[Federal Register: July 8, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 130)]
[Notices]
[Page 40680-40681]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr08jy03-80]
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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 44, United States Code, as amended by the Paperwork Reduction
Act of 1995, Pub. L. 104-13), the Health Resources and Services
Administration (HRSA) publishes 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 copy of the data collection plans and draft instruments, 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: Health Center Expansion and Recruitment Survey--New
HRSA's Office of Rural Health Policy (ORHP) currently funds a
number of Rural Health Research Centers in the United States,
allocating funding through cooperative agreements. Authorized by
section 301 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 241), ORHP
conducts research and investigations to render assistance to
appropriate public authorities in the areas of the health and well-
being of rural populations in the United States. A major current
initiative of HRSA is the expansion of Health Centers (HCs), which
provide medical care to lower income Americans on the basis of ability
to pay in rural and urban areas.
HCs are a key element of the nation's medical care safety net, and
are scheduled to expand the scope of their operations in the near
future. One of the issues affecting HC expansion is their ability to
recruit adequate numbers of medical and administrative personnel to
accomplish their mission, particularly in rural areas, where there have
been persistent problems recruiting and retaining health care
personnel. HRSA's Office of Rural Health Policy (ORHP) has funded a
study in collaborative oversight with the Bureau of Primary Health Care
(BPHC) and the Bureau of Health Professions (BHPr), to collect
information from HCs on issues concerning the recruitment of various
types of health professionals and administrative personnel.
This data collection effort is designed to assess the problems
encountered by rural and remote HCs in their efforts to recruit needed
personnel as well as the types of programs employed in recruitment
efforts, and to compare these patterns with prevailing programs in
urban HCs. This one-time survey will collect information on all HCs in
the United States. The survey includes 13 separate response items, and
will collect information from HC administrators on health care
professional staffing, recruitment trends, and issues and needs among
HCs throughout the nation. The data collected will improve HRSA's
abilities in forecasting needs for personnel as HCs expand, planning
recruitment programs and strategies, and implementation of local and
national policy initiatives to meet the personnel demands of HCs so
that access to health care is maximized.
The burden estimates are as follows:
[[Page 40681]]
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Number of Avg. burden/
Health center expansion, and recruitment survey Number of responses per Total number of hours per Total burden
respondents respondent responses response hours
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Survey instruments................................................. 845 1 845 .25 211
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Send comments to Susan G. Queen, Ph.D, HRSA Reports Clearance
Officer, Room 14-45, Parklawn Building, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville MD
20857. Written comments should be received within 60 days of this
notice.
Dated: June 25, 2003.
Jane M. Harrison,
Director, Division of Policy Review and Coordination.
[FR Doc. 03-17137 Filed 7-7-03; 8:45 am]
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