IMATS Supporting Statement Part B

An Assessment of the Utility of CDC’s Inventory Management and Tracking System (IMATS) by Public Health Emergency Preparedness Awardees

OSTLTS Generic Information Collection Request

OMB No. 0920-0879

SUPPORTING STATEMENT – Section B

Submitted: Monday, July 30, 2012

Program Official/Project Officer

Barbara Nichols

Project Manager

Countermeasure Tracking Systems

Division of Informatics Solutions and Operations

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

1600 Clifton Road, Atlanta, 30333, Georgia

MS E 68

Phone: 404-498-2442

Fax: 404-498-6582

[email protected]

Part B. COLLECTION OF INFORMATION EMPLOYING STATISTICAL METHODS

1. Universe and Respondent Selection

As of June 2012, 101 Public Health Emergency Preparedness (PHEP) awardee jurisdictions and their local jurisdictions (28 PHEP awardees, 73 localities) have completed their assessment of IMATS for potential adoption at their jurisdiction. PHEP awardees consist of the 50 states, New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C. and 8 island territories. The data collection tool will be sent to one representative (designee) from each of the jurisdictions that participate in an IMATS assessment. IMATS is offered to all state, territorial, and local jurisdictions for potential adoption as an inventory management system. These jurisdictions initiate the assessment of IMATS by sending a request to the CTS Team. As such, the respondent universe potentially includes all state, territorial, and local jurisdictions.

The initial data collection will be sent to the 101 designees that have completed an IMATS assessment. Following this initial data collection, EVERY SIX MONTHS thereafter, the data collection tool will be sent to up to 60 designees from jurisdictions that have completed an IMATS assessment through March 31, 2014 (expiration date for this Generic ICR) as a routine part of their IMATS assessment process. The potential respondent universe for each six month cycle following the initial data collection (N=60) is an estimate based on the current pattern of assessments to date. During the initial six months following the release of IMATS, a total of 94 IMATS assessments were completed. To date, IMATS has been available for ten months, and assessment requests are expected to slow down. Based on this pattern, 60 assessments are expected over each six month cycle. The data collection tool will only be distributed to PHEP awardee or local health departments. A sampling strategy will not be employed.

Table B-1: Potential Respondent Universe (EVERY SIX MONTHS)

	Entity	Potential Respondent	N
Initial data collection	IMATS evaluators from PHEP awardee and local health departments	PHEP awardee and local jurisdiction designees	101
1st six month cycle	IMATS evaluators from PHEP awardee and local health departments	PHEP awardee and local jurisdiction designees	60
2nd six month cycle	IMATS evaluators from PHEP awardee and local health departments	PHEP awardee and local jurisdiction designees	60
3rd six month cycle	IMATS evaluators from PHEP awardee and local health departments	PHEP awardee and local jurisdiction designees	60
4th six month cycle	IMATS evaluators from PHEP awardee and local health departments	PHEP awardee and local jurisdiction designees	60
Total Universe of Potential Respondents			341

2. Procedures for Collecting of Information

Data will be collected through an online questionnaire using Survey Monkey® distributed to all individuals who comprise the respondent universe. Eligible respondents include the inventory management point person who requested participation in an IMATS assessment. We anticipate only one response per state/local jurisdiction.

The Survey Monkey® tool will be the data collection instrument used to disseminate the questions and gather the data. This will reduce the burden of subscribers by allowing them to complete the questions online at their own convenience. The data collection instrument was designed to collect the minimum information necessary for the purposes of this project (i.e., limited to 22 questions).

An introductory email notification (see Attachment H – Introductory Email) will be sent to the potential respondent universe, informing them of the questionnaire, response window, and link to access the data collection instrument. The data collection instrument will remain open for a period of 14 days (10 business days) to allow ample time for respondents to complete. The time burden estimate of 15-20 minutes takes into consideration time to complete the 26 questions.

Reminders will be emailed every five business days [seven calendar days] (see Attachment I – Reminder Email). Since respondents are anonymous, reminders will be emailed to all potential respondents. After the response window has closed, a follow-up email (see Attachment J - Follow-up Email) will be sent to the potential respondent universe.

The data collection tool will be administered to a state/local jurisdiction only one time as part of the final phase of the IMATS assessment process. Data will be collected and stored in Survey Monkey® as respondents submit their responses. Data will be transferred to Excel for conducting basic descriptive analyses and producing data charts and tables for reporting.

3. Methods to Maximize Response Rates

Notification (see Attachment H) and reminders via emails (see Attachment I) will be utilized to maximize response rates. The notifications and emails will be sent by Countermeasure Tracking Systems staff to the potential respondent universe. If the initial person contacted to complete the questions is no longer with the jurisdiction, the data collection tool will be sent to a second contact within the same jurisdiction to help ensure responses are received from each jurisdiction. The data collection tool will be open for 10 business days. We will request that the data collection tool be completed only by the individual receiving the email so that only one response is received from each jurisdiction. Higher response rates will yield more reliable information; however, no scientific inferences will be made.

4. Test of Procedures or Methods to be Undertaken

The web-based questionnaire was pilot tested by four (4) state and local representatives who had completed an IMATS assessment representing the potential respondent universe. Feedback from these individuals was used to refine questions as needed, ensure accurate programming and skip patterns and establish the estimated time required to complete the questionnaire. The average length of time required to complete the questionnaire was approximately 15-20 minutes. Based on the feedback from pilot testers, the chosen total burden time was 20 minutes.

5. Contact for Statistical Aspects and Data Collection

The following individuals were consulted to provide advice about the design of these data collection activities:

Liora Sahar, PhD, GISP

Sr. GeoSpatial Analyst

Northrop Grumman Corporation IS

Civil Systems Division, Health Solutions

Tel: 678-530-8715

[email protected]

[email protected]

The team of individuals working on information collection, including instrument development, data collection, and data analysis are members of the Countermeasure and Tracking Systems (CTS) team in the Division of Informatics Solutions and Operations (DISO) and the Division of Strategic National Stockpile (DSNS) as listed in Table B-2.

Table B-2: Staff Responsible for Instrument Design, Data Collection and Analyses
Name	Agency	Telephone Number	Email
Sanjeeb Sapkota	CDC/OSELS/PHSIPO(Proposed)/ DISO	404-498-6832	[email protected]
Benjamin Erickson	CDC/OPHPR/DSNS	404-639-2132	[email protected]
Leslie Lee	Contracted to CDC/OSELS/PHSIPO(Proposed)/ DISO	404-325-2660	[email protected]
Caroline Westnedge	Contracted to CDC/OSELS/PHSIPO(Proposed)/ DISO	404-325-2660	[email protected]
Liora Sahar	Contracted to CDC/OSELS/PHSIPO(Proposed)/ DISO	678-530-8715	[email protected]

The majority of data will be analyzed using basic descriptive analyses. Because the major purpose of this data collection is for program improvement, the CTS team does not anticipate the use of complex statistical techniques.

LIST OF ATTACHMENTS – Section B

Note: Attachments are included as separate files, as instructed.

H. Introductory e-mail

I. Reminders

J. Follow-up e-mail

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