Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 183 / Thursday, September 20, 2012 / Notices 58389 

EXHIBIT 2—ESTIMATED ANNUALIZED COST BURDEN—Continued 

Form name Number of 

respondents 

Total 

burden hours 

Average 

hourly wage 

rate 

Total 

cost burden 

Diabetes care SAQ .......................................................................................... 2,345 117 21.74 2,544 

Authorization forms for the MEPS–MPC Provider Survey .............................. 14,489 3,767 21.74 81,895 

Authorization form for the MEPS–MPC Pharmacy Survey ............................. 14,489 2,246 21.74 48,828 

MEPS–HC Validation Interview ....................................................................... 4,781 398 21.74 8,653 

Subtotal for the MEPS–HC ....................................................................... 79,451 63,907 na 1,389,339 

MEPS–MPC 

MPC Contact Guide/Screening Call ................................................................ 34,000 1,700 ** 15.59 26,503 

Home care for health care providers questionnaire ........................................ 465 252 15.59 3,929 

Home care for non-health care providers questionnaire ................................. 35 19 15.59 296 

Office-based providers questionnaire .............................................................. 10,800 5,220 15.59 81,380 

Separately billing doctors questionnaire .......................................................... 10,800 1,080 15.59 16,837 

Hospitals questionnaire ................................................................................... 5,000 2,708 15.59 42,218 

Institutions (non-hospital) questionnaire .......................................................... 100 13 15.59 203 

Pharmacies questionnaire ............................................................................... 6,800 7,922 *** 14.43 114,314 

Subtotal for the MEPS–MPC .................................................................... 68,000 18,347 na 285,680 

Grand Total ....................................................................................... 147,451 82,254 na 1,675,019 

* Mean hourly wage for All Occupations (00–0000). 

** Mean hourly wage for Medical Secretaries (43–6013) 

*** Mean hourly wage for Pharmacy Technicians (29–2052) 

Occupational Employment Statistics, May 2011 National Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates United States, U.S. Department of 

Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_nat.htm#b29-0000. 

Estimated Annual Costs to the Federal 

Government 

Exhibit 3 shows the total and 

annualized cost of this information 

collection. The cost associated with the 

design and data collection of the MEPS– 

HC and MEPS–MPC is estimated to be 

$51,401,596 in each of the three years 

covered by this information collection 

request. 

EXHIBIT 3—ESTIMATED TOTAL AND ANNUALIZED COST

Cost component Total cost Annualized 

cost 

Sampling Activities ................................................................................................................................................... $3,002,731 $1,000,910 

Interviewer Recruitment and Training ..................................................................................................................... 9,190,168 3,063,389 

Data Collection Activities ......................................................................................................................................... 93,611,428 31,203,809 

Data Processing ...................................................................................................................................................... 23,087,605 7,695,868 

Production of Public Use Data Files ....................................................................................................................... 21,079,118 7,026,373 

Project Management ................................................................................................................................................ 4,233,739 1,411,246 

Total .................................................................................................................................................................. 154,204,789 51,401,596 

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 healthcare 

research and healthcare 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: September 6, 2012. 

Carolyn M. Clancy, 

Director. 

[FR Doc. 2012–23163 Filed 9–19–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4160–90–M 

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 

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES

58390 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 183 / Thursday, September 20, 2012 / Notices 

information collection project: ‘‘CHIPRA 

Pediatric Quality Measures Program 

Candidate Measure Submission Form.’’ 

In accordance with the Paperwork 

Reduction Act, 44 U.S.C. 3501–3521, 

AHRQ invites the public to comment on 

this proposed information collection. 

This proposed information collection 

was previously published in the Federal 

Register on April 18th, 2012 and 

allowed 60 days for public comment. 

Two public comments were received. 

The purpose of this notice is to allow an 

additional 30 days for public comment. 

DATES: Comments on this notice must be 

received by October 22, 2012. 

ADDRESSES: Written comments should 

be submitted to: AHRQ’s OMB Desk 

Officer by fax at (202) 395–6974 

(attention: AHRQ’s desk officer) or by 

email at 

OIRA_submission@omb.eop.gov 

(attention: AHRQ’s desk officer). 

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 doris.lefkowitz@AHRQ.hhs.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Proposed Project 

Pediatric Quality Measures Program 

Section 401(a) of the Children’s 

Health Insurance Program 

Reauthorization Act of 2009 (CHIPRA), 

Public Law 111–3, amended the Social 

Security Act (‘‘the Act’’) to enact section 

1139A (42 U.S.C. 1320b–9a). Section 

1139A(b) charged the Department of 

Health and Human Services (HHS) with 

improving pediatric health care quality 

measures. Since CHIPRA was passed, 

AHRQ and the Centers for Medicare & 

Medicaid Services (CMS) have been 

working together to implement selected 

provisions of the legislation related to 

children’s health care quality. An initial 

core measure set for voluntary use by 

Medicaid and Children’s Health 

Insurance Programs (CHIP) was posted 

December 29, 2009 (http:// 

www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2009-12-29/ 

html/E9–30802.htm). In February 2011, 

CMS released a State Health Official 

letter which outlined the initial core 

measure set and how these measures 

should be reported to CMS. The 

Technical Specifications and Resource 

Manual for the initial core measure set 

for federal fiscal year 2011 reporting is 

available at http://www.medicaid.gov/ 

Medicaid-CHIP-ProgramInformation/ByTopics/Quality-of-Care/Downloads/ 

InitialCoreSetResouceManual.pdf. 

As required by CHIPRA, by January 1, 

2011, AHRQ and CMS established the 

CHIPRA Pediatric Quality Measures 

Program (PQMP) in accordance with 

section 1139A(b)(1) of the Act to 

enhance select children’s health care 

quality measures and develop new 

measures (http://www.ahrq.gov/chipra). 

The PQMP is intended to develop 

evidence-based, consensus measures to 

improve the initial core set and increase 

the portfolio of measures available to 

other public and private purchasers of 

children’s health care services, 

providers, and consumers. HHS 

anticipates that measures ultimately 

included in the Improved Core Set will 

also be used by public and private 

purchasers to measure pediatric 

healthcare quality. The PQMP consists 

of the following: 

(1) Seven Centers of Excellence (CoEs) 

that are developing and/or enhancing 

children’s health care quality measures 

through cooperative agreements with 

AHRQ in order to increase the portfolio 

of measures available to the public and 

private purchasers of children’s health 

care services, providers and consumers 

(http://www.ahrq.gov/chipra/ 

pqmpfact.htm); 

(2) CHIPRA Coordinating and 

Technical Assistance Center (CCTAC); 

(3) Two CHIPRA quality 

demonstration grantees (Illinois, a 

partner to the Florida grantee, and 

Massachusetts) funded by CMS to 

undertake new quality measure 

development as part of their grants 

http://www.insurekidsnow.gov/ 

professionals/CHIPRA/grants 

summary.html; and 

(4) The Subcommittee on Children’s 

Healthcare Quality Measures of the 

AHRQ National Advisory Council on 

Healthcare Research and Quality 

(SNAC) that will review measures 

nominated through a public call for 

measures, as well as measures 

developed or enhanced by the CoEs, and 

make recommendations for an improved 

core set of children’s health care quality 

measures and other CHIPRA purposes 

(http://ahrq.gov/CHIPRA/ 

qmsnaclist12.htm). 

Section 1139A of the Act provides 

that improved core sets of children’s 

health care quality measures be 

identified beginning January 1, 2013, 

and annually thereafter, for voluntary 

use by state Medicaid and CHIP 

programs and other CHIPRA purposes. 

AHRQ intends to solicit public 

nominations for children’s health care 

quality measures using a standard 

measure nomination form in early 2013 

and 2014. These solicitations will be 

undertaken by AHRQ to identify 

children’s health care quality measures 

for review by the SNAC. 

Section 1139A(b)(2) of the Act 

requires that the measures in the 

improved core sets shall, at a minimum, 

be: 

(A) Evidence-based and, where 

appropriate, risk adjusted; 

(B) Designed to identify and eliminate 

racial and ethnic disparities in child 

health and the provision of health care; 

(C) Designed to ensure that the data 

required for such measures is collected 

and reported in a standard format that 

permits comparison of quality and data 

at a State, plan, and provider level; 

(D) Periodically updated; and 

(E) Responsive to the child health 

needs, services, and domains of health 

care quality described in clauses (i), (ii), 

and (iii) of subsection (a)(6)(A). 

Hence, AHRQ, CMS and PQMP 

developed a CHIPRA Pediatric Quality 

Measures Program (PQMP) Candidate 

Measure Submission Form (Attachment 

A, hereinafter referred to as ‘‘CHIPRA 

PQMP Candidate Measure Submission 

Form’’). The CHIPRA PQMP Candidate 

Measure Submission Form details the 

desirable attributes of measures and 

related definitions to provide 

operational guidance as specified in 

section 1139A(b)(2) of the Act. AHRQ 

intends to use this CHIPRA PQMP 

Candidate Measure Submission Form to 

conduct a public call for measures early 

in calendar years 2013 and 2014 to 

solicit measures for consideration by the 

SNAC for the respective 2014 and 2015 

improved core sets of children’s health 

care quality measures. 

The goals of the CHIPRA PQMP 

Candidate Measure Form are to: 

(1) Solicit nominations for children’s 

health care quality measures in early 

2013 and 2014 through public calls for 

measures, using a standardized data 

collection form; 

(2) Use the information provided 

through the standardized data collection 

form to support SNAC review of 

children’s health care quality measures 

nominated by the public and measures 

developed by the seven CoEs; and 

(3) Identify measures for improved 

core sets of children’s health care 

quality measures and for other CHIPRA 

purposes. 

The process for review of the 

measures developed by the seven COEs 

will be the same as that for publicly 

nominated measures. 

Respondents to these public calls for 

measures in 2013 and 2014 are expected 

to include pediatricians, researchers, 

measure developers, and measure 

stewards of children’s health care 

quality measures. 

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES

Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 183 / Thursday, September 20, 2012 / Notices 58391 

This project is being conducted by 

AHRQ pursuant to AHRQ’s statutory 

authority under Title IX of the Public 

Health Service Act to conduct and 

support research to improve health care 

quality, and to fulfill a number of 

requirements under Title IV of CHIPRA, 

including requirements to identify 

candidate measures for public posting of 

an improved core set of children’s 

health care quality measures by January 

1, 2014 and January 1, 2015. 

Method of Collection 

To achieve the goals of this project, 

AHRQ intends to solicit submission of 

measures from the members of the 

public using the CHIPRA PQMP 

Candidate Measure Submission Form, a 

standardized data collection tool. Data 

collection using the CHIPRA PQMP 

Candidate Measure Submission Form 

will be adequate to achieve the goals of 

the project. Below is an outline of the 

type of data collected through the 

CHIPRA PQMP Candidate Measure 

Submission Form and description of the 

information solicited from each 

nominator pursuant to section 

1139A(b)(2) of the Act. 

1. Basic measure information 

including: measure name, measure 

description, measure owner, National 

Quality Forum (NQF) identification 

number (if applicable; i.e., if the 

measure has been endorsed by NQF), 

whether part of a measure hierarchy 

(e.g., a collection of measures, a measure 

set, a measure subset as defined at 

http://www.qualitymeasures.ahrq.gov/ 

about/hierarchy.aspx), numerator 

statement and numerator exclusions (as 

appropriate), denominator statement 

and denominator exclusions (as 

appropriate), and data sources. 

2. Detailed measure specifications: 

Description of how a measure would be 

calculated from appropriate data 

sources. 

3. Importance of the measure: 

Description of how the measure meets 

one or more of the following criteria for 

importance, citing scientific literature 

and providing references: evidence for 

general importance of the measure 

including potential for quality 

improvement and reduction of 

disparities in quality; health 

importance/prevalence of condition; 

health importance/severity and burden 

(including impact on children, families 

and societies); overall cost burden to 

patients, families, public and private 

payers, or society more generally 

currently and over the life span of the 

child; association of measure topic to 

children’s current or future health; how 

the underlying concept of the measure 

changes in meaning and manifestation 

(if at all) across developmental stages; 

importance to Medicaid and/or CHIP 

program, including the extent to which 

the measure is understood to be 

sensitive to changes in Medicaid or 

CHIP (e.g., policy changes, quality 

improvement strategies), relevance to 

Early Periodic Screening, Diagnosis, and 

Treatment benefit in Medicaid and any 

other specific relevance to Medicaid/ 

CHIP; and description of how the 

measure complements or improves on 

an existing measure in this topic area for 

the child or adult population or if it is 

intended to fill a specific gap in an 

existing measure category or topic. 

4. Measure Categories addressed by 

the measure: CHIPRA asks that the 

improved core set, taken together, cover 

all settings, services, and topics of 

health care relevant to children. 

Moreover, the legislation requires the 

core set to address the needs of children 

across all ages including services to 

promote healthy birth. Regardless of the 

eventual use of the measure, nominators 

will need to provide information on all 

settings, services, measure topics, and 

populations that a measure addresses. 

5. Evidence or other justification for 

the focus of the measure: The evidence 

base for the focus of the measures 

included in the January 1, 2014 and 

January 1, 2015 improved core sets will 

be made explicit and transparent; thus, 

it is critical for nominations to specify 

the scientific evidence or other basis for 

the focus of the measure, including a 

brief description of the evidence base or 

rationale for the relationship between 

the measure and a significant structure, 

process, or outcome that influences 

children’s health and health care. 

6. Scientific soundness of the 

measure: Explanation of methods to 

determine the scientific soundness of 

the measure itself, including results of 

all tests of validity and reliability, 

including description(s) of the study 

sample(s) and methods used to arrive at 

the results. Also, information on how 

characteristics of the data system/data 

sources may affect validity and 

reliability of the measure. 

7. Identification of disparities: 

CHIPRA requires that quality measures 

be able to identify disparities by race 

and ethnicity, and be responsive to 

domains of health care quality such as 

socioeconomic status and special health 

care needs. Nominations will provide 

evidence (if available) from testing of 

measures with diverse populations 

(considering that diversity may include 

race, ethnicity, special health care 

needs, socioeconomic status, rural 

populations, inner city populations, and 

Limited English Proficiency populations 

to assess measure’s performance for 

disparities identification. 

8. Feasibility: Description of the 

measure’s feasibility, including: 

availability of data in existing data 

systems; opportunities/pathways for 

implementation; extent to which the 

measure has been used or is in use (or 

has not been used), including settings in 

which it has been used; data collection 

methods that have been used; eligible 

populations and results of testing in the 

eligible populations, including an 

estimation of the population size 

required to gain adequate numbers of 

observations for reliable comparisons, 

such as estimates of the required 

population sizes to gain adequate 

numbers for stratification by race, 

ethnicity, special health care need, and 

socioeconomic status. 

9. Levels of aggregation: CHIPRA 

states that data used in quality measures 

must be collected and reported in a 

standard format that permits 

comparison (at minimum) at State, 

health plan, and provider levels. 

Nominations will provide information 

on all levels of aggregation at which the 

measure is primarily intended to apply 

e.g., State (Medicaid and CHIP 

populations), health plan, hospital, 

practice, provider, patient) and at which 

the measure has been tested. 

10. Understandability: CHIPRA states 

that the core set should allow 

purchasers, families, and health care 

providers to understand the quality of 

care for children. Nominations will 

include a description of the usefulness 

of the measure to purchasers, families, 

and health care providers and present 

results from efforts to assess the 

understandability of the measure. 

11. Health Information Technology: 

Nominations will provide information 

on health information technology (HIT) 

that has been or could be incorporated 

into the measure calculation. 

12. Limitations of the measure: 

Nominations will provide brief 

description of any limitations of the 

measure related to the attributes 

included in the form. 

13. Summary Statement: Nominations 

will provide a summary rationale for 

why the measure should be selected for 

use, taking into account a balance 

among desirable attributes and 

limitations of the measure. 

14. Identifying information for the 

measure submitter: All nominations 

will include contact information for the 

measure submitter, including: a) Name, 

b) Title, c) Organization, d) Mailing 

address, e) Telephone number, and f) 

email address. Further, all nominations 

will include a written statement 

disclosing the proprietary and/or 

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58392 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 183 / Thursday, September 20, 2012 / Notices 

confidentiality status of the measure 

and full measure specifications, as 

described in the Public Disclosure 

Requirements. This statement must be 

signed by the applicable rights holder(s) 

or an individual authorized to act on its 

behalf for each submitted measure or 

instrument. If signed by an authorized 

individual, the statement must describe 

the basis for such authorization. 

Submitters are encouraged to disclose 

the terms under which the measure and 

full measure specifications are currently 

made available to interested parties—for 

example, a standard license and/or 

nondisclosure agreement, or a statement 

describing the terms thereof. Should 

HHS accept the measure for the 2014 

and/or 2015 Improved Core Measure 

Sets, full measure specifications for the 

accepted measure will be subject to 

public disclosure (e.g., on the AHRQ 

and/or CMS Web sites). In addition, 

AHRQ expects that measures and full 

measure specifications will be made 

reasonably available to all interested 

parties. 

15. Opportunity to upload 

supplementary material: Nominations 

will have opportunity to upload 

attachments including graphics, tables, 

diagrams, and any other supplemental 

material. This information supports the 

review of the measure. 

16. Glossary of Terms: The glossary of 

terms details the definitions for key 

desirable attributes of measures in the 

PQMP Candidate Measure Submission 

Form. 

The information resulting from this 

data collection will be used to: (a) 

Improve and strengthen the initial core 

set of measures of health care quality 

established under CHIPRA (http:// 

www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2009-12-29/ 

html/E9-30802.htm), (b) expand on 

existing pediatric quality measures used 

by public and private health care 

purchasers, and (c) increase the 

portfolio of evidence-based consensus 

pediatric quality measures available to 

public and private purchasers of 

children’s health care services, 

providers, and consumers. 

All measures nominated by members 

of the public will be reviewed by 

members of the SNAC using the 

categories of desirable attributes 

detailed in the CHIPRA PQMP 

Candidate Measure Submission Form. 

The SNAC will make recommendations 

to NAC which in turn will make 

recommendations to the AHRQ Director 

for consideration of select measures for 

inclusion in the public posting of an 

improved core set by January 1, 2014 

and January 1, 2015 for voluntary use by 

Medicaid and CHIP programs and other 

CHIPRA purposes. 

Estimated Annual Respondent Burden 

Exhibit 1 shows the estimated 

annualized burden hours for members 

of the public who will nominate 

measures through use of the online 

CHIPRA PQMP Candidate Measure 

Submission Form. We anticipate a 

maximum of 75 nominations each year 

with each nomination requiring 3.25 

hours. The total burden is estimated to 

be 244 hours annually. 

Exhibit 2 shows the estimated 

annualized cost burden for respondents’ 

time to complete the online submission 

form for the public call for measures. 

The total cost burden is estimated to be 

$19,195 annually. 

EXHIBIT 1—ESTIMATED ANNUALIZED BURDEN HOURS

Data collection Number of 

nominations 

Number of 

responses per 

nomination 

Hours per 

response 

Total 

burden hours 

CHIPRA PQMP Candidate Measure Submission Form .................................. 75 1 3.25 244 

EXHIBIT 2—ESTIMATED ANNUALIZED COST BURDEN

Data collection Number of 

nominations 

Total 

burden hours 

Average 

hourly wage 

rate* 

Total 

cost burden 

CHIPRA PQMP Candidate Measure Submission Form .................................. 75 244 $78.67 $19,195 

* Based upon the mean of the average wages for 29–1065 (Pediatricians, General), $78.67 per hour, National Compensation Survey: Occupational Wages in the United States, May 2009, U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. Although the measure nominations will be 

solicited from the general public, AHRQ is using the wage rate for pediatricians since our expectation is that respondents to the 2013 and 2014 

public call for measures will primarily be pediatricians who will be measure developers or measure stewards of children’s health care quality 

measures. 

Estimated Annual Costs to the Federal 

Government 

Exhibit 3 shows the estimated total 

and annualized cost over 3 years to the 

government for conducting this project. 

The total cost is estimated to be 

$275,270. 

EXHIBIT 3—ESTIMATED TOTAL AND ANNUALIZED COST

Cost component Total cost Annualized 

cost 

Project Development ............................................................................................................................................... $16,205 $5,402 

Data Collection Activities ......................................................................................................................................... 46,553 15,518 

Data Processing and Analysis ................................................................................................................................. 43,190 14,397 

Publication of Results .............................................................................................................................................. 53,938 17,979 

Project Management ................................................................................................................................................ 22,620 7,540 

Overhead ................................................................................................................................................................. 92,764 30,921 

Total .................................................................................................................................................................. 275,270 91,757 

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES

Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 183 / Thursday, September 20, 2012 / Notices 58393 

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 healthcare 

research and healthcare 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: September 6, 2012. 

Carolyn M. Clancy, 

Director. 

[FR Doc. 2012–23162 Filed 9–19–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4160–90–M 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

Agency for Healthcare Research and 

Quality 

Notice of Meeting 

AGENCY: Agency for Healthcare Research 

and Quality, HHS. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with section 

10(a)(2) of the Federal Advisory 

Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App. 2), 

announcement is made of an Agency for 

Healthcare Research and Quality 

(AHRQ) Special Emphasis Panel (SEP) 

meeting on ‘‘AHRQ Patient Centered 

Outcomes Research (PCOR) Pathway to 

Independence Award (K99/ROC)’’ 

DATES: November 1, 2012 (Open on 

November 1 from 8:00 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. 

and closed for the remainder of the 

meeting). 

ADDRESSES: Hyatt Regency Hotel 

Bethesda, One Metro Center, Bethesda, 

MD 20814. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Anyone wishing to obtain a roster of 

members, agenda or minutes of the nonconfidential portions of this meeting 

should contact: Mrs. Bonnie Campbell, 

Committee Management Officer, Office 

of Extramural Research, Education and 

Priority Populations, AHRQ, 540 

Gaither Road, Room 2038, Rockville, 

Maryland 20850, Telephone (301) 427– 

1554. 

Agenda items for this meeting are 

subject to change as priorities dictate. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: A Special 

Emphasis Panel is a group of experts in 

fields related to health care research 

who are invited by the Agency for 

Healthcare Research and Quality 

(AHRQ), and agree to be available, to 

conduct on an as needed basis, 

scientific reviews of applications for 

AHRQ support. Individual members of 

the Panel do not attend regularlyscheduled meetings and do not serve for 

fixed terms or a long period of time. 

Rather, they are asked to participate in 

particular review meetings which 

require their type of expertise. 

Substantial segments of the SEP 

meeting referenced above will be closed 

to the public in accordance with the 

provisions set forth in 5 U.S.C. App. 2, 

section 10(d), 5 U.S.C. 552b(c)(4), and 5 

U.S.C. 552b(c)(6). Grant applications for 

‘‘AHRQ Patient Centered Outcomes 

Research (PCOR) Pathway to 

Independence Award (K99/R00)’’ are to 

be reviewed and discussed at this 

meeting. The grant applications and the 

discussions could disclose confidential 

trade secrets or commercial property 

such as patentable material, and 

personal information concerning 

individuals associated with the grant 

applications, the disclosure of which 

would constitute a clearly unwarranted 

invasion of personal privacy. 

Dated: September 13, 2012. 

Carolyn M. Clancy, 

Director. 

[FR Doc. 2012–23166 Filed 9–19–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4160–90–M 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

Agency for Healthcare Research and 

Quality 

Notice of Meetings 

AGENCY: Agency for Healthcare Research 

and Quality (AHRQ), HHS. 

ACTION: Notice of five AHRQ 

subcommittee meetings. 

SUMMARY: The subcommittees listed 

below are part of AHRQ’s Health 

Services Research Initial Review Group 

Committee. Grant applications are to be 

reviewed and discussed at these 

meetings. These meetings will be closed 

to the public in accordance with 5 

U.S.C. App. 2 section 10(d),’5 U.S.C. 

section 552b(c)(4), and 5 U.S.C. section 

552b(c)(6). 

DATES: See below for dates of meetings: 

1. Health Care Research Training 

Date: October 11–12, 2012 (Open from 

8:30 a.m. to 8:45 a.m. on October 11 

and closed for remainder of the 

meeting) 

2. Healthcare Effectiveness and 

Outcomes Research 

Date: October 16–17, 2012 (Open from 

8:30 a.m. to 8:45 a.m. on October 16 

and closed for remainder of the 

meeting) 

3. Health Systems and Value Research 

Date: October 24, 2012 (Open from 

8:30 a.m. to 8:45 a.m. on October 24 

and closed for remainder of the 

meeting) 

4. Healthcare Information Technology 

Research 

Date: October 25, 2012 (Open from 

8:30 a.m. to 8:45 a.m. on October 25 

and closed for remainder of the 

meeting) 

5. Healthcare Safety and Quality 

Improvement Research 

Date: October 31, 2012 (Open from 

8:30 a.m. to 8:45 a.m. on October 31 

and closed for remainder of the 

meeting) 

ADDRESSES: The five meetings will take 

place in the same location: 

Hyatt Regency Hotel Bethesda, 

One Metro Center, 

Bethesda, MD 20814. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: (To 

obtain a roster of members, agenda or 

minutes of the non-confidential portions 

of the meetings.) 

Mrs. Bonnie Campbell, Committee 

Management Officer, Office of 

Extramural Research Education and 

Priority Populations, AHRQ 540, 

Gaither Road, Suite 2000, Rockville, 

Maryland 20850, Telephone (301) 

427–1554. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In 

accordance with section 10 (a)(2) of the 

Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 

U.S.C. App. 2), AHRQ announces 

meetings of the scientific peer review 

groups listed above, which are 

subcommittees of AHRQ’s Health 

Services Research Initial Review Group 

Committee. The subcommittee meetings 

will be closed to the public in 

accordance with the provisions set forth 

in 5 U.S.C. App. 2 section 10(d), 5 

U.S.C. 552b(c)(4), and 5 U.S.C. 

552b(c)(6). The grant applications and 

the discussions could disclose 

confidential trade secrets or commercial 

property such as patentable material, 

and personal information concerning 

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