Supporting Statement Part A

Request for Approval under the “Generic Clearance for the Collection of Routine Customer Feedback” (OMB Control Number: 0935-0179)

TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION:

MONAHRQ Program Evaluation End User Focus Groups Protocol

PURPOSE:

The availability of comparative, high-quality, and timely information about health care is a fundamental part of the promise not only for better services, but also for more consumer opportunities to make informed choices based on accurate information. AHRQ is working to fulfill that promise with its MONAHRQ software. The evaluation of the MONAHRQ program is intended to support AHRQ in better understanding the strengths and challenges faced by MONAHRQ, and its place in the world of comparative health quality, cost, and resource use information. The evaluation will also provide recommendations on how to strengthen MONAHRQ and make it more widely accessible. This request is for the collection and analysis of data through a series of focus groups with professional and consumer end users of the web sites generated by the MONAHRQ software. The information will be used to improve MONAHRQ software and its utility to a variety of audiences.

DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS:

There are two primary audiences for the focus groups: (1) Health care consumers, including patients, care-takers, and family members, and (2) professional users of health care information, including health care organization administrators, health care researchers, and health care policy-makers.

TYPE OF COLLECTION: (Check one)

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

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

[√] 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: Alberto Bouroncle_________________________________________

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

Personally Identifiable Information:

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

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

3. If Applicable, has a System or Records Notice been published? [ ] Yes [ ] No [x] not applicable

Gifts or Payments:

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

An electronic $50 gift card will be offered to participating healthcare consumers.

Category of Respondent: (the options here are Public Sector or Private Sector, or both)

BURDEN HOURS

Category of Respondent	No. of Respondents	Participation Time	Burden
Both	24	90 minutes each	36 hrs
Both	40	90 minutes each	60 hrs
Totals	64 respondents		96 hours

FEDERAL COST: The estimated annual cost to the Federal government is $5,500.00, which includes (1) $5360 in instrument development, fielding, and analysis, and (2) $140 (2.5 hours at the GS-15 level) in task review and oversight.

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? [ ] Yes [x ] 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?

For consumer end users, the evaluation team will recruit participants at two libraries in Washington, DC (416 Cedar St NW, Washington, DC) and Takoma Park, MD (101 Philadelphia Ave, Takoma Park, MD 20912). Libraries are an important resource for health information for people without personal access to computers. There has been a state-level, national level, and international level movement over the past decade to develop the skills and resources to situate libraries as an important resource for public health information. LTG Associates worked with the California State Library (CSL) to assess the understanding of stakeholders as to how libraries could be supportive of accurate health information and act in an extended partnership to the health care system. Consumers, clinicians, and libraries were all participants in the assessment as CSL was planning support for its member network to build capacity to respond to growing consumer desire for information and to be able to serve those without consistent access to Internet resources. This research and other efforts by the National Library of Medicine and the American Library Association point to the need and the potential of local libraries to be an important resource. According to the American Association for the Advancement of Science in a 2010 report¹, “One of the biggest challenges today’s librarians face is an insatiable consumer demand for health information.” Using the libraries as a venue and a resource for recruitment of participants will help to ensure that those who live below the “digital divide” but who are likely to search health information can participate in research.

These two libraries have been chosen because they represent different jurisdictions -Washington, D.C. being relatively resource poor and the City of Takoma Park in Montgomery County, Maryland being relatively resource rich. They are within one mile of one another and both have made significant investments in making computer technology available to library users. Both are also proximate to LTG’s office making the outreach and recruitment highly cost-effective.

Respondents will be recruited by posting flyers in the libraries which will advertise the purpose of the focus groups, the date(s) and time(s), the incentive, and the desired participant characteristics. Desired participants are those who do not have regular, personal access to information on the Internet, that is, do not have a Web-enabled computer at home, and those who use library computers or consult with librarians to gain access to health or services information. Interested individuals will be asked to call a number at LTG Associates to sign up for a particular focus group. When both groups are full, all flyers will be removed from the libraries and additional callers will be thanked for their interest and informed that the groups have been filled.

For professional end users, previously conducted key informant interviews provide a solid pool of professional end users (including healthcare providers, professional associations, hospital groups, academic researchers, etc.) across the country.

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

[x] 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.

List of Attachments:

• MONAHRQ Consumer End Users Focus Group protocol

• MONAHRQ Professional End Users Focus Group protocol

1 “The Challenge of Providing Consumer Health Information Service in Public Libraries”. American Association for the Advancement of Science 2010.