[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 248 (Friday, December 28, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 73826-73827]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 07-6188]


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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: ``Focus Groups on Consumer Engagement in Developing Electronic 
Health Information Systems.'' In accordance with the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104-13 (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)), 
AHRQ invites the public to comment on this proposed information 
collection.

DATES: Comments on this notice must be received by February 26, 2008.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should be submitted to: Doris Lefkowitz, 
Reports Clearance Officer, AHRQ, by e-mail at 
[email protected].
    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 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Proposed Project

    ``Focus Groups on Consumer Engagement in Developing Electronic 
Health Information Systems''
    This project will consist of focus groups to gain insights into 
healthcare consumers' awareness and perceptions of Health Information 
Technology (IT), and how best to engage consumers in the development of 
these technologies. AHRQ has so far invested significant resources in 
initiatives to promote the planning and development of new Health IT 
that should improve healthcare, lower healthcare costs, and improve 
patient safety. For such benefits to be maximized, it is important to 
understand how consumers view Health IT and how to engage them in the 
design and implementation of future innovations.
    AHRQ will conduct 20 focus groups (in addition to two pretest 
groups) with healthcare consumers, that is persons who have visited a 
healthcare provider (either for their own health or the health of a 
family member) in the previous two years. For the most part, the groups 
will be homogenous with respect to the presence or absence of either of 
the following characteristics: (a) Managing a chronic health condition 
(or the condition of a close family member), or (b) Having visited at 
least three healthcare providers in the past two years.
    Participants will be covered by a range of health insurance plans, 
and persons not covered by health insurance will also be recruited. 
Some groups will include only persons enrolled in a

[[Page 73827]]

Health Maintenance Organization (HMO).
    The data to be collected for this project will be in two forms: (a) 
answers to a screener questionnaire designed to identify and recruit 
eligible participants, and (b) verbal reports--i.e., focus group 
participants' answers to questions posed by the moderator and reactions 
to comments of other group members. The focus group discussions will be 
audio-taped with participants' consent and transcribed for analysis 
purposes.

Method of Collection

    Participants will be screened for eligibility and recruited for the 
focus groups by telephone. The focus group sessions will be conducted 
in-person with approximately 10 persons per group. The focus group 
discussion will take approximately 2 hours, and we have assumed a 20-
minute travel time (each way) per participant. Thus, focus group 
participation will require 2.67 hours per response.

Estimated Annual Respondent Burden

                                   Table 1.--Estimated annualized burden hours
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                                                                     Number of
                    Form name                        Number of     responses per     Hours per     Total burden
                                                    respondents     respondent       response          hours
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Recruiting Screener.............................           2,200               1            5/60             183
Focus Group Discussion Guide....................             220               1            2.67             587
Total...........................................           2,420              na              na             770
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                                   Table 2.--Estimated annualized cost burden
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                                                                                      Average
                    Form name                        Number of     Total burden     hourly wage     Total cost
                                                    respondents        hours           rate*          burden
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Recruiting Screener.............................           2,200             183             $17          $3,111
Focus Group Discussion Guide....................             220             587              17           9,979
Total...........................................           2,420             770              na          13,090
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*Based upon the mean hourly wage of full-time workers, third-quarter of 2007. Current Population Survey, U.S.
  Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Estimated Annual Costs to the Federal Government

    Based on the current budget for the project, the total cost to the 
Federal Government is $257,474 ($251,114 of contractor costs + $6,360 
of travel and time cost for AHRQ employees) for the 18-month period 
from Oct. 1st, 2007 to March 31st, 2009. The annualized cost is 
approximately $171,649. This amount includes all direct and indirect 
costs of the design, data collection, analysis, and reporting phases of 
the study. The costs of Federal employees for monitoring the contract 
are $5,660.

Request for Comments

    In accordance with the above-cited Paperwork Reduction Act 
legislation, comments on AHRQ's 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 health care research and health care 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: December 17, 2007.
Carolyn M. Clancy,
Director.
[FR Doc. 07-6188 Filed 12-27-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4160-90-M