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[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 124 (Wednesday, June 27, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 38292-38294]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-15615]

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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.

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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: ``Online Application Order Form for Products from the 
Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP).'' 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 August 27, 2012.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should be submitted to: Doris Lefkowitz, 
Reports Clearance Officer, AHRQ, by email at 
doris.lefkowitz@AHRQ.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 email at 
doris.lefkowitz@AHRQ.hhs.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Proposed Project

Online Application Order Form for Products From the Healthcare Cost and 
Utilization Project (HCUP)

    The Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP, pronounced ``H-
Cup'') is a vital resource helping AHRQ achieve its research agenda, 
thereby furthering its goal of improving the delivery of health care in 
the United States. HCUP is a family of health care databases and 
related software tools and products developed through a Federal-State-
Industry partnership and sponsored by AHRQ. HCUP includes the largest 
collection of longitudinal hospital care data in the United States, 
with all-payer, encounter-level information beginning in 1988. The HCUP 
databases are annual files that contain anonymous information from 
hospital discharge records for inpatient care and certain components of 
outpatient care, such as emergency care and ambulatory surgeries. The 
project currently releases a variety of databases created for research 
use on a broad range of health issues, including cost and quality of 
health services, medical practice patterns, access to health care 
programs, and outcomes of treatments at the national, State, and local 
market levels. HCUP also produces a large number of software tools to 
enhance the use of administrative health care data for research and 
public health use. Software tools use information available from a 
variety of sources to create new data elements, often through 
sophisticated algorithms, for use with the HCUP databases.
    HCUP's objectives are to:
     Create and enhance a powerful source of national, state, 
and all-payer health care data.
     Produce a broad set of software tools and products to 
facilitate the use of HCUP and other administrative data.
     Enrich a collaborative partnership with statewide data 
organizations (that voluntarily participate in the project) aimed at 
increasing the quality and use of health care data.
     Conduct and translate research to inform decision making 
and improve health care delivery.
    The HCUP releases six types of databases for public research use:
    (1) The Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS) is the largest all-payer 
inpatient care database in the United States, containing data from 
approximately 8 million hospital stays from roughly 1,000 hospitals; 
this approximates a 20-percent stratified sample of U.S. community 
hospitals. NIS data releases are available for purchase from the HCUP 
Central Distributor for data years beginning in 1988.
    (2) The Kids' Inpatient Database (KID) is the only all-payer 
inpatient care database for children in the United States. The KID was 
specifically designed to permit researchers to study a broad range of 
conditions and procedures related to child health issues. The KID 
contains a sample of over 3 million discharges for children age 20 and 
younger from more than 3,500 U.S. community hospitals.
    (3) The Nationwide Emergency Department Sample (NEDS) is the 
largest all-payer ED database in the United States. It is constructed 
to capture information both on ED visits that do not result in an 
admission and on ED visits that result in an admission to the same 
hospital. The NEDS contains more than 25 million unweighted records for 
ED visits at about 1,000 U.S. community hospitals and approximates a 
20-percent stratified sample of U.S. hospital-based EDs. Files are 
available beginning with data year 2006.
    (4) The State Inpatient Databases (SID) contain the universe of 
inpatient discharge abstracts from data organizations in 46 States that 
currently participate in the SID. Together, the SID encompasses 
approximately 97 percent of all U.S. community hospital discharges. 
Most States that participate in the SID make their data available for 
purchase through the HCUP Central Distributor. Files are available 
beginning with data year 1990.
    (5) The State Ambulatory Surgery Databases (SASD) contain data from 
ambulatory care encounters in hospital-affiliated (and sometimes 
freestanding) ambulatory surgery sites. Currently, 29 States 
participate in the SASD. Files are available beginning with data year 
1997.
    (6) The State Emergency Department Databases (SEDD) contain data 
from hospital-affiliated emergency department (ED) abstracts for visits 
that do not result in a hospitalization. Currently, 29 States 
participate in the SEDD. Files are available beginning with data year 
1999.
    To support AHRQ's mission to improve health care through scientific 
research, HCUP databases and software tools are disseminated to users 
outside of the Agency through a mechanism known as the HCUP Central 
Distributor. The HCUP Central Distributor assists

[[Page 38293]]

qualified researchers to access uniform research data across multiple 
states with the use of one application process. The HCUP databases 
disseminated through the Central distributor are referred to as 
``restricted access public release files;'' that is, they are publicly 
available, but only under restricted conditions.
    HCUP databases are released to researchers outside of AHRQ after 
the completion of required training and submission of an application 
that includes a signed HCUP Data Use Agreement (DUA). In addition, 
before restricted access public release state-level databases are 
released, the user is asked for a brief description of their research 
to ensure that the planned use is consistent with HCUP policies and 
with the HCUP data use requirements. Fees are set for databases 
released through the HCUP Central Distributor depending on the type of 
database. The fee for sale of state-level data is determined by each 
participating Statewide Data Organization and reimbursed to those 
organizations. This project is being conducted by AHRQ through its 
contractor and subcontractor, Thomson Reuters and Social & Scientific 
Systems, Inc., 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 outcomes, cost, cost-
effectiveness, and use of health care services and access to such 
services. (42 U.S.C. 299a(a)(3).)

Method of Collection

    This information collection request is for the activities 
associated with completing an online application form to request HCUP 
data, not the collection of health care data for HCUP databases. The 
activities associated with the HCUP online application include:
    (1) HCUP Application Form. All persons wanting access to the HCUP 
databases must complete an application package. Each unique database 
has a unique application package. All application packages are 
available for downloading at http://www.hcup-us.ahrq.gov/tech_assist/centdist.jsp.
    (2) HCUP Data Use Agreement Training. All persons wanting access to 
the HCUP databases must complete this online training course. The 
purpose of the training is to emphasize the importance of data 
protection, reduce the risk of inadvertent violations, and describe the 
individual's responsibility when using HCUP data. The training course 
can be accessed and completed online at http://www.hcup-us.ahrq.gov/tech_assist/dua.jsp.
    (3) HCUP Data Use Agreement (DUA). All persons wanting access to 
the HCUP databases must sign a data use agreement. Each database has a 
unique DUA; an example DUA for the Nationwide Inpatient Sample database 
is available at http://www.hcup-us.ahrq.gov/team/NISDUA.jsp.
    Information collected in the HCUP Application Order Form will be 
used for two purposes only:
    1. Business Transaction: HCUP databases and software are currently 
delivered on disk and shipped to users who have completed the 
application process. Contact information is used for shipping the data 
on disk (or any other media used in the future). AHRQ policy and 
current agreements with Statewide Data Organizations contributing data 
to HCUP prohibit providing access to the data via the Internet or 
email.
    2. Enforcement of the HCUP Data Use Agreement (DUA): The HCUP DUA 
contains several restrictions on use of the data. Most of these 
restrictions have been put in place to safeguard the privacy of 
individuals and establishments represented in the data. For example, 
data users can only use the data for research, analysis, and aggregate 
statistical reporting and are prohibited from attempting to identify 
any persons in the data. Contact information on HCUP Data Use 
Agreements is retained in the event that a violation of the DUA takes 
place.

Estimated Annual Respondent Burden

    Exhibit 1 shows the estimated annualized burden associated with the 
applicants' time to order any of the HCUP databases. An estimated 1,200 
persons will order HCUP data annually. Each of these persons will 
complete an application (10 minutes), the DUA training (15 minutes) and 
a DUA (5 minutes). The total burden is estimated to be 600 hours 
annually.
    Exhibit 2 shows the estimated annualized cost burden associated 
with the applicants' time to order HCUP data. The total cost burden is 
estimated to be $21,408 annually.

                                  Exhibit 1--Estimated Annualized Burden Hours
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                                                                     Number of
                    Form name                        Number of     responses per     Hours per     Total burden
                                                    respondents     respondent       response          hours
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HCUP Application Form...........................           1,200               1            0/60             200
HCUP DUA Training...............................           1,200               1           15/60             300
HCUP DUA........................................           1,200               1            5/60             100
                                                 ---------------------------------------------------------------
    Total.......................................           3,600              na              na             600
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                                   Exhibit 2--Estimated Annualized Cost Burden
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                                                                                      Average
                    Form name                        Number of     Total burden     hourly wage     Total cost
                                                    respondents        hours          rate *          burden
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HCUP Application Form...........................           1,200             200          $35.68          $7,136
HCUP DUA Training...............................           1,200             300           35.68          10,704
HCUP DUA........................................           1,200             100           35.68           3,568
                                                 ---------------------------------------------------------------
    Total.......................................           3,600             600              na          21,408
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* Based upon the mean of the average wages for Life Scientists, All Other (19-1099), National Compensation
  Survey: Occupational wages in the United States May 2011, ``U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor
  Statistics.''

[[Page 38294]]

Estimated Annual Costs to the Federal Government

    Exhibit 3 shows the estimated total and annualized cost to process 
HCUP database applications and maintain the ordering system over the 3 
years covered by this information collection request. It is estimated 
to cost $17,237 annually to operate and maintain the ordering system.

Exhibit 3. Estimated Total and Annualized Cost

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                            Annualized
             Cost component                 Total cost         cost
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Order Review............................         $14,493          $4,831
Monthly Updates--Product Catalog........           1,857             619
System Maintenance......................          13,820           4,607
Customer Inquiries......................           4,483           1,495
Management/Troubleshooting..............          17,058           5,689
                                         -------------------------------
    Total...............................          51,711          17,237
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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: June 19, 2012.
Carolyn M. Clancy,
Director.
[FR Doc. 2012-15615 Filed 6-26-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4160-90-M
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