The Health Resources and Services Administration is taking steps to keep collecting information from providers on relief fund spending, even after the public health emergency has ended.
Currently, HRSA's Provider Relief Fund reporting portal operates under a public health emergency waiver approved by the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation. In anticipation of the waiver's expiration, the administration recently submitted an information collection request to the Office of Management and Budget for review.
In a document sent to the OMB, HRSA said the information reported by providers will allow it to assess if recipients have met statutory and programmatic requirements, conduct audits, gather data on the disbursement of relief funds and identify trends in healthcare metrics and expenditures.
While most fund recipients are doing their best to report, there is still confusion and uncertainty surrounding the portal reporting process and how to file correctly, said Rick Kes, healthcare partner at RSM.
One way to make reporting payment information easier for providers is to identify ways to streamline data collection through automation and pre-populating certain data fields, America's Essential Hospitals president and CEO Bruce Siegel wrote in a public comment to HRSA.
"HRSA should minimize burden associated with reporting by providing clear and consistent reporting instructions and limiting the information collected to data relevant to the PRF reporting and auditing process," Siegel said in the Sept. 24 letter.
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The American Hospital Association said it is grateful for the 60-day grace period for noncompliant providers to report, but the association urged HRSA in a September public comment to allow hospitals and health systems to request reporting deadline extensions due to extreme and uncontrollable circumstances.
The AHA said recipients should also be enabled to retain access to the funds they have already received, as many have not been able to execute certain capital projects by HRSA's spending deadline. The delays stem from issues including overwhelming COVID-19 patient volume and vendor supply chain disruptions.
HRSA estimates that providers will spend an average of 4.2 to 5.6 hours reporting relief fund data, which includes the time needed to use technology and systems to collect and process information, to train personnel, to search data sources and to disclose the information.
However, some see the estimates as being far from the reality of healthcare facilities.
"These numbers are a gross underestimate of the time and resources providers have already spent and are planning to spend as they enter data into the PRF portal," Siegel said in a public comment. "One essential hospital has noted that based on its projections, it believes the cumulative time it will spend on the reporting process from start to finish will exceed 1,000 hours."
Following the grace period which ends Nov. 30, providers who received payment during Period 1 between April 10, 2020 and June 30, 2020 will be required to report the use of their funds.
HRSA is asking entities for feedback on whether the information is necessary for the agency, its estimated burden and how it could make the information more usable.
