Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; Comment Request, 4202-4203 [E9-1435]

Agencies

• Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
• DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 14 (Friday, January 23, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4202-4203]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-1435]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

[Document Identifier: CMS-10273]


Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; 
Comment Request

AGENCY: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
    In compliance with the requirement of section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the 
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid 
Services (CMS) is publishing the following summary of proposed 
collections for public comment. Interested persons are invited to send 
comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this 
collection of information, including any of the following subjects: (1) 
The necessity and utility of the proposed information collection for 
the proper performance of the agency's functions; (2) the accuracy of 
the estimated burden; (3) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and 
clarity of the information to be collected; and (4) the use of 
automated collection techniques or other forms of information 
technology to minimize the information collection burden.

[[Page 4203]]

    1. Type of Information Collection Request: New collection; Title of 
Information Collection: Evaluation of the Medicare Care Management 
Performance Demonstration (MCMP) and the Electronic Health Records 
Demonstration (EHRD); Use: The MCMP demonstration was authorized under 
Section 649 of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and 
Modernization Act of 2003. This is a three year pay for performance 
demonstration with physicians to promote the adoption and use of health 
information technology (HIT) to improve the quality of care for 
eligible chronically ill Medicare beneficiaries. MCMP targets small to 
medium sized primary care practices with up to 10 physicians. Practices 
must provide care to at least 50 Medicare beneficiaries. Physicians 
will receive payments for meeting or exceeding performance standards 
for quality of care. They will also receive an additional incentive 
payment for electronic submission of performance measures via their 
electronic health record (EHR) system. These payments are in addition 
to their normal payments for providing service to Medicare 
beneficiaries. The Office System Survey (OSS) will be used to assess 
progress of physician practices in implementation and use of EHRs and 
related HIT functionalities.
    The EHR demonstration is authorized under section 402 of the 
Medicare Waiver Authority. The goal of this six year pay for 
performance demonstration is to foster the implementation and adoption 
of EHRs and HIT in order to improve the quality of care provided by 
physician practices. The EHRD expands upon the MCMP Demonstration and 
will test whether performance-based financial incentives (1) increase 
physician practices' adoption and use of electronic health records 
(EHRs), and (2) improve the quality of care that practices deliver to 
chronically ill patients. The EHRD targets small to medium sized 
primary care practices with up to 20 physicians. Practices must provide 
care to at least 50 Medicare beneficiaries. Approximately 2,400 
practices will be enrolled in the demonstration across 12 sites. 
Practices will be randomly assigned to a treatment and control group. 
The OSS will be used to assess progress of physician practices in 
implementation and use of EHRs and related HIT functionalities, and to 
determine incentive payments for treatment practices. In-person and 
telephone discussions with community partners and physician practices 
will be used to learn about practices' experiences and strategies in 
adopting and using EHRs, as well as the factors that help or hinder 
their efforts. Form Number: CMS-10273 (OMB 0938--New); 
Frequency: Annually, Biennially and Once; Affected Public: Business or 
other for-profit; Number of Respondents: 3434; Total Annual Responses: 
3434; Total Annual Hours: 2586.
    To obtain copies of the supporting statement and any related forms 
for the proposed paperwork collections referenced above, access CMS' 
Web site at https://www.cms.hhs.gov/PaperworkReductionActof1995, or E-
mail your request, including your address, phone number, OMB number, 
and CMS document identifier, to Paperwork@cms.hhs.gov, or call the 
Reports Clearance Office on (410) 786-1326.
    In commenting on the proposed information collections please 
reference the document identifier or OMB control number. To be assured 
consideration, comments and recommendations must be submitted in one of 
the following ways by March 24, 2009:
    1. Electronically. You may submit your comments electronically to 
https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the instructions for ``Comment or 
Submission'' or ``More Search Options'' to find the information 
collection document(s) accepting comments.
    2. By regular mail. You may mail written comments to the following 
address: CMS, Office of Strategic Operations and Regulatory Affairs, 
Division of Regulations Development, Attention: Document Identifier/OMB 
Control Number --, Room C4-26-05, 7500 Security Boulevard, Baltimore, 
Maryland 21244-1850.

    Dated: January 14, 2009.
Michelle Shortt,
Director, Regulations Development Group, Office of Strategic Operations 
and Regulatory Affairs.
 [FR Doc. E9-1435 Filed 1-22-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4120-01-P