Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This notice announces the intention of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) to request that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) allow the proposed information collection project: ``Chartering Value Exchanges for Value-driven Health Care.'' The information collection will take the form of narrative responses to semiannual Requests for Proposals to participate in a learning network of mature multi-stakeholder community health care collaboratives established to measure, report, and improve the quality and cost of available healthcare. 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.

The DHHS Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) invites nominations from interested organizations and knowledgeable individuals for a Stakeholder Group to support the work of the Effective Health Care Program, funded under Section 1013 of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act (MMA) of 2003. The goals of this program are to develop evidence on the effectiveness and comparative effectiveness of different treatments and health care interventions of importance to the Medicare, Medicaid, and State Child Health Insurance. To achieve these goals, AHRQ is supporting projects to review, synthesize, generate and translate published and unpublished scientific evidence, as well as identify important issues for which existing scientific evidence is insufficient to inform decisions about health care. This evidence will be made readily available to all heath care decision-makers. The Stakeholder Group is critical to the success of this project, providing input to the program in collaboration with the Effective Health Care Scientific Resource Center (currently based at the Oregon Evidence-based Practice Center). The role of the Stakeholder Group will be to: Provide input on critical research information gaps for practice and policy and on identifying and developing the key research questions to address these gaps. Provide input on implementation issues for Effective Heath Care program reports and findings. Define information needs and identify types of projects that will be most useful. Provide feedback from report users. Provide guidance on the program as a whole for quality improvement. Provide guidance on how the program can have more of an impact with users. Members will serve as volunteers for a two-year period from October 2007 through September 2009. Stakeholder Group members will attend 3-4 meetings per year as part of this process. Meetings will be held in Rockville, MD and Portland, Oregon. Meetings will be 1-2 days in length. The Scientific Resource Center (SRC) will make the travel arrangements. The first meeting will be held on October 26, 2007, in Rockville, MD. Members are expected to actively participate in meetings and to engage in related activities by phone and e-mail between meetings. Between-meeting work may include assisting with agenda planning and session preparation for Stakeholder meetings, consulting with SRC or AHRQ staff on constituency issues, and serving as a resource to the Effective Health Care Program. It is anticipated that the Stakeholder Group member time commitment between meetings will not exceed 10 hours. The Stakeholder Group will be composed of up to 15 members. The group will represent several broad constituencies of stakeholders and decision-makers at the policy, system, and clinical levels, which will include: Third party healthcare payers (including, but not limited to public State or Federal Medicare or Medicaid programs, and private insurance health plans and Health maintenance Organizations). Employers and health-related business groups. Pharmacy and therapeutic committees. Healthcare providers. Patient/consumer organizations. Consumers of Federal and State beneficiary programs. Healthcare industry professional organizations. Academic researchers (including, but not limited to those with expertise in evidence-based methods and effectiveness and translational research). Self-nominations are encouraged. Materials to be submitted are a cover letter and curriculum vitae or similar supportive documentation. The cover letter will provide information on how the nominee's experience, skills and roles fit with the composition and goals of the Stakeholder Group as described above. Specific information on nominee experience in the constituency groups described above is required. Nominees chosen for the Stakeholder Group will be required to declare and submit conflict of interest documentation. This will not necessarily preclude service. Nominees may indicate their willingness to be considered in subsequent calls for nominations if not selected for this Stakeholder Group in their supporting documentation. All nominations received by submission deadline will be reviewed by a committee composed of representatives from AHRQ and the SRC. Nominees who best represent the broad constituencies described as the goal for composition of the Stakeholder Group will be selected and notified by September 28, 2007. In addition, AHRQ is interested in fostering diversity and including representatives of, or individuals with expertise regarding, populations experiencing health care disparities and in this case individuals with expertise regarding chronic conditions and health care needs of the Medicare, Medicaid, and State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) populations.

This notice announces the intention of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) to request the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to allow the proposed information collection project: 2008-2009 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey Insurance Component (MEPS-IC). In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Pub. L. 104-13 (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)), AHRQ invites the public to comment on this proposed information collection.

There is a growing demand for healthcare data from many sectors. Key drivers for this demand have been surging interest in healthcare performance measurement and the information systems needed to aggregate, process and transmit healthcare data from which measures of health care quality may be derived and to which the measures could be applied. This need has raised the question of responsibility for safeguarding the data beyond the original care setting. This issue has led various stakeholders to propose the formation of a public-private national health care data stewardship organization with oversight of the various uses of healthcare data, as described below. For the purpose of achieving a broader understanding of the issues that establishment of such an entity may present, input is requested from the public and private sectors on the concept of a national health data stewardship entity (NHDSE). The primary purpose of this RFI is to gather information to foster broad stakeholder discussion; there are no current plans to issue a related request for proposals (RFP).

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are announcing a 2-day joint public workshop entitled ``Implementation of Risk Minimization Action Plans (RiskMAPs) to Support Quality Use of Pharmaceuticals: Opportunities and Challenges.'' This public workshop is intended to seek constructive input from a wide range of stakeholders, including clinicians, pharmacists, patients, third party payers of care, the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, researchers, and innovators in health information technology (HIT), to help in the development and implementation of mechanisms to minimize the risks of pharmaceuticals with unusual safety and patient monitoring concerns. This meeting is an initial step that is part of FDA's commitment to monitor the performance of RiskMAPs consistent with the goal articulated in the proposed PDUFA IV agreement to undertake regular follow up of these plans.

AHRQ invites nominations of topics for evidence reports, technology assessments, and comparative and effectiveness reviews conducted by its Evidence-based Practice Centers (EPC) Program relating to the prevention, diagnosis, treatment and management of common diseases and clinical conditions, as well as topics relating to the organization and financing of health care. Previous evidence reports and comparative effectiveness reviews can be found at https:// www.ahrq.gov/clinic/epcix.htm and https://effectivehealthcare.ahrq.gov/ products/progress.cfm, respectively.

In accordance with section 10(a) of the Federal Advisory Committee Act, this notice announces a meeting of the National Advisory Council for Healthcare Research and Quality.

This notice announces the intention of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) to request that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) allow the proposed information collection project: ``Development of an Electronic System for Reporting Medication Errors and Adverse Drug Events in Primary Care Practice (MEADERS).'' 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 December 12th, 2006 and allowed 60 days for public comment. No public comments were received. The purpose of this notice is to allow an additional 30 days for public comment.

This notice announces the intention of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) to request that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) allow the proposed information collection project: ``Pilot Study of Proposed Medical Office Surveys on Patient Safety.'' 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 December 6, 2006 and allowed 60 days for public comment. No public comments were received. The purpose of this notice is to allow an additional 30 days for public comment.

This notice announces the intention of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) to request that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) allow the proposed information collection project: ``Evaluation of the Implementation and Impact of Pay-for- Quality Programs.'' 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 October 24, 2006 and allowed 60 days for public comment. No public comments were received. The purpose of this notice is to allow an additional 30 days for public comment.

This notice announces the intention of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) to request that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) allow the proposed information collection project: ``Development of an Electronic System for Reporting Medication Errors and Adverse Drug Events in Primary Care Practice (MEADERS).'' 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 notice announces the intention of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) to request that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) allow the proposed information collection project: ``Pilot Study of Proposed Medical Office Surveys on Patient Safety.'' 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 notice announces the intention of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) to request that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) allow the proposed information collection project: ``Evaluation of a Medication Therapy Management Program to Improve Patient Safety in Medicare Beneficiaries.'' 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 notice announces the intention of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) to request that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) allow the proposed information collection project: ``Evaluation of the Implementation and Impact of Pay-for- Quality Programs.'' 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.

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) is soliciting the submission of instruments or items that measure how well health plans, hospitals, clinicians, and group practices address health literacy issues. Based on a literature review and an assessment of currently available questionnaires, AHRQ identified the need to develop a new health literacy module of the CAHPS[supreg] survey. The intent of the planned module is to examine patients' perspectives on how well health information is communicated to them by healthcare professionals in greater detail than before. The intent of the new module is to provide information to health plans, hospitals, clinicians, group practices, and other interested parties regarding quality of health information delivered to patients. Based on prior work, there are several functional areas that the planned instrument could address. These include the clarity and usability of provided health information related to: (a) Preventive services (e.g., risk and benefits of the service, explanation of screening results; (b) health problems/concerns (e.g., information on how to stay healthy or prevent illness); (c) treatment choices, instructions, or goals (e.g., pros and cons of each treatment option); and (d) medications (e.g., reason for taking medications, instructions on how to take medications, possible side effects). AHRQ is especially interested in measures of patients' assessments of written communications (e.g., instructions for self-care, health promotion materials), and the use and effectiveness of educational techniques to ensure patient's comprehension of health information (e.g., allowing time for questions, repeating information, using visual aids, employing health educators to review treatment plans and follow-up). AHRQ is also interested in measures that assess the quality of services supporting health information delivery such as language assistance (e.g., availability and timeliness of interpreter services, availability of patient education materials in other language), and administrative assistance (e.g., assistance in completing medical paperwork).

This notice announces the intention of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) to request that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) allow the proposed information collection project: ``Eisenberg Center Voluntary Customer Survey Generic Clearance for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.'' 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 July 5, 2006 and allowed 60 days for public comment. No public comments were received. The purpose of this notice is to allow an additional 30 days for public comment.

This notice announces the intention of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) to request the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to allow the proposed information collection project ``Continuance of the Medical Expenditure Panel SurveyHousehold and Medical Provider Component through 2009.'' 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 collection. This proposed information collection was previously published in the Federal Register on June 2, 2006 and allowed 60 days for public comment. No public comments were received. The purpose of this notice is to allow an additional 30 days for public comment.

This notice announces the intention of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) to request that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) allow the proposed information collection project: ``Assessment of Unreimbursed Care among Community Primary Care Physicians.'' 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.