Jan 31 -- The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Department of Health and Human Services invites comments to OMB by March 10, 2023 regarding Health Center Program Forms used in program evaluation.
The Health Center Program, administered by HRSA, is authorized under Section 330 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 254b). Health centers are community-based and patient-directed organizations that deliver affordable, accessible, quality, and cost-effective primary health care services to patients regardless of their ability to pay. Nearly 1,400 health centers operate approximately 14,000 service delivery sites that provide primary health care to more than 30 million people in every U.S. state, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Pacific Basin. HRSA uses forms for new and existing health centers and other entities to apply for various grant and non-grant opportunities, renew grant and non-grant designations, report progress, and change their scopes of project.
Health Center Program-specific forms are necessary for award processes and oversight of the Health Center Program and other relevant programs. These forms provide HRSA staff and objective review committee panels with information essential for application evaluation, funding recommendation and approval, designation, and monitoring. These forms also provide HRSA staff with information essential for evaluating compliance with Health Center Program statutory and regulatory requirements.
The purpose of these forms is to provide information to HRSA staff and objective review committee panels to support application evaluation; funding recommendation and approval; designation; and monitoring. Health centers use a combination of the application forms to apply for one or more of the following opportunities:
-- Advancing Precision Medicine (APM) is a supplemental funding opportunity to support health center participation in the National Institutes of Health’s All of Us Research Program (AoU) and to advance health centers’ interoperability functionality, preparedness to use and share patient data, and capacity to participate in future research opportunities.
-- Budget Period Progress Report (BPR) is an application that provides an update on the progress for Health Center Program award recipients.
-- Capital Development funding opportunities provide funding for construction, renovation, repair and/or improvement of health center service delivery sites.
-- Change in Scope (CIS) requests are submitted by existing health centers to change the current approved scope of project as they relate to services offered, sites, and other scope activities that require prior approval by HRSA.
-- Health Center Controlled Networks (HCCNs) are networks of health centers working together to use health information technology (HIT) to improve operational and clinical practices.
-- Loan Guarantee Program (LGP) supports loans to eligible Health Center Program award recipients for the construction/expansion, alteration/renovation, and modernization of health center medical facilities.
-- Look-Alike (LAL) applications support organizations seeking initial designation, renewal of designation, or annual certification as a look-alike. Look-Alikes must meet all eligibility requirements of a section 330 grant, but they do not receive section 330 grant funds.
-- National Health Center Training and Technical Assistance Partners (NTTAPs) provide national training and technical assistance (T/TA) to potential and existing section 330-funded health centers with the goal of assisting them to address HHS and HRSA priorities, improve performance, and support program development and analysis activities.
-- Native Hawaiian Health Care Improvement Act (NHHCIA) is a congressional special initiative with the purpose of improving the provision of comprehensive disease prevention, health promotion, and primary care services to Native Hawaiians.
-- New Access Points (NAP) is a competitive funding opportunity that provides operational support for new service delivery sites for the provision of comprehensive primary health care services (i.e., new access points). Applicants must propose at least one full-time, permanent new access point site that has primary medical care as its main purpose.
-- Primary Care Associations (PCAs) are cooperative agreements with state and regional organizations that provide T/TA to potential and existing health centers with the goal of assisting them to address HHS and HRSA priorities, improve performance, and support program development and analysis activities.
-- Quality Improvement Fund (QIF) is a supplemental funding opportunity to support health centers to improve health outcomes and reduce racial and ethnic health disparities by partnering with patients and the community to develop and pilot innovative, patient-centered, scalable models of care delivery that address both the clinical and health-related social needs of health center patients.
-- Health Center Program School-Based Service Expansion (SBSE) provides funding to expand access to primary health care services through Health Center Program award recipients’ service delivery sites located at schools.
-- The School-Based Health Center (SBHC) program provides funding to increase access to high-quality, comprehensive primary health services for children and adolescents through school-based health centers.
-- Service Area Competition (SAC) is a competitive funding opportunity for existing and new health center organizations to receive federal financial assistance to support affordable, quality primary health care services for a community and its vulnerable population(s) in a service area already served by the Health Center Program.
HRSA intends to make several changes to its forms:
HRSA will modify the following forms to streamline and clarify data currently being collected: 1A, 1B, 1C, 2, 4, 6A, 8, Checklist for Adding a New Service, Checklist for Adding a New Service Delivery Site, Checklist for Adding a New Target Population, Checklist for Deleting Existing Service, Checklist for Deleting Existing Service Delivery Site, Expanded Services Patient Impact, Health Center Controlled Networks Progress Report, Operational Plan, Project Narrative Update, Project Overview Form, Project Work Plan, and the Summary Page—Service Area Competition.
HRSA will add forms necessary for funding applications and program monitoring: Applicant Qualification Criteria Form, Financial Performance Indicators, Funding Request Summary Form, Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 Accelerating Cancer Screening Progress Report, Native Hawaiian Health Care Improvement Act (NHHCIA) Non-Competing Continuation (NCC) Clinical and Financial Performance Measures, NHHCIA NCC Income Analysis Form, NHHCIA NCC Project Work Plan Progress Report, NHHCIA NCC Project Work Plan Update, Patient Impact Form, Project Cover Page, Progress Report—Non-Capital Investments, School-Based Health Center Location Form, Quality Improvement Fund (QIF) Evaluative Measures Report, QIF Project Plan Form and QIF Progress Report.
HRSA will remove forms to further streamline information collected by HRSA and reduce burden: Clinical Performance Measures, Diabetes Action Plan, Expanded Services, Financial Performance Measures, FY 2018 Expanding Access to Quality Substance Use Disorder—Mental Health Integrated Behavioral Health Services Progress Reporting, Health Center Program Supplemental Information, HRSA Electronic Handbooks Action Plan and the Program Specific Form Instructions.
Health Center Program:
https://bphc.hrsa.gov/about-health-centers
HRSA submission to OMB:
https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAViewICR?ref_nbr=202301-0915-005 Click IC List for information collection instrument, View Supporting Statement for technical documentation. Submit comments through this webpage.
FRN:
https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2023-01918
For AEA members wishing to submit comments, "A Primer on How to Respond to Calls for Comment on Federal Data Collections" is available at
https://www.aeaweb.org/content/file?id=5806