ss_0915-0322_2010

Supporting Statement
Office of Rural Health Policy
State Offices of Rural Health Grant (SORH) Program
A. JUSTIFICATION
1. Circumstances of Information Collection
The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Office of Rural Health Policy
(ORHP), is requesting OMB approval for a new Technical Assistance Data Form for the State
Offices of Rural Health Grant (SORH) program. In its authorizing language (SEC. 711. [42
U.S.C. 912]), Congress charged ORHP with “administering grants, cooperative agreements, and
contracts to provide technical assistance (TA) and other activities as necessary to support
activities related to improving health care in rural areas.” The mission of the Office of Rural
Health Policy (ORHP) is to sustain and improve access to quality health care services for rural
communities. This one page form will collect information from SORH grantees on the amount of
direct TA assistance they provide to clients within their State.
SORH began in 1991and is a matching (3:1) grant program that has resulted in the establishment
of state offices of rural health in all 50 states. The mission of each office is to help strengthen and
improve rural health care delivery systems in rural communities. To accomplish this mission,
each office collects and disseminates information; provides technical assistance; helps coordinate
rural health interests state-wide; strengthens state, local and Federal partnerships; and supports
efforts to improve recruitment and retention of health professionals. Grantees submit an annual
progress report narrative that includes their TA outreach activities. However, the information is
not standardized and does not provide detail on the provision of technical assistance.
In 2007, ORHP and representatives from the National Association of State Offices of Rural
Health (NOSORH) collaborated to revise and improve the existing Government Performance
Results Act (GPRA) measures pertaining to TA. The old measure counted only the number of
unduplicated communities that received TA and failed to capture both the volume of TA
activities and the varied entities (or clients) that received the TA. In addition, there was no
universally accepted definition of TA. Definitions for TA encounters and unduplicated clients
were created and revised performance measures were developed to more precisely measure the
impact of the SORH element related to provision of technical assistance. The revised measures
are:
1)
The total number of TA encounters provided directly to clients within State by
SORH; and
2)
Total number of unduplicated clients within State that received TA directly
from SORH. For the first grant year of data collection SORHs provided 58,937
TA encounters to 32,330 unduplicated clients. In addition, states provide
additional / optional examples of the different types of TA provided and type of
clients that received TA.
ORHP received approval in 2008 to use data form to collect revised GPRA data measures
starting with 2009 grant year. Pilot year data has been collected but the follow-on 2010 grant

year data will not be available until after the end of the approved 18 month collection period.
Consequently, ORHP requests a three year extension of the collection period.

2. Purpose and Use of Information
The purpose of this data collection is to provide HRSA/ORHP with standardized information on
how well each SORH grantee is meeting the technical assistance needs of their States and rural
communities. Consolidated data from the form provides quantitative information about technical
assistance provided directly by the SORH grant program.
Responses will provide useful information on the SORH program and will enable HRSA/ORHP
to provide data required by Congress under the Government Performance and Results Act of
1993. It will also ensure that grantees have a demonstrated need for technical assistance services
in their communities and document that Federal funds are being effectively used to meet those
needs.

Instructions
The SORH data form consists of one table and is completed by all grantees. The table provides
data on the number of technical assistance encounters provided and the number of unduplicated
clients that received technical assistance. Definitions for technical assistance and client are
provided to grantees on the form to assist them in filling out the table. The information can be
submitted on the HRSA Electronic Handbook (EHB) website, and grantees can call the Helpdesk
with any technical questions.
3. Use of Improved Technology
This database is fully electronic. Grantees submit the data electronically via a HRSA managed
website. This reduces the paper burden on the grantee and on the SORH program staff.
4. Efforts to Identify Duplication
The information on technical assistance provided by grantees is unique to the SORH program.
5. Involvement of Small Entities
Every effort has been made to ensure the data requested is the minimum necessary to answer
basic questions about the appropriate use of grant funds for the provision of technical assistance.
This activity does not have a significant impact on small entities.
6. Consequences if Information Were Collected Less Frequently
Grant dollars are awarded annually; therefore, this information is needed annually by the
program in order to measure effective use of grant dollars consistently among all the grantees.
7. Consistency with Guidelines in 5 CFR 1320.5(d)(2)
The data are collected in a manner consistent with guidelines contained in 5 CFR
1320.5(d)(2).

8. Consultation Outside of the Agency
The notice required in 4 CFR 1320.8(d) was published in the Federal Register on December 23,
2009 (Vol. 77, No. 245, page 68270). No comments were received. The following grantees have
participated outside of the agency to advise on completion times and assure there are no
problems with the database. The grantees were contacted a second time after submission of pilot
data and again stated no problems with submission to the database.
RURAL HEALTH OFFICE
Mel & Enid Zuckerman
College of Public Health
University of Arizona
P.O. Box 245210
Tucson, AZ 85724-5210
520-626-5823
fax 520-626-3101
Lynda Bergsma, SORH
Program Coordinator
[email protected]

OFFICE OF RURAL HEALTH AND
PRIMARY CARE
Minnesota Dept. of Health
PO Box 64882
St. Paul, MN 55164-0882
651-201-3859
fax 651-201-3830
Mark Schoenbaum, Director
[email protected]

CENTER FOR RURAL HEALTH
AND HEALTH SCIENCES
School of Medicine, Univ. of
North Dakota
501 North Columbia Rd., Box
9037
Grand Forks, ND 58202-9037
701-777-3848
fax 701-777-6779
Lynette Dickson, SORH
Project Director
[email protected]

9. Remuneration of Respondents
Respondents will not be remunerated.
10. Assurance of Confidentiality
No individual level data are collected on the TA form, and the data system does not involve the
reporting of personally identifiable information about individuals. The SORH program requests
only aggregate data on total number of technical assistance encounters provided by the grantee
and the total number of clients receiving the assistance.
11. Questions of a Sensitive Nature
The SORH program does not contain any questions of a sensitive nature.
12. Estimates of Annualized Hour Burden
Form

Number of
Respondents

Technical 50
Assistance
Report
Total

50

Responses per
Respondent

Burden Hours per
Response

Total Burden
Hours

1

12.5

625

625

Basis for the estimates: Estimates of burden for the information were obtained from
consultations with the grantees.
It should be noted that the burden is expected to vary across the grantees. This variation is tied
primarily to the type of data system(s) used by the grantees. Some grantees have their own MIS
systems that track the information, whereas others rely on paper systems.
13. Estimates of Annualized Cost Burden to Respondents
All grantees currently have the appropriate equipment and internet access to the HRSA website,
so there are no capital or startup costs associated with this activity.
14. Estimated Cost to the Federal Government
Preparation and tallying the information is rolled into the duties of the ORHP SORH program
staff. A 0.02 FTE at a GS-13 ($1,600) annually is necessary to provide TA to grantees, collect
the information and compile to final totals for all of the 50 SORH grantees.
15. Changes in Burden
There are no changes to the previous burden estimate.
16. Time Schedule, Publication and Analysis Plans
There are no plans for statistical analysis or publication of the information. Summary totals will
be calculated for the two GPRA measures.
17. Exemption for Display of Expiration Date
The expiration date will be displayed.
18. Certifications
This project fully complies with CFR 1320.9.