70188 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 227 / Tuesday, November 25, 2014 / Notices 

(2) to exclude himself from serving in 

any advisory capacity to PHS including, 

but not limited to, service on any PHS 

advisory committee, board, and/or peer 

review committee, or as a consultant; 

and 

(3) to retract or correct the following 

publications: 

• Nature Cell Biology 2:173–177, 2000 

• J. Physiol. 535(3):679–687, 2001 

• Circulation 106:1288–1293, 2002 

• J. Physiol. 545(2):399–406, 2002 

• J. Physiol. 550(3):731–738, 2003 

• FASEB J. 19:1573–1585, 2005 

• Molecular Cell 23:641–650, 2006 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Acting Director, Office of Research 

Integrity, 1101 Wootton Parkway, Suite 

750, Rockville, MD 20852, (240) 453– 

8200. 

Donald Wright, 

Acting Director, Office of Research Integrity. 

[FR Doc. 2014–27813 Filed 11–24–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 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 

changes to the currently approved 

information collection project: ‘‘Medical 

Expenditure Panel Survey (AMPS) 

Household Component’’ In accordance 

with the Paperwork Reduction Act, 44 

U.S.C. 3501–3521, AHRQ invites the 

public to comment on this proposed 

information collection. 

This proposed information collection 

was previously published in the Federal 

Register on August 29th, 2014 and 

allowed 60 days for public comment. 

One comment was 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 December 26, 2014. 

ADDRESSES: Written comments should 

be submitted to: AHRQ’s OMB Desk 

Officer by fax at (202) 395–6974 

(attention: AHRQ’s desk officer) or by 

email at OIRA_submission@

omb.eop.gov (attention: AHRQ’s desk 

officer). 

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 

Medical Expenditure Panel Survey 

(MEPS) Household Component 

For over thirty years, results from the 

MEPS and its predecessor surveys (the 

1977 National Medical Care 

Expenditure Survey, the 1980 National 

Medical Care Utilization and 

Expenditure Survey and the 1987 

National Medical Expenditure Survey) 

have been used by OMB, DHHS, 

Congress and a wide number of health 

services researchers to analyze health 

care use, expenses and health policy. 

Major changes continue to take place 

in the health care system. The MEPS is 

needed to provide information about the 

current state of the health care system 

as well as to track changes over time. 

The MEPS permits annual estimates of 

use of health care and expenditures and 

sources of payment for that health care. 

It also permits tracking individual 

change in employment, income, health 

insurance and health status over two 

years. The use of the National Health 

Interview Survey (NHIS) as a sampling 

frame expands the MEPS analytic 

capacity by providing another data 

point for comparisons over time. 

Households selected for participation 

in the MEPS–HC are interviewed in 

person five times. These rounds of 

interviewing are spaced about 5 months 

apart. The interview will take place 

with a family respondent who will 

report for him/herself and for other 

family members. 

The MEPS–HC has the following goal: 

• To provide nationally 

representative estimates for the U.S. 

civilian noninstitutionalized population 

for health care use, expenditures, 

sources of payment and health 

insurance coverage. 

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 cost and 

use of health care services and with 

respect to health statistics and surveys. 

42 U.S.C. 299a(a)(3) and (8); 42 U.S.C. 

299b–2. 

Method of Collection 

To achieve the goals of the MEPS–HC 

the following data collections are 

implemented: 

1. Household Component Core 

Instrument. The core instrument 

collects data about persons in sample 

households. Topical areas asked in each 

round of interviewing include condition 

enumeration, health status, health care 

utilization including prescribed 

medicines, expense and payment, 

employment, and health insurance. 

Other topical areas that are asked only 

once a year include access to care, 

income, assets, satisfaction with health 

plans and providers, children’s health, 

and adult preventive care. While many 

of the questions are asked about the 

entire reporting unit, which is typically 

a family, only one person normally 

provides this information. 

2. Adult Self Administered 

Questionnaire. A brief self-administered 

questionnaire (SAQ) will be used to 

collect self-reported (rather than 

through household proxy) information 

on health status, health opinions and 

satisfaction with health care for adults 

18 and older. The items on satisfaction 

with health care are a subset from the 

Consumer Assessment of Healthcare 

Providers and Systems. The health 

status items are from the Short Form 12 

Version 2, which has been widely used 

as a measure of self-reported health 

status in the United States, the Kessler 

Index of non-specific psychological 

distress, and the Patient Health 

Questionnaire. 

3. Diabetes Care SAQ. A brief selfadministered, paper-and-pencil 

questionnaire on the quality of diabetes 

care is administered once a year, during 

rounds 3 and 5, to persons identified as 

having diabetes. Included are questions 

about the number of times the 

respondent reported having a 

hemoglobin A1c blood test, whether the 

respondent reported having his or her 

feet checked for sores or irritations, 

whether the respondent reported having 

an eye exam in which his or her pupils 

were dilated, the last time the 

respondent had his or her blood 

cholesterol checked and whether the 

diabetes has caused kidney or eye 

problems. Respondents are also asked if 

their diabetes is being treated with diet, 

oral medications or insulin. 

4. Permission forms for the MEPS– 

MPC Provider and Pharmacy Survey. As 

in previous panels of the MEPS, we will 

ask respondents for permission to obtain 

supplemental information from their 

medical providers (hospitals, 

physicians, home health agencies and 

institutions) and pharmacies. 


wreier-aviles on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 227 / Tuesday, November 25, 2014 / Notices 70189 

The MEPS–HC was last approved by 

OMB on December 20th, 2012 and will 

expire on December 31, 2015. The OMB 

control number for the MEPS–HC is 

0935–0118. All of the supporting 

documents for the current MEPS–HC 

can be downloaded from OMB’s Web 

site at. http://www.reginfo.gov/public/

do/PRAViewDocument?ref_nbr=201209- 

0935-001. 

The MEPS is a multi-purpose survey. 

In addition to collecting data to yield 

annual estimates for a variety of 

measures related to health care use and 

expenditures, the MEPS also provides 

estimates of measures related to health 

status, consumer assessment of health 

care, health insurance coverage, 

demographic characteristics, 

employment and access to health care 

indicators. Estimates can be provided 

for individuals, families and population 

subgroups of interest. Data from the 

MEPS–HC are intended for a number of 

annual reports required to be produced 

by the Agency, including the National 

Health Care Quality Report and the 

National Health Care Disparities Report. 

AHRQ proposes to make the following 

changes to questions asked of 

respondents: 

Additions 

Closing—questions pertaining to 

respondent email and administration 

status of the Preventive Care selfadministered questionnaire; 

Re-enumeration—addition of 

questions pertaining to educational 

level attainment and the determination 

of institutional status; 

Provider Probes—determination if 

health care was received in an overnight 

facility; and 

Health Insurance—questions were 

added regarding interaction with the 

health insurance marketplace, 

enrollment through state health 

insurance exchanges, the extent of 

subsidized health insurance, monthly 

premiums, health insurance metal plan 

names, and medical debt. 

Preventive Care—a field test will be 

conducted to assess response lost 

through self-administration. 

Deletions 

Questions were removed from the 

following sections: Access to Care, 

Medical Conditions, Charge Payment, 

Child Preventive Health, Disability 

Days, Emergency Room, Employment, 

Health Status, Health Insurance, 

Hospital Stay, Income, Medical Provider 

Visits, Outpatient Departments, and 

Satisfaction with Health Plan. 

Questions were removed to reduce 

burden and redundancy, and additional 

questions were removed due to 

difficulty in respondent interpretation, 

low frequency in response or minimal 

variation, and limited ability of 

respondent to respond accurately. 

Estimated Annual Respondent Burden 

There are no changes to the current 

burden estimates. 

Estimated Annual Costs to the Federal 

Government 

There are no changes to the current 

cost estimates. 

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: November 13, 2014. 

Richard Kronick, 

Director. 

[FR Doc. 2014–27687 Filed 11–24–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4160–90–M 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

Centers for Disease Control and 

Prevention 

[30Day–15–14ARR] 

Agency Forms Undergoing Paperwork 

Reduction Act Review 

The Centers for Disease Control and 

Prevention (CDC) has submitted the 

following information collection request 

to the Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB) for review and approval in 

accordance with the Paperwork 

Reduction Act of 1995. The notice for 

the proposed information collection is 

published to obtain comments from the 

public and affected agencies. 

Written comments and suggestions 

from the public and affected agencies 

concerning the proposed collection of 

information are encouraged. Your 

comments should address any of the 

following: (a) Evaluate whether the 

proposed collection of information is 

necessary for the proper performance of 

the functions of the agency, including 

whether the information will have 

practical utility; (b) Evaluate the 

accuracy of the agencies estimate of the 

burden of the proposed collection of 

information, including the validity of 

the methodology and assumptions used; 

(c) Enhance the quality, utility, and 

clarity of the information to be 

collected; (d) Minimize the burden of 

the collection of information on those 

who are to respond, including through 

the use of appropriate automated, 

electronic, mechanical, or other 

technological collection techniques or 

other forms of information technology, 

e.g., permitting electronic submission of 

responses; and (e) Assess information 

collection costs. 

To request additional information on 

the proposed project or to obtain a copy 

of the information collection plan and 

instruments, call (404) 639–7570 or 

send an email to omb@cdc.gov. Written 

comments and/or suggestions regarding 

the items contained in this notice 

should be directed to the Attention: 

CDC Desk Officer, Office of Management 

and Budget, Washington, DC 20503 or 

by fax to (202) 395–5806. Written 

comments should be received within 30 

days of this notice. 

Proposed Project 

Drug Overdose Response Investigation 

(DORI) Data Collections—New— 

National Center for Injury Prevention 

and Control (NCIPC), Centers for 

Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). 

Background and Brief Description 

State and local health authorities 

frequently call upon CDC’s National 

Center for Injury Prevention and Control 

(NCIPC) to assist in their response to 

urgent public health problems resulting 

from drug use, misuse, abuse, and 

overdose. When called, NCIPC supports 

the states and local health authorities by 

conducting Drug Overdose Response 

Investigations (DORI), which entails a 

rapid and flexible epidemiological 

response. Urgent requests, such as 

DORIs, depend on the time and 

resources available, number of persons 

involved, and other circumstances 

unique to the urgent conditions at hand, 

and usually involve the development of 

procedures, specific data collection 


wreier-aviles on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with NOTICES