Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 21 / Wednesday, February 1, 2012 / Notices 5021 

3090–0221, Civilian Board of Contract 

Appeals Rules of Procedure’’, under the 

heading ‘‘Enter Keyword or ID’’ and 

selecting ‘‘Search’’. Select the link 

‘‘Submit a Comment’’ that corresponds 

with ‘‘Information Collection IC 3090– 

0221, Civilian Board of Contract 

Appeals Rules of Procedure’’. Follow 

the instructions provided at the ‘‘Submit 

a Comment’’ screen. Please include your 

name, company name (if any), and 

‘‘Information Collection 3090–0221, 

Civilian Board of Contract Appeals 

Rules of Procedure’’ on your attached 

document. 

• Fax: (202) 501–4067. 

• Mail: General Services 

Administration, Regulatory Secretariat 

(MVCB), 1275 First Street, NE., 

Washington, DC 20417. ATTN: Hada 

Flowers/IC 3090–0221, Civilian Board 

of Contract Appeals Rules of Procedure. 

Instructions: Please submit comments 

only and cite Information Collection 

3090–0221, Civilian Board of Contract 

Appeals Rules of Procedure, in all 

correspondence related to this 

collection. All comments received will 

be posted without change to http:// 

www.regulations.gov, including any 

personal and/or business confidential 

information provided. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: J. 

Gregory Parks, Chief Counsel, Civilian 

Board of Contract Appeals, 1800 F 

Street, NW., Washington, DC 20405, 

telephone (202) 606–8800 or via email 

to Greg.Parks@cbca.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

A. Purpose 

The CBCA requires the information 

collected in order to conduct 

proceedings in contract appeals and 

petitions, and cost applications. Parties 

include those persons or entities filing 

appeals, petitions, cost applications, 

and government agencies. 

B. Annual Reporting Burden 

Respondents: 85. 

Responses per Respondent: 1. 

Hours per Response: .108. 

Total Burden Hours: 9.2. 

Obtaining Copies of Proposals: 

Requesters may obtain a copy of the 

information collection documents from 

the General Services Administration, 

Regulatory Secretariat (MVCB), 1275 

First Street, NE., Washington, DC 20417, 

telephone (202) 501–4755. Please cite 

OMB Control No. 3090–0221, Civilian 

Board of Contract Appeals Rules of 

Procedure, in all correspondence. 

Dated: January 24, 2012. 

Casey Coleman, 

Chief Information Officer. 

[FR Doc. 2012–2097 Filed 1–31–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6820–AL–P 

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) 

Clinician and Group Survey 

Comparative Database.’’ 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 November 28th, 2011 and 

allowed 60 days for public comment. No 

substantive 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 March 2, 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 

Consumer Assessment of Healthcare 

Providers and Systems (CAHPS) 

Clinician and Group Survey 

Comparative Database 

The Agency for Healthcare Research 

and Quality (AHRQ) requests that the 

Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB) approve, under the Paperwork 

Reduction Act of 1995, AHRQ’s 

collection of information for the AHRQ 

Consumer Assessment of Healthcare 

Providers and Systems (CAHPS) 

Database for Clinicians and Groups. The 

CAHPS Clinician and Group Database 

(CAHPS CG Database) consists of data 

from the AHRQ CAHPS Clinician and 

Group Survey (CAHPS CG Survey). 

Health systems administrators, medical 

groups and medical practitioners in the 

U.S. are asked to voluntarily submit 

data from the CAHPS CG Survey to 

AHRQ through its contractor. 

Dating back to the first phase of the 

CAHPS program (1996–2000), the 

CAHPS Consortium recognized the need 

for a standardized, evidence-based 

instrument that would gather data on 

patients’ experiences with physicians 

and staff in outpatient medical 

practices, enabling clinicians and 

administrators to assess and improve 

patients’ experiences with medical care. 

In 1999, the Consortium began work on 

a survey that would assess patients’ 

experiences with medical groups and 

clinicians. Working in collaboration 

with the Pacific Business Group on 

Health, whose Consumer Assessment 

Survey established a precedent for this 

type of instrument; the CAHPS 

Consortium developed a preliminary 

instrument known as the CAHPS Group 

Practices Survey (G–CAHPS). 

In August 2004, AHRQ issued a notice 

in the Federal Register inviting 

organizations to test this instrument. 

These field test organizations were 

crucial partners in the evolution and 

development of the instrument, and 

provided critical data illuminating key 

aspects of survey design and 

administration. In July 2007 the CAHPS 

CG Survey was endorsed by the 

National Quality Forum (NQF), an 

organization established to standardize 

health care quality measurement and 

reporting. The endorsement represents 

the consensus of many health care 

providers, consumer groups, 

professional associations, purchasers, 

federal agencies, and research and 

quality organizations. The CAHPS CG 

Survey and related toolkit materials are 

available on the CAHPS web site at 

http://www.cahps.AHRO.gov/cahpskit/ 

CG/CGChooseQX.asp. Since its release, 

the survey has been used by thousands 


tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
5022 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 21 / Wednesday, February 1, 2012 / Notices 

of physicians and medical practices 

across the U.S. 

The current CAHPS Consortium 

includes AHRQ, the Centers for 

Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), 

RAND, Yale School of Public Health, 

and Westat. 

AHRQ has developed the database for 

CAHPS CG Survey data following the 

CAHPS Health Plan Database as a 

model. The CAHPS Health Plan 

Database was developed in 1998 in 

response to requests from health plans, 

purchasers, and CMS for comparative 

data to support public reporting of 

health plan ratings, health plan 

accreditation and quality improvement 

(OMB Control Number 0935–0165, 

Expiration Date 7/31/2013). Demand for 

comparative results from the CG Survey 

has grown as well, and therefore AHRQ 

has developed a dedicated CG Database 

to support benchmarking, quality 

improvement, and research. 

The CAHPS CG Database contains 

data from AHRQ’s standardized CAHPS 

CG Survey, which provides comparative 

measures of quality to health care 

purchasers, consumers, regulators, and 

policy makers. The Database also 

provides data for AHRQ’s annual 

National Healthcare Quality and 

National Healthcare Disparities Reports. 

Health systems, medical groups and 

practices that administer the CAHPS CG 

Survey according to CAHPS 

specifications can participate in this 

project. A health system is a complex of 

facilities, organizations, and providers 

of health care in a specified geographic 

area. A medical group is defined as a 

medical group, Accountable Care 

Organization (ACO), state organization 

or some other grouping of practices. A 

practice is an outpatient facility in a 

specific location whose physicians and 

other providers share administrative 

and clinical support staff. Each practice 

located in a building containing 

multiple medical offices is considered a 

separate practice. 

The goal of this project is to continue 

to update the CAHPS CG Database, with 

the latest results of the CAHPS CG 

Survey. These results consist of 37 items 

that measure 5 areas or composites of 

patients’ experiences with physicians 

and staff in outpatient medical 

practices. This database will (1) allow 

participating organizations to compare 

their survey results with those of other 

outpatient medical groups; (2) facilitate 

internal assessment and learning in the 

quality improvement process; and 

(3) provide information to help identify 

strengths and areas with potential for 

improvement in patient care. The five 

composite measures are: 

Getting Timely Appointments, Care, and 

Information 

How Well Doctors Communicate With 

Patients 

Helpful, Courteous, and Respectful Office 

Staff Follow-up on Test Results 

Patients’ Rating of the Doctor 

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 

improvement; and health surveys and 

database development. 42 U.S.C. 

299a(a)(1), (2), and (8). 

Method of Collection 

To achieve the goal of this project, the 

following activities and data collections 

will be implemented: 

(1) Registration Form—The purpose of 

this form is to determine the eligibility 

status and initiate the registration 

process for participating organizations 

seeking to voluntarily submit their 

CAHPS CG Survey data to the CAHPS 

CG Comparative Database. The point of 

contact (POC) at the participating 

organization (or parent organization) 

will complete the form. The POC is 

either a corporate-level health care 

manager or a survey vendor who 

contracts with a participating 

organization to collect the CAHPS CG 

Survey data. 

(2) Data Use Agreement—The purpose 

of this form is to obtain authorization 

from participating organizations to use 

their voluntarily submitted CAHPS CG 

Survey data for analysis and reporting 

according to the terms specified in the 

Data Use Agreement (DUA). The POC 

will complete the form. 

(3) Data Submission—After the POC 

has completed the Registration Form 

and the Data Use Agreement, they will 

submit their patient-level data from the 

CAHPS CG Survey to the CAHPS CG 

Comparative Database. Data on the 

organizational characteristics such as 

ownership, number of patient visits per 

year and medical specialty, and 

information related to survey 

administration such as mode and dates 

of survey administration, sample size, 

and response rate, which are collected 

as part of CAHPS CG Survey operations, 

are also submitted. Each submission 

will consist of 3 data files: (1) A Group 

File that contains 5 information about 

the group ownership and size of group, 

(2) a Practice File containing type of 

practice, the practice ownership and 

affiliation (i.e., commercial, hospital or 

integrated delivery system, insurance 

company, university or medical school, 

community health center, VA or 

military) and number of patient visits 

per year, and, (3) a Sample File that 

contains one record for each patient 

surveyed, the date of visit, survey 

disposition code and information about 

survey completion. 

Survey data from the CAHPS CG 

Database is used to produce three types 

of products: (1) An online reporting of 

results available to the public on the 

CAHPS User Network web site; (2) 

comparative reports that are 

confidential and customized for each 

participating organization (e.g., health 

system, medical group or practice) that 

submits data; and, (3) a database 

available to researchers for additional 

analyses. 

Information for the CAHPS CG 

Database is collected by AHRQ through 

its contractor Westat. Participating 

organizations are asked to voluntarily 

submit their data to the CAHPS 

Database. The data is cleaned with 

standardized programs, then aggregated 

and used to produce comparative 

results. In addition, reports are 

produced that compare the participating 

organizations’ results to the database in 

a password-protected section of the 

CAHPS Database online reporting 

system. Trend data will be available to 

participants when enough data is 

collected across consecutive years. 

Estimated Annual Respondent Burden 

Exhibit 1 shows the estimated 

annualized burden hours for 

participating organizations. The burden 

hours and costs below are based on an 

estimated number of participants. It is 

estimated that about 30 health systems, 

medical groups and practices will 

participate in the CAHPS CG Database. 

The number of data submissions per 

participating organization will vary 

because some participants may submit 

data for multiple practices, while others 

may only submit data for one. 

The total burden for completing the 

registration, DUA and data submission 

process is estimated to be 246 hours. 

The 30 participating organizations that 

complete the registration form and 

submit information to the CAHPS CG 

Database are a combination of an 

estimated 20 health systems, medical 

groups and practices and 10 estimated 

vendors. Information about survey 

administration and the survey data files 

are submitted together for each 

participating organization. 


tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 21 / Wednesday, February 1, 2012 / Notices 5023 

EXHIBIT 1—ESTIMATED ANNUALIZED BURDEN HOURS

Form name 

Number of 

respondents 

POCs 

Number of 

responses 

per POC 

Hours per 

response 

Total burden 

hours 

Registration Form .................................................................... 30 1 6/60 ........................................ 3 

Data Submission ..................................................................... 30 1 7 and 6/60 .............................. 213 

Data Use Agreement ............................................................... 30 1 1 ............................................. 30 

Total ................................................................................. 30 NA 8 and 12/60 ............................ 246 

Exhibit 2 shows the estimated annualized cost burden based on the respondents’ time to complete the submission process. The cost burden is 

estimated to be $10,485 annually. 

EXHIBIT 2—ESTIMATED ANNUALIZED COST BURDEN

Form name Number of respondents 

Total burden 

hours 

Average hourly 

wage rate* 

Total cost burden 

Registration Form ............................................................................................ 30 3 42.62 128 

Data Submission .............................................................................................. 30 213 42.62 9,078

Data Use Agreement ....................................................................................... 30 30 42.62 1,279 

Total .......................................................................................................... 30 246 NA 10,485

* Mean hourly wage rate of $42.62 for Medical and Health Services Managers (SOC code 19111) was obtained from the May 2009 National 

Industry-Specific Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates, NAICS 621100—Offices of Physicians located at http://www.bls.gov/oe5/2009/ 

may/naic54_621100.htm. 

Estimated Annual Cost to the 

Government 

Exhibit 3 shows the estimated 

annualized cost to the government for 

developing, maintaining and managing 

the CAHPS CG Database, analyzing the 

data and reporting results. The cost is 

estimated to be $220,000 annually. 

Annualized costs for collecting and 

processing the CAHPS CG Database are 

based upon 10 years of historical 

CAHPS Health Plan Database project 

costs. AHRQ wishes to continue this 

data collection indefinitely and requests 

OMB approval for 3 years. 

EXHIBIT 3—ESTIMATED ANNUALIZED COST

Cost component Total cost Annualized 

cost 

Database Maintenance ............................................................................................................................................ $120,000 $40,000 

Data Submission ...................................................................................................................................................... 240,000 80,000 

Data Analysis and Reporting ................................................................................................................................... 300,000 100,000 

Total .................................................................................................................................................................. 660,000 220,000 

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 20, 2012. 

Carolyn M. Clancy, 

Director. 

[FR Doc. 2012–2129 Filed 1–31–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 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 

information collection project: ‘‘Medical 

Office Survey on Patient Safety Culture 

Comparative Database.’’ In accordance 

with the Paperwork Reduction Act, 44 

U.S.C. 3501–3521, AHRQ invites the 


tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES