[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 16 (Tuesday, January 25, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4356-4358]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-1172]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection;
Comment Request
AGENCY: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, HHS.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: This notice announces the intention of the Agency for
Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) to request that the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) approve the proposed information collection
project: ``The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Health
Care Innovations Exchange Innovator Interview and Innovator Email
Submission Guidelines.'' In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction
Act, 44 U.S.C. 3501-3520, AHRQ invites the public to comment on this
proposed information collection.
This proposed information collection was previously published in
the Federal Register on November 2nd, 2010 and allowed 60 days for
public comment. No comments were received. The purpose of this notice
is to allow an additional 30 days for public comment.
DATES: Comments on this notice must be received by February 24, 2011.
ADDRESSES: Written comments should be submitted to: AHRQ's OMB Desk
Officer by fax at (202) 395-6974 (attention: AHRQ's desk officer) or by
e-mail at OIRA_submission@omb.eop.gov (attention: AHRQ's desk
officer).
Copies of the proposed collection plans, data collection
instruments, and specific details on the estimated burden can be
obtained from the AHRQ Reports Clearance Officer.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Doris Lefkowitz, AHRQ Reports
Clearance Officer, (301) 427-1477, or by e-mail at
doris.lefkowitz@AHRQ.hhs.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Proposed Project
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Health Care
Innovations Exchange Innovator Interview and Innovator Email Submission
Guidelines
This request for Office of Management and Budget (OMB) review is
for renewal of the existing collection that is currently approved under
OMB Control No. 0935-0147, AHRQ Health Care Innovations Exchange
Innovator Interview and AHRQ Health Care Innovations Exchange Innovator
Email Submission Guidelines, which expires on March 31, 2011.
The Health Care Innovations Exchange provides a national-level
information hub to foster the implementation and adaptation of
innovative strategies that improve health care quality and reduce
disparities in the care received by different populations. The
Innovations Exchange's target audiences, broadly defined, are current
and potential change agents in the U.S. health care system, including
clinicians (e.g., physicians, nurses, and other providers), health
system administrators, health plan managers, health service purchasers,
regulators, and policymakers from relevant Federal and state agencies.
To develop the target of 150 profiles per year, a purposively
selected group of approximately 167 health care innovations will be
selected annually for potential consideration. These 167 innovations
will be selected to ensure that innovations included in the Innovations
Exchange cover a broad range of health care settings, care processes,
priority populations, and clinical conditions.
The goals of the Health Care Innovations Exchange are to:
(1) Identify health care service delivery innovations and provide a
national level repository of searchable innovations and QualityTools
that enables health care decisionmakers to quickly identify ideas and
tools that meet their needs. These innovations come from many care
settings including inpatient facilities, outpatient facilities, long
term care organizations, health plans and community care settings. They
also represent many patient populations, disease conditions, and
processes of care such as preventive, acute, and chronic care;
(2) Foster the implementation and adoption of health care service
delivery innovations that improve health care quality and reduce
disparities in the care received by different populations.
This data collection is being conducted by AHRQ through its
contractor, Westat, pursuant to AHRQ's statutory authority to conduct
and support research on healthcare and on systems for the delivery of
such care, including activities (1) with respect to the quality,
effectiveness, efficiency, appropriateness and value of healthcare
services, 42 U.S.C. 299a(a), and (2) to promote innovation in evidence-
based health care practices and technologies. 42 U.S.C. 299b-5.
Method of Collection
To achieve the first goal of the Innovations Exchange the following
data collections will be implemented:
(1) E-mail submission--Based on experience during the current
approval period, approximately 10% of the 167 health care innovations
considered for inclusion annually, and their associated innovators,
will submit their innovations via email to the Innovations Exchange
without prior contact (about 17 annually). Innovators who submit their
innovations for possible publication through the email submission
guidelines process will be considered as will innovations identified by
project staff through an array of sources that include: Published
literature, conference proceedings, news items, list servs, Federal
agencies and other government programs and resources, health care
foundations, and health care associations.
(2) Health care innovator interview--To collect and verify the
information required for the innovation profiles, health care
innovators will be interviewed by telephone about the following aspects
of their innovation: Health care problem addressed, impetus for the
innovation, goals of the innovation, description of the innovation,
sources of funding, evaluation results for the innovation, setting for
the innovation, history of planning and implementation for the
innovation, and lessons learned concerning the implementation of the
innovation. Interviews will be conducted with innovators identified by
project staff and those identified through email submission.
(3) Annual follow-up reviews--After the innovation profile is
published, on a yearly basis, innovators will be contacted by email to
review and update their profiles.
The second goal of the Innovations Exchange is achieved by serving
as a ``one-stop shop'' that provides:
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(1) Digested and reliable information about innovations in an
adoption-friendly format;
(2) Learning resources including expert commentaries, articles,
adoption guides and educational Web events, and
(3) Networking opportunities that allow innovators and potential
adopters to share information about implementation strategies and
lessons learned, including in-person meetings, interactive online
events, and the ability for users to post comments and engage in
discussions on specific innovations.
The ultimate decision to publish a detailed profile of an
innovation depends on several factors, including an evaluation by AHRQ,
AHRQ's priorities, and the number of similar ideas in the Innovations
Exchange. AHRQ's priorities include identifying and highlighting
innovations (1) That will help reduce disparities in health care and
health status; (2) that will have significant impact on the overall
value of health care; (3) where the innovators have a strong interest
in participating; and (4) that have been supported by AHRQ.
Estimated Annual Respondent Burden
Exhibit 1 shows the estimated annualized burden hours for the
respondents' time to participate in this project. Approximately 167
innovators will participate in the initial data collection each year
with 150 of those being added to the Innovations Exchange. About 17
innovations will be submitted by e-mail, which requires 30 minutes. All
167 potential innovations will participate in the health care innovator
interview, including the 17 submitted via e-mail. The interview will
last about 60 minutes and an additional 15 minutes is typically
required for the innovator to review and comment on the written
profile.
Based on experience, approximately 10% of the candidate innovations
either will not meet the inclusion criteria or their innovators will
decide not to continue their participation, after the interview.
Therefore, about 90% (150) of the 167 candidate innovations will move
into the publication stage each year. Annual follow-up reviews will be
conducted with all innovations that have been in the Innovations
Exchange for at least one full year. With an expected total of 575
innovations in the Exchange by the end of the current approval period,
and an additional 450 to be added over the course of the next 3 year
approval period, an average of 725 reviews will be conducted annually
and will require about 30 minutes to complete. The total annualized
burden is estimated to be 581 hours.
Exhibit 2 shows the estimated annualized cost burden associated
with the respondents' time to participate in this research. The total
annualized cost burden is estimated to be $19,754.
Exhibit 1--Estimated Annualized Burden Hours
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Number of
Form name Name of responses per Hours per Total burden
respondents respondent response hours
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E-mail submission............................... 17 1 30/60 9
Annual follow-up reviews........................ 725 1 30/60 363
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Total....................................... 909 .............. .............. 581
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Exhibit 2--Estimated Annualized Cost Burden
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Number of Total burden Average hourly Total cost
Form name respondents hours wage rate* burden
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E-mail submission............................... 17 9 $34 $306
Health care innovator interview................. 167 209 34 7,106
Annual follow-up reviews........................ 725 363 34 12,342
Total....................................... 909 581 .............. $19,754
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* Based upon the mean hourly wage for healthcare practitioners and technical occupations, Bureau of Labor
Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2009.
Estimated Annual Costs to the Federal Government
Exhibit 3 shows the estimated annualized costs to the Government.
The total cost to the Government of this data collection is
approximately $592,922 over three years (on average, $197,642 per
year). These costs cover data collection efforts for contacting
candidate health care innovators, conducting innovator interviews, and
contacting innovators annually to update profiles.
Exhibit 3--Estimated Total and Annualized Cost
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Annualized
Cost component Total cost cost
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Data Collection Activities.............. $82,260 $27,420
Website Maintenance..................... 64,172 21,391
Project Management...................... 27,096 9,032
Overhead................................ 419,395 139,799
Total............................... $592,922 $197,642
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[[Page 4358]]
Request for Comments
In accordance with the above-cited Paperwork Reduction Act
legislation, comments on AHRQ1s information collection are requested
with regard to any of the following: (a) Whether the proposed
collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of
AHRQ healthcare research and healthcare information dissemination
functions, including whether the information will have practical
utility; (b) the accuracy of AHRQ's estimate of burden (including hours
and costs) of the proposed collection(s) of information; (c) ways to
enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be
collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the collection of
information upon the respondents, including the use of automated
collection techniques or other forms of information technology.
Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized
and included in the Agency's subsequent request for OMB approval of the
proposed information collection. All comments will become a matter of
public record.
Dated: January 3, 2011.
Carolyn M. Clancy,
Director.
[FR Doc. 2011-1172 Filed 1-24-11; 8:45 am]
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