[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 84 (Monday, May 3, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 23269-23271]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-10199]


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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: ``Assessing the Impact of the National Implementation of 
TeamSTEPPS Master Training Program.'' In accordance with the Paperwork 
Reduction Act, 44 U.S.C. 3501-3520, AHRQ invites the public to comment 
on this proposed information collection.

DATES: Comments on this notice must he received by July 2, 2010.

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

Assessing the Impact of the National Implementation of TeamSTEPPS 
Master Training Program

    As part of their effort to fulfill their mission goals, AHRQ, in 
collaboration with the Department of Defense's (DoD) Tricare Management 
Activity (TMA), developed TeamSTEPPS[supreg] (aka Team Strategies and 
Tools for Enhancing Performance and Patient Safety) to provide an 
evidence-based suite of tools and strategies for training teamwork-
based patient safety to health care professionals. In 2007, AHRQ and 
DoD coordinated the national implementation of the TeamSTEPPS program. 
The main objective of this program is to improve patient safety by 
training a select group of stakeholders such as Quality Improvement 
Organization (QIO) personnel, High Reliability Organization (HRO) staff 
and healthcare system staff in various teamwork, communication, and 
patient safety concepts, tools, and techniques and ultimately helping 
to build a national infrastructure for supporting teamwork-based 
patient safety efforts in healthcare organizations and at the state 
level. The implementation includes the training of Master Trainers in 
various health care systems capable of stimulating the utilization and 
adoption of TeamSTEPPS in their health care delivery systems, providing 
technical assistance and consultation on implementing TeamSTEPPS, and 
developing various channels of learning (e.g., user networks, various 
educational venues) for continuation support and improvement of 
teamwork in healthcare. During this effort, AHRQ has trained a corps of 
2400 participants to serve as the Master Trainer infrastructure 
supporting national adoption of TeamSTEPPS. Participants in training 
become Master Trainers in TeamSTEPPS and are afforded the opportunity 
to observe the tools and strategies provided in the program in action. 
In addition to developing a corps of Master Trainers, AHRQ has also 
developed a series of support mechanisms for this effort including a 
data collection Web tool, a TeamSTEPPS call support center, and a 
monthly consortium to address any challenges encountered by 
implementers of TeamSTEPPS.
    To understand the extent to which this infrastructure of patient 
safety knowledge and skills has been created, AHRQ will conduct an 
evaluation of the National Implementation of TeamSTEPPS Master Training 
program. The goals of this evaluation are to examine the extent to 
which training participants have been able to:
    (1) Implement the TeamSTEPPS products, concepts, tools, and 
techniques in their home organizations and,
    (2) the extent to which participants have spread that training, 
knowledge, and skills to their organizations, local areas, regions, and 
states.
    This study is being conducted by AHRQ through its contractor, 
American Institutes for Research (AIR), pursuant to AHRQ's statutory 
authority to conduct and support research on healthcare and on systems 
for the delivery of such care, including activities with respect to the 
quality,

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effectiveness, efficiency, appropriateness and value of healthcare 
services and with respect to quality measurement and improvement. 42 
U.S.C. 299a(a)(1) and (2).

Method of Collection

    To achieve the goals of this assessment the following two data 
collections will be implemented:
    (1) Web-based questionnaire to examine post-training activities and 
teamwork outcomes as a result of training from multiple perspectives. 
The questionnaire is directed to all master training participants. 
Items will cover post-training activities, implementation experiences, 
facilitators and barriers to implementation encountered, and perceived 
outcomes as a result of these activities.
    (2) Semi-structured interviews will he conducted with members from 
organizations who participated in the TeamSTEPPS Master Training 
program. Information gathered from these interviews will be analyzed 
and used to draft a ``lessons learned'' document that will capture 
additional detail on the issues related to participants' and 
organizations' abilities to implement and disseminate the TeamSTEPPS 
post-training. The organizations will vary in terms of type of 
organization (e.g., QIO or hospital associations versus healthcare 
systems) and region (i.e., Northeast, Midwest, Southwest, Southeast, 
Mid-Atlantic, West Coast). In addition, we will strive to ensure 
representativeness of the site visits by ensuring that the distribution 
of organizations mirrors the distribution of organizations in the 
master training population. For example, if the distribution of 
organizations is such that only one out of every five organizations is 
a QIO, we will ensure that a maximum of two organizations in the site 
visit sample are QIOs. The interviews will more accurately reveal the 
degree of training spread for the organizations included. Interviewees 
will be drawn from qualified individuals serving in one of two roles 
(i.e., implementers or facilitators). The interview protocol will be 
adapted for each role based on the respondent group and to some degree, 
for each individual, based on their training and patient safety 
experience.

Estimated Annual Respondent Burden

    Exhibit I shows the estimated annualized burden hours for the 
respondent's time to participate in the study. Semi-structured 
interviews will be conducted with a maximum of 9 individuals from each 
of 9 participating organizations and will last about one hour each. The 
training participant questionnaire will be completed by approximately 
10 individuals from each of about 240 organizations and is estimated to 
require 20 minutes to complete. The total annualized burden is 
estimated to be 881 hours.
    Exhibit 2 shows the estimated annualized cost burden based on the 
respondents' time to participate in the study. The total cost burden is 
estimated to be $28,594.

                                  Exhibit 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
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Semi-structured interview.......................               9               9           60/60              81
Training participant questionnaire..............             240              10           20/60             800
                                                 ---------------------------------------------------------------
    Total.......................................             249              NA              NA             881
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                                   Exhibit 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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Semi-structured interview.......................               9              81          $32.64          $2,644
Training participant questionnaire..............             240             800           32.64          26,112
                                                 ---------------------------------------------------------------
    Total.......................................             249             881              NA          28,756
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\*\ Based upon the mean of the average wages for all health professionals (29-0000) for the training participant
  questionnaire and for executives, administrators, and managers for the organizational leader questionnaire
  presented in the National Compensation Survey: Occupational Wages in the United States, May, 2008, U.S.
  Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_nat.htm#b29-0000.

Estimated Annual Costs to the Federal Government

    Exhibit 3 shows the total cost for this one year project; since the 
project is for only one year these are also the annualized costs. The 
total cost to the government for this activity is estimated to be 
$181,521 to conduct the one-time questionnaire and conduct nine site 
visits, as well as to analyze and present all results. This amount 
includes costs for developing the data collection tools ($24,889); 
collecting the data ($10,667); and analyzing the data ($35,061) and 
reporting the findings ($12,903).

             Exhibit 3--Estimated Total and Annualized Cost
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                       Cost component                         Total cost
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Project Development........................................      $24,889
Data Collection Activities.................................      108,667
Data Processing and Analysis...............................       35,061
Publication of Results.....................................       12,903
                                                            ------------
  Total....................................................      181,521
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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 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)

[[Page 23271]]

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: April 22, 2010.
Carolyn M. Clancy,
Director.
[FR Doc. 2010-10199 Filed 4-30-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4160-90-M