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 request entitled “HIV Knowledge, Beliefs, Attitudes, and Practices of Providers in the Southeast (K-BAP Study)”. CDC is requesting a three-year approval for new data collection to identify areas of HIV prevention knowledge and practice strengths and deficits among primary care providers, in order to target limited HIV prevention resources to achieve the greatest reduction in new HIV infections and optimize HIV clinical care in clinical settings. The target population will be primary care providers practicing in high-prevalence metropolitan statistical geographic areas with large at-risk African American populations.

DATES:

Written comments must be received on or before May 23, 2016.

ADDRESSES:

You may submit comments, identified by Docket No. CDC-2016-0032 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

HIV Knowledge, Beliefs, Attitudes, and Practices of Providers in the Southeast (K-BAP Study)—New—National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention (NCHHSTP), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Background and Brief Description

Persons at high risk of HIV infection have often had one or more contacts with a health care provider within a year of their diagnoses. These health care encounters represent missed opportunities to: (1) Review and discuss sexual health and risk reduction, (2) screen for HIV infection and other STDs, (3) recognize and diagnose acute HIV infection and offer immediate antiretroviral therapy (ART) if indicated, (4) discuss the prevention benefit of treatment (with subsequent referral or prescription) and re-engagement in care, as appropriate, and (5) provide PrEP and nPEP if not infected and at high risk, consistent with current HIV prevention guidelines and recommendations.

Health care providers in high-prevalence geographic areas could substantially reduce new HIV infections among the patient populations they serve, as well as their communities. Health care providers are a trusted source of reliable information. They also have the capacity to perform STD/HIV testing and to prescribe medication with appropriate clinical follow-up.

Review of the literature published between January 2000 and June 2014 indicates we know little about providers' knowledge, beliefs, attitudes, and practices (K-BAP) in at-risk jurisdictions about HIV risk, HIV diagnosis and antiretroviral drug interventions in these domains, especially primary care providers serving high-risk patients in high-prevalence communities. K-BAP Study is an effort to assess providers' K-BAP using a cross sectional survey in the five priority HIV prevention domains noted above.

This K-BAP Study aligns with multiple goals and objectives of the National HIV/AIDS Strategy (NHAS) and CDC's “winnable battles.”

The project's specific objectives are to (1) Characterize knowledge, beliefs, attitudes, and practices of providers in five key HIV prevention domains in high-HIV prevalence communities with disproportionate numbers of blacks/African Americans, and (2) Educate providers about prevention interventions related to these domains based on survey-identified knowledge, beliefs, attitudes, and practices of providers' deficits.

The respondent population of medical providers will be pulled from the Healthcare Data Solutions (HDS) ProviderPRO and MidLevelPRO databases. Respondents will be recruited to participate in the survey through a combination of emails and phone calls. This strategy will consist of four emails spaced one week apart followed by phone calls to non-responders. The emails will explain the purpose of the survey, the availability of continuing education (CE) credits, and the $20 cash token of appreciation.

A large two-part internet-based survey will be conducted among a representative random sample of providers in the selected six (6) metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) with the highest HIV burden among the African American population. Part one of survey will be administered to participants at the beginning of project. The part-one survey findings will used to identify providers' knowledge, beliefs, attitudes, and practices of providers that might require additional educational reinforcement. Based on survey responses, providers will be linked to continuing education (CE) credit-eligible educational modules to improve their educational deficits. The educational modules are all web-based using either video or case-based methods of learning. The length of the course range from 1-3 hours accounting for 0.25—1.0 credit hours. Part two of survey will be administered six months later comprising of only the core questions in part one of survey to assess impact of CE modules on providers' practices regarding HIV prevention and treatment.

There are no costs to respondents other than their time. The total annual burden hours are 1,172.