[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 197 (Thursday, October 10, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 82243-82245]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-23429]


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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 extension without change of the 
previously approved information collection project ``Nursing Home 
Survey on Patient Safety Culture Database,'' OMB No. 0935-0195. This 
information collection was previously published in the Federal Register 
on August 9th, 2024 and allowed 60 days for public comment. AHRQ 
received no substantive comments from members of the public. The 
purpose of this notice is to allow an additional 30 days for public 
comment.

DATES: Comments on this notice must be received by November 12, 2024.

ADDRESSES: Written comments and recommendations for the proposed 
information collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of 
this notice to www.reginfo.gov/public/do/ PRAMain. Find this particular 
information collection by selecting ``Currently under 30-day Review--
Open for Public Comments'' or by using the search function. 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 
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#8bd9cedbc4d9dfd8c8c7cecad9cac5c8cec4cdcdc2c8ced9cbeae3f9faa5e3e3f8a5ece4fd"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="114354415e434542525d545043505f52545e57575852544351707963603f7979623f767e67">[email protected]</span></a>.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Proposed Project

Nursing Home Survey on Patient Safety Culture Database

    In 1999, the Institute of Medicine called for healthcare 
organizations to develop a ``culture of safety'' such that their 
workforce and processes focus on improving the reliability and safety 
of care for patients (IOM, 1999; To Err is Human: Building a Safer 
Health System). To respond to the need for tools to assess patient 
safety culture in healthcare, AHRQ developed and pilot tested the 
Surveys on Patient Safety Culture[supreg] (SOPS[supreg]) Nursing Home 
Survey with OMB approval (OMB No. 0935-0132). The survey is designed to 
enable nursing homes to assess provider and staff perspectives about 
patient safety issues, medical error, and error reporting and includes 
42 items that measure 12 composites of patient safety culture. AHRQ 
made the survey publicly available along with a Survey User's Guide and 
other toolkit materials in November 2008 on the AHRQ website.
    The AHRQ SOPS Nursing Home Database consists of data from the AHRQ 
Nursing Home Survey on Patient Safety Culture and may include

[[Page 82244]]

reportable, non-required supplemental items. Nursing homes in the U.S. 
can voluntarily submit data from the survey to AHRQ through its 
contractor, Westat. The SOPS Nursing Home Database was developed by 
AHRQ in 2011 in response to requests from nursing homes interested in 
viewing their organizations' patient safety culture survey results. 
Organizations submitting data receive a feedback report, as well as a 
report on the aggregated, de-identified findings of the other nursing 
homes submitting data. These reports are used to assist nursing home 
staff in their efforts to improve patient safety culture in their 
organizations.
    The SOPS Nursing Home Survey and the SOPS Nursing Home Database 
support AHRQ's goals of promoting improvements in the quality and 
safety of healthcare in nursing home settings. The survey, toolkit 
materials, and database results are all made publicly available on 
AHRQ's website. Technical assistance is provided by AHRQ through its 
contractor at no charge to nursing homes, to facilitate the use of 
these materials for nursing home patient safety and quality 
improvement.
    The nursing home survey and database have the following goals:
    <bullet> Promote improvements in the quality and safety of 
healthcare in nursing home settings,
    <bullet> Present results from nursing homes that voluntarily submit 
their data,
    <bullet> Provide data to nursing homes to facilitate internal 
assessment and learning in the patient safety improvement process, and
    <bullet> Provide supplemental information to help nursing homes 
identify their strengths and areas with potential for improvement in 
patient safety culture.
    This study is being conducted by AHRQ through its contractor, 
Westat, 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 healthcare services; quality 
measurement and improvement; and database development. 42 U.S.C 
299a(a)(1), (2), and (8).

Method of Collection

    To achieve the goal of this project the following activities and 
data collections will be implemented:
    (1) Eligibility and Registration Form--The nursing home (or parent 
organization) point-of-contact (POC) completes a number of data 
submission steps and forms, beginning with the completion of an online 
Eligibility and Registration Form. The purpose of this form is to 
collect basic demographic information about the nursing home and 
initiate the registration process.
    (2) Nursing Home Site Information--The purpose of the site 
information form, completed by the nursing home POC, is to collect 
background characteristics of the nursing home. This information will 
be used to analyze data collected with the SOPS Nursing Home Survey.
    (3) Data Use Agreement--The purpose of the data use agreement, 
completed by the nursing home POC, is to state how data submitted by 
nursing homes will be used and provides confidentiality assurances.
    (4) Data File(s) Submission--POCs upload their data file(s) using 
the data file specifications, to ensure that users submit their data in 
a standardized way (e.g., variable names, order, coding, formatting). 
The number of submissions to the database is likely to vary from 
submission period to submission period because nursing homes do not 
administer the survey and submit data every database year. Data 
submission is typically handled by one POC who is either a corporate 
level healthcare manager for a Quality Improvement Organization (QIO), 
a survey vendor who contracts with a nursing home to collect their 
data, or a nursing home Director of Nursing or nurse manager. POCs 
submit data on behalf of 1 nursing home, on average, because many 
nursing homes are part of a QIO or larger nursing home or health system 
that includes many nursing home sites, or the POC is a vendor that is 
submitting data for multiple nursing homes.

Estimated Annual Respondent Burden

    Exhibit 1 shows the estimated annualized burden hours for the 
respondents' time to participate in the database. An estimated 50 POCs, 
each representing an average of 1 individual nursing home each, will 
complete the database submission steps and forms. Each POC will submit 
the following:
    1. Eligibility and registration form (completion is estimated to 
take about 3 minutes).
    2. Data Use Agreement (completion is estimated to take about 3 
minutes).
    3. Nursing Home Site Information Form (completion is estimated to 
take about 5 minutes).
    4. Survey data submission will take an average of one hour.
    The total annual burden hours are estimated to be 60 hours.
    Exhibit 2 shows the estimated annualized cost burden based on the 
respondents' time to submit their data. The cost burden is estimated to 
be $2,903 annually.

                                  Exhibit 1--Estimated Annualized Burden Hours
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                         Number of
                    Form name                           Number of        responses    Hours per    Total burden
                                                     respondents/POCs     per POC      response        hours
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Eligibility/Registration Form.................                   50            1         3/60               3
2. Data Use Agreement............................                   50            1         3/60               3
3. Nursing Home Site Information Form............                   50            1         5/60               4
4. Data Files Submission.........................                   50            1            1              50
                                                  --------------------------------------------------------------
    Total........................................                   NA           NA           NA              60
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


                                   Exhibit 2--Estimated Annualized Cost Burden
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                   Total burden   Average hourly    Total cost
                            Form name                                  hours        wage rate *       burden
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Eligibility/Registration Forms...............................               3          $48.43            $146
2. Data Use Agreement...........................................               3           48.43             146
3. Nursing Home Site Information Form...........................               4           48.43             194

[[Page 82245]]

 
4. Data Files Submission........................................              50           48.43           2,422
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
    Total.......................................................              61              NA           2,907
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Mean hourly wage rate of $48.43 for Medical and Health Services Managers (SOC code 11-9111) was obtained from
  the May 2023 National Industry-Specific Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates, NAICS 623000--Nursing and
  Residential Care Facilities located at https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/naics3_623000.htm.

Request for Comments

    In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act, 44 U.S.C. 3501-
3520, 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's 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: October 3, 2024.
Marquita Cullom,
Associate Director.
[FR Doc. 2024-23429 Filed 10-9-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4160-90-P


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