[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 211 (Tuesday, November 2, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 67368-67370]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-27570]


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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 Health Care Research and Quality (AHRQ) 
Health Care Innovations Exchange Innovator Interview and Innovator E-
mail 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.

DATES: Comments on this notice must be received by January 3, 2011.

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

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Health Care 
Innovations Exchange Innovator Interview and Innovator E-mail 
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 
E-mail 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 Quality Tools 
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 e-mail to the Innovations Exchange 
without prior contact (about 17 annually). Innovators who submit their 
innovations for possible publication through the e-mail 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 e-mail submission.
    (3) Annual follow-up reviews--After the innovation profile is 
published, on a yearly basis, innovators will be contacted by e-mail to 
review and update their profiles.
    The second goal of the Innovations Exchange is achieved by serving 
as a ``one-stop shop'' that provides:

[[Page 67369]]

    (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                        Number of     responses per     Hours per     Total burden
                                                    respondents     respondent       response          hours
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E-mail submission...............................              17               1           30/60               9
Health care innovator interview.................             167               1           75/60             209
Annual follow-up reviews........................             725               1           30/60             363
                                                 ---------------------------------------------------------------
    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 67370]]

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) 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: October 25, 2010.
Carolyn M. Clancy,
Director.
[FR Doc. 2010-27570 Filed 11-1-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4160-90-M