5810 Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 18 / Monday, January 28, 2013 / Notices 

EXHIBIT 3—ESTIMATED TOTAL AND ANNUALIZED COST—Continued 

Cost component Total cost Annualized cost 

Data Processing and Analysis ......................................................................................................................... 239,426 79,809 

Publication of Results ...................................................................................................................................... 51,779 17,260 

Project Management ........................................................................................................................................ 67,729 22,576 

Overhead ......................................................................................................................................................... 126,861 42,287 

Total .......................................................................................................................................................... 799,014 266,338 

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: January 16, 2013. 

Carolyn M. Clancy, 

Director. 

[FR Doc. 2013–01345 Filed 1–25–13; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4160–90–M 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

Agency for Healthcare Research and 

Quality 

AHRQ Standing Workgroup for Quality 

Indicator Measure Specification 

AGENCY: Agency for Healthcare Research 

and Quality (AHRQ), HHS. 

ACTION: Notice of request for 

nominations. 

SUMMARY: The Agency for Healthcare 

Research and Quality (AHRQ) is seeking 

nominations for both a time-limited 

work group and a standing work group 

to be convened by an AHRQ contractor. 

The work groups shall be comprised of 

individuals with knowledge of the 

AHRQ Quality Indicators (QIs), their 

technical specifications, and associated 

methodological issues. The overarching 

goals of each group are to provide 

feedback to AHRQ regarding 

refinements to the Qls. The time-limited 

workgroup is more restricted to specific 

clinical or methodological issues, while 

the standing workgroup addresses 

broader issues related to the 

measurement cycle. 

DATES: Please submit nominations on or 

before March 15, 2013. Self-nominations 

are welcome. Third-party nominations 

must indicate that the individual has 

been contacted and is willing to serve 

on the workgroup. Selected candidates 

will be contacted by AHRQ no later than 

April 5, 2013. Please include the 

committee of interest. Candidates may 

apply for both. 

ADDRESSES: Nominations can be sent in 

the form of a letter or email, preferably 

as an electronic file with an email 

attachment, and should specifically 

address the submission criteria as noted 

below. Electronic submissions are 

strongly encouraged. Responses should 

be submitted to: ATTN: Pamela Owens, 

Agency for Healthcare Research and 

Quality, Center for Delivery, 

Organization and Markets, 540 Gaither 

Road, Rockville, MD 20850, Email: 

pam.owens@AHRQ.hhs.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Pamela Owens, Ph.D., Senior Research 

Scientist, Agency for Healthcare 

Research and Quality, Center for 

Delivery, Organization and Markets, 540 

Gaither Road, Rockville, MD 20850, 

Email: pam.owens@AHRQ.hhs.gov; 

Phone: (301) 427–1412; Fax: (301) 427– 

1430. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: These 

workgroups are being administered by 

AHRQ’s contractor as part of a 

structured approach to formally and 

broadly engage stakeholders, and to 

enhance and expand transparency about 

the scientific development of the AHRQ 

QIs. 

Time-Limited Work Group 

Time-limited workgroups are 

formative in nature, providing feedback 

on significant measure improvement 

issues and representing a broad range of 

stakeholders. The focus for this 

upcoming year will be the Prevention 

Quality Indicators (PQI). The role of 

time-limited group members is to: (1) 

Provide technical guidance on the PQI 

specifications and rationales, risk 

adjustment strategies, and other quality 

measurement issues; (2) provide input 

on critical information gaps, as well as 

research methods to address them; (3) 

provide guidance on draft 

recommendations for the PQI measure 

refinements; (4) offer scientifically 

rigorous recommendations for the 

evaluation and validation efforts 

required to ensure the accuracy of the 

PQIs; and, (5) provide input on and 

review of the contractor’s technical 

report resulting from the workgroup’s 

discussions. 

The time-limited workgroup will 

consist of 8–12 members consisting of: 

• One or more statisticians 

specialized in the relevant statistical 

methods and applications 

• One or more individuals with 

expertise in community health care and 

prevention, and access to and quality of 

care 

• One or more individuals with 

experience using AHRQ PQI measures 

for assessing health system performance 

and public reporting 

• One or more individuals with 

expertise in developing algorithms 

using ICD–9–CM codes to construct or 

modify quality indicators using 

administrative data is desirable, but not 

mandatory 

In addition, the work group is 

expected to include representatives 

from impacted provider groups and 

their professional organizations, other 

stakeholders, consumers and other 

users, quality alliances, medical or 

specialty societies, measure developers, 

accrediting organizations, and public 

and private payers. 

Standing Work Group 

The standing workgroup is part of a 

structured approach to bring together 

individuals from multiple disciplines 

for the purpose of providing technical 

feedback on proposed updates to the 

AHRQ QIs. The intent is to collect 


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Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 18 / Monday, January 28, 2013 / Notices 5811 

feedback in a standardized fashion, and 

to ensure continued improvement of key 

measurement aspects of the QIs based 

on new data sources, data 

enhancements, and methodological 

advances. The standing workgroup may 

potentially provide guidance for the 

development of new indicators or the 

modification or retirement of existing 

indicators. Annual topics include: (1) 

Strategic areas for AHRQ QI program 

development for the upcoming year, (2) 

measure specification, software and 

documentation changes that have been 

proposed from users, the literature or 

other sources, (3) results from the 

analysis of proposed changes and 

review of recommendations for 

implementation, and (4) general 

methodological developments in quality 

measurement. 

The standing workgroup will consist 

of a diverse group of clinicians and 

other individuals from a variety of 

disciplines and settings with expertise 

and interest in quality measurement and 

improvement. Members of the standing 

workgroup may include: 

• One or more currently practicing 

clinicians specialized in various 

disciplines 

• One or more individuals with 

inpatient nursing and/or nursing 

management experience 

• One or more individuals with 

experience using AHRQ QI measures for 

assessing hospital performance and/or 

public reporting 

• One or more individuals with 

expertise in developing algorithms for 

relevant quality indicators using 

administrative data 

• One or more individuals with 

expertise in validating ICD–9–CM codes 

using chart abstraction (to assess 

criterion validity), or assessing their 

accuracy in identifying individuals at 

risk for specific adverse outcomes 

(predictive validity) 

• One or more individuals with 

experience using HCUP or similar data 

for the purpose of quality measurement 

• One or more individuals with 

knowledge of ICD–9–CM and ICD–10– 

CM coding guidelines and practices 

Submission Criteria 

To be considered for membership on 

either work group, please send the 

following information for each nominee: 

1. A brief nomination letter 

highlighting experience and knowledge 

in the use of the AHRQ QIs, including 

any experience with the National 

Quality Forum (NQF) Consensus 

Development Process, and the work 

group of interest. The nominee’s 

profession and specialty, and the 

spectrum of his or her experience 

related to the QIs should be described. 

Please include full contact information 

of nominee: Name, title, organization, 

mailing address, telephone and fax 

numbers, and email address. 

2. Curriculum vita (with citations to 

any pertinent publications related to 

quality measure development or use). 

3. Description of any financial 

interest, recent conduct, or current or 

planned commercial, non-commercial, 

institutional, intellectual, public 

service, or other activities pertinent to 

the potential scope of the workgroup, 

which could be perceived as influencing 

the workgroup’s process or 

recommendations. The objective is not 

to prevent nominees with potential 

conflicts of interest from serving on the 

work groups, but to obtain such 

information so as to best inform the 

selection of workgroup members, and to 

help minimize such conflicts. 

Nominee Selection Criteria 

Selection of standing workgroup 

members will be based on the following 

criteria: 

• Knowledge of and experience with 

health care quality measurement using 

administrative data, including issues of 

coding, specification, and risk 

adjustment 

• Peer-reviewed publications relevant 

to developing, testing, or applying 

health care quality measures based on 

ICD-coded administrative data 

• Knowledge of current quality 

measurement methodologies published 

in the literature 

• Clinical expertise in the use and 

applications of the AHRQ QIs 

• Knowledge of the NQF measure 

submission and maintenance process 

The selection process will be adapted 

to ensure that the standing work group 

includes a diverse group of clinicians 

and other individuals from a variety of 

disciplines and settings. 

Time Commitment 

Time-limited and standing workgroup 

participants will hold a minimum two 

year term with an optional extension. 

The time-limited workgroup will meet 

by teleconference approximately three 

times for approximately two hours each 

in 2013, with a total time commitment 

of approximately 12 hours. The standing 

workgroup will meet quarterly by 

teleconference for approximately two 

hours with an annual time commitment 

of approximately 12–15 hours. 

Workgroup Activities 

1. Workgroup members will receive 

pre-meeting material to review and to 

provide written feedback (1.0 hours). 

2. The workgroup meeting will be 

convened by phone or web conference. 

Initial feedback and revisions will be 

discussed during the live meetings 

along with other relevant topics (2.0 

hours). 

3. Post meeting, members will review 

and comment on meeting minutes and 

associated documents along with any 

follow-up action items (1 hour). 

4. There may be opportunities for 

workgroup members to collaboratively 

publish peer-reviewed journal articles 

or reports based on workgroup 

activities. However, this is not a 

mandatory requirement of workgroup 

members and is not included in the 12– 

15 hours estimated time commitment. 

Background 

The AHRQ Quality Indicators (AHRQ 

QIs) are a unique set of measures of 

health care quality that make use of 

readily available hospital inpatient 

administrative data. The QIs have been 

used for various purposes. Some of 

these include tracking, hospital selfassessment, reporting of hospitalspecific quality or pay for performance. 

The AHRQ QIs are provider- and arealevel quality indicators and currently 

consist of four modules: The Prevention 

Quality Indicators (PQIs), the Inpatient 

Quality Indicators (IQIs), the Patient 

Safety Indicators (PSIs), and the 

Pediatric Quality Indicators (PQIs). In 

response to feedback from the AHRQ QI 

user community and guidance from 

NQF, AHRQ is committed to the 

ongoing improvement and refinement of 

the QIs in an accurate and transparent 

manner. For additional information 

about the AHRQ QIs, please visit the 

AHRQ Web site at http:// 

www.qualityindicators.AHRQ.gov. 

Dated: January 16, 2013. 

Carolyn M. Clancy, 

Director, AHRQ. 

[FR Doc. 2013–01348 Filed 1–25–13; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4160–90–M 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

Agency for Toxic Substances and 

Disease Registry 

Statement of Organization, Functions, 

and Delegations of Authority 

Part J (Agency for Toxic Substances 

and Disease Registry) of the Statement 

of Organization, Functions, and 

Delegations of Authority of the 

Department of Health and Human 

Services (50 FR 25129–25130, dated 

June 17, 1985, as amended most 

recently at 77 FR 68125, dated 

November 15, 2012) is amended to 

reflect the reorganization of the Office of 


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