[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 200 (Wednesday, October 18, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 71866-71867]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-22915]



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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality


Supplemental Evidence and Data Request on Updating the Framework 
for AHRQ's National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Report (NHQDR)

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

ACTION: Request for Supplemental Evidence and Data Submission.

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SUMMARY: The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) is 
seeking scientific information submissions from the public. Scientific 
information is being solicited to inform our review on Updating the 
Framework for AHRQ's National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Report 
(NHQDR), which is currently being conducted by the AHRQ's Evidence-
based Practice Centers (EPC) Program. Access to published and 
unpublished pertinent scientific information will improve the quality 
of this review.

DATES: Submission Deadline on or before November 17, 2023.

ADDRESSES: 
    Email submissions: [email protected].
    Print submissions:
    Mailing Address: Center for Evidence and Practice Improvement, 
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, ATTN: EPC SEADs 
Coordinator, 5600 Fishers Lane, Mail Stop 06E53A, Rockville, MD 20857.
    Shipping Address (FedEx, UPS, etc.): Center for Evidence and 
Practice Improvement, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, ATTN: 
EPC SEADs Coordinator, 5600 Fishers Lane, Mail Stop 06E77D, Rockville, 
MD 20857.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kelly Carper, Telephone: 301-427-1656 
or Email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Agency for Healthcare Research and 
Quality has commissioned the Evidence-based Practice Centers (EPC) 
Program to complete a review of the evidence for Updating the Framework 
for AHRQ's National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Report (NHQDR). 
AHRQ is conducting this review pursuant to Section 902 of the Public 
Health Service Act, 42 U.S.C. 299a.
    The EPC Program is dedicated to identifying as many studies as 
possible that are relevant to the questions for each of its reviews. In 
order to do so, we are supplementing the usual manual and electronic 
database searches of the literature by requesting information from the 
public (e.g., details of studies conducted). We are looking for studies 
that report on Updating the Framework for AHRQ's National Healthcare 
Quality and Disparities Report (NHQDR). The entire research protocol is 
available online at: https://effectivehealthcare.ahrq.gov/products/updating-framework/protocol.
    This is to notify the public that the EPC Program would find the 
following information on Updating the Framework for AHRQ's National 
Healthcare Quality and Disparities Report (NHQDR) helpful:
    [ssquf] A list of completed studies that your organization has 
sponsored for this topic. In the list, please indicate whether results 
are available on ClinicalTrials.gov along with the ClinicalTrials.gov 
trial number.
    [ssquf] For completed studies that do not have results on 
ClinicalTrials.gov, a summary, including the following elements, if 
relevant: study number, study period, design, methodology, indication 
and diagnosis, proper use instructions, inclusion and exclusion 
criteria, primary and secondary outcomes, baseline characteristics, 
number of patients screened/eligible/enrolled/lost to follow-up/
withdrawn/analyzed, effectiveness/efficacy, and safety results.
    [ssquf] A list of ongoing studies that your organization has 
sponsored for this topic. In the list, please provide the 
ClinicalTrials.gov trial number or, if the trial is not registered, the 
protocol for the study including, if relevant, a study number, the 
study period, design, methodology, indication and diagnosis, proper use 
instructions, inclusion and exclusion criteria, and primary and 
secondary outcomes.
    [ssquf] Description of whether the above studies constitute ALL 
Phase II and above clinical trials sponsored by your organization for 
this topic and an index outlining the relevant information in each 
submitted file.
    Your contribution is very beneficial to the Program. Materials 
submitted must be publicly available or able to be made public. 
Materials that are considered confidential; marketing materials; study 
types not included in the review; or information on topics not included 
in the review cannot be used by the EPC Program. This is a voluntary 
request for information, and all costs for complying with this request 
must be borne by the submitter.
    The draft of this review will be posted on AHRQ's EPC Program 
website and available for public comment for a period of 4 weeks. If 
you would like to be notified when the draft is posted, please sign up 
for the email list at: https://www.effectivehealthcare.ahrq.gov/email-updates.
    The review will answer the following questions. This information is 
provided as background. AHRQ is not requesting that the public provide 
answers to these questions.

Guiding Questions (GQ)

    GQ1. Which frameworks have been developed or are used for quality 
of care?
     What settings, populations, and intended use were the 
frameworks developed for?
     How are the framework domains defined?
     In what context have these frameworks been used?
     How do these frameworks intersect with levers and tools 
available to federal and state governments?
     How are the frameworks and domains similar or different 
from the 2010 NASEM framework?
    GQ2. How should the 2010 NASEM framework and its domains be 
updated?
     How would existing AHRQ NHQDR measures be reorganized in 
the updated framework and domains?
     Are there available measures for new framework domains?
    [cir] Describe measures in terms of their definition, population, 
years available, geographic representation, data sources, and 
supporting evidence.

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                            Criteria for Inclusion/Exclusion of Studies in the Review
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                Domain                                     Inclusion                            Exclusion
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Population...........................   Publications that address quality of      Publications
                                        care indicators, criteria, or benchmarks. We      not addressing quality
                                        will accept the authors' definition of quality    of care and
                                        of care. Quality indicators may include care      publications not
                                        processes-related measures (e.g., follow-up       mentioning quality of
                                        post discharge, continuity of care, medication    care nor health equity
                                        errors), heath services utilization measures      as a central feature
                                        (e.g., hospital readmission, emergency            of a framework.
                                        department visit), care satisfaction (e.g.,
                                        patient satisfaction, care needs met, trust in
                                        care provider), or health outcomes (e.g.,
                                        mortality, physical functional status, mental
                                        functioning, quality of life) used as quality
                                        indicators. Publications that do not address
                                        quality of care in detail but include quality
                                        of care and health equity in a framework will
                                        also be eligible. Care disparities may either
                                        address differences in provided health
                                        services, focus on care services or health
                                        outcomes of priority populations.
Concept..............................   Publications that include a figure or     Publications
                                        detailed description of a framework of quality    citing existing
                                        of care or care disparities; frameworks may use   frameworks without
                                        the format of a logic model, analytic             further conceptual
                                        framework, conceptual model, or other             contribution to the
                                        conceptualizations of quality of care.            framework and
                                                                                          publications
                                                                                          describing only the
                                                                                          need of quality of
                                                                                          care measures.
Context..............................   Healthcare, specifically healthcare       Studies in
                                        delivery organizations.                           contexts outside of
                                                                                          healthcare or not
                                                                                          specific to
                                                                                          healthcare.
Other limiters.......................   Reports published in English-language,    Data reported
                                        journal manuscripts, trial records, and gray      in abbreviated format
                                        literature in the public domain from the          (e.g., conference
                                        outlined sources.                                 abstracts) will be
                                                                                          excluded; studies not
                                                                                          published in English
                                                                                          Systematic
                                                                                          reviews will be
                                                                                          retained for reference
                                                                                          mining.
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    Dated: October 12, 2023.
Marquita Cullom,
Associate Director.
[FR Doc. 2023-22915 Filed 10-17-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4160-90-P