[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 95 (Thursday, May 16, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28848-28850]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-11340]


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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: ``Collection of Information for Agency for Healthcare Research 
and Quality's (AHRQ) Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture 
Comparative Database.'' In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act, 
44 U.S.C. 3501-3521, AHRQ invites the public to comment on this 
proposed information collection.

DATES: Comments on this notice must be received by July 15, 2013.

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

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Proposed Project

    Collection of Information for Agency for Healthcare Research and 
Quality's (AHRQ) Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture Comparative 
Database.
    Request for information collection approval. The Agency for 
Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) requests that the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) reapprove, under the Paperwork Reduction 
Act of 1995, AHRQ's collection of information for the AHRQ Hospital 
Survey on Patient Safety Culture (Hospital SOPS) Comparative Database; 
OMB NO. 0935-

[[Page 28849]]

0162, last approved on May 5th, 2010. The Hospital SOPS Comparative 
Database consists of data from the AHRQ Hospital Survey on Patient 
Safety Culture. Hospitals in the U.S. are asked to voluntarily submit 
data from the survey to AHRQ. The database was developed by AHRQ in 
2006 in response to requests from hospitals interested in knowing how 
their patient safety culture survey results compare to those of other 
hospitals in their efforts to improve patient safety.
    Background on the Hospital SOPS. In 1999, the Institute of Medicine 
called for health care organizations to develop a ``culture of safety'' 
such that their workforce and processes focus on improving the 
reliability and safety of care for patients (IOM, 1999; To Err is 
Human: Building a Safer Health System). To respond to the need for 
tools to assess patient safety culture in health care, AHRQ developed 
and pilot tested the Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture with OMB 
approval (OMB NO. 0935-0115; Approved 2/4/2003). The survey was 
designed to enable hospitals to assess staff opinions about patient 
safety issues, medical error, and error reporting and includes 42 items 
that measure 12 dimensions of patient safety culture. AHRQ released the 
survey to the public along with a Survey User's Guide and other toolkit 
materials in November 2004 on the AHRQ Web site. Since its release, the 
survey has been voluntarily used by hundreds of hospitals in the U.S.
    Rationale for the information collection. The Hospital SOPS survey 
and the Hospital SOPS Comparative Database are supported by AHRQ to 
meet its goals of promoting improvements in the quality and safety of 
health care in hospital settings. The surveys, toolkit materials, and 
comparative database results are all made publicly available along with 
technical assistance, provided by AHRQ through its contractor at no 
charge to hospitals, to facilitate the use of these materials for 
hospital patient safety and quality improvement.
    This study 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 with respect to: the quality, effectiveness, 
efficiency, appropriateness and value of healthcare services; quality 
measurement and improvement; and database development. 42 U.S.C. 
299a(a)(1), (2), and (a)(8).

Method of Collection

    All information collection for the Hospital SOPS Comparative 
Database is done electronically, except the Data Use Agreement (DUA) 
that hospitals sign in hard copy and fax or mail back. Registration, 
submission of hospital information, and data upload is handled online 
through a secure Web site. Delivery of confidential hospital survey 
feedback reports is also done electronically by having submitters enter 
a username and password and downloading their reports from a secure Web 
site.
    Survey data from the AHRQ Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture 
is used to produce three types of products: (1) An annual Hospital SOPS 
Comparative Database Report that is made publicly available in the 
public domain; (2) Individual Hospital Survey Feedback Reports that are 
confidential, customized reports produced for each hospital that 
submits data to the database; and (3) Research data sets of individual-
level and hospital-level de-identified data to enable researchers to 
conduct analyses.

Estimated Annual Respondent Burden

    Hospitals administer the AHRQ Hospital Survey on Patient Safety 
Culture every 20 months on average. Therefore, the number of hospital 
submissions to the database varies because hospitals do not submit data 
every year. Data submission is typically handled by one point-of-
contact (POC) who is either a hospital patient safety manager or a 
survey vendor. The POC completes a number of data submission steps and 
forms, beginning with completion of an online Eligibility and 
Registration Form. The POCs typically submit data on behalf of 3 
hospitals, on average, because many hospitals are part of a multi-
hospital system that is submitting data, or the POC is a vendor that is 
submitting data for multiple hospitals. Exhibits 1 and 2 are based on 
an estimated 304 individual POCs who will complete the database 
submission steps and forms in the coming years, not based on the number 
of ``hospitals.'' The Hospital Information Form is completed by all 
POCs for each of their hospitals. The total annual burden hours are 
estimated to be 1,793.
    Exhibit 2 shows the estimated annualized cost burden based on the 
respondents' time to submit their data. The cost burden is estimated to 
be $91,297 annually.

                                  Exhibit 1--Estimated Annualized Burden Hours
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                                                     Number of       Number of
                    Form name                      respondents/    responses per     Hours per     Total burden
                                                       POCs             POC          response          hours
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Eligibility/Registration Form and Data                       304               1             5.6           1,702
 Submission.....................................
Data Use Agreement..............................             304               1            3/60              15
Hospital Information Form.......................             304               3            5/60              76
                                                 ---------------------------------------------------------------
    Total.......................................             912              NA              NA           1,793
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*The Eligibility and Registration Form requires 3 minutes to complete; however about 5.5 hours is required to
  prepare/plan for the data submission. This includes the amount of time POCs and other hospital staff (CEO,
  lawyer, database administrator) typically spend deciding whether to participate in the database and preparing
  their materials and data set for submission to the database, and performing the submission.


                                   Exhibit 2--Estimated Annualized Cost Burden
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                                                     Number of
                    Form name                      respondents/    Total burden   Average hourly    Total cost
                                                       POCs            hours        wage rate*        burden
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Eligibility/Registration Form and Data                       304           1,702          $50.95         $86,717
 Submission.....................................
Data Use Agreement..............................             304              15           50.33             755
Hospital Information Form.......................             304              76           50.33           3,825
                                                 ---------------------------------------------------------------

[[Page 28850]]

 
    Total.......................................             912           1,793              NA          91,297
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*Wage rates were calculated using the mean hourly wage based on occupational employment and wage estimates from
  the Dept of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics' May 2012 National Industry-Specific Occupational Employment and
  Wage Estimates NAICS 622000--Hospitals, located at http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/naics3_622000.htm. Wage
  rate of $50.33 is based on the mean hourly wages for Medical and Health Services Managers (11-9111). Wage rate
  of $50.95 is the weighted mean hourly wage for: Medical and Health Services Managers (11-9111; $50.33 x 2.6
  hours = $130.86), Lawyers (23-1011; $72.71 x 0.5 hours 436.36), Chief Executives (11-1011($95.36 (0.5 hours =
  $47.68), and Database Administrators (15-1141; $35.20 x 2 hours = $70.40) [Weighted mean = ($130.86 + 36.36 +
  47.68 + 70.40)/5.6 hours = $285.3015.6 hours = $50.95/hour].

Request for Comments

    In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act, 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: May 7, 2013.
Carolyn M. Clancy,
AHRQ Director.
[FR Doc. 2013-11340 Filed 5-15-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4160-90-M