Office of Workers' Compensation Programs February 2020 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Department of Labor, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, conducts a preclearance consultation program to provide the general public and Federal agencies with an opportunity to comment on proposed and/or continuing collections of information in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. This program helps to ensure that requested data can be provided in the desired format, reporting burden (time and financial resources) is minimized, collection instruments are clearly understood, and the impact of collection requirements on respondents can be properly assessed. This information collection request (ICR) seeks approval under the PRA for the continued use of the revised Provider Enrollment Form (Form OWCP-1168). The form requests profile information on providers that enroll in one or more of OWCP's benefit programs so its billing contractor can pay them for services rendered to beneficiaries using its automated bill processing system. In addition to the enrollment form information collection, the OWCP bill processing contractor currently collects electronic data interchange (EDI) information from the provider only if the provider chooses a data exchange submission method. Once the new OWCP-1168 form is in place, the existing EDI template will no longer be applicable. The current EDI template collects information that is duplicative to information collected on Form OWCP-1168, such as names, addresses, and NPI. Collecting EDI information with the enrollment information in one form will improve efficiency in collecting the information from providers, reduce the time required for processing by operational staff, and will significantly reduce errors associated with mismatching provider enrollments to their EDI information. This ICR will be submitted to OMB to allow for the continued use of the revised Provider Enrollment Form (Form OWCP-1168) and to incorporate regulatory updates implementing the Black Lung benefits Act which becomes applicable on April 26, 2020. A copy of the proposed information collection request can be obtained by contacting the office listed below in the addresses section of this Notice.