Cover Letter

SUBMISSION OF INFORMATION COLLECTION UNDER THE

Generic Clearance for the Collection of Qualitative Feedback on Agency Service Delivery

DATE OF REQUEST: November 27, 2018

SUB AGENCY (I/C): HHS/AHRQ

TITLE: Information Gathering and Usability Testing to Harmonize AHRQ Data Tools

GENERIC CLEARANCE UNDER OMB#: 0935-0179 EXP. DATE: 11/30/2020

ABSTRACT:

AHRQ has a number of data tools online that allow users with little to no programming experience to use data. These include MEPS tables and MEPSnet (Household and Insurance Component), the Healthcare Cost and Use Project (HCUPnet and FastStats), the Quality and Disparities Reports and tables from the CAHPS user database.

This project will interview users (up to 10 for each tool) in order to assess needed improvements and identify ways that the tools could be harmonized across data sources to improve the user experience and reduce AHRQ’s total cost of developing and maintaining these tools. This collection is one of several activities feeding into this assessment.

This collection is entirely for AHRQ’s review of the tools and improving our service to customers. It is in no way related to a scientific or policy decision

TOTAL ANNUAL BURDEN APPROVED: 3,383 Hours Per year

BURDEN USED TO DATE: 404 hours.

BURDEN THIS REQUEST: 50 hours.

FEDERAL COST: The estimated annual cost to the Federal government is 1,268.69_.

IS RACE AND ETHNICITY DATA COLLECTED AS REQUIRED?

______YES ______ NO _____x_ N/A

OBLIGATION TO RESPOND:

___x___ VOLUNTARY

______ REQUIRED TO OBTAIN OR RETAIN BENEFITS

______ MANDATORY

HOW WILL THIS SURVEY BE OFFERED?

­____ WEB SITE

____ TELEPHONE INTERVIEW

_____ MAIL RESPONSE

__X___ IN PERSON INTERVIEW

____ OTHER: _

CONTACT INFORMATION:

NAME: _Erwin Brown______________________________

TELEPHONE NUMBER: 301.427.1652________________

EMAIL ADDRESS: _ebrown@ahrq.gov________________