Notice2024-30337
Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; Comment Request
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
December 20, 2024
Issuing agencies
Health and Human Services DepartmentAgency for Healthcare Research and Quality
Abstract
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 (new): "Supporting and Evaluating AHRQ's Long COVID Care Network."
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 245 (Friday, December 20, 2024)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 245 (Friday, December 20, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 104156-104157]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-30337]
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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: Information collection 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 proposed information collection
project (new): ``Supporting and Evaluating AHRQ's Long COVID Care
Network.''
DATES: Comments on this notice must be received by February 18, 2025.
ADDRESSES: Written comments should be submitted to: Doris Lefkowitz,
Reports Clearance Officer, AHRQ, by email at
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#f9abbca9b6abadaabab5bcb8abb8b7babcb6bfbfb0babcabb998918b88d791918ad79e968f"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="0c5e495c435e585f4f40494d5e4d424f49434a4a454f495e4c6d647e7d2264647f226b637a">[email protected]</span></a>.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Doris Lefkowitz, AHRQ Reports
Clearance Officer, (301) 427-1477, or by email at
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#93c1d6c3dcc1c7c0d0dfd6d2c1d2ddd0d6dcd5d5dad0d6c1d3f2fbe1e2bdfbfbe0bdf4fce5"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="b7e5f2e7f8e5e3e4f4fbf2f6e5f6f9f4f2f8f1f1fef4f2e5f7d6dfc5c699dfdfc499d0d8c1">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Proposed Project
Supporting and Evaluating AHRQ's Long COVID Care Network
Long COVID is a chronic condition in which people continue to
experience persistent, varying, and potentially disabling impacts after
the acute COVID-19 illness. Up to one third of people with COVID-19
experience Long COVID with the numbers higher in females, transgender
and bisexual people, people without a college degree, and people with
disability. Some of these groups often face barriers that can worsen
the impact of Long COVID on their lives and complicate recovery. Some
of the barriers they face include difficulty with healthcare access,
communication and internet accessibility, lack of health insurance,
lower health literacy, greater difficulty using patient portals and
telemedicine, and greater medical and social vulnerabilities.
Clinics to provide outpatient Long COVID care have emerged across
the country to offer coordinated, multidisciplinary care that meets the
complex, diverse, multi-system, and specialized needs of people with
Long COVID. There are some Long COVID clinic models that share common
elements including care coordination and access to multidisciplinary
care. Though these clinics meet critical needs in the healthcare
system, they face significant challenges including staffing shortages;
long patient waitlists; lack of funding or reimbursement for some
services; lack of clear treatment protocols; limited capacity to
provide timely, comprehensive, coordinated, and person-centered care;
and limited clinician knowledge and training in Long COVID management.
Other barriers these clinics face include the limited number of Long
COVID clinics and specialists, concentration of clinics in academic
centers and urban areas, late recognition of Long COVID symptoms by
clinicians, and delayed referral to Long COVID clinics or appropriate
specialists.
In response, AHRQ awarded grants to 12 multidisciplinary Long COVID
clinics across the country (the ``AHRQ Long COVID Care Network'') with
the goal to expand access to comprehensive, coordinated, and person-
centered care for people with Long COVID, particularly underserved
populations that are disproportionately impacted by the effects of Long
COVID. Specifically, the grants are designed to expand access and care,
develop and implement new or improved care delivery models, foster best
practices for Long COVID management, and support the primary care
community in Long COVID education and management.
The information and data collected for this study will facilitate
an evaluation of the outcomes of AHRQ's Long COVID Care Network. The
evaluation reflects AHRQ's mission to produce evidence to make
healthcare safer, higher quality, more accessible, equitable, and
affordable; and to work within the U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services and with other partners to make sure that the evidence is
understood and used. This study is a new data collection request, and
the data to be collected are not available elsewhere unless obtained
through this data collection.
This project seeks to assess the following:
(1) How is the AHRQ Long COVID Care Network implementing strategies
to:
(a) expand access to comprehensive, coordinated, person-centered
care,
(b) engage clinicians in Long COVID education and management, and
(c) educate patients and communities about Long COVID?
(2) What was the reach of the AHRQ Long COVID Care Network
strategies, especially to underserved populations that are
disproportionately impacted by the effects of Long COVID?
(3) What were the patterns of:
(a) service utilization,
(b) patient outcomes and experiences,
(c) referral streams, and
(d) primary care communication and coordination within the AHRQ
Long COVID Care Network?
To answer these research questions AHRQ will implement two new data
collections that require OMB approval. These data collections include:
(1) Grantee Interviews--Conducted during annual site visits. At
each site visit, up to five 90-minute interviews will be conducted--for
a total of 60 interviews across the 12 sites. Each interview will
include up to two respondents--for a total of 120 respondents across
the sites. The interview respondents will include grantee principal
investigators, research and clinical staff at grantee Long COVID
clinics, and representatives from grantee partner organizations (such
as primary care practices and community organizations). The primary
purpose of the interviews is to query about how the grantees developed
and implemented new or improved care delivery models, implementation
strategies, and operational workflows; identified barriers and
facilitators to implementation and mitigation strategies for
implementation challenges; and considered the potential sustainability
of their program when AHRQ funding ends.
(2) Grantee Survey--The survey will be administered to each grantee
annually. Each grantee's assigned evaluation liaison, or their
designated representative, will respond to the survey. The primary
purpose of the survey is to collect data on the services and personnel
at grantee Long COVID clinics and the costs and resources associated
with the implementation of the grant.
[[Page 104157]]
This study is being conducted by AHRQ through its contractor, 2M
Research Services (2M), 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
The Grantee Survey will be delivered via a web form to the
evaluation liaison of each grantee. The evaluation liaison will have
the option to designate another person to complete sections of or the
entire survey if needed. The contractor will develop a unique survey
link for each grantee. The evaluation team will disseminate the
findings from the grantee interviews and Grantee Survey that answer the
evaluation questions through evaluation reports developed for AHRQ and
through other dissemination products (e.g., newsletters, blogs,
conference presentations and papers, etc.) to a learning community of
the grantees; an external contributor group consisting of health system
leaders, payers and policymakers, people with lived experience,
professional association representatives, and subject matter experts;
and to the general public.
Estimated Annual Respondent Burden
Exhibit 1 shows the estimated annualized burden hours for the
respondents' time to participate in this data collection. The total
annual burden hours are estimated to be 186 hours.
The Grantee Interviews and Grantee Survey will be conducted with
healthcare providers and grantee program staff and partners.
1. Grantee Interviews--Completed once by 120 respondents. The
interview takes 1.5 hours to complete.
2. Grantee Survey--Completed once by 12 respondents. The survey
takes 30 minutes to complete.
Exhibit 2 shows the estimated annual cost burden associated with
the respondents' time to participate in this data collection. The
annual cost burden is estimated to be $21,390. Although the education
level of respondents may vary, we anticipate many of them will have a
medical degree and be employed as a physician or a related occupation.
The average hourly wage for Physicians as reported by the Bureau of
Labor Statistics ($115.00) was used.
Exhibit 1--Estimated Annualized Burden Hours
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Number of
Form name Number of responses per Hours per Total burden
respondents respondent response hours
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Grantee Interviews.............................. 120 1 90/60 180
Grantee Survey.................................. 12 1 30/60 6
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Total....................................... 132 1 .............. 186
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Exhibit 2--Estimated Annualized Cost Burden
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Total burden Average hourly Total cost
Form name hours wage rate * burden
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Grantee Interviews.............................................. 180 \a\ $115.00 $20,700
Grantee Survey.................................................. 6 \b\ 115.00 690
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Total....................................................... 186 .............. 21,390
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* National Compensation Survey: Occupational wages in the United States May 2023, ``U.S. Department of Labor,
Bureau of Labor Statistics.'' <a href="https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_nat.htm">https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_nat.htm</a>.
\a\ Based on the median wages for Physicians 29-1210.
\b\ Based on the median wages for Physicians 29-1210.
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: December 16, 2024.
Marquita Cullom,
Associate Director.
[FR Doc. 2024-30337 Filed 12-19-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4160-90-P
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