[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 61 (Wednesday, March 30, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17714-17715]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-07118]


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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: ``Survey of Hospital Quality Leaders.'' 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 May 31, 2016.

[[Page 17715]]


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

Survey of Hospital Quality Leaders

    The Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems 
(CAHPS[supreg]) Hospital Survey (HCAHPS) was first implemented on a 
voluntary basis in 2006 to assess patients' experiences with care. 
Today, hospitals subject to the Inpatient Prospective Payment System 
(IPPS) annual payment update provisions are required to collect and 
submit HCAHPS data in order to receive their full annual payment 
update. In addition, HCAHPS performance was added to the calculation of 
the value-based incentive payment in the Hospital Value-Based 
Purchasing (Hospital VBP) program, beginning with discharges in October 
2012. The FY 2015 Hospital VBP program links 30% of the Inpatient 
Prospective Payment System hospitals' payment from CMS to HCAHPS 
performance.
    Despite the high stakes associated with HCAHPS scores, little is 
known about the ways in which hospitals are using HCAHPS data and 
supplemental information about patient experience to understand and 
improve their patients' experiences.
    This research has the following goals:
    (1) To characterize the role of HCAHPS in hospitals' efforts to 
improve patient experiences
    (2) to identify the types of quality improvement activities that 
hospitals implement to improve their HCAHPS scores
    (3) to describe hospitals' perspectives on HCAHPS
    (4) to determine the types of information collected by hospitals 
beyond those required for Hospital VBP
    This study is being conducted by AHRQ through its contractor, the 
RAND Corporation, 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

    Survey of Hospital Quality Leaders: This survey will elicit 
information from approximately 500 hospital quality leaders in a 
variety of hospital settings, including high- and low-performing 
hospitals, facilities of varying sizes, and hospitals representing all 
nine geographic Census divisions. Hospital quality leaders will be 
asked to provide information about the use of HCAHPS in their hospital, 
with questions addressing all of the substantive areas identified in 
the goals section above.
    Characterizing hospitals' use of HCAHPS data will provide important 
insight into the activities hospitals conduct to improve patient 
experience scores. This information may be useful in supporting 
hospitals that lag behind their peers, learning from hospitals with 
outstanding records of patient experience, and providing 
recommendations that may be used to refine HCAHPS survey content.

Estimated Annual Respondent Burden

    Table 1 shows the estimated annualized burden and cost for the 
respondents' time to participate in this data collection. These burden 
estimates are based on tests of data collection conducted on nine or 
fewer entities. As indicated below, the annual total burden hours are 
estimated to be 294 hours. The annual total cost associated with the 
annual total burden hours is estimated to be $14,708.
    Table 1 shows the estimated annualized burden for the respondents' 
time to participate in this data collection. The Survey of Hospital 
Quality Leaders will be administered to 500 individuals. Prior work 
suggests that 3-5 items can typically be completed per minute, 
depending on item complexity and respondent characteristics, (Hays & 
Reeve, 2010; Berry, 2009). We have calculated our burden estimate using 
a conservative estimate of 4.5 items per minute. The survey contains 
159 items and is thus estimated to require an average administration 
time of 35 minutes. As indicated below, the annual total burden hours 
are estimated to be 294 hours.

                                                   Table 1--Estimated Annualized Burden Hours and Cost
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                                                                             Number of                                        Average
                     Collection task                         Number of     responses per    Hours  per     Total burden     hourly wage     Total cost
                                                            respondents     respondent       response          hours          rate *          burden
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Survey of Hospital Quality Leaders......................             500               1             .59             294          $49.96         $14,708
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    Totals..............................................  ..............  ..............  ..............             294  ..............         $14,708
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* Based upon mean hourly wages, ``National Compensation Survey: All United States December 2009-January 2011,'' U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of
  Labor Statistics.

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.

Sharon B. Arnold,
Acting Director.
[FR Doc. 2016-07118 Filed 3-29-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4160-90-P