Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 124 / Thursday, June 28, 2007 / Notices 35487 

least once, the number of times used 

overall, the time it takes to enter data 

into the electronic MEADERS, and the 

types of medication errors and adverse 

drug events that are being reported. A 

follow-up assessment will include 

clinicians’ and managers’ satisfaction 

with the system (e.g., ease of use, 

usefulness of the generated reports and 

individual feedback) and whether they 

intend to continue its use after the study 

period has concluded. 

Although any clinician in the practice 

will be able to use the system, 

physicians are likely to be the primary 

users of the system. We estimate that 

physicians will account for about 80% 

of MEADERS use and Nurse 

Practitioners, Physician Assistants and 

Medical Assistants will make up the 

remainder (see Exhibit 1). The time for 

entering an event into the system is 

estimated to require no more than 8 

minutes of a clinician’s time. 

Estimated Annual Respondent Burden 

EXHIBIT 1.—ESTIMATE OF COST BURDEN TO RESPONDENTS

Data collection effort Number of 

responses * 

Estimated 

time per 

respondent 

in hours 

Estimated total 

burden hours 

Average 

hourly wage 

rate ** 

Estimated 

annual cost 

burden to 

respondents 

Office Manager Baseline survey ...................................... 45 0 .25 11 .25 $34.67 $390.04 

Physician baseline survey ............................................... 45 0 .25 11 .25 57.90 651.38 

Physician opinion survey of system ................................ 45 0 .25 11 .25 57.90 651.38 

Physician entry of medication error ................................. 216 0 .134 28 .94 57.90 1675.63 

Nurse opinion survey of system ...................................... 45 0 .25 11 .25 27.35 307.69 

Nurse entry of medication error ....................................... 18 0 .134 2 .4 27.35 65.64 

PA/NP opinion survey of system ..................................... 45 0 .25 11 .25 34.17 384.41 

PA/NP entry of medication error ...................................... 18 0 .134 2 .4 34.17 82.00 

Medical assistant survey of system ................................. 45 0 .25 11 .25 12.58 141.53 

Medical assistant entry of medication error ..................... 18 0 .134 2 .4 12.58 30.19 

Office Manager opinion-survey of system ....................... 45 0 .25 11 .25 34.67 390.04 

Total .......................................................................... 585 .......................... 114 .89 ........................ 4769.93 

* Based on a six month trial period of MEADER reporting system. 

** Based upon the mean of the average wages, National Compensation Survey: Occupation wages in the United States 2004, ‘‘U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics.’’

This information collection will not 

impose a cost burden on the respondent 

beyond that associated with their time 

to provide the required data. There will 

be no additional costs for capital 

equipment, software, computer services, 

etc. 

Estimated Costs to the Federal 

Government 

The total cost to the government for 

this activity is estimated to be 

$640,000.00. 

Request for Comments 

In accordance with the above-cited 

legislation, 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 health care research and 

information dissemination functions of 

AHRQ, 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 request for OMB 

approval of the proposed information 

collection. All comments will become a 

matter of public record. 

Dated: June 21, 2007. 

Carolyn M. Clancy, 

Director. 

[FR Doc. 07–3159 Filed 6–27–07; 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 

the Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB) to allow the proposed 

information collection project: 2008–

2009 Medical Expenditure Panel 

Survey—Insurance Component (MEPS–

IC). In accordance with the Paperwork 

Reduction Act of 1995, Pub. L. 104–13 

(44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)), AHRQ invites 

the public to comment on this proposed 

information collection. 

DATES: Comments on this notice must be 

received by August 27, 2007. 

ADDRESSES: Written comments should 

be submitted to: William Carroll, 

Reports Clearance Officer, AHRQ, 540 

Gaither Road, Room 5048, Rockville, 

MD 20850. 

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. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Proposed Project 

2008 and 2009 Medical Expenditure 

Panel Survey—Insurance Component 

(MEPS–IC). 

The MEPS–IC, an annual survey of 

the characteristics of employersponsored health insurance, was first 

conducted by AHRQ in 1997 for the 

calendar year 1996. The survey has 

since been conducted annually for 

calendar years 1997 through 2006. 

AHRQ proposes to continue this annual 

survey of establishments for calendar 

years 2008 and 2009. The survey data 

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35488 Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 124 / Thursday, June 28, 2007 / Notices 

for calendar year 2008 will be collected 

in that year. Likewise, calendar year 

2009 data will be collected in 2009. This 

is change from earlier MEPS–IC 

collections, when survey data for a 

calendar year were collected in the 

following year (i.e., 2005 survey data 

were collected in 2006). This 

changeover means that there will be no 

data collected for the year 2007. 

However, the data for 2008 and 2009 

will now be released a year earlier than 

would have occurred under the former 

collection scheme. 

This survey will be conducted for 

AHRQ by the Bureau of the Census 

using a sample comprised of an annual 

sample of employers selected from 

Census Bureau lists of private sector 

employers and governments. 

Data to be collected from each 

employer will include a description of 

the business (e.g., size, industry) and 

descriptions of health insurance plans 

available, plan enrollments, total plan 

costs and costs to employees. 

Data Confidentiality Provisions 

All MEPS–IC data collected, both 

identifiable and non-identifiable, will be 

stored at the Census Bureau. Their 

confidentiality is protected under the 

U.S. Census Bureau confidentiality 

statute, Section 9 of Title 13, United 

States Code. In addition, because the 

Census sample lists are developed using 

Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Tax 

Information, the data also fall under the 

review of the IRS which conducts 

regular audits of the data collection 

storage and use (Title 26, United States 

Code). 

The confidentiality provisions of the 

AHRQ statute at 42 U.S.C. 299c–3(c) 

apply to all data collected for research 

that is supported by AHRQ. All data 

products listed below must fully comply 

with the data confidentiality statute 

under which their raw data was 

collected as well as any additional 

confidentiality provisions that apply. 

Data Products 

Data will be produced in two forms: 

(1) Files containing employer 

information will be available for use by 

researchers at the Census Bureau’s 

Research Data Centers (all research 

output is reviewed by Census 

employees and no identifiable data may 

leave the Center) and (2) a large 

compendium of tables of estimates, 

produced by Census and containing no 

identifiable data, will be made available 

on the AHRQ Web site. These tables 

will contain descriptive statistics, such 

as, numbers of establishments offering 

health insurance, average premiums, 

average contributions, total enrollments, 

numbers of self insured establishments 

and other related statistics for a large 

number of population subsets defined 

by firm size, state, industry and other 

establishment characteristics such as, 

age, profit/nonprofit status and union/ 

nonunion status of the workforce. 

The data are intended to be used for 

purposes such as: 

• Generating National and State 

estimates of employer health care 

offerings; 

• Producing estimates to support the 

Bureau of Economic Analysis and the 

Center for Medicare and Medicaid 

Services in their production of health 

care expenditure estimates for the 

National Health Accounts and the Gross 

Domestic Product; 

• Producing National and State 

estimates of spending on employersponsored health insurance to study the 

results of National and State health care 

policies; and 

• Supply data for modeling the 

demand for health insurance. 

These data provide the basis for 

researchers to address important 

questions for employers and 

policymakers alike. 

Method of Collection 

The data will be collected using a 

combination of modes. The Census 

Bureau’s first contact with employers 

will be made by telephone. This contact 

will provide information on the 

availability of health insurance from 

that employer and essential persons to 

contact. Based upon this information, 

Census will mail a questionnaire to the 

employer. In order to assure high 

response rates, Census will follow-up 

with a second mailing after an interval 

of approximately 30 working days, 

followed by a telephone call to collect 

data from those who have not 

responded by mail. 

For larger respondents with high 

burdens, such as State employers and 

very large firms, Census may follow 

special procedures, as needed. These 

include performing personal visits and 

doing customized collection, such as 

accepting data in computerized formats 

and using special forms. The response 

rate for the most recent survey was 

approximately 79%. 

ESTIMATED ANNUAL RESPONDENT BURDEN

Survey years 

Annual 

number of 

respondents 

Estimated time 

per 

respondent in 

hours 

Estimated total 

annual burden 

hours 

Estimated 

annual cost to 

the 

government 

2008 ................................................................................................................. 33,262 .57 19,032 $9,650,000 

2009 ................................................................................................................. 33,262 .57 19,032 9,950,000 

Request for Comments 

In accordance with the above cited 

legislation, comments on the AHRQ 

information collection proposal are 

requested with regard to any of the 

following: (a) Whether the proposed 

collection of information is necessary 

for the proper performance of functions 

of the Agency, including whether the 

information will have practical utility; 

(b) the accuracy of the Agency’s 

estimate of the burden (including hours 

and costs) 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 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 request for OMB 

approval of the proposed information 

collection. All comments will become a 

matter of public record. 

Dated: June 21, 2007. 

Carolyn M. Clancy, 

Director. 

[FR Doc. 07–3160 Filed 6–27–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4160–90–M 

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