DIR Supporting Statement

HRSA Survey Assessment of Objective Peer Review

SUPPORTING STATEMENT

Terms of Clearance: NONE

A. Justification

1. Circumstances of Information Collection

The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) currently has approval under the generic clearance, Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Control No. 0915-0212, to conduct customer satisfaction surveys and focus groups. This collection of information helps 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.

This is a request by HRSA’s Division of Independent Review (DIR) for the use of a Grant Review Assessment Survey in two (2) forms: Reviewer and Chair. This Survey set will be used to assess the HRSA objective peer review process for opportunities to optimize the review process and administrative function in managing annual competitive grant application review.

DIR is responsible for carrying out independent and objective reviews of eligible applications and cooperative agreements submitted to HRSA. DIR ensures that the independent peer review process is objective, effective, economical, and complies with applicable statutes, regulations and policies. The review of applications is performed by reviewers as experts knowledgeable in the field of endeavor for which funding support is requested.

The DIR process is in accordance with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' (DHHS) Grants Policy Directive (GPD) 2.04 "Awarding Grants", the DHHS Awarding Agency Grants Administration Manual (AAGAM), Chapter 2.04.104C "Objective Review of Grant Applications, and the Public Health Service (PHS) Act, Sections 799(f) and 806(e).

Executive Order 12862 directs agencies that "provide significant services directly to the public" to "survey customers to determine the kind and quality of services they want and their level of satisfaction with existing services". The objective of surveying the primary care residency training programs is to provide insight regarding organizations’ opinions, experiences, and perceptions of the funding opportunities, including any potential barriers or restrictions of applying for these funding opportunities.

2. Purpose and Use of the Information

DIR is requesting approval of a Survey set of two (2) similar electronic survey forms, where each survey is slightly tailored to the review duties, expectations, and experience of the:

• reviewer as a panel member, and

• the panel chair.

Reviewers and chairs are selected from the HRSA Reviewer Recruitment Module (RRM) using self-reported professional expertise. Reviewers evaluate the merits of competitive and discretionary grant applications and cooperative agreements for possible Agency funding.

3. Use of Improved Information Technology

DIR has operated as the HRSA central review clearinghouse since 2003, coordinating objective peer review activities between participants (Reviewers and Chairs), Program staff, and the review contractor. With the advent of web-based tools, notably Survey Monkey, DIR is seeking OMB approval to use an electronic platform for data collection of review participant experiences. Use of an electronic format (like Survey Monkey) will greatly enhance the rapid collection, analysis, and long term archival of review related comments in a highly reproducible and standardized format for analysis and year to year comparison.

Where possible, the DIR Review Assessment form(s) use simple drop-down menus, checkboxes and radio buttons to simplify the data collection process and reduce the respondent time and burden. Attached are screen shots of the proposed Survey Monkey forms for Chairs (Attachment 1), and Reviewers (Attachment 2).

Sensitive information such as birthdates and social security numbers are not collected.

3. Efforts to Avoid Duplication

HRSA has no other web-based vehicle or electronic format for objective reviewer participants to submit review assessment information in a standardized fashion. DIR deems it necessary to collect reviewer comments and experience to implement a measurable quality assurance program to assess peer review effectiveness. The web-based review assessment form mirrors recent DIR review operational changes as we have moved to an on-line review process and participant database. Consistency of the web page presentation, web-based access, data capture, analysis tools, and ease of use were all considerations in the consideration of this particular assessment system. The proposed surveys are unique to this activity and the information is not found elsewhere.

3. Involvement of Small Entities

These surveys will not have a significant impact on small businesses or other small entities.

6. Consequences of Collecting the Information Frequently

Each peer review session is unique to the program grant Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA), and may include one to 18 panels depending on the number of eligible applications received by HRSA. Each review panel has a slightly different experience based on the participant professional qualifications, prior review experience, and type of grants assigned to the panel. Survey data collected from each panel within a review session will be compared as a review “group”, and review to review comparisons will be made for overall trends.

HRSA hosts on average 100 review sessions per year, with an average of 8 panels per review, and up to 10 participants (reviewers and chairs). In FY 2015, DIR used a total of 2,158 review participants (1,873 reviewers, and 285 chairs) for objective peer reviews. This equates to a 1:1 ratio of possible survey encounters per year (total of 2,158) at an estimated 0.25 hours per encounter. Using an electronic platform with an inherent analysis capability will enhance timely reporting and reduce assessment time.

There are no legal obstacles to reduce the burden.

7. Consistency With the Guidelines of 5 CFR 1320.5

These surveys will be implemented in a manner fully consistent with 5 CFR 1320.5.

7. Consultation Outside the Agency

The notice required in 5 CFR 1320.8(d) was published in the Federal Register on December 17, 2014, (Vol. 79, No.242, pages 75164). No comments or requests for information were received.

9. Remuneration of Respondents

There will be no payment to respondents for submitting an assessment form. Review performance is paid as honoraria to reviewers and chairs.

9. Assurance of Confidentiality

This HRSA customer satisfaction survey will not collect personally identifiable information from review participants. Participation is fully voluntary and responses are anonymous. Participation or non-participation will not affect their selection for future reviews.

Information and data will be maintained securely through the Survey Monkey program using a user name and password under a “locked” HRSA account. Survey downloads will be stored in a HRSA database, and analysis will be conducted using HRSA internal programs behind firewalls. Review specific assessment forms will be identified by the unique HRSA review and panel number, distributed to only the review participants, not publically accessible, and does not capture any personally identifiable information (PII) from its users.

11. Questions of a Sensitive Nature

The surveys do not contain questions of a sensitive nature.

12. Estimates of Annualized Hours

Grant Recruitment Form	Number of respondents	Responses per Participant	Total responses	Hours per response	Total burden hours
Reviewer	1,873	1	1,873	0.25	468 hrs
Chair	285	1	285	0.25	71 hrs
Total	2,158		2,158		hrs

13. Estimates of Annualized Cost Burden to Respondents

The only associated cost to respondents is their time to provide the requested information.

13. Annualized Cost to the Government

The use of a web-based database form for the collection and organization self-reported reviewer information produces economic and business process efficiencies. An estimated 35 FTE hours will be utilized for system administrative activities (form creation) using existing DIR staff and resources. DIR staff time dedicated to system management is 10% of a GS-12 step 5 (2015 Office of Personnel Management Salary Table) FTE (approximately $6,969).

15. Explanation for Program Changes or Adjustments

Not applicable. This is a new activity under HRSA’s generic clearance and will be included in the total burden currently approved by OMB under OMB Control No. 0915-0212.

15. Plans for Analysis and Timetable of Key Activities

The DIR will perform analysis of data from each individual review for process and quality improvement of the review experience. Narrative information from the surveys will be summarized and examined using descriptive analysis. Findings will only be used for internal service improvement and will not be generalized to the public. The information collected from the assessment forms will not be published outside of the Agency.

17. Exemption for display of Expiration Date

No exemption is requested. The expiration date will be displayed.

18. Certification

This information collection activity will comply with the requirements in 5 CFR 1320.9.

Attachments

1. HRSA Survey Assessment of Objective Peer Review –Reviewer Form 1 (7 screen shots)

2. HRSA Survey Assessment of Objective Peer Review – Chair Form 2 (5 screen shots)