[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 166 (Tuesday, August 27, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52927-52929]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-20826]


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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

[[Page 52928]]

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 be received by October 28, 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

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 health care system staff in various teamwork, communication, 
and patient safety concepts, tools, and techniques and ultimately 
helping to build national capacity for supporting teamwork-based 
patient safety efforts in health care organizations and at the state 
level. The implementation includes the availability of voluntary 
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 health care. During this effort, 
AHRQ has trained more than 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 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 expanded patient safety 
knowledge and skills have 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) spread that training, knowledge, and skills to their 
organizations, local areas, regions, and states.
    This study is being conducted by AHRQ through its contractor, 
Health Research & Educational Trust (HRET), pursuant to AHRQ's 
statutory authority to conduct and support research on health care and 
on systems for the delivery of such care, including activities with 
respect to the quality, effectiveness, efficiency, appropriateness and 
value of health care 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 be 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 health care 
systems) and region (i.e., Northeast, Midwest, Southwest, Southeast, 
Mid-Atlantic, and West Coast). In addition, we will strive to ensure 
representativeness of the sites 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 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 1 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 $38,923.

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                                  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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                                                     Number of     Total burden   Average hourly    Total cost
                    Form name                       respondents        hours        wage rate *       burden
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Semi-structured interview.......................               9              81          $44.18          $3,579
Training participant questionnaire..............             240             800           44.18          35,344
                                                 ---------------------------------------------------------------
    Total.......................................             249             881              NA          38,923
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* Based upon the mean of the average wages for all health professionals (29-000) 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, 2012, U.S.
  Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_nat.htm#37-0000.

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: August 16, 2013.
Carolyn M. Clancy,
Director.
[FR Doc. 2013-20826 Filed 8-26-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4160-90-M