Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission to OMB for Review and Approval; Public Comment Request

AGENCY:

Health Resources and Services Administration, HHS.

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

In compliance with Section 3507(a)(1)(D) of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) has submitted an Information Collection Request (ICR) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval. Comments submitted during the first public review of this ICR will be provided to OMB. OMB will accept further comments from the public during the review and approval period.

DATES:

Comments on this ICR should be received no later than April 13, 2016.

ADDRESSES:

Submit your comments, including the Information Collection Request Title, to the desk officer for HRSA, either by email to OIRA_submission@omb.eop.gov or by fax to 202-395-5806.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

To request a copy of the clearance requests submitted to OMB for review, email the HRSA Information Collection Clearance Officer at paperwork@hrsa.gov or call (301) 443-1984.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Information Collection Request Title: Bureau of Health Workforce Performance Data Collection

OMB No. 0915-0061—Revision

Abstract: Over 40 Bureau of Health Workforce (BHW) programs award grants to health professions schools and training programs across the United States to develop, expand, and enhance training, and to strengthen the distribution of the health workforce. These programs are authorized by the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 201 et seq.), specifically Titles III, VII, and VIII. Performance information regarding these programs is collected in the HRSA Performance Report for Grants and Cooperative Agreements (PRGCA). Data collection activities consisting of an annual progress and annual performance report satisfy statutory and programmatic requirements for performance measurement and evaluation (including specific Title III, VII and VIII requirements), as well as Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) requirements. The performance measures were last revised in 2013 to ensure they addressed programmatic changes, met evolving program management needs, and responded to emerging workforce concerns—especially as a result of the changes in the Affordable Care Act (Pub. L. 111-148). As these revisions were successful, BHW will continue to use the same progress and performance forms. BHW is reducing the reporting burden by eliminating the semi-annual performance report and moving to annual progress and performance reporting.

Need and Proposed Use of the Information: The purpose of the data collection is to analyze and report grantee training activities and education, identify intended practice locations, and report outcomes of funded initiatives. Data collected from these grant programs also provide a description of the program activities of approximately 1,700 reporting grantees to better inform policymakers on the barriers, opportunities, and outcomes involved in health care workforce development. The measures focus on five key outcomes: (1) Increasing the workforce supply of diverse well-educated practitioners, (2) increasing the number of practitioners that practice in underserved and rural areas, (3) enhancing the quality of education, (4) increasing the recruitment, training, and placement of under-represented groups in the health workforce, and (5) supporting educational infrastructure to increase the capacity to train more health professionals.

Likely Respondents: Respondents are awardees of BHW health professions grant programs.

Burden Statement: Burden in this context means the time expended by persons to generate, maintain, retain, disclose or provide the information requested. This includes the time needed to review instructions; to develop, acquire, install and utilize technology and systems for the purpose of collecting, validating and verifying information, processing and maintaining information, and disclosing and providing information; to train personnel and to be able to respond to a collection of information; to search data sources; to complete and review the collection of information; and to transmit or otherwise disclose the information. The total annual burden hours estimated for this ICR are summarized in the table below.