[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 145 (Friday, July 27, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 35669-35670]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-16046]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection;
Comment Request
In compliance with Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the Paperwork Reduction
Act of 1995 concerning opportunity for public comment on proposed
collections of information, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health
Services Administration (SAMHSA) will publish periodic summaries of
proposed projects. To request more information on the proposed projects
or to obtain a copy of the information collection plans, call the
SAMHSA Reports Clearance Officer on (240) 276-1243.
Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed collections of
information are 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: Testing of Electronic Health Records Questions for
the National Survey of Substance Abuse Treatment Services (N-SSATS) and
the National Mental Health Services Survey (N-MHSS)--NEW
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
(SAMHSA), Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality (CBHSQ),
is requesting approval for conducting cognitive testing on the use of
electronic health records (EHRs) by substance abuse and mental health
treatment facilities in the United States. The final goal of this
cognitive testing is to incorporate questions on electronic health
records to SAMHSA's National Survey of Substance Abuse Treatment
Services (N-SSATS) and the National Mental Health Services Survey (N-
MHSS).
Currently, there is a lack of national level data that exists on
behavioral health care providers' progress toward interoperability. The
National Council for Behavioral Health in 2011/2012 conducted a survey
to determine health information technology (IT) readiness. This data
focused only on the membership of the National Council for Behavioral
Health and does not provide national baseline data on the four domains
of interoperability that are outlined in the Interoperability Roadmap
(finding, sending, receiving and integrating data into EHRs) for
behavioral health care providers. Currently, these providers are not
eligible to participate in interoperability driving efforts such as the
Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA)
initiative. However, some behavioral health providers may be eligible
in the future to participate in value-based payment initiatives such as
the Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS). Measuring and
reporting the state of interoperability will help to determine the type
of support these providers need and their readiness to
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participate in delivery system reform efforts in the future.
Collaboration between the Office of the National Coordinator for
Health Information Technology (ONC) and SAMHSA on this data collection
effort will provide an efficient manner to track trends in health IT
adoption, use, and interoperability among behavioral health care
providers. In addition, this collaboration will contribute to the
development of strategic efforts to leverage health IT in behavioral
health care settings to provide cost effective, high quality and
patient-centered care. Results from this testing will allow ONC and
SAMHSA to work together to quantitatively assess health IT adoption and
interoperability among behavioral health care providers using SAMHSA's
current national surveys, the National Survey of Substance Abuse
Treatment Services (N-SSATS) and the National Mental Health Services
Survey (N-MHSS).
The information obtained from these efforts will be used to develop
a new set of questions on the use and implementation of EHRs in
behavioral health facilities for the N-SSATS and the N-MHSS surveys.
Specifically, the information from the testing will be used to reduce
respondent burden while simultaneously improving the quality of the
data collected in these surveys.
Data from this testing will be collected mostly via telephone
interviews, and few cases conducted with in-person interviews. Results
of this test will not be disseminated or used to inform policy,
program, or budget decisions. Findings will be shared between ONC and
SAMHSA staff to decide how the tested questions will be incorporated in
the surveys.
It is estimated that the total burden for this project is 40 hours,
based on a maximum of 80 interviews with an average of 30 minutes per
interview.
The request for OMB seeks approval to conduct this testing of EHR
questions during the Fall of 2018 for possible implementation starting
in 2020.
The total estimated burden for this study is 39.2 hours for the
period from September through December 2018.
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Number of Responses per Total number of Hours per Total burden
Survey respondents respondent responses response hours
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Interviews......................................................... 80 1 80 .50 40
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Send comments to Summer King, SAMHSA Reports Clearance Officer,
5600 Fishers Lane, Room 15E57-B, Rockville, MD 20857 OR email a copy at
[email protected]. Written comments should be received by
September 25, 2018.
Summer King,
Statistician.
[FR Doc. 2018-16046 Filed 7-26-18; 8:45 am]
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