995. The notice for 

the proposed information collection is 

published to obtain comments from the 

public and affected agencies. 

Written comments and suggestions 

from the public and affected agencies 

concerning the proposed collection of 

information are encouraged. Your 

comments should address any of the 

following: (a) 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; (b) Evaluate the 

accuracy of the agencyies estimate of the 

burden of the proposed collection of 

information, including the validity of 

the methodology and assumptions used; 

(c) Enhance the quality, utility, and 

clarity of the information to be 

collected; (d) 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 submission of 

responses; and (e) Assess information 

collection costs. 

To request additional information on 

the proposed project or to obtain a copy 

of the information collection plan and 

instruments, call (404) 639–7570 or 

send an email to omb@cdc.gov. Written 

comments and/or suggestions regarding 

the items contained in this notice 

should be directed to the Attention: 

CDC Desk Officer, Office of Management 

and Budget, Washington, DC 20503 or 

by fax to (202) 395–5806. Written 

comments should be received within 30 

days of this notice. 

Proposed Project 

National Ambulatory Medical Care 

Survey (NAMCS), (OMB No. 0920–0234 

exp. 12/31/2014)—Revision—National 

Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), 

Centers for Disease Control and 

Prevention (CDC). 

Background and Brief Description 

Section 306 of the Public Health 

Service (PHS) Act (42 U.S.C. 242k), as 

amended, authorizes that the Secretary 

of Health and Human Services, acting 

through NCHS, shall collect statistics on 

the utilization of health care provided 

by non-federal office-based physicians 

in the United States. On December 13, 

2011, the OMB approved data collection 

for three years from 2012 to 2014. This 

revision is to request approval to 

continue NAMCS data collection 

activities for three years from 2015– 

2017, make minor modifications to 

survey content, and to collect additional 

questions on alcohol screening practices 

and on provider cultural and linguistic 

competence. This notice also covers 

potential increases in sample size that 

might result due to other future budget 

allocations. 

The National Ambulatory Medical 

Care Survey (NAMCS) has been 

conducted intermittently from 1973 

through 1985, and annually since 1989. 

The purpose of NAMCS, a voluntary 

survey, is to meet the needs and 

demands for statistical information 

about the provision of ambulatory 

medical care services in the United 

States. Ambulatory services are 

rendered in a wide variety of settings, 

including physicians’ offices and 

hospital outpatient and emergency 

departments. 

The NAMCS target universe consists 

of all office visits made by ambulatory 

patients to non-Federal office-based 

physicians (excluding those in the 

specialties of anesthesiology, radiology, 

and pathology) who are engaged in 

direct patient care. In 2006, physicians 

and mid-level providers (i.e., nurse 

practitioners, physician assistants, and 

nurse midwives) practicing in 

community health centers (CHCs) were 

added to the NAMCS sample, and these 

data will continue to be collected. 

To complement NAMCS data, NCHS 

initiated the National Hospital 

Ambulatory Medical Care Survey 

(NHAMCS, OMB No. 0920–0278) in 

1992 to provide data concerning patient 

visits to hospital outpatient and 

emergency departments. NAMCS and 

NHAMCS are the principal sources of 

data on ambulatory care provided in the 

United States. 

The annualized estimated burden of 

time is 25,311 hours. There is no cost 

to the respondents other than their time. 

ESTIMATED ANNUALIZED BURDEN HOURS

Type of respondents Form name Number of 

respondents 

Number of 

responses per 

respondent 

Average 

burden per 

response 

(in hours) 

Office-based physicians (Core plus Expansion Sample).Physician Induction Interview (NAMCS–1) ....

Patient Record form (NAMCS–30) (Physician 

abstracts on Web).

5,656 

1,131 

1 

30 

45/60 

14/60 

Pulling, re-filing medical record forms (FR 

abstracts).

4,525 30 1/60 

Community Health Centers (Core plus Expansion Sample).Induction Interview—service delivery site 

(NAMCS–201).

1,780 1 20/60 

Induction Interview—Providers ...................... 4,005 1 45/60 

Patient Record form (NAMCS–30) (Provider 

abstracts).

801 30 14/60 

Pulling, re-filing medical record forms (FR 

abstracts).

3,204 30 1/60 

Re-abstraction study ....................................... Pulling, re-filing medical record forms (FR 

abstracts).

500 10 1/60 

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES

Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 223 / Wednesday, November 19, 2014 / Notices 68887 

Leroy A. Richardson, 

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. 2014–27352 Filed 11–18–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4163–18–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

Centers for Disease Control and 

Prevention 

[30Day-15–14APM] 

Agency Forms Undergoing Paperwork 

Reduction Act Review 

The Centers for Disease Control and 

Prevention (CDC) has submitted the 

following information collection request 

to the Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB) for review and approval in 

accordance with the Paperwork 

Reduction Act of 1995. The notice for 

the proposed information collection is 

published to obtain comments from the 

public and affected agencies. 

Written comments and suggestions 

from the public and affected agencies 

concerning the proposed collection of 

information are encouraged. Your 

comments should address any of the 

following: (a) 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; (b) Evaluate the 

accuracy of the agencies estimate of the 

burden of the proposed collection of 

information, including the validity of 

the methodology and assumptions used; 

(c) Enhance the quality, utility, and 

clarity of the information to be 

collected; (d) 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 submission of 

responses; and (e) Assess information 

collection costs. 

To request additional information on 

the proposed project or to obtain a copy 

of the information collection plan and 

instruments, call (404) 639–7570 or 

send an email to omb@cdc.gov. Written 

comments and/or suggestions regarding 

the items contained in this notice 

should be directed to the Attention: 

CDC Desk Officer, Office of Management 

and Budget, Washington, DC 20503 or 

by fax to (202) 395–5806. Written 

comments should be received within 30 

days of this notice. 

Proposed Project 

Surveillance of Health-Related 

Workplace Absenteeism—[New]— 

National Institute for Occupational 

Safety and Health (NIOSH), Centers for 

Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). 

Background and Brief Description 

There is currently a high global 

human health risk from emerging novel 

influenza, coronavirus and similar 

evolving pathogens, which is prompting 

the Centers for Disease Control and 

Prevention (CDC) to enhance situational 

awareness capacity for emergency 

preparedness and response. 

During the 2009 influenza A (H1N1) 

virus pandemic, NIOSH/CDC did a pilot 

study to test the feasibility of using 

national surveillance of workplace 

absenteeism to assess the pandemic’s 

impact on the workplace to plan for 

preparedness and continuity of 

operations and to contribute to health 

awareness during the emergency 

response. As part of this emergency 

effort, CDC contracted with the 

American College of Occupational and 

Environmental Medicine (ACOEM), 

which has access to a large network of 

affiliated medical directors and 

corporate health units that routinely 

compile absenteeism data, to conduct 

enhanced passive surveillance of 

absenteeism using weekly data from a 

convenience sample of sentinel 

worksites. 

Due the emergency situation at that 

time, OMB approval was erroneously 

not requested for the data collection 

activities associated with the pilot 

study. The current request seeks to 

build off of the data collected from the 

pilot and accounts for the burden 

involving all of the participants. 

From September 28, 2009, through 

March 31, 2010, 79 sentinel worksites 

representing 16 different employers 

participated in the pilot study. Each 

week, ACOEM collected reports of 

aggregated absenteeism data from the 

medical directors of the participating 

companies using an emailed, 

standardized form. ACOEM replaced 

company names with coded unique 

identifiers, and sent the aggregated data 

to CDC/NIOSH for analysis. 

The major strengths of the sentinel 

worksite approach to absenteeism 

surveillance were the use of existing, 

routinely collected data and timeliness. 

The use of existing, routinely collected 

data made the burden on participating 

companies negligible. Data were 

routinely compiled and thus could be 

collected and analyzed in near real time, 

making this approach useful, in 

principle, for providing current 

situational awareness and actionable 

intelligence that could be used to 

inform, prioritize, and evaluate 

intervention efforts during the 

pandemic. On the other hand, there 

were several limitations to the sentinel 

worksite surveillance done in 2009– 

2010, and the activity was not 

maintained after the H1N1 pandemic 

ended. 

At present, two new emerging 

infectious diseases, novel H7N9 

influenza virus and a coronavirus 

circulating in the Middle East, have 

demonstrated the need to build 

additional capacity for national 

surveillance for health-related 

workplace absenteeism so that it can be 

used to monitor the impact of these or 

any other disease that might reach 

pandemic potential and spread to the 

U.S. 

NIOSH/CDC requests permission to 

collect company absenteeism data, to be 

able to assess the impact of disease on 

a company and to identify trends in the 

spread of influenza or other novel 

disease states. This will provide an 

additional monitoring system to CDC. 

The proposed project builds on the 

2009/10 initiative and modifies the 

reporting format to collect information 

on a daily versus weekly basis. The 

companies in the program will be those 

that routinely collect absenteeism data 

thus the burden will be minimal. We 

will be asking companies to record their 

daily absenteeism numbers into an excel 

file which can be emailed to ACOEM on 

a weekly or monthly basis. The excel 

file will be pre-populated with company 

name, site and dates to ease the 

reporting burden on companies. 

ACOEM will transmit de-identified 

information on a weekly or monthly 

basis to NIOSH/CDC who will in turn 

conduct analysis on an aggregate basis. 

Data will be compiled by state and HHS 

region, as well as nationally to allow for 

trend analysis. 

The initial 16 respondents in the 

2009/10 study will be asked to 

participate and an additional 12 

companies have indicated an interest in 

participating in the data collection 

activity. The employee population 

among these 28 companies is 

approximately 293,000. 

The annualized estimated burden of 

time is 607 hours for the 28 respondents 

in the study. Respondents will complete 

the form daily; no more than 5 minutes 

per day/per respondent which translates 

to 25 minutes per week/per respondent 

or 700 minutes per week for all 

respondents. This results in an 

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES