The Health Resources and Services
Administration’s (HRSA) Bureau of Primary Health Care (BPHC) is
requesting Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approval to
electronically collect data for Optimizing Virtual Care (OVC) grant
recipient activities and performance measures over an approximately
14-month period. In February 2022, HRSA awarded nearly $55 million
to 29 HRSA-funded health centers through the OVC grant program to
increase health care access and quality for underserved populations
through virtual care such as telehealth, remote patient monitoring,
digital patient tools, and health information technology platforms.
The goal of the OVC grant program is to continue to support
innovation that began during the COVID-19 pandemic, when health
centers quickly expanded their use of virtual care to maintain
access to essential primary care services for underserved
communities. HRSA-funded health centers serve special and
vulnerable populations facing barriers to virtual care access, such
as low digital literacy, low connectivity capabilities, or limited
technology access. The 29 grant recipients will serve as a model
for how to increase equitable virtual care, generating and refining
strategies that can be adapted and scaled across the Health Center
Program. The data on grant recipient activities and performance
will help HRSA demonstrate, adapt, assess, and disseminate
promising practices, strategies, and novel models of virtual care
across the nation’s health centers. The grant recipient activities
related to implementation of novel models of virtual care,
including aggregate data on patients served and the services they
received, will be captured via monthly progress reports. A set of
health center performance measures will be captured via a biannual
measures report and will provide evidence-informed insight into
health equity and virtual care. The Health Center Program and
supplemental awards to health centers are authorized by Section 330
of the Public Health Service (PHS) Act, as amended (42 U.S.C.
254b). Notably, HRSA is authorized under 42 U.S.C. 254b(d) to make
supplemental awards for health centers to “implement evidence-based
models for increasing access to high-quality primary care services,
which may include models related to… expanding the use of
telehealth and technology-enabled collaborative learning and
capacity building models .” As per 45 CFR §75.301, HRSA is
obligated to collect performance information on its grants “in a
way that will help the HHS awarding agency and other non-Federal
entities to improve program outcomes, share lessons learned, and
spread the adoption of promising practices.” The original version
of the information collection instruments submitted to OMB
inadvertently included the April 2022 versions of the data
collection instruments developed prior to the 60-day public comment
period (Biannual 12-Items Measures Progress Report version 3.1 and
OVC Grant Recipient MPR template version 3.5b, dated April 5,
2022). Thus, HRSA is now submitting the revised instruments (OVC
Biannual Measures Report Template version 6.0 and OVC Grant
Recipient MPR version 4.0, dated December 8, 2022), which include
minor revisions made in response to grant recipient and OVC project
officer feedback.
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that
the collection of information encompassed by this request complies
with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR
1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding
the proposed collection of information, that the certification
covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a
benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control
number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of
these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked
and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.
Form 2 OVC Grant Biannual Measures Report
HRSA OVC Non-Substantive Change Memo_7.12.23.docx
OVC Grant Biannual Measures Report