ss customer survey nfi

New Freedom Initiative Caregiving Broadcast Customer Satisfaction Survey Proposal

The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) currently has approval under the generic clearance, OMB No. 0915-0212, to conduct customer satisfaction surveys. These surveys help fulfill the requirements of:

1. Executive Order 12862, “Setting Customer Service Standards,” which directs Agencies to continually reform their management practices and operations to provide service to the public that matches or exceeds the best service available in the private sector.

2. The March 3, 1998, White House Memorandum, “Conducting Conversations with America to Further Improve Customer Service,” which further directs Agencies to determine the kind and quality of service its customers want and their level of satisfaction with existing services.

HRSA is requesting approval to conduct a survey under this generic clearance to get customer feedback for a service that is going to be provided under the New Freedom Initiative. The New Freedom Initiative is a government-wide effort directed at eliminating the barriers that prevent people with disabilities from participating fully in community life. People with disabilities and older adults - and the people who care for them - can all benefit from being fully engaged in community life. A document with background information on the Initiative is attached to this request. The Initiative is available on the web at http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2001/06/20010619.html. This initiative supports States' efforts to meet the goals of the Olmstead v. L.C. Supreme Court decision issued in July 1999 that requires States to administer services, programs, and activities "in the most integrated setting appropriate to the needs of qualified individuals with disabilities." The Olmstead decision interpreted Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which gives civil rights and protections to individuals with disabilities and guarantees equal opportunity for individuals with disabilities in public accommodations, employment, transportation, State and local government services, and telecommunications.

A. Product/Activity to be assessed:

On September 19, 2007 the New Freedom Initiative (NFI) Subcommittee on Caregiving is presenting a broadcast titled The Department of Health and Human Services Programs Supporting Caregivers Across the Life Span. The broadcast will include presentations and educational information to interested partners. A copy of the broadcast agenda is attached. The Subcommittee seeks to assess viewers’ opinions and obtain feedback on the broadcast and suggestions for future broadcasts by conducting a brief customer satisfaction survey. The workgroup has broad federal representation, and a list of workgroup members is provided as a separate attachment. The audience for the broadcast presentations will include federal participants and partners in the provider community from the public.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has a range of programs with services and support for the caregivers, providers, and partners who help people with disabilities and older Americans. Examples of the types of programs provided by HHS are:

1. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) provide some opportunities for funding in the form of demonstration grants and employment initiatives to assist in implementing systemic changes to better serve individuals with disabilities in the setting of their choosing. A list of the CMS New Freedom Initiative accomplishments is attached.

2. The Administration on Aging (AoA) funds the National Family Caregiver Support Program. This program calls for all States, working in partnership with area agencies on aging and local community service providers to develop comprehensive systems of services to support family caregivers.

3. The Indian Health Services (IHS) funds the Native American Caregiver Support Program. The program gives Indian Tribal Organizations and organizations serving Native Hawaiians who receive funding under the Older Americans Act, Title VI, Part A or Part B an opportunity are eligible to apply for caregiver support grants.

4. The Administration on Developmental Disabilities (ADD) programs are at work in every State and U.S. territory. ADD provides funding, monitoring, and policy guidance to programs Nationwide. Grants are given to States on a competitive basis to develop, implement, expand and/or enhance statewide systems of family support services. The grants are given to State agencies or private non-profit organizations that are designated by governors. Grants are for two years, one year of planning and one year of implementation.

5. The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) supports development and implementation of comprehensive, culturally competent, coordinated systems of care for the estimated 18 million U.S. children who have or are at risk for chronic physical, developmental, behavioral or emotional conditions and who also require health and related services of a type or amount beyond that required by children generally.

The broadcast includes a panel of experts from across the Federal government that will provide targeted information about these programs. The broadcast will bring greater awareness and understanding of HHS programs to caregivers, providers, and partners. Results of the broadcast include more caregivers taking advantage of services and support and partners and providers will be able to better deliver and coordinate caregiver services.

On a quarterly basis, NFI will sponsor additional educational and informative Satellite Broadcasts on issues that are important to caregivers and service providers. Our goal is to bring greater awareness and sensitivity to the challenges in caregiving and improve the coordination of resources and services for caregivers, providers, and partners.

The intent of this survey is to assess the satisfaction of broadcast viewers with the materials and format of the broadcast presented. Results of the survey will be used to reformat the next broadcast to satisfy viewer needs. The survey will be used to assess each broadcast and make changes accordingly.

Responses to the survey will be used by the NFI Subcommittee on Caregiving to assess broadcast viewers satisfaction with materials presented as well as the format of the broadcast. The subcommittee will use the survey responses to review the extent to which broadcast viewers are satisfied with the overall broadcast experience as well as viewer satisfaction with specific aspects of the broadcast regarding broadcast format, usefulness of subject matter, successful marketing of the broadcast, and needed improvements to the broadcast.

Survey findings regarding broadcast viewer satisfaction will provide information for the NFI Subcommittee on Caregiving that will be used to make recommendations for improvements to future broadcasts, if necessary, and to develop plans for future broadcasts implementation strategies. The NFI Caregivers workgroup will review the descriptive findings and discuss how best to address matters identified by the survey.

1. Data Collection:

This survey will be available for broadcast registrants on the CMS website. The survey will be posted on the CMS website following the broadcast at http://www.cms.hhs.gov/apps/events/event.asp?id=378.

The respondent universe will be those individuals who register with CMS to view the broadcast using the registration website. The total number of individuals expected to register is approximately 300 and the workgroup anticipates approximately a 30% response rate for the satisfaction survey. This activity is not designed nor intended to be a statistical survey or to make any generalizations about a population; its intent is to get feedback on the broadcast format and topic areas and get suggestions from interested viewers on future broadcasts. In an effort to encourage feedback, the survey has been designed to be extremely brief and easy to complete. The instrument consists of 10 questions and can be completed in 5 minutes. No individual or personal information is requested. The total annual burden for the customer survey is:

Form	Number of Respondents	Responses per Respondent	Total Responses	Burden Hour per Respondent	Total Burden Hours
Customer Survey	90	3	270	5 minutes	23
Total	90		270		23

2. Planned frequency of information collection:

The workgroup plans to provide broadcasts to caregivers and providers approximately three times a year for the next two years. The customer satisfaction survey instrument will be available on the web following each broadcast in order to provide participants with the opportunity for comment and input on every broadcast and topic suggestions for future broadcasts.

3. Time period over which information will be collected:

The first broadcast and survey will be available to broadcast viewers on September 19, 2007. The survey will be repeated after every subsequent broadcast (3 times a calendar year for two years) to obtain feedback from viewers on their satisfaction with the broadcast format, length of time for presentations, and topic areas.

4. Questionnaire Instrument

Questions were developed using models of other brief satisfaction surveys and examples from HRSA and NIH to address the various areas the broadcasts will cover. The design of the questions follows the format of previously approved customer satisfaction instruments, such as:

The National Institutes of Health Computer Access to Research on Dietary Supplements Database Survey.

The National Library of Medicine’s TOXNET Customer satisfaction survey.

HRSA’s Office of Patient Advocacy Customer Survey.

The Department of Agriculture’s International Bibliographic Information on Dietary Supplements satisfaction survey.

Questions for feedback on the broadcast were modeled after these existing instruments, and were reviewed by individuals on the workgroup for content and clarity. The survey consists of 10 generic questions typical of customer satisfaction surveys that ask participants how they learned about the broadcast, what topics participants would like to hear about in future broadcasts, how the broadcast could be improved, etc. Some of the questions have a Likert-type format, some are fixed categories, and some are open-ended requests for comment.

5. Analysis

The information obtained from this survey is not designed nor intended to yield meaningful quantitative findings; the responses provided by viewers will provide meaningful customer input for internal use by the workgroup. As an opinion survey, the feedback provided will provide the workgroup with information on what the broadcast participants think of the overall format and topics presented. Responses to the questions will be summarized to provide descriptive information on viewer opinions to help identify strengths and weaknesses in the broadcast format and content. The feedback from this survey will help improve future broadcasts and improve the service that is offered to the public.

G. Name, title, and organizational affiliation of project statistician

Samara Lorenz

Public Health Analyst

Office of Planning and Evaluation

Health Resources and Services Administration

5600 Fishers Lane

Rockville, Maryland 20857

(301) 443-1232