SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Information Collection Request Title: National Practitioner Data Bank for Adverse Information on Physicians and Other Health Care Practitioners—45 CFR part 60 Regulations and Forms, OMB No. 0906-0081—Revision.

Abstract: This is a request for a revision of the OMB-approved information collection contained in regulations found in 45 CFR part 60 governing the National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB) and the forms to be used in registering with, reporting information to, and requesting information from the NPDB. Administrative forms are also included to aid in monitoring compliance with federal reporting and querying requirements. Responsibility for NPDB implementation and operation resides in HRSA's Bureau of Health Workforce.

The intent of the NPDB is to improve the quality of health care by encouraging entities such as hospitals, state licensing boards, professional societies, and other eligible entities ^[1] providing health care services to identify and discipline those who engage in unprofessional behavior, and to restrict the ability of incompetent health care practitioners, providers, or suppliers to move from state to state without disclosure or discovery of previous damaging or incompetent performance. It also serves as a fraud and abuse clearinghouse for the reporting and disclosing of certain final adverse actions taken against health care practitioners, providers, or suppliers by health plans, federal agencies, and state agencies (excluding settlements in which no findings of liability have been made). Users of the NPDB include reporters (entities that are required to submit reports) and queriers (entities and individuals that are authorized to request information).

The reporting forms, request for information forms (query forms), and administrative forms (used to monitor compliance) are accessed, completed, and submitted to the NPDB electronically through the NPDB website at www.npdb.hrsa.gov. All reporting and querying is performed through the secure portal of this website. This revision proposes changes to update burden totals as well as minor text changes. In addition, this revision eliminates the Account Balance Transfer Request form which allowed registered entities to transfer funds between their accounts. The data collected on this form is part of an electronic workflow that falls under a Paperwork Reduction Act exemption for voluntary commercial transactions.

A 60-day notice published in the Federal Register on July 17, 2026, vol. 91, No. 136; pp. 44865-67. HRSA received one comment during the 60-day comment period from Highmark Inc. (Highmark), an independent licensee of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association. Highmark suggested HRSA explore greater patient access to NPDB information, improve the timeliness of reporting and data availability, implement safeguards to avoid creating disincentives for error reporting and organizational learning, and develop additional educational resources to assist the public with understanding practitioner information.

By law, HRSA is unable to make information about specific health care practitioners, entities, providers, or ( printed page 66857) suppliers available to the general public. Rather, information available through the NPDB helps eligible entities make informed hiring, credentialing, privileging, and licensing decisions that promote patient safety. As such, HRSA recognizes the importance of information reported to the NPDB being readily available to the entities authorized by law to query the NPDB. Once submitted to the NPDB, reports become immediately available to eligible entities. Eligible entities using the NPDB's Continuous Query monitoring service are notified of new reports for their enrolled subjects within one business day. The NPDB is currently merging its One-Time Query and Continuous Query services into a single query process. Under this approach, eligible entities that query the NPDB will receive an initial query response and will be enrolled in continuous monitoring for the duration of the query period. If new or updated information is reported to the NPDB during that period, the querying entity will be notified, reducing the potential gap between when information is reported to the NPDB and when it becomes available to an eligible entity with an active query.

Health care entities and other entities that are required to submit reports to the NPDB must submit a report to the NPDB within 30 days of taking a reportable action. The NPDB system accepts reports from eligible entities virtually 24/7 via both manual online entry and via an automated machine-to-machine interface. Over the last 18 months, over 75 percent of adverse action reports received were submitted on time with an overall median reporting time of fewer than 14 days.

The NPDB maintains ongoing compliance education and outreach efforts designed to support reporting entities in understanding and meeting their reporting responsibilities. These efforts are continuous and responsive to the needs of reporting entities, which regularly seek NPDB guidance, education, and technical assistance regarding reporting requirements and processes. The NPDB provides outreach and educational resources through a variety of channels, including conference presentations, other professional forums, educational sessions, technical assistance, and direct engagement with reporting entities to address questions, and clarify reporting responsibilities. The NPDB also reviews reporting compliance for state licensing and certification agencies to assess whether required information is being appropriately reported to the NPDB. These efforts complement improvements to the query process by ensuring that information that is required to be reported to the NPDB is available to eligible querying entities and can support health care quality, professional review, and other purposes authorized by law.

Together, these efforts are intended to continue strengthening the timeliness, completeness, and availability of NPDB information, in accordance with the law.

Need and Proposed Use of the Information: The NPDB acts primarily as a flagging system; its principal purpose is to facilitate comprehensive review of practitioners' professional credentials and background. Information is collected from, and disseminated to, eligible entities (entities that are entitled to query and/or report to the NPDB as authorized in Title 45 CFR part 60 of the Code of Federal Regulations) on the following: (1) medical malpractice payments, (2) licensure actions taken by Boards of Medical Examiners, (3) state licensure and certification actions, (4) federal licensure and certification actions, (5) negative actions or findings taken by peer review organizations or private accreditation entities, (6) adverse actions taken against clinical privileges, (7) federal or state criminal convictions related to the delivery of a health care item or service, (8) civil judgments related to the delivery of a health care item or service, (9) exclusions from participation in federal or state health care programs, and (10) other adjudicated actions or decisions. It is intended for NPDB information to be considered with other relevant information in evaluating credentials of health care practitioners, providers, and suppliers.

Likely Respondents: Eligible entities or individuals that are entitled to query and/or report to the NPDB as authorized in regulations found at 45 CFR part 60.

Burden Statement: Burden in this context means the time expended by persons to generate, maintain, retain, disclose, or provide the information requested. This includes the time needed to review instructions; to develop, acquire, install, and utilize technology and systems for the purpose of collecting, validating, and verifying information, processing and maintaining information, and disclosing and providing information; to train personnel and to be able to respond to a collection of information; to search data sources; to complete and review the collection of information; and to transmit or otherwise disclose the information. The total annual burden hours estimated for this ICR are summarized in the table below.

91 FR 66856