60-Day FRN

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 211 / Thursday, November 4, 2021 / Notices
DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS
AFFAIRS
[OMB Control No. 2900–0576]

Agency Information Collection
Activity: Certification of Affirmation of
Enrollment Agreement
Correspondence Course
Veterans Benefits
Administration, Department of Veterans
Affairs.
ACTION: Notice.
AGENCY:

The Veterans Benefits
Administration (VBA), Department of
Veterans Affairs (VBA), is announcing
an opportunity for public comment on
the proposed collection of certain
information by the agency. Under the
Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of
1995, Federal agencies are required to
publish notice in the Federal Register
concerning each proposed collection of
information, including each proposed
revision of a currently approved
collection, and allow 60 days for public
comment in response to the notice.
DATES: Written comments and
recommendations on the proposed
collection of information should be
received on or before January 3, 2022.
ADDRESSES: Submit written comments
on the collection of information through
Federal Docket Management System
(FDMS) at www.Regulations.gov or to
Nancy J. Kessinger, Veterans Benefits
Administration (20M33), Department of
Veterans Affairs, 810 Vermont Avenue
NW, Washington, DC 20420 or email to
[email protected]. Please refer to
‘‘OMB Control No. 2900–0576’’ in any
correspondence. During the comment
period, comments may be viewed online
through FDMS.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Maribel Aponte, Office of Enterprise
and Integration, Data Governance
Analytics (008), 1717 H Street NW,
Washington, DC 20006, (202) 266–4688
or email [email protected]. Please
refer to ‘‘OMB Control No. 2900–0576’’
in any correspondence.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the
PRA of 1995, Federal agencies must
obtain approval from the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) for each
collection of information they conduct
or sponsor. This request for comment is
being made pursuant to Section
3506(c)(2)(A) of the PRA.
With respect to the following
collection of information, VBA invites
comments on: (1) Whether the proposed
collection of information is necessary
for the proper performance of VBA’s
functions, including whether the
information will have practical utility;

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(2) the accuracy of VBA’s estimate of the
burden of the proposed collection of
information; (3) ways to enhance the
quality, utility, and clarity of the
information to be collected; and (4)
ways to minimize the burden of the
collection of information on
respondents, including through the use
of automated collection techniques or
the use of other forms of information
technology.
Authority: 38 U.S.C. 3686(b); 38
U.S.C. 3323(a); 10 U.S.C. 16131, and 38
CFR 21.74256(b).
Title: Certification of Affirmation of
Enrollment Agreement Correspondence
Course.
OMB Control Number: 2900–0576.
Type of Review: Revision of a
currently approved collection.
Abstract: VA uses information from
the current collection to pay education
benefits for correspondence training.
This information allows VA to
determine if the claimant has been
informed of the 5-day reflection period
required by law.
Affected Public: Individuals and
households.
Estimated Annual Burden: 3 hours.
Estimated Average Burden per
Respondent: 3 minutes.
Frequency of Response: Annually.
Estimated Number of Respondents:
69.
By direction of the Secretary.
Maribel Aponte,
VA PRA Clearance Officer, Office of
Enterprise and Integration/Data Governance
Analytics, Department of Veterans Affairs.
[FR Doc. 2021–24069 Filed 11–3–21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8320–01–P

DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS
AFFAIRS
VA Standards for Quality
Department of Veterans Affairs.
Solicitation of public comment.

AGENCY:
ACTION:

The Secretary of the
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is
soliciting public comment on VA’s
current standards for quality to ensure
that they include the most up to date
and applicable measures for veterans.
DATES: Comments must be received on
or before December 6, 2021.
ADDRESSES: Comments may be
submitted through www.regulations.gov.
Comments should indicate that they are
submitted in response to ‘‘VA Standards
for Quality.’’ Comments received will be
available at www.regulations.gov for
public viewing, inspection or copies.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Joseph Francis, VHA Office of Analytics
SUMMARY:

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and Performance Integration (API), 17
API, Veterans Health Administration,
Department of Veterans Affairs, 810
Vermont Avenue NW, Room 668,
Washington, DC 20420, (202) 461–5517.
This is not a toll-free number.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In
accordance with section 1703C of 38
U.S.C., as added by section 104 of the
VA Maintaining Internal Systems and
Strengthening Integrated Outside
Networks Act of 2018 or the VA
MISSION Act of 2018, VA formally
established standards for quality
regarding hospital care, medical
services, and extended care services
furnished by the Department in October
2019 (84 FR 52932). VA’s quality
standards were chosen based on a
comprehensive assessment of health
care industry standards for quality, their
relevance to veterans, and the
availability of comparative data for
community providers. Wide ranging
expert guidance and stakeholder input
was also sought from veterans, Veteran
Service Organizations, federal partners,
health care specialty associations and
organizations, and the public through
focus groups, meetings, and requests for
information. The current VA standards
for quality and associated measures are
publicly available on VA’s Access to
Care website (https://
www.accesstocare.va.gov).
After internal review of VA’s
standards for quality in 2021, significant
changes were not made to the initial
standards established in 2019. The
current quality standards address
important dimensions of care for
veterans and are aligned with industry
standards. The addition of new metrics
is limited in many cases by the lack of
appropriate community comparison
data; and this has been compounded in
CY 2020 and 2021 by the impact of the
COVID–19 pandemic. Notably, the
pandemic resulted in gaps in the
available healthcare data and temporary
suspension of some measures (e.g.,
COVID–19 Quality Reporting Programs
Guidance Memo—Centers for Medicare
and Medicaid Services (CMS) (March
27, 2020); https://www.cms.gov/files/
document/guidance-memo-exceptionsand-extensions-quality-reporting-andvalue-based-purchasing-programs.pdf).
This has created a problematic situation
where, in some cases, VA’s current
quality data results are being compared
to pre-COVID periods of community
data. VA has an ongoing commitment to
evolving the quality standards in
accordance with veteran needs and
industry advancements. The quality
standards will be reviewed internally
again in FY 2022 to ensure they are up-

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