[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 115 (Friday, June 14, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 27779-27781]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-12606]


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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 ``Systematic Review Data Repository.'' In accordance with the 
Paperwork Reduction Act, AHRQ invites the public to comment on this 
proposed information collection.

DATES: Comments on this notice must be received on or before 60 days 
after date of publication.

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.

[[Page 27780]]


FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Doris Lefkowitz, AHRQ Reports 
Clearance Officer, (301) 427-1477, or by emails at 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Proposed Project

Systematic Review Data Repository (SRDR)

    In 1997, AHRQ launched an initiative to promote evidence-based 
practice in everyday care through establishment of the Evidence-based 
Practice Center (EPC) Program. Since then, the EPCs have been reviewing 
all relevant scientific literature on a wide spectrum of clinical and 
health services topics to produce various types of evidence reports. A 
majority of these evidence reports are systematic reviews (SRs), which 
are used as evidence bases for clinical practice guidelines, research 
agendas, healthcare coverage, and other health related policies. 
Performing SRs is costly in time, labor, and money. Moreover, there is 
an increasing expectation of quicker turnaround in producing SRs to 
accommodate the fast moving pace of innovations and new scientific 
discoveries in healthcare. Some SRs overlap or are replicated; 
independent teams of SR producers often extract data from the same 
studies, resulting in replication of work. Current methodology makes it 
difficult to harness and reuse previous work when updating SRs.
    In an effort to reduce the economic burden of conducting SRs, the 
EPC Program undertook development of a collaborative, Web-based 
repository of systematic review data called the Systematic Review Data 
Repository (SRDR). This resource serves as both an archive and data 
extraction tool, shared among organizations and individuals producing 
SRs worldwide, enabling the creation of a central database of SR data. 
This database is collaboratively vetted, freely accessible, and 
integrates seamlessly with reviewers' existing workflows, with the 
ultimate goal of facilitating the efficient generation and update of 
evidence reviews, and thus speeding and improving policy-making with 
regards to health care. Currently, there are two versions of the 
database: (1) The original version called ``SRDR''; and (2) an upgraded 
version with increased functionality. Further upgrade of the database 
is planned for the next year (to be called ``SRDR 2.0''). The SRDR 
project encompasses the various iterations of the database.
    The SRDR project aims to achieve the following goals:
    (1) Create online easy-to-use Web-based tools for conducting 
systematic reviews to facilitate extraction of data from primary 
studies;
    (2) Develop an open-access searchable archive of key questions 
addressed in systematic reviews;
    (3) Maintain a public repository of primary study data including 
provision of technical support for repository users; and
    (4) Develop a process for making summary data from systematic 
reviews digitally shareable to end-users.
    This study is being conducted by AHRQ through its contractor, Brown 
University, 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 healthcare services, including 
database development. 42 U.S.C 299a(a)(1) and (8).

Method of Collection

    To achieve the goals of this project the following data collections 
will be implemented:
    (1) Collect registration data and information on SRs from SR 
producers who will populate the SRDR system.
    SRDR uses a three-tiered categorization of users and collection of 
registration data that depends on the type of user: (1) 
``Contributors'' are SR producers who use SRDR as a tool to support 
production of the SR and share scientific data from their SRs. 
Registration data will be collected from these users; (2) 
``Commentators'' provide comments (i.e. opinions) on publicly available 
scientific data in SRDR. Registration data will be collected from these 
users; (3) ``General public'' users only view scientific data publicly 
available in SRDR. No data will be collected from these type of users.
    All Contributors and Commentators will undergo a simple self-
registration process by providing a username, password, email address, 
and institution. Collection of registration data from Contributors and 
Commentators is required due to the use of SRDR both as a database and 
as a tool for assisting in the production of a SR, including providing 
comments in the various sections of a particular project on SRDR. In 
addition, provision of an email address and institution information 
allows the administrators of SRDR to confirm that requests are being 
made by actual people and not potentially malicious software code such 
as bots and other cybersecurity threats.

Estimated Annual Respondent Burden

    Exhibit 1 shows the estimated annualized burden hours for the 
respondents' time to participate in the SRDR. In 2017, 176 users 
registered as Commentators and 206 users registered as Contributors. 
Registration will take approximately 2 minutes per user. We thus 
calculate the total burden hours required for registration for all 
users annually is 12.73 hours.

                                  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
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Registration of users as Commentators or                  382                1             2/60            12.73
 Contributors...............................
                                             -------------------------------------------------------------------
    Total...................................              382  ...............  ...............            12.73
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    Exhibit 2 shows the estimated cost burden associated with the 
respondents' time to participate in the SRDR. The total cost burden to 
respondents is estimated at an average of $501.82 annually.

[[Page 27781]]



                                   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
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Registration of users as Commentators or                  382            12.73       \a\ $39.42          $501.82
 Contributors...............................
                                             -------------------------------------------------------------------
    Total...................................              382            12.73  ...............           501.82
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* National Compensation Survey: Occupational wages in the United States May 2018, ``U.S. Department of Labor,
  Bureau of Labor Statistics.'' Available at: https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes290000.htm.
\a\ Based on the mean wages for Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations, 29-0000.

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's 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 AHRQ's subsequent request for OMB approval of the 
proposed information collection. All comments will become a matter of 
public record.

Virginia L. Mackay-Smith,
Associate Director.
[FR Doc. 2019-12606 Filed 6-13-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4160-90-P