[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 205 (Wednesday, October 25, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 73342-73343]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-23534]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

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.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

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.'' This proposed information 
collection was previously published in the Federal Register on August 
24, 2023, and allowed 60 days for public comment. AHRQ received no 
substantive comments from members of the public. The purpose of this 
notice is to allow an additional 30 days for public comment.

DATES: Comments on this notice must be received by November 24, 2023.

ADDRESSES: Written comments and recommendations for the proposed 
information collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of 
this notice to www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. Find this particular 
information collection by selecting ``Currently under 30-day Review--
Open for Public Comments'' or by using the search function.
    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 November 30, 2023 (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.ahrq.gov/sites/default/files/wysiwyg/cahps/cahps-database/2022-hp-chartbook.pdf); (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).

Method of Collection

    To achieve the goals of this project the following activities and 
data collections will be implemented:
     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.
     Health Plan Information Form--The purpose of this form, 
completed by the participating sponsor organization, is to collect 
background characteristics of the health plan.
     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.
     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 respondent 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

[[Page 73343]]

entities that submit data through the data submission process. The 125 
POCs in Exhibit 1 are a combination of an estimated 115 State Medicaid 
agencies and individual health plans (Sponsors), and 10 vendor 
organizations.
    Each sponsor, which is made up of State Medicaid agencies and 
individual health plans, and vendor will register online for 
submission. The online Registration form will require about 5 minutes 
to complete. Each sponsor will also complete a Health Plan information 
form of information about each Health Plan such as the name of the 
plan, the product type (e.g., HMO, PPO), 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 Sponsor. 
The Sponsor 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 (DUA) will be completed by the 115 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 Database. 
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 data 
for each plan, and each POC will submit data for four plans on average. 
The total burden is estimated to be 710 hours annually.

                                  Exhibit 1--Estimated Annualized Burden Hours
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                     Number of       Number of
                    Form name                      respondents/    responses per     Hours per     Total burden
                                                       POCs             POC          response          hours
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Registration Form...............................             125               1            5/60              10
Health Plan Information Form....................             115               4           30/60             230
Data Use Agreement..............................             115               1            5/60              10
Data Files Submission...........................             115               4               1             460
                                                 ---------------------------------------------------------------
    Total.......................................             470              NA              NA             710
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    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 $36,222 annually.

                                   Exhibit 2--Estimated Annualized Cost Burden
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                     Number of     Total burden   Average hourly    Total cost
                    Form name                       respondents        hours        wage rate *       burden
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Registration Form...............................             125              10       \a\ 57.61            $576
Health Plan Information Form....................             115             230       \a\ 57.61          13,250
Data Use Agreement..............................             115              10      \b\ 102.41           1,024
Data Files Submission...........................             115             460       \c\ 46.46          21,372
                                                 ---------------------------------------------------------------
    Total.......................................             470             710              NA          36,222
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* National Compensation Survey: Occupational wages in the United States May 2021, ``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 Programmers (15-1251).

Request for Comments

    In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act, 44 U.S.C. 3501-
3520, 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 the Agency's subsequent request for OMB approval of the 
proposed information collection. All comments will become a matter of 
public record.

    Dated: October 19, 2023.
Marquita Cullom,
Associate Director.
[FR Doc. 2023-23534 Filed 10-24-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4160-90-P