SUPPORTING STATEMENT
Part B
Health IT Tool Evaluation
Version: February 18, 2011
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)
B. Collections of Information Employing Statistical Methods 3
1. Respondent Universe and Sampling Methods 3
2. Information Collection Procedures 4
3. Methods to Maximize Response Rates 5
The goal of this study is to evaluate the usability and usefulness of AHRQ’s Health IT Survey Compendium. Most users of the Health IT Survey Compendium will be both researchers and health IT systems implementers. These researchers will include a mix of junior staff members (such as Research Assistants) as well as senior researchers, such as professors at universities and medical schools. In addition, health IT systems implementers may include Management Analysts and Information Systems Managers who work for health IT systems vendors or firms specializing in assisting provider organizations with adopting systems, and information systems managers based at health care provider organizations.
There is no sampling frame available and purposive sampling methods will be used to select users and potential users of the Health IT Survey Compendium to participate in individual interviews, usability testing, and group discussion sessions. Therefore study findings cannot be statistically generalized to the respondent universe. However, findings will be relevant to inform AHRQ about information needs of key users and how well the current Health IT Survey Compendium meets those needs, thus informing potential strategies for the refinement and development of tools related to health IT evaluation. Examples of users (or potential users) include health IT researchers (ranging in experience and expertise from research assistants to more senior investigators such as university professors) and health IT implementers (e.g., clinical champions and IT staff at provider organizations; IT implementation consultants and experts).
To recruit study participants AHRQ’s evaluation contractor will provide contacts within key stakeholder organizations with general information about the study and the recruiting needs for the interviews. These organizations include State Designated Entities (SDEs), Health Information Technology Regional Extension Centers (RECs), Health Information Exchanges (HIEs) and professional associations [e.g., American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA), the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS), the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA), the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME), and the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC)]. They will be asked to disseminate information to individuals who are or have acted in the roles of health IT researchers or implementers. The recruiting information will provide a telephone number for individuals to call if they are interested in participating in the evaluation activity.
Recruitment. Materials for recruiting participants are included in Attachments F, G and H of this OMB submission package. These materials consist of an e-mail form letter and telephone scripts to guide evaluation staff in identifying and recruiting participants for various study methods. Attachment F is an email form letter that study recruiters will send to contacts within target organizations to solicit candidates for participation. Attachment G is a flyer announcing the study generally, and providing contact information for study recruiters. This flyer will be distributed in venues (e.g. conferences) attended by users or potential users of the Health IT Survey Compendium. Attachment H is a scheduling protocol.
AHRQ’s evaluation contractor will then contact the interested individuals via e-mail or phone (see Attachment B) and, if potential participants’ background and experience is appropriate and they agree to participate, ask them to complete a short demographic screener questionnaire (also Attachment B). They will also be asked to confirm their primary audience segment as either health IT researcher or implementer. The evaluation contractor will schedule participants for the interviews, and will try to ensure demographic variation in the recruited participants.
Data Collection. Data will be collected through one-on-one and group interviews. These interviews will be performed by an experienced interviewer or moderator. There will be three types of interviews performed in support of this project:
Participants are not being selected via probability-based sampling methods. A “response rate” has no clear meaning in the context of this effort. However, to encourage participation, a monetary incentive will be provided and multiple calls will be made to complete the screener (if contact is not made during the initial call attempt).
The study and interview procedures were reviewed by Dr. Helga Rippen, Principal Investigator, Westat. Dr. Rippen, a nationally known leader in health information technology, is Westat’s Chief Health Information Officer and heads Westat's Center for Health Information Technology. In this review, Dr. Rippen was supported by Pamela Giambo, a specialist in research methodology, by Dr. Jennifer Crafts, a survey design methodologist with expertise in usability testing, and by Laura Lourenco, a certified usability analyst specializing in web development.
AHRQ’s contractor, Westat, has staff with expertise in evaluation methods that has reviewed the recruiting materials and interview guides to identify any unclear, ambiguous, and uncomfortable questions.
No statistical consultants were contacted.
AHRQ’s contractor, Westat, will be responsible for overseeing the recruitment of participants, conducting all of the interviews, and analyzing and reporting the findings. The project director is Helga Rippen of Westat. She can be reached by phone at (240) 453-2622 or by email at [email protected].
| File Type | application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document |
| File Modified | 0000-00-00 |
| File Created | 2021-02-01 |