Request for Approval

Request for Approval under the “Generic Clearance for the Collection of Routine Customer Feedback” (OMB Control Number: 0920-1027)

TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION: Virtual Focus Groups for Exploratory Research with Primary Care Physicians (DVH) 2017

PURPOSE:
The purpose of the proposed virtual focus groups with primary care providers is to explore knowledge and attitudes about hepatitis C and implementation of CDC’s hepatitis C testing recommendations. This information will be used inform CDC’s Know More Hepatitis (KMH) campaign. The KMH campaign targets Americans born from 1945-1965 and primary care physicians who see patients born during those years to encourage hepatitis C testing. People born from 1945-1965 account for approximately 75% of people living with hepatitis C. Both CDC and the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommend testing people born from 1945-1965 for hepatitis C. CDC developed the Know More Hepatitis campaign to promote CDC’s recommendation. Testing identifies people living with hepatitis C, which can lead them to get into medical care and treatment. New and improved treatments can now cure the disease for many people. If CDC’s recommendation to test people born 1945-1965 is fully implemented, an estimated 120,000 lives can be saved over the next 10-20 years. This effort will help identify motivators and barriers to recommended hepatitis C testing by primary care physicians, as well as help establish potential interventions. CDC is sponsoring this effort, which is intended to improve the current campaign and ensure high quality of information offered to the public.

DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS:

The respondents will be selected based upon the telephone screening for eligibility and their capacity for implementing CDC’s hepatitis C testing recommendations. Respondents will be primary care physicians who: spend 50% or more of their practice time caring for adults; completed medical residency from 1977-2014; provides direct patient care at least 20 hours per week; and do not work or have an affiliation with any government agency, academic institutions, pharmaceutical companies or research labs. As such, the respondents represent either current or potential customers of the Know More Hepatitis campaign.

TYPE OF COLLECTION: (Check one)

[ ] Customer Comment Card/Complaint Form [ ] Customer Satisfaction Survey

[ ] Usability Testing (e.g., Website or Software) [ ] Small Discussion Group

[X] Focus Group [ ] Other: ______________________

CERTIFICATION:

I certify the following to be true:

1. The collection is voluntary.

2. The collection is low-burden for respondents and low-cost for the Federal Government.

3. The collection is non-controversial and does not raise issues of concern to other federal agencies.

4. The results are not intended to be disseminated to the public.

5. Information gathered will not be used for the purpose of substantially informing influential policy decisions.

6. The collection is targeted to the solicitation of opinions from respondents who have experience with the program or may have experience with the program in the future.

Name: Cynthia Jorgensen, DrPH_and Alycia Downs

To assist review, please provide answers to the following question:

Personally Identifiable Information:

1. Is personally identifiable information (PII) collected? [ ] Yes [X] No

2. If Yes, is the information that will be collected included in records that are subject to the Privacy Act of 1974? [ ] Yes [ ] No

3. If Applicable, has a System or Records Notice been published? [ ] Yes [X ] No

Gifts or Payments:

Is an incentive (e.g., money or reimbursement of expenses, token of appreciation) provided to participants? [ ] Yes [ X] No

BURDEN HOURS

Category of Respondent	No. of Respondents	Participation Time	Burden
Individuals Screened	400	10 minutes	67 hours
Primary care physicians – Focus Group	96	90 minutes	144 hours
Totals	496		187 hours

FEDERAL COST: The estimated annual cost to the Federal government is $800

If you are conducting a focus group, survey, or plan to employ statistical methods, please provide answers to the following questions:

The selection of your targeted respondents

1. Do you have a customer list or something similar that defines the universe of potential respondents and do you have a sampling plan for selecting from this universe? [X] Yes [ ] No

If the answer is yes, please provide a description of both below (or attach the sampling plan)? If the answer is no, please provide a description of how you plan to identify your potential group of respondents and how you will select them?

CDC has hired KRC Research, a communications and health care research firm to screen primary care physicians for eligibility for the CDC sponsored focus groups. Participants will be identified and recruited from a large proprietary national database of physicians available to KRC. Primary care providers in the database have already agreed to participate in health care or public health related focus groups conducted by KRC. Physicians will contacted by telephone and asked questions to determine eligibility for this specific project. The main criteria for eligibility will be that they are a primary care physician who: has 50% or more of their practice caring for adults; completed medical residency from 1977-2014; provides direct patient care at least 20 hours per week; and does not work or have an affiliation with any government agency, academic institutions, pharmaceutical companies, or research labs. As such, the respondents represent either current or potential customers of the Know More Hepatitis campaign.

The eligibility phone call will last approximately 10 minutes. Eligible and interested respondents will then be asked to volunteer for a one of six 90-minute focus group at a predetermined time. Meeting these criteria means that these respondents represent either current or potential customers

Participants will be asked to volunteer for a focus group at a predetermined time and told that the group will be approximately 90 minutes in length. The purpose of the group is to explore knowledge and attitudes about hepatitis C and awareness and of the CDC’s hepatitis C testing recommendations among primary care physicians. This effort will help identify barriers and motivators for and primary care physicians to test their patients for hepatitis C. The moderator guide is attached.

The information will be collected through a discussion led by a trained moderator using the Focus Group Discussion Guide (Attachment 2). In addition, participants will utilize on online tool that will serve only as to help the moderator lead the discussion. In addition, responses to the questions can serve as a validity check for opinions expressed about a specific topic. Use of this online component allows the moderator to see opinions prior to the discussion and can help minimize any influence of a dominant participant.

Information gained from the focus groups will be in aggregate note format and will not contain any names or other personally identifiable information. The information gained from the focus groups will be qualitative in nature, and not used to generate statistical or generalizable information. Following the groups, a report will be prepared of content from the groups and will analyze the information to identify key themes, insights, and findings. The findings will be used by project staff to improve campaign messages, materials and outreach strategies. Information is internal and is not intended for release outside of the agency.

Administration of the Instrument

1. How will you collect the information? (Check all that apply)

[X] Web-based or other forms of Social Media

[X] Telephone

[ ] In-person

[ ] Mail

[ ] Other, Explain

2. Will interviewers or facilitators be used? [X] Yes [ ] No

Please make sure that all instruments, instructions, and scripts are submitted with the request.

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