Proposed Data Collection Submitted for Public Comment and Recommendations

AGENCY:

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

ACTION:

Notice with comment period.

SUMMARY:

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as part of its continuing efforts to reduce public burden and maximize the utility of government information, invites the general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on proposed and/or continuing information collections, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. This notice invites comment on a proposed information collection project entitled “Prevalence Survey of Healthcare-Associated Infections (HAIs) and Antimicrobial Use in U.S. Nursing Homes.” This information collection request will generate data to describe the epidemiology and estimate the burden of HAIs and antimicrobial use in US nursing homes using the prevalence survey method. Results will be used to inform state prevention efforts and federal priority setting for public health initiatives to improve HAI prevention and antimicrobial use.

DATES:

Written comments must be received on or before May 10, 2016.

ADDRESSES:

You may submit comments, identified by Docket No. CDC-2016-0026 by any of the following methods:

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: Regulation.gov. Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
• Mail: Leroy A. Richardson, Information Collection Review Office, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Road NE., MS-D74, Atlanta, Georgia 30329.

Instructions: All submissions received must include the agency name and Docket Number. All relevant comments received will be posted without change to Regulations.gov, including any personal information provided. For access to the docket to read background documents or comments received, go to Regulations.gov.

Please note:

All public comment should be submitted through the Federal eRulemaking portal (Regulations.gov) or by U.S. mail to the address listed above.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

To request more information on the proposed project or to obtain a copy of the information collection plan and instruments, contact the Information Collection Review Office, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Road NE., MS-D74, Atlanta, Georgia 30329; phone: 404-639-7570; Email: omb@cdc.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA) (44 U.S.C. 3501-3520), Federal agencies must obtain approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for each collection of information they conduct or sponsor. In addition, the PRA also requires Federal agencies to provide a 60-day notice in the Federal Register concerning each proposed collection of information, including each new proposed collection, each proposed extension of existing collection of information, and each reinstatement of previously approved information collection before submitting the collection to OMB for approval. To comply with this requirement, we are publishing this notice of a proposed data collection as described below.

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; (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; and (e) estimates of capital or start-up costs and costs of operation, maintenance, and purchase of services to provide information. Burden means the total time, effort, or financial resources expended by persons to generate, maintain, retain, disclose or provide information to or for a Federal agency. 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.

Proposed Project

Prevalence Survey of Healthcare-Associated Infections and Antimicrobial Use in U.S. Nursing Homes—New—National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases (NCEZID), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Background and Brief Description

Preventing healthcare-associated infections (HAI) and encouraging appropriate use of antimicrobials are priorities of both the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The burden and epidemiology of HAIs and antimicrobial use in U.S. nursing homes is currently unknown. Understanding the scope and magnitude of all types of HAIs in patient populations across the spectrum of U.S. healthcare facilities is essential to the development of effective prevention and control strategies and policies.

HAI prevalence and antimicrobial use estimates can be obtained through prevalence surveys in which data are collected in healthcare facilities during a short, specified time period. Essential steps in reducing the occurrence of HAIs and the prevalence of resistant pathogens include estimating the burden, types, and causative organisms of HAIs; assessing the nature and extent of antimicrobial use in U.S. healthcare facilities; and assessing the nature and extent of antimicrobial use.

Prevalence surveys, in which data are collected in healthcare facilities during a short, specified time period represent an efficient and cost-effective alternative to prospective studies of HAI and antimicrobial use incidence. Given the absence of existing HAI and antimicrobial use data collection mechanisms for nursing homes, prevalence surveys represent a robust method for obtaining the surveillance data required to identify HAIs and antibiotic use practices that should be targeted for more intensive surveillance and to guide and evaluate prevention efforts.

The methods for the data collection are based on those used in CDC hospital prevalence surveys and informed by a CDC pilot survey conducted in nine U.S. nursing homes. The survey will be performed by the CDC through the Emerging Infections Program (EIP), a collaboration with CDC and 10 state health departments with experience in HAI surveillance and data collection. Respondents are nursing homes certified by the Centers for Medicare & Medicare Services in EIP states. Nursing home participation is voluntary. Nursing homes will be randomly selected for participation, with a goal in each EIP site of recruiting a total of 20 nursing homes.

There will be no anticipated costs to respondents other than their time. Information collection will last approximately one year.