[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 188 (Friday, October 1, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54462-54464]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-21350]


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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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[[Page 54463]]

SUMMARY: In compliance with 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.'' This notice announces our intent to submit this previously 
approved information collection, which expires January 31, 2022, to OMB 
for approval of an extension and solicit comments on specific aspects 
for the proposed information collection.

DATES: Consideration will be given to all comments received by November 
30, 2021.
    For Comments: Submit comments to Evonne Bennett by Email at 
[email protected].
    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.
    A copy of the draft supporting statement is available at 
www.regulations.gov (see Docket ID [IHS_FRDOC_0001].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The IHS is submitting the proposed 
information collection to OMB for review, as required by the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1995, as amended, and its implementing regulations. 
This notice is soliciting comments from members of the public and 
affected agencies as required by 44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A) and 5 CFR 
1320.8(d) 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 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:
     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;
     Information gathered will yield qualitative information; 
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;
     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; and
     With the exception of information needed to provide 
remuneration for participants of focus groups and cognitive laboratory 
studies, personally identifiable information (PII) is collected only to 
the extent necessary and is not retained.
    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.

[[Page 54464]]

    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: 1,050.
    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.
    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 30 
days of the date of this publication.

Elizabeth A. Fowler,
Acting Director, Indian Health Service.
[FR Doc. 2021-21350 Filed 9-30-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4165-16-P