45192 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 149 / Monday, August 4, 2014 / Notices 

annualized burden is estimated to be 50 

hours. 

Exhibit 2 shows the estimated 

annualized cost burden based on the 

respondents’ time to participate in the 

study. The total cost burden is estimated 

to be $4,348. 

EXHIBIT 1—ESTIMATED ANNUALIZED BURDEN HOURS

Form name Number of 

respondents 

Number of 

responses per 

respondent 

Hours per 

response 

Total 

burden 

hours 

TeamSTEPPS in Primary Care Post-Training Survey .................................... 150 1 20/60 50 

Total .......................................................................................................... 150 NA NA 50 

EXHIBIT 2—ESTIMATED ANNUALIZED COST BURDEN

Form name Number of 

respondents 

Total 

burden 

hours 

Average 

hourly 

wage rate * 

Total cost 

burden 

TeamSTEPPS Primary Care Post-Training Survey ........................................ 150 50 a $86.95 $4,348 

Total .......................................................................................................... 150 50 86.95 4,348 

* National Compensation Survey: Occupational wages in the United States May 2012, ‘‘U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics.’’ aBased on the mean wages for Family and General Practitioners 29–1062. 

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 health care 

research and health care 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 25, 2014. 

Richard Kronick, 

AHRQ Director. 

[FR Doc. 2014–18299 Filed 8–1–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4160–90–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: 

‘‘Continuing Education for Comparative 

Effectiveness Research Survey.’’ In 

accordance with the Paperwork 

Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 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 October 3, 2014. 

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 

Continuing Education for Comparative 

Effectiveness Research Survey 

Patient-centered outcomes research 

(PCOR) is an area that has seen 

increased focus from research agencies 

and other government entities. Also 

known as comparative effectiveness 

research, PCOR is the focus of AHRQ’s 

Effective Health Care (EHC) program, 

which has the mission of providing 

health care decision-makers (e.g., 

patients, healthcare providers, 

purchasers, and policymakers) with 

recent evidence-based information 

about the harms, benefits, and 

effectiveness of various treatment 

options by comparing medical devices, 

surgeries, tests, drugs, or ways to deliver 

health care. 

The EHC program was created in 

response to Section 1013 of the 

Medicare Prescription Drug, 

Improvement, and Modernization Act of 

2003 and became the first federal 

program to conduct PCOR and 

disseminate those findings to the public. 

AHRQ works with researchers, 

academic organizations, and research 

centers through the EHC program on 

work relating to methods, training, and 

dissemination of products to a variety of 

stakeholders to help spread awareness 

and knowledge about PCOR. It is 

important for AHRQ to be able to 

measure the effectiveness of these 

products, which include training 

modules and publications, specifically 

around how they are affecting health 

care professionals’ understanding, 

awareness, and use of PCOR and its 

related concepts. It is also important for 


tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 149 / Monday, August 4, 2014 / Notices 45193 

AHRQ to be able to identify ways to 

improve how this information is being 

disseminated to the medical 

community. 

The Continuing Education for 

Comparative Effectiveness Research 

Project is designed to provide online 

continuing education materials that 

inform physicians and other healthcare 

providers about patient-centered health 

research from the EHC Program, 

specifically comparative effectiveness 

research reports, and other governmentfunded comparative clinical 

effectiveness research. Online 

multimedia continuing education 

modules based on the Effective Health 

Care Program http://

www.effectivehealthcare.ahrq.gov/toolsand-resources/cmece-activities/

comparative effectiveness research 

reports will be planned, developed, 

disseminated, and promoted. In 

addition, data will be collected on the 

modules to assess their effectiveness 

and impact. 

This study is being conducted by 

AHRQ through its contractor, Hayes Inc. 

(Hayes) and Hayes’ subcontractors, 

Deloitte Consulting LLP (Deloitte), 

pursuant to AHRQ’s statutory authority 

to support the agency’s dissemination of 

comparative clinical effectiveness 

research findings. 42 U.S.C. 299b–37(a)– 

(c). 

Method of Collection 

To achieve the goals of this project, 

the following data collection will be 

implemented: 

(1) Each training module will involve 

one follow-up questionnaire that would 

be administered six months after the 

completion of the course for the 

purposes of tracking the longer-term 

effectiveness of the modules. 

This data collection will help to meet 

AHRQ’s objectives to: 

1. Understand the extent to which 

these online continuing education 

modules based on the EHC Program 

comparative effectiveness research 

reports improve knowledge of each 

topic and change participants’ 

awareness of, attitude towards, and/or 

confidence to apply GER in their 

clinical practice. 

2. Track information about the 

dissemination efforts employed for CE/ 

CER information specific to the 

modules, and the uptake of AHRQ’s 

other EHC Program materials as a result 

of the project, including the Clinician 

and Consumer Summaries when 

available. 

3. Determine implementation 

practices (e.g. changes in practice 

behavior or implementation of the 

information conveyed in the modules) 

that occur as a result of the learning. 

4. Identify opportunities for 

improving the presentation and delivery 

of CE modules by gathering information 

on the participants’ reactions to the 

modules and to the faculty presenters 

through the post-event evaluation 

assessment. 

AHRQ will use the information 

collected through this Information 

Collection Request to assess the shortand long-term progress in achieving the 

dissemination and implementation aims 

of the Continuing Education project. 

Estimated Total Respondent Burden 

Exhibit 1 provides information on the 

estimated time to complete the data 

collection survey. These educational 

activities are enduring training modules 

and will be available for a 2-year period. 

The AHRQ Continuing Education for 

Comparative Effectiveness Research 

Survey will be administered to each 

individual 6 months after completing 

the module. On average, respondents 

will spend 5 minutes completing the 

survey. As many as 4,400 health care 

professionals are expected to complete 

the surveys, based on an average of 

2,000 health care providers taking each 

module with a 10% response rate, or 

200; 200 × 22 modules = 4,400. On 

average, respondents will spend 5 

minutes completing the survey. The 

total burden is estimated to be 367 

hours. 

EXHIBIT 1—ESTIMATED RESPONDENT BURDEN

A B C D E F G 

Estimated number of respondents 

Average 

burden per 

respondent 

(minutes) 

Total burden 

(minutes) 

(A*B) 

Number of 

responses per 

respondent 

Total 

respondent 

burden 

(minutes) 

(C*D) 

Total 

burden per 

respondent 

(minutes) 

(B*D) 

Total 

respondent 

burden 

(hours) 

(E/60) 

4400 ......................................................... 5 22,000 1 22,000 5 367 

EXHIBIT 2—ESTIMATED COST BURDEN

Form name Number of 

respondents 

Total burden 

hours 

Average 

hourly wage 

rate * 

Total cost 

burden 

AHRQ Online CME/CE 6-Month Evaluation .................................................... 4,400 367 $49.83 $18,288 

Total .......................................................................................................... 4,400 367 N/A 18,288 

* Based upon the mean of the average hourly wages for Physicians (29–1069; $92.25), Pharmacists (29–1051; $56.01), Physician Assistants 

(29–1071; $45.36), Nurse Practitioners (29–1171; $45.71), Registered Nurses (29–1111; $33.13), and Healthcare Practitioners (29–9099; 

$26.54), May 2013 National Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates, United States, U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_nat.htm#29-0000 viewed May 5, 2014. 

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 health care 

research and health care 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 


tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
45194 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 149 / Monday, August 4, 2014 / Notices 

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 24, 2014. 

Richard Kronick, 

AHRQ Director. 

[FR Doc. 2014–18296 Filed 8–1–14; 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: 

‘‘Updating and Expanding the AHRQ QI 

Toolkit for Hospitals.’’ In accordance 

with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 

1995, Public Law 104–13 (44 U.S.C. 

3506(c)(2)(A)), AHRQ invites the public 

to comment on this proposed 

information collection. 

This proposed information collection 

was previously published in the Federal 

Register on May 12th 2014 and allowed 

60 days for public comment. No 

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 September 3, 2014. 

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 

Updating and Expanding the AHRQ QI 

Toolkit for Hospitals 

AHRQ has developed sets of Quality 

Indicators (QIs) that can be used to 

document quality and safety conditions 

at U.S. hospitals. Three sets of QIs are 

particularly relevant for hospitals and 

include: The Inpatient Quality 

Indicators (IQIs), the Patient Safety 

Indicators (PSIs), and the Pediatric 

Quality Indicators (PDIs). The IQIs 

contain measures of volume, mortality, 

and utilization for common medical 

conditions and major surgical 

procedures. The PSIs are a set of 

measures to screen for potentially 

preventable adverse events that patients 

may experience during hospitalization. 

The PDIs measure the quality of 

pediatric health care, mainly focusing 

on preventable complications that occur 

as a consequence of hospitalization 

among pediatric patients. These QIs 

have been previously developed and 

evaluated by AHRQ, and are in use at 

a number of hospitals throughout the 

country. The QIs and supportive 

documentation on how to work with 

them are posted on AHRQ’s Web site at 

www.qualityindicators.ahrq.gov. 

Despite the availability of the QIs as 

tools to help hospitals assess their 

performance, many U.S. hospitals have 

limited experience with the use of such 

measurement tools, or in using quality 

improvement methods to improve their 

performance as assessed by these 

measures. To this end, RAND has 

previously contracted with AHRQ to 

develop an AHRQ Quality Indicators 

Toolkit for Hospitals (Toolkit). This 

Toolkit is publicly available and is 

posted on AHRQ’s Web site at http://

www.ahrq.gov/professionals/systems/

hospital/qitoolkit/index.html. The 

Toolkit assists hospitals in both using 

the QIs and improving the quality and 

safety of the care they provide, as 

measured by those indicators. As such, 

the Toolkit includes: (1) Instruction on 

how a hospital can apply the QIs to its 

inpatient data to estimate rates for each 

indicator; (2) methods the hospital can 

use to evaluate these QI rates for 

identifying opportunities for 

improvement; (3) strategies for 

implementing interventions (or 

evidence-based best practices); (4) 

methods to measure progress and 

performance on the QIs; (5) tools for 

evaluating the cost-effectiveness of these 

changes; and (6) discussion of the value 

of using the QIs for quality 

improvement as well as potential 

challenges and barriers to quality 

improvement efforts that incorporate the 

QIs and how to help overcome them. 

OMB approval was obtained for the 

development and evaluation of the 

original Toolkit in 2012, Development 

and Evaluation of AHRQ’s Quality 

Indicators Improvement Toolkit (OMB 

#0935–0164), which consisted of a 

protocol very similar to the one 

described in this statement. 

Since the release of the Toolkit in 

2012, the QIs have been updated and 

expanded, best practices have advanced, 

and many hospitals have improved their 

understanding of their quality 

improvement needs as well as increased 

their familiarity with the use of the 

Toolkit. These factors all point to the 

critical need to update the Toolkit. 

AHRQ has funded RAND which 

partners with the University 

HealthSystem Consortium (UHC) to 

update and expand the Toolkit, and 

field test the updated Toolkit with 

hospitals as they carry out initiatives 

designed to improve performance on the 

QIs. 

This research has the following goals: 

(1) To assess the usability of the 

updated Toolkit for hospitals—with an 

emphasis on the Pediatric Quality 

Indicators (PDI)—in order to improve 

the Toolkit, and 

(2) To examine hospitals’ experiences 

in implementing interventions to 

improve their performance on the 

AHRQ QIs, the results of which will be 

used to guide successful future 

applications of the Toolkit. 

This study is being conducted by 

AHRQ through its contractor, the RAND 

Corporation, under contract number 

HHSA290201000017I, pursuant to 

AHRQ’s statutory authority to conduct 

and support research on health care and 

on systems for the delivery of such care, 

including activities with respect to the 

quality, effectiveness, efficiency, 

appropriateness and value of health care 

services and with respect to quality 

measurement and improvement. 42 

U.S.C. 299a(a)(1) and (2). 

Method of Collection 

To achieve the goals of this project, 

the following data collections will be 

implemented: 

(1) Pre/post-test interview protocol— 

consisting of both open and closed 

ended questions will be administered 

prior to implementation of the Toolkit 

and again post implementation. The 

purpose of this data collection is to 

obtain data on the steps the hospitals 

took to implement actions to improve 

performance on the QIs; their plans for 

making process changes; and their 

experiences in achieving changes and 

perceptions regarding lessons learned 

that could be shared with other 

hospitals. 


tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES