22266 Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 72 / Monday, April 15, 2013 / Notices 

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: ‘‘The 

Feasibility of Alternative Models for 

Collecting New Data on Physicians and 

Their Practices.’’ 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 June 14, 2013. 

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 

The Feasibility of Alternative Models 

for Collecting New Data on Physicians 

and Their Practices Physicians play a 

vital role in the American health care 

system. Physicians, and other providers 

in their practices, provide direct 

medical care, and they also refer 

patients for many other medical 

services. Directly or indirectly, 

therefore, physician activities can have 

an important impact on healthcare 

access, quality, and cost. Given their key 

role, accurate and timely longitudinal 

information about physicians is 

essential to understanding the 

functioning of the health care system, 

identifying best practices and potential 

efficiencies, and assessing the impact of 

programmatic and policy reforms, 

including the development of new 

organizational forms relevant to 

physician practices (e.g., accountable 

care organizations). 

At present, however, no 

comprehensive longitudinal data 

collection effort addresses all levels of 

the current complexity of physician 

practices and, most importantly, the 

larger organizational context of their 

decision making. This has limited the 

ability of researchers to monitor and 

predict the behavior of health care 

providers; assess or anticipate the likely 

impact of proposed policy changes; 

understand geographic variations in the 

provision, cost, and quality of health 

care services; assess health care 

provider availability and labor resource 

issues; and provide timely information 

and analyses about such issues to public 

policymakers and private sector 

decision makers and managers. 

The Agency for Healthcare Research 

and Quality (AHRQ), policymakers, 

researchers who directly inform 

policymakers, and Federal and other 

stakeholders, all working together, have 

identified a clear need for an ongoing, 

regular way to collect new data in order 

to provide a comprehensive picture of 

physicians, their immediate practice 

sites, and the larger organizational and 

market contexts in which individual 

practices sit. The long term aims are to 

track, monitor, and analyze how 

physicians are responding to: (1) 

Ongoing health reform initiatives (both 

Federal and State) and (2) associated 

market and technological changes. 

AHRQ has developed survey 

instruments (questions) and, with this 

project, will test the feasibility of 

extracting this new policy relevant 

information from a random sample of 

physicians and their practices. The 

questionnaire development was based 

on an extensive environmental scan 

which reviewed all surveys of 

physicians conducted over the last 

decade and through discussions with 

our technical expert panel and 

stakeholders, in order to avoid 

duplication with other efforts and to 

build on and use other efforts in 

strategically productive ways. 

This research seeks to add to the 

knowledge available from current 

surveys in two important ways. First, 

we are testing the addition of questions 

for all physicians specialties, including 

radiology, anesthesiology, and 

pathology which are currently excluded 

from other surveys. Second, this effort 

includes an innovative experiment to 

obtain information about the 

organization within which the sampled 

physician practices. Many of the 

changes taking place in the health care 

market are occurring at the 

organizational level. Physicians may or 

may not be the most reliable respondent 

for questions about organizational 

changes that do not directly affect the 

physician-patient interaction. However, 

organizational information is vitally 

important for assessing the changing 

health care system. This project aims to 

fill that gap by providing data on 

optimal methods for collecting 

organizational information. For 

example, the data collection effort 

involves experimental solicitation of 

information from the physician, a 

designated manager, or both. Other 

experiments involve variation in how 

particular questions might be asked. 

This data collection will enable 

AHRQ and the Department to pretest 

new physician questions and new 

physician practice questions, so that 

future acquisitions of such 

information—whether in a new survey 

or an expansion of an existing federal 

survey—rest on empirical analyses 

derived from a real-world fielding of the 

questions. 

This study is being conducted by 

AHRQ through its contractor, 

Mathematica Policy Research, pursuant 

to AHRQ’s statutory authority to 

conduct and support research on health 

care and systems for the delivery of 

such care, including activities with 

respect to the quality, effectiveness, 

efficiency, appropriateness, and value of 

health care services, clinical practice, 

and health statistics and surveys (42 

U.S.C. 299a(a)(1), (4), and (8)). 

Estimated Annual Respondent Burden 

Exhibit 1 shows the estimated annual 

burden hours for each respondent’s 

participation time in this research 

project. The physician questionnaire 

will be completed by 1,750 physicians 

and takes 20 minutes to complete. The 

practice questionnaire will be 

completed by 334 practice 

administrators and 333 physicians (667 

total) and takes 10 minutes to complete. 

The total annual burden is estimated to 

be 694 hours. 

Exhibit 2 shows the estimated annual 

cost burden associated with the 

respondents’ time to participate in this 

research. The total annual cost burden 

is estimated to be $63,725. 


sroberts on DSK5SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 72 / Monday, April 15, 2013 / Notices 22267 

EXHIBIT 1—ESTIMATED ANNUALIZED BURDEN HOURS

Form name Number of 

respondents 

Number of 

responses per 

respondent 

Hours per 

response 

Total burden 

hours 

Physician Questionnaire .................................................................................. 1,750 1 20/60 583 

Practice Organization Questionnaire ............................................................... 667 1 10/60 111 

Total .......................................................................................................... 2,417 na na 694 

EXHIBIT 2—ESTIMATED ANNUALIZED COST BURDEN

Form name Number of 

respondents 

Total burden 

hours 

Average 

hourly wage 

rate* 

Total cost 

burden 

Physician Questionnaire .................................................................................. 1750 583 $95.79 a $55,846 

Practice Organization Questionnaire ............................................................... 667 111 70.98 b 7,879 

Total .......................................................................................................... 2,417 694 na 63,725 

* National Compensation Survey: Occupational wages in the United States May 2011, ‘‘U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics.’’ aBased on the mean wages for Pediatricians, General (29–1065); Family and General Practitioners (29–1062); Internists, General (29–1063); 

Psychiatrists (29–1066); Anesthesiologists (29–1061); Surgeons (29–1067); Obstetricians and Gynecologists (29–1064); and Physicians & Surgeons, All Other (29–1069) bBased on the mean wages for 334 Medical and Health Services Managers (11–9111) and 333 physicians (as defined above). 

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: March 12, 2013. 

Carolyn M. Clancy, 

Director. 

[FR Doc. 2013–08409 Filed 4–12–13; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4160–90–M 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

Centers for Disease Control and 

Prevention 

[60Day-13–0457] 

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 404–639–7570 or send 

comments to Ron Otten, 1600 Clifton 

Road, MS–D74, Atlanta, GA 30333 or 

send an email 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 

Aggregate Reports for Tuberculosis 

Program Evaluation (0920–0457—Exp. 

9–30–2013)—Extension—National 

Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, 

STD, and TB Prevention (NCHHSTP), 

Centers for Disease Control and 

Prevention (CDC). 

Background and Brief Description 

CDC requests the extension of the 

Aggregate Reports for Tuberculosis 

Program Evaluation, previously 

approved under OMB No. 0920–0457 

for 3-years. There are no revisions to the 

report forms, data definitions, or 

reporting instructions. 

To ensure the elimination of 

tuberculosis in the United States, CDC 

monitors indicators for key program 

activities, such as finding tuberculosis 

infections in recent contacts of cases 

and in other persons likely to be 

infected and providing therapy for 

latent tuberculosis infection. In 2000, 

CDC implemented two program 

evaluation reports for annual 

submission: Aggregate report of followup for contacts of tuberculosis, and 

Aggregate report of screening and 

preventive therapy for tuberculosis 

infection (OMB No. 0920–0457). The 

respondents for these reports are the 68 

state and local tuberculosis control 

programs receiving federal cooperative 

agreement funding through the CDC 

Division of Tuberculosis Elimination 

(DTBE). These reports emphasize 

treatment outcomes, high-priority target 

populations vulnerable to tuberculosis, 


sroberts on DSK5SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES