Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 149 / Wednesday, August 3, 2011 / Notices 46811 

Estimated Annual Costs to the Federal 

Government 

Exhibit 3 shows the total and 

annualized cost for this evaluation. The 

total cost to the government of the entire 

evaluation contract is $8,258,311 

(including a base period and four option 

periods); the annualized cost is 

$1,651,662 per year (Exhibit 3). These 

costs will be incurred from 2010 to 

2012. 

EXHIBIT 3—ESTIMATED TOTAL AND ANNUAL COST

Cost component Total cost Annual cost 

Administration .......................................................................................................................................................... $571,422 $114,284 

Coordination ............................................................................................................................................................. 38,003 7,601 

Stakeholder Feedback ............................................................................................................................................. 201,637 40,327 

Technical Expert Panel ............................................................................................................................................ 359,276 71,855 

Evaluation Design & Implementation ...................................................................................................................... 3,981,390 796,278 

Technical Assistance Plan ....................................................................................................................................... 934,440 186,888 

Data Collection Instruments .................................................................................................................................... 138,997 27,799 

OMB Clearance ....................................................................................................................................................... 35,617 17,808 

Section 508 Compliance .......................................................................................................................................... 13,883 2,777 

Data and Analysis Reports ...................................................................................................................................... 735,426 147,085 

Interim Evaluation Reports ...................................................................................................................................... 408,803 81,761 

Dissemination .......................................................................................................................................................... 736,149 184,037 

Final Report ............................................................................................................................................................. 103,269 103,269 

Total .................................................................................................................................................................. 8,258,311 1,651,662 

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: July 21, 2011. 

Carolyn M. Clancy, 

Director. 

[FR Doc. 2011–19391 Filed 8–2–11; 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 

information collection project: 

‘‘Evaluation of the Technical Assistance 

to ARRA Complex Patient Grantees 

Project’’ In accordance with the 

Paperwork Reduction Act, 44 U.S.C. 

3501–3521, AHRQ invites the public to 

comment on this proposed information 

collection. 

DATES: Comments on this notice must be 

received by October 3, 2011. 

ADDRESSES: Written comments should 

be submitted to: Doris Lefkowitz, 

Reports Clearance Officer, AHRQ, by 

e-mail at 

doris.lefkowitz@AHRO.hhs.gov. 

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 

e-mail at 

doris.lefkowitz@AHRQ.hhs.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Proposed Project 

Evaluation of the Technical 

Assistance to ARRA Complex Patient 

Grantees Project Under the American 

Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) 

of 2009, the Agency for Healthcare 

Research and Quality (AHRQ) awarded 

$473 million in grants and contracts to 

support patient-centered outcomes 

research. As part of this investment, 

AHRQ funded fourteen R21 

(exploratory) grants and thirteen R24 

(infrastructure development) grants to 

generate new knowledge on individuals 

with multiple chronic conditions. This 

work is critical to improve the 

understanding of how to prioritize 

evidence-based services for patients 

with multiple co-morbidities and to 

suggest appropriate adaptations to 

guidelines for their care. 

In order to support the R21 and R24 

complex patient grantees, AHRQ funded 

a Learning Network and Technical 

Assistance Center (LN&TAC) to 

encourage collaboration among the 

researchers and help them share 

research methods, definitions and 

products through in-person meetings, 

small workgroups and network 

facilitation. The LN&TAC will provide 

the grantees with technical assistance 

regarding research design, data 

collection, data analysis, public use 

dataset development, and 

dissemination. 

Through the LN&TAC AHRQ will 

support work to: 

(1) Create and support a Learning 

Network of the complex patient grantees 

to facilitate advancement of 

infrastructure development, as well as 


srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
46812 Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 149 / Wednesday, August 3, 2011 / Notices 

to leverage developments and learning 

across the program. The Learning 

Network will give these grantees the 

opportunity to share information with 

and learn from other research teams, 

provide resources for data management 

and other research-related issues, and 

synthesize and disseminate findings 

that transcend individual projects. 

(2) Provide both group and individual 

technical assistance to grantees as they 

address issues of ARRA reporting, 

infrastructure development, data 

sharing, and creation of public use data 

sets. 

(3) Disseminate results, including 

developing materials targeted to 

researchers and policy-makers to 

describe study results and facilitate 

future use of newly created datasets. 

This will include a marketing plan to 

advertise availability of datasets and 

promote their use. 

(4) Develop and implement an 

evaluation of the above activities 

throughout the project. 

The purpose of this Information 

Collection Request is to evaluate the 

effectiveness of the LN&TAC. The goals 

of the evaluation are to: 

(1) Ascertain whether expected 

outcomes of the LN&TAC were 

achieved; 

(2) Assess whether the LN&TAC met 

the needs and expectations of the 

grantees; 

(3) Identify challenges and lessons 

learned, and determine the feasibility 

and advisability of developing similar 

project models in the future. 

This study is being conducted by 

AHRQ through its contractor, Abt 

Associates, pursuant to AHRQ’s 

statutory authority to ‘‘conduct and 

support research, evaluations, and 

training, support demonstration 

projects, research networks and 

multidisciplinary centers, provide 

technical assistance, and disseminate 

information 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.’’ 42 U.S.C. 299a(a)(1). 

Method of Collection 

To meet the goals of this evaluation 

the following data collections will be 

implemented: 

(1) LN Meeting Evaluation—Grantees 

who attend the three annual in-person 

Learning Network meetings will be 

asked to complete the LN Meeting 

Evaluation to provide immediate 

feedback about their level of satisfaction 

with the meeting (including session 

topics and speakers) and make 

suggestions about how the meeting 

could be improved. 

(2) Group TA Evaluation—Grantees 

who participate in group technical 

assistance activities, such as webinars 

and the TA given at annual meetings, 

will be asked to complete the Group TA 

Evaluation to provide feedback about 

their level of satisfaction with the group 

TA (including session leader), how 

effective the TA was, and make 

suggestions about how the TA session 

could have been better. 

(3) Individual TA Evaluation— 

Grantees who request individual 

technical assistance will be asked to 

complete the Individual TA Evaluation 

to provide feedback about their level of 

satisfaction with the TA (including 

session leader), how effective the TA 

was, and make suggestions about how 

the TA session could have been better. 

(4) Annual Survey—All 27 Complex 

Patient grantees will be asked to 

complete the Annual Survey once a 

year. This survey is designed to measure 

whether, due to their participation in 

the project, grantees have experienced 

changes in knowledge, confidence or 

attitudes related to research activities 

and grant requirements, changes in their 

research itself (design, methods, and/or 

analyses), and/or if participation has 

increased collaboration (e.g., sharing 

methods, developing new coding, 

merging data sets) among the Complex 

Patient researchers, as well as 

satisfaction with the LN&TAC in 

general. 

(5) Annual Interview—The Annual 

Interview will be administered with a 

small subset of 5 grantees per year, and 

will be used to augment the Annual 

Survey with more in-depth qualitative 

data. Therefore, similar questions will 

be asked in the Annual Interview as are 

asked in the Annual Survey, but the 

interview will allow for probing and 

clarification of answers. Different 

grantees will be asked to participate in 

the interview each year, such that no 

grantee participates in the Annual 

Interview more than once during the 

three year contract. 

These evaluation instruments are 

designed to capture a combination of 

quantitative and qualitative data No 

claim is made that the results from this 

study will be generalizable in the 

statistical sense. Rather, this evaluation 

is aimed at determining the 

effectiveness of this particular program. 

Estimated Annual Respondent Burden 

Exhibit 1 shows the estimated 

annualized burden hours for the 

grantees’ time to participate in the 

surveys and interviews. The LN Meeting 

Evaluation will be completed by about 

22 grantees and takes about 20 minutes 

to complete. The Group TA Evaluation 

will be completed by 8 grantees 4 times 

a year, although not necessarily the 

same 8 persons each time and will take 

5 minutes to complete. The Individual 

TA Evaluation will be completed by 

about 15 grantees annually and takes 5 

minutes to complete. The Annual 

Survey will be completed by 22 grantees 

and will take about 10 minutes to 

complete. Annual Interviews will be 

conducted with 5 persons annually and 

will last 45 minutes. The total 

annualized burden hours are estimated 

to be 19 hours. 

Exhibit 2 shows the estimated 

annualized cost burden for the grantees’ 

time to provide the requested data. The 

estimated total cost burden is about 

$774. 

EXHIBIT 1—ESTIMATED ANNUALIZED

Form name No. of 

respondents 

No. of 

responses per 

respondent 

Hours per 

response 

Total burden 

hours 

LN Meeting Evaluation .................................................................................... 22 1 20/60 7 

Group TA Evaluation ....................................................................................... 8 4 5/60 3 

Individual TA Evaluation .................................................................................. 15 1 5/60 1 

Annual Survey ................................................................................................. 22 1 10/60 4 

Annual Interview .............................................................................................. 5 1 45/60 4 

Total .......................................................................................................... 72 na na 19 


srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 149 / Wednesday, August 3, 2011 / Notices 46813 

EXHIBIT 2—ESTIMATED ANNUALIZED

Form name No. of 

respondents 

Total burden 

hours 

Average 

hourly wage 

rate* 

Total cost 

burden 

LN Meeting Evaluation .................................................................................... 22 7 $40.75 $285 

Group TA Evaluation ....................................................................................... 8 3 40.75 122 

Individual TA Evaluation .................................................................................. 15 1 40.75 41 

Annual Survey ................................................................................................. 22 4 40.75 163 

Annual Interview .............................................................................................. 5 4 40.75 163 

Total .......................................................................................................... 72 19 40.75 774 

* Based upon tne mean hourly wage rate for Medical Scientists, Except Epidemiologists, from the National Compensation Survey: Occupational 

wages in the United States May 2009, ‘‘U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics,’’ accessed on April 26, 2011. 

Estimated Annual Costs to the Federal 

Government 

The total cost of this contract to the 

government is $178,137 over the three 

years of the project (September 27, 2010 

to September 26, 2013). Therefore, the 

annualized cost to the government of 

the evaluation of the Complex Patient 

LN&TAC is $59,379. 

EXHIBIT 3—ESTIMATED TOTAL AND ANNUALIZED COST

Cost component Total cost Annualized 

cost 

Project Development ............................................................................................................................................... $70,247 $23,416 

Data Collection Activities ......................................................................................................................................... 54,636 18,212 

Data Processing and Analysis ................................................................................................................................. 31,220 10,406 

Overhead ................................................................................................................................................................. 22,034 7,345 

Total .................................................................................................................................................................. 178,137 59,379 

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: July 21, 2011. 

Carolyn M. Clancy, 

Director. 

[FR Doc. 2011–19392 Filed 8–2–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4160–90–M 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

Centers for Disease Control and 

Prevention 

[60Day-11–11JJ] 

Proposed Data Collections Submitted 

for Public Comment and 

Recommendations 

In compliance with the requirement 

of Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 for 

opportunity for public comment on 

proposed data collection projects, the 

Centers for Disease Control and 

Prevention (CDC) will publish periodic 

summaries of proposed projects. To 

request more information on the 

proposed projects or to obtain a copy of 

the data collection plans and 

instruments, call 404–639–5960 and 

send comments to Daniel L. Holcomb, 

CDC Reports Clearance Officer, 1600 

Clifton Road, MS–D74, Atlanta, GA 

30333 or send an e-mail to 

omb@cdc.gov. 

Comments are invited on: (a) Whether 

the proposed collection of information 

is necessary for the proper performance 

of the functions of the agency, including 

whether the information shall have 

practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the 

agency’s estimate of the burden of the 

proposed collection 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 

on respondents, including through the 

use of automated collection techniques 

or other forms of information 

technology. Written comments should 

be received within 60 days of this 

notice. 

Proposed Project 

Evaluating Locally-Developed HIV 

Prevention Interventions for AfricanAmerican MSM in Los Angeles—New— 

National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral 

Hepatitis, STD, TB Prevention 

(NCHHSTP), Centers for Disease Control 

and Prevention (CDC). 

Background and Brief Description 

Data reported from 33 states with HIV 

reporting indicate the burden of HIV/ 

AIDS is most concentrated in the 

African American population compared 

to other racial/ethnic groups. Of the 

49,704 African American males 

diagnosed with HIV between 2001 and 

2004, 54% of these cases were among 

men who have sex with men (MSM). In 

Los Angeles County (LAC), the 

proportion of HIV/AIDS cases among 

African American males attributable to 

male-to-male sexual transmission is 


srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES