[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 40 (Wednesday, February 28, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8674-8675]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-04050]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality


Request for Information Regarding Patient-Reported Outcome 
Measures

AGENCY: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), HHS.

ACTION: Request for information.

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SUMMARY: AHRQ is seeking information submissions from the public. 
Information is being solicited to inform our work on patient-reported 
outcomes (PROs). Access to information regarding physical function PRO 
measure use will assist the selection of measures for AHRQ's efforts to 
develop and implement user-friendly technical tools to collect and 
integrate PRO data in electronic health records or other health 
information technology products.

DATES: Submission must be received by April 1, 2018.

ADDRESSES: Electronic responses are preferred and should be addressed 
to [email protected]. Non-electronic responses will also be 
accepted. Please mail to: Janey Hsiao, Agency for Healthcare Research 
and Quality, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, MD 20857, Mailstop: 06E73A.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Janey Hsiao, Health Scientist 
Administrator, Center for Evidence and Practice Improvement, 
[email protected], (301) 427-1335.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: AHRQ plans to conduct a Challenge 
Competition in Fall 2018 to develop user-friendly technical tools to 
collect and integrate patient-reported outcome (PRO) data in electronic 
health records or other health information technology products. The 
technical tools will be intended for use in ambulatory care settings 
including primary care and specialty care. For this competition, AHRQ 
will choose a physical function PRO measure as a use case for the tool 
development. More information about the Challenge Competition is 
available at https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2017-12-26/pdf/2017-27663.pdf. AHRQ will also conduct another project to pilot test whether 
the specified standards used in the Challenge Competition can be 
adapted for data collection utilizing other PRO measures or domains. 
AHRQ is interested in learning what physical function PRO measures are 
being used, and about experiences with these measures in clinical 
practice. We are also interested in methods used to collect these PROs, 
including computer adaptive testing

[[Page 8675]]

(CAT). The information will inform AHRQ's decision in selecting 
physical function PRO measures for the Challenge Competition and the 
subsequent pilot test.
    Your contribution will be very beneficial to AHRQ's PRO projects. 
This is a voluntary request for information, and all costs for 
complying with this request must be borne by the submitter.
    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. 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 able to be made 
public.

Submission Instructions

    Specific questions of interest to AHRQ include, but are not limited 
to:
    1. What physical function PRO measures does your health system/
practice currently use to collect PRO data? Which PRO measures in use 
do you find most useful with respect to clinical management, quality 
improvement, population health, or for other uses?
    2. What is the type of care setting (primary care or specialty 
care) within which these physical function PRO data are collected? Are 
similar measures used in other settings (e.g., acute care, post-acute 
care, rehabilitation, home care, long term care)?
    3. How are the PRO data collected? Is the PRO data collection via 
paper or an electronic mechanism? Please specify the electronic 
mechanism (e.g., patient portal, tablet) and whether the electronic 
mechanism is internal or external to an electronic health records 
system. Is CAT used? What is the typical workflow for collecting PRO 
data?
    4. How are the PRO data used (e.g., patient assessment, shared 
decision making, quality improvement, research?) What has been your 
experience with the use of these measures?
    AHRQ is interested in all of 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. Submission of 
copies of existing documentation or reports describing the measure and 
its properties, existing data sources, etc., is highly desirable but 
not required.

Gopal Khanna,
Director.
[FR Doc. 2018-04050 Filed 2-27-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4160-90-P