[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 18 (Monday, January 28, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5810-5811]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-01348]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
AHRQ Standing Workgroup for Quality Indicator Measure
Specification
AGENCY: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), HHS.
ACTION: Notice of request for nominations.
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SUMMARY: The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) is
seeking nominations for both a time-limited work group and a standing
work group to be convened by an AHRQ contractor. The work groups shall
be comprised of individuals with knowledge of the AHRQ Quality
Indicators (QIs), their technical specifications, and associated
methodological issues. The overarching goals of each group are to
provide feedback to AHRQ regarding refinements to the Qls. The time-
limited workgroup is more restricted to specific clinical or
methodological issues, while the standing workgroup addresses broader
issues related to the measurement cycle.
DATES: Please submit nominations on or before March 15, 2013. Self-
nominations are welcome. Third-party nominations must indicate that the
individual has been contacted and is willing to serve on the workgroup.
Selected candidates will be contacted by AHRQ no later than April 5,
2013. Please include the committee of interest. Candidates may apply
for both.
ADDRESSES: Nominations can be sent in the form of a letter or email,
preferably as an electronic file with an email attachment, and should
specifically address the submission criteria as noted below. Electronic
submissions are strongly encouraged. Responses should be submitted to:
ATTN: Pamela Owens, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Center
for Delivery, Organization and Markets, 540 Gaither Road, Rockville, MD
20850, Email: pam.owens@AHRQ.hhs.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Pamela Owens, Ph.D., Senior Research
Scientist, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Center for
Delivery, Organization and Markets, 540 Gaither Road, Rockville, MD
20850, Email: pam.owens@AHRQ.hhs.gov; Phone: (301) 427-1412; Fax: (301)
427-1430.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: These workgroups are being administered by
AHRQ's contractor as part of a structured approach to formally and
broadly engage stakeholders, and to enhance and expand transparency
about the scientific development of the AHRQ QIs.
Time-Limited Work Group
Time-limited workgroups are formative in nature, providing feedback
on significant measure improvement issues and representing a broad
range of stakeholders. The focus for this upcoming year will be the
Prevention Quality Indicators (PQI). The role of time-limited group
members is to: (1) Provide technical guidance on the PQI specifications
and rationales, risk adjustment strategies, and other quality
measurement issues; (2) provide input on critical information gaps, as
well as research methods to address them; (3) provide guidance on draft
recommendations for the PQI measure refinements; (4) offer
scientifically rigorous recommendations for the evaluation and
validation efforts required to ensure the accuracy of the PQIs; and,
(5) provide input on and review of the contractor's technical report
resulting from the workgroup's discussions.
The time-limited workgroup will consist of 8-12 members consisting
of:
One or more statisticians specialized in the relevant
statistical methods and applications
One or more individuals with expertise in community health
care and prevention, and access to and quality of care
One or more individuals with experience using AHRQ PQI
measures for assessing health system performance and public reporting
One or more individuals with expertise in developing
algorithms using ICD-9-CM codes to construct or modify quality
indicators using administrative data is desirable, but not mandatory
In addition, the work group is expected to include representatives
from impacted provider groups and their professional organizations,
other stakeholders, consumers and other users, quality alliances,
medical or specialty societies, measure developers, accrediting
organizations, and public and private payers.
Standing Work Group
The standing workgroup is part of a structured approach to bring
together individuals from multiple disciplines for the purpose of
providing technical feedback on proposed updates to the AHRQ QIs. The
intent is to collect
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feedback in a standardized fashion, and to ensure continued improvement
of key measurement aspects of the QIs based on new data sources, data
enhancements, and methodological advances. The standing workgroup may
potentially provide guidance for the development of new indicators or
the modification or retirement of existing indicators. Annual topics
include: (1) Strategic areas for AHRQ QI program development for the
upcoming year, (2) measure specification, software and documentation
changes that have been proposed from users, the literature or other
sources, (3) results from the analysis of proposed changes and review
of recommendations for implementation, and (4) general methodological
developments in quality measurement.
The standing workgroup will consist of a diverse group of
clinicians and other individuals from a variety of disciplines and
settings with expertise and interest in quality measurement and
improvement. Members of the standing workgroup may include:
One or more currently practicing clinicians specialized in
various disciplines
One or more individuals with inpatient nursing and/or
nursing management experience
One or more individuals with experience using AHRQ QI
measures for assessing hospital performance and/or public reporting
One or more individuals with expertise in developing
algorithms for relevant quality indicators using administrative data
One or more individuals with expertise in validating ICD-
9-CM codes using chart abstraction (to assess criterion validity), or
assessing their accuracy in identifying individuals at risk for
specific adverse outcomes (predictive validity)
One or more individuals with experience using HCUP or
similar data for the purpose of quality measurement
One or more individuals with knowledge of ICD-9-CM and
ICD-10-CM coding guidelines and practices
Submission Criteria
To be considered for membership on either work group, please send
the following information for each nominee:
1. A brief nomination letter highlighting experience and knowledge
in the use of the AHRQ QIs, including any experience with the National
Quality Forum (NQF) Consensus Development Process, and the work group
of interest. The nominee's profession and specialty, and the spectrum
of his or her experience related to the QIs should be described. Please
include full contact information of nominee: Name, title, organization,
mailing address, telephone and fax numbers, and email address.
2. Curriculum vita (with citations to any pertinent publications
related to quality measure development or use).
3. Description of any financial interest, recent conduct, or
current or planned commercial, non-commercial, institutional,
intellectual, public service, or other activities pertinent to the
potential scope of the workgroup, which could be perceived as
influencing the workgroup's process or recommendations. The objective
is not to prevent nominees with potential conflicts of interest from
serving on the work groups, but to obtain such information so as to
best inform the selection of workgroup members, and to help minimize
such conflicts.
Nominee Selection Criteria
Selection of standing workgroup members will be based on the
following criteria:
Knowledge of and experience with health care quality
measurement using administrative data, including issues of coding,
specification, and risk adjustment
Peer-reviewed publications relevant to developing,
testing, or applying health care quality measures based on ICD-coded
administrative data
Knowledge of current quality measurement methodologies
published in the literature
Clinical expertise in the use and applications of the AHRQ
QIs
Knowledge of the NQF measure submission and maintenance
process
The selection process will be adapted to ensure that the standing
work group includes a diverse group of clinicians and other individuals
from a variety of disciplines and settings.
Time Commitment
Time-limited and standing workgroup participants will hold a
minimum two year term with an optional extension. The time-limited
workgroup will meet by teleconference approximately three times for
approximately two hours each in 2013, with a total time commitment of
approximately 12 hours. The standing workgroup will meet quarterly by
teleconference for approximately two hours with an annual time
commitment of approximately 12-15 hours.
Workgroup Activities
1. Workgroup members will receive pre-meeting material to review
and to provide written feedback (1.0 hours).
2. The workgroup meeting will be convened by phone or web
conference. Initial feedback and revisions will be discussed during the
live meetings along with other relevant topics (2.0 hours).
3. Post meeting, members will review and comment on meeting minutes
and associated documents along with any follow-up action items (1
hour).
4. There may be opportunities for workgroup members to
collaboratively publish peer-reviewed journal articles or reports based
on workgroup activities. However, this is not a mandatory requirement
of workgroup members and is not included in the 12-15 hours estimated
time commitment.
Background
The AHRQ Quality Indicators (AHRQ QIs) are a unique set of measures
of health care quality that make use of readily available hospital
inpatient administrative data. The QIs have been used for various
purposes. Some of these include tracking, hospital self-assessment,
reporting of hospital-specific quality or pay for performance. The AHRQ
QIs are provider- and area-level quality indicators and currently
consist of four modules: The Prevention Quality Indicators (PQIs), the
Inpatient Quality Indicators (IQIs), the Patient Safety Indicators
(PSIs), and the Pediatric Quality Indicators (PQIs). In response to
feedback from the AHRQ QI user community and guidance from NQF, AHRQ is
committed to the ongoing improvement and refinement of the QIs in an
accurate and transparent manner. For additional information about the
AHRQ QIs, please visit the AHRQ Web site at http://www.qualityindicators.AHRQ.gov.
Dated: January 16, 2013.
Carolyn M. Clancy,
Director, AHRQ.
[FR Doc. 2013-01348 Filed 1-25-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4160-90-M