[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 18 (Tuesday, January 28, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4985-4987]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-01385]


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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: ``Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems 
(CAHPS) Health Plan Survey Database.'' In accordance with the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1995, AHRQ invites the public to comment on this 
proposed information collection.

DATES: Comments on this notice must be received by 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.

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

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Proposed Project

Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS) Health 
Plan Survey Database

    AHRQ requests that OMB reapprove AHRQ's collection of information 
for the AHRQ Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems 
(CAHPS) Health Plan Survey Database: OMB Control number 0935-0165, 
expiration May 31, 2020 (the CAHPS Health Plan Database). The CAHPS 
Health Plan Database consists of data from the AHRQ CAHPS Health Plan 
Survey. Health plans in the U.S. are asked to voluntarily submit data 
from the survey to AHRQ, through its contractor, Westat. The CAHPS 
Health Plan Database was developed by AHRQ in 1998 in response to 
requests from health plans, purchasers, and the Centers for Medicare & 
Medicaid Services (CMS) to provide comparative data to support public 
reporting of health plan ratings, health plan accreditation and quality 
improvement.
    This research has the following goals:
    (1) To maintain the CAHPS Health Plan Database using data from 
AHRQ's standardized CAHPS Health Plan Survey to provide results to 
health care purchasers, consumers, regulators and policy makers across 
the country.
    (2) To offer several products and services, including aggregated 
results presented through an Online Reporting System, summary 
chartbooks, custom analyses, and data for research purposes.
    (3) To provide data for AHRQ's annual National Healthcare Quality 
and Disparities Report.
    (4) To provide state-level data to CMS for public reporting on 
Medicaid.gov and Data.Medicaid.gov that does not display the name of 
the health plans.
    Survey data from the CAHPS Health Plan Database is used to produce 
four types of products: (1) An annual chartbook available to the public 
on the CAHPS Database website (https://www.cahpsdatabase.ahrq.gov/CAHPSIDB/Public/Chartbook.aspx); (2) individual participant reports 
that are confidential and customized for each participating 
organization (e.g., health plan, Medicaid agency) that submits their 
data; (3) a research database available to researchers wanting to 
conduct additional analyses; and (4) data tables provided to AHRQ for 
inclusion in the National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Reports.
    This study is being conducted by AHRQ through its contractor, 
Westat, pursuant to AHRQ's statutory authority to conduct and support 
research on healthcare and on systems for the delivery of such care, 
including activities with respect to the quality, effectiveness, 
efficiency, appropriateness and value of healthcare services; quality 
measurement and development, and database development. 42 U.S.C. 
299a(a)(1), (2) and (8).

[[Page 4986]]

Method of Collection

    To achieve the goals of this project the following data collections 
will be implemented:
     Health Plan Registration Form--The point-of-contact (POC), 
often the sponsor from Medicaid agencies and health plans, completes a 
number of data submission steps and forms, beginning with the 
completion of the online registration form. The purpose of this form is 
to collect basic contact information about the organization and 
initiate the registration process.
     Data Use Agreement--The purpose of the data use agreement, 
completed by the participating sponsor organization, is to state how 
data submitted by health plans will be used and provide confidentiality 
assurances.
     Health Plan Information Form--The purpose of this form, 
completed by the participating sponsor organization, is to collect 
background characteristics of the health plan.
     Questionnaire Submission--POCs upload a copy of the 
questionnaire used to ensure that it meets CAHPS Health Plan Survey 
standards (the survey instrument must include all core questions, not 
alter the wording of any core questions, and must not omit any of the 
survey items related to respondent characteristics that are used for 
case mix adjustment.)
     Data Files Submission--POCs upload their data file using 
the Health Plan data file specifications to ensure that users submit 
standardized and consistent data in the way variables are named, coded, 
and formatted.

Estimated Annual Respondent Burden

    Exhibit 1 shows the estimated burden hours for the respondents to 
participate in the database. The burden hours pertain only to the 
collection of Medicaid data from State Medicaid agencies and individual 
Medicaid health plans because those are the only entities that submit 
data through the data submission process (other data are obtained from 
CMS). The 85 POCs in Exhibit 1 are a combination of an estimated 75 
State Medicaid agencies and individual health plans, and 10 vendor 
organizations.
    Each State Medicaid agency, health plan or vendor will register 
online for submission. The online registration form will require about 
5 minutes to complete. Each submitter will also complete a health plan 
information form about each health plan, such as the name of the plan, 
the product type (e.g., HMO, PPO), and the population surveyed (e.g., 
adult Medicaid or child Medicaid). Each year, the prior year's plan 
data are preloaded in the plan table to lessen burden on the POC. The 
POC is responsible for updating the plan table to reflect the current 
year's plan information. The online health plan information form takes 
on average 30 minutes to complete per health plan with each POC 
completing the form for four plans on average. The data use agreement 
will be completed by the 75 participating State Medicaid agencies or 
individual health plans. Vendors do not sign or submit DUAs. The DUA 
requires about 5 minutes to sign and upload. Each submitter will 
provide a copy of their questionnaire and the survey data file in the 
required file format. Survey data files must conform to the data file 
layout specifications provided by the CAHPS Health Plan Database. Since 
the unit of analysis is at the health plan level, submitters will 
upload one data file per health plan. Once a data file is uploaded the 
file will be checked automatically to ensure it conforms to the 
specifications and a data file status report will be produced and made 
available to the submitter. Submitters will review each report and will 
be expected to fix any errors in their data file and resubmit if 
necessary. It will take about 1 hour to submit the questionnaire and 
data for each plan, and each POC will submit data for four plans on 
average. The total burden is estimated to be 463 hours annually.

                                  Exhibit 1--Estimated Annualized Burden Hours
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                                                     Number of       Number of
                    Form name                      respondents/    responses per     Hours per     Total burden
                                                       POCs             POC          response          hours
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Registration Form...............................              85               1            5/60               7
Health Plan Information Form....................              75               4           30/60             150
Data Use Agreement..............................              75               1            5/60               6
Questionnaire and Data Files Submission.........              75               4               1             300
                                                 ---------------------------------------------------------------
    Total.......................................             310              NA              NA             463
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    Exhibit 2 shows the estimated annualized cost burden based on the 
respondents' time to complete one submission process. The cost burden 
is estimated to be $22,083 annually.

                                   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
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Registration Form...............................              85               7       \a\ 54.68            $383
Health Plan Information Form....................              75             150       \a\ 54.68           8,202
Data Use Agreement..............................              75               6       \b\ 96.22             577
Questionnaire and Data Files Submission.........              75             300       \c\ 43.07          12,921
                                                 ---------------------------------------------------------------
    Total.......................................             310             463              NA          22,083
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* National Compensation Survey: Occupational wages in the United States May 2018, ``U.S. Department of Labor,
  Bureau of Labor Statistics.''
\a\ Based on the mean hourly wage for Medical and Health Services Managers (11-9111).
\b\ Based on the mean hourly wage for Chief Executives (11-1011).
\c\ Based on the mean hourly wages for Computer Programmer (15-1131).


[[Page 4987]]

Request for Comments

    In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 44 U.S.C. 
3501-3521, 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.

    Dated: January 22, 2020.
Virginia L. Mackay-Smith,
Associate Director.
[FR Doc. 2020-01385 Filed 1-27-20; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4160-90-P