[Federal Register: August 19, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 161)]
[Notices]
[Page 48385-48386]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr19au08-55]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Indian Health Service
Request for Public Comment: 30-Day Proposed Information
Collection: Behavioral Health Preventive Care Assessment Focus Group
AGENCY: Indian Health Service, HHS.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: In compliance with section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the Paperwork
Reduction Act of 1995 which requires 30 days for public comment on
proposed information collection projects, the Indian Health Service
(IHS) has submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) a
request to review and approve the information collection listed below.
This proposed information collection project was previously published
in the
[[Page 48386]]
Federal Register (73 FR 23254) on April 29, 2008 and allowed 60 days
for public comment. No public comment was received in response to the
notice. The purpose of this notice is to allow 30 days for public
comment to be submitted directly to OMB.
Proposed Collection: Title: 0917-NEW, ``Behavioral Health
Preventative Care Assessment Focus Group.'' Type of Information
Collection Request: Three year approval for this new information
collection, 0917-NEW, ``Behavioral Health Preventive Care Assessment
Focus Group Guide.'' Form Number(s): None. Need and Use of Information
Collection: The IHS goal is to raise the health status of the American
Indian and Alaska Native people to the highest possible level by
providing comprehensive health care and preventive health services. To
support the IHS mission, IHS uses the Government Performance Act (GPRA)
to assess quality of care among its Federal, urban, and Tribal health
programs. The IHS has been largely successful in meeting GPRA targets
for selected clinical performance measures at the national level.
However, there is significant variability in performance among IHS and
Tribal service units.
Until this time, IHS has not undertaken any comprehensive studies
to evaluate the reasons for that variability or the factors that
contribute to high quality care at the local level. The IHS has three
GPRA measures relating to behavioral health, a high priority for the
Agency and one of the IHS Director's Initiatives. This study will focus
on these three GPRA behavioral health measures: Depression Screening in
adults age 18 and over, Domestic/Intimate Partner Violence screening in
women ages 15-40 and Alcohol Screening (to prevent Fetal Alcohol
Syndrome) in women ages 15-44.
Tribal programs voluntarily report their GPRA results quarterly and
annually for national reporting. GPRA data collected for these three
behavioral health measures includes: The number of patients eligible
for a screening (denominator), number of eligible patients who receive
a screening (numerator), and the resulting screening rate (percentage).
IHS has developed methodology to identify superior and poor performers
on these measures in both Tribal and Federal sites using fiscal year
2005, 2006, and 2007 GPRA performance results.
IHS will convene focus groups with employees at 17 of these
programs (7 IHS and 10 Tribal) in order to identify the factors
contributing to (and when appropriate, the barriers preventing) the
provision of high quality behavioral health care at the local level.
These focus groups will allow employees to provide detailed data
regarding program practices, screening and documentation procedures,
initiatives, resources, and other factors relating to the provision of
behavioral health preventive care at their health program. A total of
two to three focus groups, organized by occupational specialty, will be
convened at each program.
Using the Chronic Care Model and Institute of Medicine
recommendations, IHS will analyze the information collected during
these site visits, along with background information that is publicly
available (e.g., information found on clinic Web pages) on other
qualitative and quantitative features of individual programs, such as
staffing and funding levels, community demographics, and organizational
structure, to develop a behavioral health preventive care model
relevant to the unique system of IHS delivery. Affected Public:
Individuals. Type of Respondents: Tribal employees at Tribal health
programs.
The table below provides: Types of data collection instruments,
Estimated number of respondents, Number of responses per respondent,
Number of total annual responses, Average burden hour per response, and
Total annual burden hour(s).
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Number of Responses per Total annual Burden hour Annual burden
Data collection instrument(s) respondents respondent response per response hours
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Administrators/Supervisor Focus 30 1 30 2 60
Group Guide....................
Provider Focus Group Guide...... 30 1 30 2 60
Behavioral Health Provider Focus 15 1 15 2 30
Group Guide....................
Data Entry Focus Group Guide.... 15 1 15 2 30
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Total....................... 90 .............. .............. .............. 180
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There are no Capital Costs, Operating Costs, and/or Maintenance
Costs to report.
Request for Comments: Your written comments and/or suggestions are
invited on one or more of the following points: (a) Whether the
information collection activity is necessary to carry out an agency
function; (b) whether the agency processes the information collected in
a useful and timely fashion; (c) the accuracy of public burden estimate
(the estimated amount of time needed for individual respondents to
provide the requested information); (d) whether the methodology and
assumptions used to determine the estimates are logical; (e) ways to
enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information being
collected; and (f) ways to minimize the public burden through the use
of automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection
techniques or other forms of information technology.
Direct Comments to OMB: Send your written comments and suggestions
regarding the proposed information collection contained in this notice,
especially regarding the estimated public burden and associated
response time to: Office of Management and Budget, Office of Regulatory
Affairs, New Executive Office Building, Room 10235, Washington, DC
20503, Attention: Desk Officer for IHS.
To request more information on the proposed collection or to obtain
a copy of the data collection instrument(s) and/or instruction(s)
contact: Ms. Janet Ingersoll, Acting IHS Reports Clearance Officer,
12300 Twinbrook Parkway, Suite 450, Rockville, MD 20852-1601; call non-
toll-free (301) 443-1116; send via facsimile to (301) 443-2316; or send
your e-mail requests, comments, and return address to:
JanetIngersoll@ihs.gov.
Comment Due Date: Comments regarding this information collection
are best assured of having full effect if received within 30 days of
the date of this publication.
Dated: August 11, 2008.
Robert G. McSwain,
Director, Indian Health Service.
[FR Doc. E8-19050 Filed 8-18-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4165-16-M