Supporting Statement Part A_5-4-09

Supporting Statement: Part A

Request for Clearance for National Medicare Training Program

Training Needs Assessment Survey

Table of Contents

1. Background

2. Justification

B.1 Need and Legal Basis

B.2 Information Users

B.3 Use of Information Technology

B.4 Duplication of Efforts

B.5 Small Businesses

B.6 Less Frequent Collection

B.7 Special Circumstances

B.8 Federal Register/Outside Consultation

B.9 Payment/Gifts to Respondents

B.10 Confidentiality

B.11 Sensitive Questions

B.12 Burden Estimates

B.13 Capital Costs

B.14 Costs to Federal Government

B.15 Changes to Burden

B.16 Publication/Tabulation Dates

B.17 Expiration Date

B.18 Certification Statement

Attachment 1 Email Invitation

Attachment 2 Reminder Notice

Attachment 3 Survey Questionnaire

1. Background

A vital part of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid’s (CMS) mission is to provide clear and up-to-date information to beneficiaries to help them make decisions about their Medicare healthcare options and benefits. To accomplish this CMS must reach out to organizations that work with and assist beneficiaries directly. The National Medicare Training Program (NMTP) was established expressly to educate and train these organizations. These partner organizations include other state and federal agencies, health plans, aging networks/coalitions, long term care institutions, disability/mental health providers and advocates, HIV/AIDS providers, other health care providers and disease-specific advocacy groups, faith based organizations, and racial/ethnic minority organizations. These partners extend the reach of NMTP to population segments that have information barriers, including language, literacy, location, and culture, to help them understand the varied and sometimes complex choices about how they receive their Medicare benefits.

Through in-person workshops, teleconferences, and online training materials NMTP communicates information about a wide array of Medicare topics to a diverse audience of partner organizations. They must provide partners with timely and accurate information on changes in Medicare policies and requirements and support partners’ information needs so that they may better serve Medicare beneficiaries. In order to accomplish this, CMS must identify the information needs of its partners and respond to these needs with audience-appropriate education and training materials. This request is for clearance of a newly designed online Needs Assessment Survey for NMTP that will allow CMS to conduct this work and inform their efforts to develop materials vital to the performance of these key Medicare partners. These partners will be identified from lists of individuals who have used CMS NMTP training products and resources, have worked with CMS in the past, are familiar with the NMTP products and are therefore able to voice an opinion. These lists consist of representatives of the State Health Insurance Program (SHIP), NMTP training workshop attendees and individuals who have contacted CMS to request various training or educational materials. These are all individuals who partner with CMS Regional Offices to conduct Medicare beneficiary outreach and education activities.

The survey will allow NMTP to assess annually the education and training needs of its partner organizations to ensure that they have the information and materials they need to assist the beneficiaries they serve. More specifically, the survey aims to:

• Characterize multiple learning needs;

• Identify whether NMTP materials meet partners’ learning needs;

• Assess the ability of the NMTP to equip users to train others;

• Characterize partners’ preferred format/learning tools; and

• Gauge the ability of the NMTP to serve specific populations of interest.

2. Justification

B.1 Need and Legal Basis

In accordance with the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, CMS created the National Medicare & You Education Program (NMEP) to help people with Medicare make informed health care decisions. The NMEP employs numerous communication channels to educate people with Medicare and relies on caregivers, health care professionals, and counselors to convey up-to-date and accurate information to the Medicare population. The greatest challenge for the NMEP is reaching population segments that have information barriers, including language, literacy, location, and culture, to help them understand the varied and sometimes complex choices about how they receive their Medicare benefits. To help meet this challenge, the NMTP trains partners to extend the agency’s outreach into these communities. NMTP must have timely input from these partner organizations to ensure that partners get the materials and information they need to assist the beneficiaries they serve.

By conducting an annual quantitative analysis, NMTP will be better able to assess partners’ information needs by geographic area, organization type, and populations served so that they can develop materials appropriate for different segments of their partner audience. This enhanced level of detail provided by the survey we are requesting approval for will help NMTP better serve the information needs of its partner organizations and improve their ability to assist and educate beneficiaries.

B.2 Information Users

It is not enough to produce education and training materials for partners. CMS must communicate with partners and obtain their input to ensure that the information provided meets their needs. Only with input from partners can CMS create a training program that will truly provide partners with what they must know to provide support to Medicare beneficiaries. NMTP will use the survey data to identify unmet information needs in their partner audience, a difficult task for such a diverse group of organizations. The data will also guide the improvement of existing training materials as well as the development of new education and outreach materials. The survey will identify specific topic areas for NMTP to focus on in the following year and give them information on partners’ preferred modalities for receiving the information. Annual data will allow NMTP to track partners’ satisfaction with the updates and improvements they make to their education and training materials each year. Annual data is critical since partner needs change over time in response to policy changes or the changing needs of the beneficiaries they serve. The data will also provide NMTP with further insight into the diverse organizations that compose their partner audience and how information is transmitted across the complex network of partner organizations. A better understanding of who their partner organizations are and how they work together will allow NMTP to tailor education and training materials specifically to the needs of different segments of their partner audience.

B.3 Use of Information Technology

The survey will be administered over the web with invitations to participate in the survey sent via email. This method will yield a large number of survey completes in a cost-effective manner. It will also place a lower burden on partner organizations since they can complete the survey online at their own convenience. All survey documents (printed and online) will be 508 compliant. Non-responders will be contacted via telephone to increase survey response rates.

B.4 Duplication of Efforts

This information collection does not duplicate any other effort and the information cannot be obtained from any other source.

B.5 Small Businesses

Some local partner organizations may fall under this category. The survey is voluntary and will be kept to an average length of 15 minutes in order to minimize the burden on all respondents including small organizations.

B.6 Less Frequent Collection

The needs of partner organizations change yearly due to annual enrollment requirements, changes in policy, plans and the beneficiaries they serve. NMTP will not be able to assess and respond to these changing needs with improved information resources if the survey is not administered annually. They would also not be able to track partners’ satisfaction with their materials which are updated annually.

B.7 Special Circumstances

No special circumstances are foreseen for the collection of this data.

B.8 Federal Register/Outside Consultation

A federal register notice with a 60 day comment period has not been posted.

B.9 Payment/Gifts to Respondents

Payment or gifts will not be provided to respondents.

B.10 Confidentiality

Data will be password protected, and interviewers have been trained on the handling of confidential data. Participants will be assured of the confidentiality of their responses at the start of the interview, as laid out in the Privacy Act of 1974. Individual responses will be kept confidential to the extent provided by law.

B.11 Sensitive Questions

Respondents will not be asked any questions of a sensitive nature.

B.12 Burden Estimates

Survey participants include representatives of the SHIPs, NMTP training workshop attendees and individuals who have contacted CMS to request various materials. These are all individuals who partner with CMS Regional Offices to conduct Medicare beneficiary outreach and education activities. These individuals have worked with CMS in the past, are familiar with the NMTP products, and are able to voice an opinion. These lists consist of representatives. To ensure individuals receive only one initial survey invitation, duplicate information will be removed once the lists have been merged.

The final, merged and cleaned list will include approximately 5,000 individuals from which we aim to achieve an 80% response rate, resulting in 4,000 completed surveys. This number of completed surveys will allow statistically significant (p<.05) comparisons between various partner segments.

This final list will include three types of respondents: private, not-for-profit organizations (approx. 43%); state and local government representatives (approx. 48%); and representatives from the federal government (approx. 9%). Based on May 2006 wage data for community and social service occupations from the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics, we provide burden estimates for each of the three respondent types below. These burden estimates are based on an estimated questionnaire completion time of 15 minutes.

Respondent Type	Percent of Participant List	Number of Individuals	Hour per Response	Hourly Wage*	Cost per Response	Total Burden
Private, Not-for-Profit	43%	1720	.25	$26.97	$6.74	$11,597.10
State and Local Government	48%	1920	.25	$19.87	$4.97	$9,537.60
Federal Government	9%	360	.25	$31.40	$7.85	$2,826
Total	100%	4000				$23,960.70

*U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics for Community and Social Service Occupations

The annual respondent burden is 1,000 hours, with a total cost burden of $23,960.

B.13 Capital Costs

There are no capital costs associated with this collection.

B.14 Costs to Federal Government

The cost to the Federal government includes contractor time for developing, testing and conducting the online survey; and developing, testing and using the CATI system for telephone follow-up. It also includes interviewer time to administer the telephone follow-up. The total estimated cost for these activities is $60,130. This includes all labor hours, materials and supplies, overhead, general and administrative costs and fee.

B.15 Changes to Burden

There are no changes to burden estimates.

B.16 Publication/Tabulation Dates

Field Survey	3/2009 – 4/2009
Topline Results	6/2009
Final Report	7/2009

B.17 Expiration Date

CMS is not seeking an exemption from the general requirement to display the expiration date.

B.18 Certification Statement

There are no exceptions to the certification statement.

Attachment 1: Email Invitation

Attachment 2: Reminder Notice

Attachment 3: Survey Questionnaire

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Pacific Consulting Group

2/4/2021