[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 186 (Wednesday, September 27, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45034-45035]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-20606]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Indian Health Service


Request for Public Comment: 60 Day Notice for Extension of Fast 
Track Generic Clearance for the Collection of Qualitative Feedback on 
Agency Service Delivery: IHS Customer Service Satisfaction and Similar 
Surveys

AGENCY: Indian Health Service, HHS.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments. Request for extension of 
approval.

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SUMMARY: In compliance the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Indian 
Health Service (IHS) invites the general public to take this 
opportunity to comment on the information collection Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) Control Number 0917-0036, ``Generic 
Clearance for the Collection of Qualitative Feedback on Agency Service 
Delivery'' for approval under the Paperwork Reduction Act. This 
collection was developed as part of a Federal Government-wide effort to 
streamline the process for seeking feedback from the public on service 
delivery. This notice announces our intent to submit this collection to 
the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for approval and solicits 
comments on specific aspects for the proposed information collection.
    A copy of the draft supporting statement is available at 
www.regulations.gov (see Docket ID IHS_FRDOC_0001-[insert number]).

DATES: Consideration will be given to all comments received by November 
27, 2017.
    For Comments: Submit comments to Evonne Bennett-Barnes by one of 
the following methods:
     Mail: Evonne Bennett-Barnes, Information Collection 
Clearance Officer, Indian Health Service, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, 
MD 20857.
     Phone: 301-443-4750.
     Email: [email protected].
     Fax: 301-594-0899.
    Comments submitted in response to this notice will be made 
available to the public by publishing them in the 30 day Federal 
Register notice for this information collection. For this reason, 
please do not include information of a confidential nature, such as 
sensitive personal information or proprietary information. If comments 
are submitted via email, the email address will be automatically 
captured and included as part of the comment that is placed in the 
public docket and made available on the Internet. Please note that 
responses to this public comment request containing any routine notice 
about the confidentiality of the communication will be treated as 
public comments that may be made available to the public 
notwithstanding the inclusion of the routine notice.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To request additional information, 
please contact Evonne Bennett-Barnes, [email protected] or 
301-443-4750.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The IHS is submitting the proposed 
information collection to OMB for review, as required by section 
3507(a)(1)(D) of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. This notice is 
soliciting comments from members of the public and affected agencies as 
required by 44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A) concerning the proposed collection 
of information to: (1) Evaluate whether the proposed collection of 
information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of 
the agency, including whether the information will have practical 
utility; (2) Evaluate the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the 
burden of the proposed collection of information; (3) Enhance the 
quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and 
(4) Minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who 
are to respond; including through the use of appropriate automated 
collection techniques of other forms of information technology, e.g., 
permitting electronic submission of responses.
    Title: Generic Clearance for the Collection of Qualitative Feedback 
on Agency Service Delivery: IHS Customer Service Satisfaction and 
Similar Surveys.
    Type of Information Collection Request: Three year extension 
approval of this information collection.
    OMB Control Number: 0917-0036.
    Abstract: The proposed information collection activity provides a 
means to garner qualitative customer and

[[Page 45035]]

stakeholder feedback in an efficient, timely manner, in accordance with 
the Administration's commitment to improving service delivery. 
Qualitative feedback is information that provides useful insights on 
perceptions and opinions, but is not statistical surveys that yield 
quantitative results that can be generalized to the population of 
study. This feedback will provide insights into customer or stakeholder 
perceptions, experiences and expectations, provide an early warning of 
issues with service, or focus attention on areas where communication, 
training or changes in operations might improve delivery of products or 
services. These collections will allow for ongoing, collaborative and 
actionable communications between the Agency and its customers and 
stakeholders. It will also allow feedback to contribute directly to the 
improvement of program management.
    The solicitation of feedback will target areas such as: Timeliness, 
appropriateness, accuracy of information, courtesy, efficiency of 
service delivery, and resolution of issues with service delivery. 
Responses will be assessed to plan and inform efforts to improve or 
maintain the quality of service offered to the public. If this 
information is not collected, vital feedback from customers and 
stakeholders on the agency's services will be unavailable.
    The agency will only submit a collection for approval under this 
generic clearance if it meets the following conditions:
     The collections are voluntary;
     The collections are low-burden for respondents (based on 
considerations of total burden hours, total number of respondents, or 
burden-hours per respondent) and are low-cost for both the respondents 
and the Federal Government;
     The collections are non-controversial and do not raise 
issues of concern to other Federal agencies; Any collection is targeted 
to the solicitation of opinions from respondents who have experience 
with the program or may have experience with the program in the near 
future;
     Personally identifiable information is collected only to 
the extent necessary and is not retained;
     Information gathered will be used only internally for 
general service improvement and program management purposes and is not 
intended for release outside of the agency;
     Information gathered will not be used for the purpose of 
substantially informing influential policy decisions; and Information 
gathered will yield qualitative information; and
     The collections will not be designed or expected to yield 
statistically reliable results or used as though the results are 
generalizable to the population of study.
    Feedback collected under this generic clearance provides useful 
information, but it does not yield data that can be generalized to the 
overall population. This type of generic clearance for qualitative 
information will not be used for quantitative information collections 
that are designed to yield reliably actionable results, such as 
monitoring trends over time or documenting program performance. Such 
data uses require more rigorous designs that address: the target 
population to which generalizations will be made, the sampling frame, 
the sample design (including stratification and clustering), the 
precision requirements or power calculations that justify the proposed 
sample size, the expected response rate, methods for assessing 
potential non-response bias, the protocols for data collection, and any 
testing procedures that were or will be undertaken prior to fielding 
the study. Depending on the degree of influence the results are likely 
to have, such collections may still be eligible for submission for 
other generic mechanisms that are designed to yield quantitative 
results.
    As a general matter, information collections will not result in any 
new system of records containing privacy information and will not ask 
questions of a sensitive nature, such as sexual behavior and attitudes, 
religious beliefs, and other matters that are commonly considered 
private.
    Current Actions: Extension of approval for a collection of 
information.
    Type of Review: Extension.
    Affected Public: Individuals and households, businesses and 
organizations, and Tribal governments.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 105,000.
    Below are projected annual average estimates for the next three 
years:
    Average Expected Annual Number of activities: 100.
    Average number of Respondents per Activity: 1050.
    Annual responses: 105,000.
    Frequency of Response: Once per request.
    Average minutes per response: 10.
    Burden hours: 17,500.
    There are no direct costs to respondents to report.
    All written comments will be available for public inspection on 
Regulations.gov.
    An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required 
to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a 
currently valid OMB control number.
    Comment Due Date: Your comments regarding this information 
collection are best assured of having full effect if received within 60 
days of the date of this publication.

    Dated: August 25, 2017.
Chris Buchanan,
Assistant Surgeon General, Deputy Director, Indian Health Service.
[FR Doc. 2017-20606 Filed 9-26-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4165-16-P