Health Workforce Connector Supporting Statement - FINAL - 8.3.23

Health Resources and Services Administration

Health Workforce Connector

OMB Control No. 0906-0031-Revision

Supporting Statement A

A. Justification

1. Circumstances Making the Collection of Information Necessary

This is a revision request for Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approval of the Health Resources and Services Administration’s (HRSA’s) Health Workforce Connector. The legislative authorities that support this information collection request are Section 333(d), Section 336(f), and Section 336A(6) of the Public Health Service (PHS) Act (Attachments A, B, and C, respectively). Specifically, approval is requested for the Account Creation form and the Profile Completion form.

HRSA is the primary Federal agency for improving access to health care by strengthening the health care workforce, building healthy communities, and achieving health equity. HRSA’s Bureau of Health Workforce (BHW) improves the health of underserved and vulnerable populations by strengthening the health workforce and connecting skilled professionals to communities in need. BHW supports the health care workforce across the entire training continuum – from academic to clinical training of nurses, physicians, and other clinicians – and expands the primary care workforce of clinicians who provide health care in underserved and rural communities across the United States. More information about BHW’s programs is available on the BHW website: http://bhw.hrsa.gov/.

Previously utilized, the National Health Service Corps (NHSC) Jobs Center was a quick and easy way to advertise open clinical job positions at NHSC-approved sites. Created in 2012, the NHSC Jobs Center was a searchable database of vacant positions at NHSC-approved sites and updated daily. It reached thousands of NHSC participants who were actively seeking employment in underserved communities. NHSC-approved sites updated their Site Profile on the NHSC Jobs Center through the NHSC Customer Service Portal, and NHSC participants interested in a position located on the NHSC Jobs Center would contact the listed NHSC Site Recruitment Contact directly to apply. There was no database of vacant positions at Nurse Corps Critical Shortage Facilities.

Since the creation of the NHSC Jobs Center, Site Administrators and Points of Contact (POCs) at NHSC- and Nurse Corps-approved sites expressed the need for a bi-directional search to allow them to search and find candidates to fill their open needs/job positions in underserved areas.

The Health Workforce Connector expanded on the NHSC Jobs Center. In an effort to encompass more BHW programs, the Health Workforce Connector now provides a central platform to connect participants in the NHSC, Nurse Corps, Substance Use Disorder Treatment and Recovery (STAR) Loan Repayment Program, Pediatric Specialty Loan Repayment Program, Nursing Training, and Teaching Health Center Graduate Medical Education (THCGME) programs with facilities that are approved for performance of their service obligations. The Health Workforce Connector has become a resource that engages any health care professional or student interested in providing health care services in underserved communities with facilities in need of health care providers. The Health Workforce Connector also allows users to create a profile, search for all approved sites, find job and training opportunities, search for other clinicians who are similarly interested in working with underserved populations, and be searchable by Site POCs. Individuals can use the Health Workforce Connector’s search capability with Google Maps.

2. Purpose and Use of Information Collection

The respondents for this information collection will include individuals searching for a health care job or training opportunity or an approved health care facility, and health care facilities searching for potential candidates to fill open health care opportunities at their sites.

Information will be collected from users in the following two ways:

• Account Creation: Creating an account will not be mandatory in order to use the website, but instead will be an option provided to users in an effort to personalize their experience (Attachment D). The only required information that will be collected in order to create an account and user profile will be a user’s first name, last name, and email address. The collection of the first name, last name, and email address during the account creation process will be necessary to ensure there are no duplicate accounts created. Once this information has been provided, an automated email will be sent to allow the user to validate their login credentials. This information will also be used to validate any users who already exist within the Bureau of Health Workforce Management Information System Solution (BMISS) database and allow existing BMISS account users to request an initial import of existing data in order to avoid re-entering shared information.

• Profile Completion: The purpose of the user profile will be to allow Site Administrators and POCs to search for potential participants to fill open needs/ job positions at their BHW program site(s) (Attachment E) and connect with other clinicians interested in serving in medically underserved areas. User profiles will include fields such as location, discipline, specialty, languages spoken, and BHW programs. Users will have the option to fill out a profile to their desired degree of completion, and users will have full privileges to hide their user profile in its entirety or hide their email address and/or phone number if they choose. If a user elects to hide their email address and/or phone number, they will not be able to be contacted. The system provides text to clearly explain this concept to the user. Alternatively, a user will have the ability to “publish” their profile and make it visible to Site POCs and other Health Workforce Connector users. The information collected, if “published” by the user, will allow the user to be searched and contacted. Users may log into the Health Workforce Connector to access the search dashboard to conduct a search. If a user conducts a search and finds a match, they will have the ability to reach out to the potential candidate via their contact information, if available e.g., email address and/or phone number.

All information collected will be stored within the existing secure BMISS database and information may be used for report generation per the existing BMISS System of Records Notice (SORN). In terms of this information collection request, the general forms include the Account Creation functionality and the Profile Completion functionality. The user will have the option to complete all forms. Users will be able to create and complete profiles on the website at any time.

3. Use of Improved Information Technology and Burden Reduction

This information collection activity will be fully web-based. The link to the current website is available at https://connector.hrsa.gov/. Currently, BHW program applicants, other program participants, and sites need to register for a user account within the BMISS system to submit an application to the program and to fulfill program requirements while fulfilling their obligation to the program. To avoid having multiple account credentials, the Health Workforce Connector will allow an existing BMISS account user to validate their BMISS credentials to create an account. In addition, since there is overlap in information collected for both BMISS and the Health Workforce Connector, the Health Workforce Connector has the functionality to allow a user to import their data/information from the BMISS system into their Health Workforce Connector user account to avoid re-entering the shared information.

4. Efforts to Identify Duplication and Use of Similar Information

The Health Workforce Connector is similar to other job search websites (e.g., Monster), but the information collected will be specific and unique to program participants and approved sites. However, the HWC differs from other job sites since only approved health care sites that are either directly or indirectly funded by HRSA are able to create health site profiles and post job and training opportunities. These sites are in defined areas of need which allows the HWC to promote the mission of BHW which is to provide the ability to connect skilled health professionals to communities in need. Additionally, the HWC is a free resource that sites and end users can use to make those connections. In order to make these connections as meaningful as possible, minimal account information needs to be collected for any user who chooses to create an account and/or publish a profile.

5. Impact on Small Businesses or Other Small Entities

The information collection will not have a significant impact on small entities.

6. Consequences of Collecting the Information Less Frequently

The Health Workforce Connector is an optional, free recruitment and retention tool for the general public, program participants, and approved sites. There will be no requirement to create or complete a profile as a condition of participating in BHW programs, and it will be up to each user to determine what information they would like to include in a profile and if they would like to make this information visible to other users. There are no legal obstacles to reduce the burden.

7. Special Circumstances Relating to the Guidelines of 5 CFR 1320.5

The request fully complies with the regulation.

8. Comments in Response to the Federal Register Notice/Outside Consultation

Section 8A

A 60-day Federal Register Notice was published in the Federal Register on May 30, 2023, vol. 88, No. 103; pp. 34506-34507). There were no public comments. A 30-day Federal Register Notice was published in the Federal Register on August 22, 2023, vol. 88, No. 161; pp. 57122- 57123).

Section 8B

HRSA conducted internal pretesting with eight federal staff to create an account and complete a profile on an internal testing website to get an estimate of the approximate time (in hours) that it would take users to create and complete a profile.

9. Explanation of any Payment/Gift to Respondents

Respondents will not receive any payment or gifts for participation in this website.

10. Assurance of Confidentiality Provided to Respondents

Data will be kept private to the extent allowed by law.

Applicability of the Privacy Act

The Health Workforce Connector will allow a user to import data from the BMISS system and/or look up the National Provider Identifier (NPI) number from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) National Plan and Provider Enumeration System (NPPES). See Federal data sources below:

• CMS NPPES – provides publicly available National Provider Identifier (NPI) records for individual U.S. medical professionals;

• BMISS – provides information for applicants, participants, alumni, and health facilities affiliated with six BHW programs: the NHSC, the Nurse Corps, the Faculty Loan Repayment Program, the Substance Use Disorder Treatment and Recovery Loan Repayment Program, the Pediatric Specialty Loan Repayment Program, and the Native Hawaiian Health Scholarship Program. BMISS is the official system of record for all participants, sites, and alumni in these programs.

For existing BMISS users, the Health Workforce Connector will allow for a one-time optional import of the same information captured in both BMISS and the Health Workforce Connector. The Health Workforce Connector will use the above data sources as part of the user profile creation process so users can avoid re-entering the same information already captured in the BMISS system.

System of Records Notice (SORN)

The Health Workforce Connector is a subsystem to BMISS. The SORN for BMISS can be found at this link: http://www.hrsa.gov/about/privacyact/09150037.html.

Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA)

As the Health Workforce Connector is a subsystem to BMISS, BHW has a BMISS PIA (Attachment F).

11. Justification for Sensitive Questions

There are no questions of a sensitive nature.

12. Estimates of Annualized Hour and Cost Burden

Section 12A - Estimated Annualized Burden Hours

Burden Estimate:

Type of Respondent	Form Name	No. of Respondents	No. Responses per Respondent	Total Responses	Average Burden per Response (in hours)	Total Burden Hours
User	Account Creation	5,008	1	5,008	0.08	400.64
User	Complete Profile	4,164	1	4,164	1.00	4,164.00
Total		5,008*	--	5,008	--	4,564.64

*The 4,164 respondents who complete their profiles are a subset of the 5,008 respondents who create accounts.

This number reflects the actual number of accounts over the last year. Upon initial release of the Health Workforce Connector, the estimations were calculated based off assumptions relating to the total number of active BHW program participants (originally 10,658 plus an anticipated 5,000 additional logins for non-participants). However, since the Health Workforce Connector is live, the new estimate is based on actual numbers over the last year. It is anticipated that the estimates will be very similar over the next several years since the Health Workforce Connector is in a steady state.

Burden estimates were derived from internal testing with federal staff to create an account and complete a profile on an internal testing website. It is estimated that the Account Creation step will require almost 5 minutes to complete and the burden is displayed as the number of minutes over 60. (5,008 users x (1 responses x .08 hours/response per application) = 400.64 total burden hours).

It is also estimated that full profile completion will require 1 hour to complete. The hour-burden estimates include the time to fill out all fields for full profile completion. (4,164 users x (1 responses x 1 hours/response per application) = 4,164 total burden hours).

Section 12B

Estimated Annualized Burden Costs

Type of Respondent	Total Burden Hours	Hourly Wage Rate (adjusted for overhead costs)	Total Respondent Costs
Dentists1	331	$165.66	$ 54,833.46
Dental Hygienists2	331	$81.60	$27,009.6
Physician Assistants3	331	$120.46	$ 39,872.26
Family Medicine Physicians4	331	$215.82	$71,436.42
Nurse Midwives5	331	$117.74	$ 38,971.94
Nurse Practitioners6	331	$ 119.88	$ 39,680.28
Registered Nurses7	331	$ 85.60	$ 28,333.6
Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers8	331	$ 57.82	$ 19,138.42
Marriage and Family Therapists9	331	$60.88	$ 20,151.28
Mental Health Counselors10	331	$54.06	$ 17,893.86
Clinical Psychologists11	331	$98.80	$ 32,702.8
Human Resource Specialists12	7,007	$140.14	$981,960.98
Total	10,648		$1,371,948.90

The wage rates were calculated based on the mean wage rate for the categories of staff supported by BHW programs as provided by the Bureau of Labor Statistics . (https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_nat.htm), which is multiplied by two to account for overhead costs. Note: The list includes example clinicians who may express interest and apply for BHW programs, but are not limited to these provider types.

13. Estimates of other Total Annual Cost Burden to Respondents or Recordkeepers/Capital Costs

Other than their time, there is no cost to respondents.

14. Annualized Cost to Federal Government

The average annual costs to the government for implementing the website are as follows:

Federal Employee Costs:

Instrument	GS-Level/Base Pay Rate (adjusted for overhead costs)13	Project Time per FTE	Number of FTEs	Total Annual Cost
Health Workforce Connector Project Management	$244,878.00 (GS-14, Step 8)	0.25	1	$61,219.50
Health Workforce Connector Program Support	$ 264,687.00 (GS-15, Step 5)	0.10	1	$26,468.70
Health Workforce Connector Technical Support	$ 141,298.50 (GS-12, Step 1)	0.10	4	$56,519.40
Total				$144,207.60

Project, program, and technical assistance for the Health Workforce Connector will be provided by approximately six HRSA staff, ranging from a GS-12 to GS-15, who will spend less than 25% of their time on the Health Workforce Connector project. It is estimated that the annualized total cost to the government will be $144,207.60. Salary was multiplied by 1.5 to account for overhead costs.

Contractor costs:

Contract costs for the website include operations and maintenance costs, development, modernization, and enhancement costs, and hosting services costs.

Period of Performance	Type	Amount
6/1/2016 to 5/31/2026	Operations & Maintenance (O&M) (includes improvements & production support)	$3.34 million
6/1/2016 to 5/31/2026	Development, Modernization & Enhancement (DME)	$4.2 million
6/1/2016 to 5/31/2026	Hosting Services Represents the total annual hosting charges for the Nextgen Platform; 40% allocated to the Health Workforce Connector	$.384 million

The total estimated cost over the 10-year life of the system is $8.02 million, with an annualized cost to the Federal Government of $802,400.00.

Total cost to the government:

The total estimated annualized cost to the federal government, including staff and contractor costs, is $946,607.60.

15. Explanation for Program Changes or Adjustments

The current hour inventory is for 4564.44, which is the same for this request. It is anticipated that the estimates will be very similar over the next several years since the Health Workforce Connector is in a steady state. Changes for this information collection request include the addition of the Substance Use Disorder Treatment and Recovery (STAR) Loan Repayment Program, Pediatric Specialty Loan Repayment Program, Nursing Training, and Teaching Health Center Graduate Medical Education (THCGME) programs with facilities that are approved for performance of their service obligations. The Health Workforce Connector has become a resource that engages any health care professional or student interested in providing health care services in underserved communities with facilities in need of health care providers. None of the fields listed in the information collection request have changed as result of the addition of these new program sites.

16. Plans for Tabulation, Publication, and Project Time Schedule

There are no plans for the tabulation, statistical analysis or publication of the information.

17. Reason(s) Display of OMB Expiration Date is Inappropriate

No exemption is being requested. The expiration date will be displayed.

18. Exceptions to Certification for Paperwork Reduction Act Submissions

There are no exceptions to the certification.

1 Occupation Code: 29-1021, (https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes291021.htm), mean wage doubled to account for overhead costs.

2 Occupation Code: 29-1292, (https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes291292.htm), mean wage doubled to account for overhead costs.

3 Occupation Code: 29-1071 (https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes291071.htm), mean wage doubled to account for overhead costs.

4 Occupation Code: 29-1215 (https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes291215.htm), mean wage doubled to account for overhead costs.

5 Occupation Code: 29-1161 (https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes291161.htm), mean wage doubled to account for overhead costs.

6 Occupation Code: 29-1171 (https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes291171.htm), mean wage doubled to account for overhead costs.

7 Occupation Code: 29-1141 (https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes291141.htm), mean wage doubled to account for overhead costs.

8 Occupation Code: 21-1023 (https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes211023.htm), mean wage doubled to account for overhead costs.

9 Occupation Code: 21-1013 (https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes211013.htm), mean wage doubled to account for overhead costs.

10 Occupation Code: 21-1018 (https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes211018.htm), mean wage doubled to account for overhead costs.

11 Occupation Code: 19-3033 (https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes193033.htm), mean wage doubled to account for overhead costs.

12 Occupation Code: 11-3121 (https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes113121.htm), mean wage doubled to account for overhead costs.

13Table updated based off OPM Salary Table 2023-DC - https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/salaries-wages/salary-tables/pdf/2023/DCB.pdf. Salary multiplied by 1.5 to account for overhead costs.