[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 33 (Friday, February 16, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7040-7042]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-03243]


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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: Through this Request for Information (RFI), the Agency for 
Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) is seeking information from the 
public, hospitals and other health care organizations, clinicians, 
quality improvement experts, researchers, and quality measure 
developers about current use of the AHRQ Quality Indicators (AHRQ QIs) 
for quality improvement efforts. AHRQ recognizes that the AHRQ QIs have 
been adopted for other uses, but for the purpose of this RFI, the 
Agency is specifically seeking information about quality improvement 
initiatives such as those that seek to: Improve clinical practice 
(e.g., adherence to guidelines, coordination of care); improve patient 
safety or reduce harm; address disparities in health or care; improve 
prevention practices; and collaborate with community groups to improve 
health or care. AHRQ is also seeking information about the ways in 
which the Agency can increase use of the AHRQ QI measures for quality 
improvement, for example by refining measures, summarizing best 
practices, creating training materials, developing standardized 
metrics, and/or convening learning networks. To learn more about the 
AHRQ QIs, visit https://www.qualityindicators.ahrq.gov/.

DATES: Comments on this notice must be received by the deadline on or 
before March 8, 2018.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should be submitted to: Maushami DeSoto, 
Ph.D., MHA, Health Scientist Administrator, Center for Delivery 
Organization and Markets, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, 
5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, MD 20857, or by email at 
[email protected].

[[Page 7041]]


FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Maushami DeSoto, Ph.D. MHA, Health 
Scientist Administrator, (301) 427-1546, or by emails at 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The mission of AHRQ is to produce evidence 
to make health care safer; higher quality; and more accessible, 
equitable, and affordable. AHRQ works within the U.S. Department of 
Health and Human Services and with other public and private partners to 
make sure that the evidence is understood and used. The Agency fulfills 
this mission by supporting and conducting research; generating needed 
evidence; disseminating proven practices; creating and distributing 
training materials for health care systems and professionals; and 
developing measures and data used to track and improve performance. To 
learn more about the Agency, visit https://www.ahrq.gov/.

Background

    Over the years, use of the AHRQ QIs has evolved. Originally 
developed to support quality improvement at the hospital and community 
levels, the AHRQ QIs now serve several additional purposes including: 
(1) Research; (2) needs assessments for planning at the local, state, 
and national levels; and (3) performance assessment by private and 
public value-based payment and consumer choice programs. In the current 
context, in which the purposes and methods of measurement continue to 
change rapidly, AHRQ is seeking updated information to inform its own 
planning and priority setting for future work in the area of measures 
for quality improvement. To do so, AHRQ must define evidence criteria 
that are specific to quality improvement and use those criteria to 
determine which AHRQ QIs work best for quality improvement and how they 
can be improved for that purpose.
    As part of this effort, AHRQ is conducting a literature review and 
environmental scan to: (1) Document knowledge and evidence on the 
scientific acceptability of the AHRQ QIs for quality improvement; (2) 
document and synthesize information about the strengths and limitations 
of the AHRQ QIs; (3) identify areas of disagreement, if any, in the 
evidence; and (4) develop suggestions for refinement or improvement in 
the indicators, particularly those that make the AHRQ QIs more useful 
for quality improvement. As part of the environmental scan, AHRQ is 
issuing this RFI to obtain information from stakeholders who have not 
published their experiences using the AHRQ QIs or who wish to provide 
additional information beyond what they have published. AHRQ will 
review results from the literature review and environmental scan and 
release a summary report in December 2018.
    Specific questions of interest to the Agency include, but are not 
limited to:

For Hospitals or Other Health Care Entities That CURRENTLY USE AHRQ QIs 
for Quality Improvement:

    1. What type of organization do you represent?
    2. How does your organization define quality improvement?
    3. How does your organization use the AHRQ QIs for quality 
improvement? For example, do you use them for identifying patient 
safety problems, identifying quality improvement opportunities, and/or 
tracking performance over time?
    4. Which specific AHRQ QIs does your organization use for quality 
improvement? Please include the number of each QI, for example, PQI 05, 
which can be found at the AHRQ QI website.
    5. Have you stopped using an AHRQ QI for quality improvement? If 
yes, please identify it and explain why you stopped.
    6. Of the AHRQ QIs you use now or used previously, which ones have 
been most valuable in improving quality?
    a. What are the strengths of each measure you have used?
    b. What are the weaknesses of each measure you have used?
    7. What other methodological and/or data quality issues have you 
encountered when using AHRQ QIs for quality improvement that you 
haven't already mentioned?
    8. Does your organization use measures other than the AHRQ QIs for 
quality improvement? If yes, which ones and what types of quality 
improvement initiatives does your organization use them for? How do 
they compare to the AHRQ QIs in terms of ease of use and impact on 
quality?
    9. What changes and refinements to the AHRQ QIs would make them 
easier to use for quality improvement?
    10. What changes and refinements to the AHRQ QIs would make them 
more effective for improving quality?
    11. What resources would aid the uptake of the AHRQ QIs for quality 
improvement?
    12. What improvements are needed to current AHRQ QI resources? 
These include resources available through the QI website such as tool 
kits, case studies, webinars, presentations, publication lists, video 
tutorials (WinQI and SASQI), measure technical specifications (IQI, 
PQI, PSI, PDI), TA support, FAQs, and software.
    13. If you operate a community health center, which AHRQ QIs do you 
use for quality improvement in the community health center? Which other 
measures do you use for quality improvement in the community health 
center?
    14. If you operate a hospital emergency department (ED), which AHRQ 
QIs do you use for quality improvement in the ED? Which other measures 
do you use for quality improvement in the ED?

For Hospitals or Other Health Care Entities That Are NOT CURRENTLY 
USING Any AHRQ QIs for Quality Improvement:

    15. How does your organization define quality improvement?
    16. What types of quality improvement initiatives does your 
organization engage in?
    17. Have you heard of the AHRQ QIs? If yes, what do you know about 
them?
    18. What factors contribute to your organization's decision to not 
use the AHRQ QIs?
    19. Has your organization used the AHRQ QIs in the past? If so, why 
is your organization no longer using them?
    20. What measures does your organization use for quality 
improvement? What are some of the reasons/factors your organization 
uses these measures?
    21. If you operate a community health center, which measures do you 
use for quality improvement?
    22. If you operate a hospital emergency department (ED), which 
measures do you use for quality improvement?
    23. If your organization is a community health center, which 
metrics do you use for quality improvement?
    24. If your organization is an ED which metrics do you use for 
quality improvement and monitoring?
    AHRQ is interested in all the questions listed above, but 
respondents are welcome to address as many or as few as they choose and 
to address additional areas of interest not listed. AHRQ will use the 
information it receives to assist in developing future initiatives. 
These initiatives may include, but are not limited to, developing 
research grant and contracting opportunities, investing in the creation 
of tools and training materials for health professionals and health 
care delivery organizations, developing quality improvement measures, 
and/or convening learning collaboratives.

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    Health care professionals and organizations are encouraged to 
respond to this RFI by submitting a written statement and supporting 
explanatory materials to the email or mailing address listed above by 
February 28, 2018. Supporting materials might include charters for 
quality and safety improvement committees, data use agreements for 
learning collaboratives, population health metrics and reports, or 
guidelines for the use of evidence-based practices. When responding to 
questions listed above, please clearly indicate the number of the 
question that is being addressed. AHRQ encourages respondents to 
include a description of their health care delivery organization at the 
beginning of their response to provide context for the information they 
provide.

Request for Comments

    This RFI is for planning purposes only and should not be construed 
as a policy, solicitation for applications, or as an obligation on the 
part of the Government to provide support for any ideas identified in 
response to it. AHRQ will use the information submitted in response to 
this RFI at its discretion and will not provide comments to any 
responder's submission. However, responses to the RFI may be reflected 
in future solicitation(s) or policies. The information provided will be 
analyzed and may appear in reports. Respondents will not be identified 
in any published reports. Respondents are advised that the Government 
is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information 
received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any 
information submitted. No proprietary, classified, confidential, or 
sensitive information should be included in your response. The 
Government reserves the right to use any non-proprietary technical 
information in any resultant solicitation(s). The contents of all 
submissions will be made available to the public upon request. 
Materials submitted must be publicly available or can be made public.

Gopal Khanna,
Director.
[FR Doc. 2018-03243 Filed 2-15-18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4160-90-P