Approved with VA
response to OMB questions and comments including revisions to
language addressing confidentiality.
Inventory as of this Action
Requested
Previously Approved
01/31/2009
36 Months From Approved
7,250
0
0
3,625
0
0
0
0
0
The Joint Commission on the
Accreditation of Hospital Organizations (JCAHO) is poised to adopt
the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Health Plan Survey (HCAHPS) as
a national standard survey for inpatients and VA needs to conform
with private sector surveys to the extent possible so that VA can
have a means of comparing customer service performance with
comparable non-VA healthcare facilities nationwide. On December 12,
2005, OMB approved the HCAHPS survey instrument for use by the
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) under approval
number 0938-0981. However, before Veterans Health Administration
(VHA) implementation, it is necessary to test the possible
consequences of using the HCAHPS alone versus in combination
similar questions on the existing Veterans Health Administration
(VHA) Survey of Healthcare Experiences of Patients (SHEP) Inpatient
survey (approved under 2900-0227). The SHEP contains a broader
range of questions mandated by Congress. A series of five pilots is
proposed to develop the future patient satisfaction survey for
hospitalized veterans.
US Code:
38
USC 527 Name of Law: Evaluation and data collection
EO: EO 12862 Name/Subject of EO: SETTING CUSTOMER
SERVICE STANDARDS
Pilot results will determine
content and survey methods for future rounds of customer
satisfaction surveys. VHA proposes a five-part piloting of the
HCAPHS survey instrument to better understand how this
questionnaire (either alone or combined with all or part of VHAs
current inpatient questionnaire) will perform in measuring patient
satisfaction, and what will be the effect on response rate. In
addition, we intend to determine how the HCAHPS sampling methods
work in the population of Veteran inpatients, and how those results
may differ from current methods. This pilot study is designed to
obtain baseline results on how veteran patients respond to
healthcare related questions using the HCAHPS survey, and modified
versions as compared to responses to similar questions on the
existing Survey of Healthcare Experiences of Patients (SHEP)
Inpatient survey (approved under 2900-0227), to identify and test
methods for maintaining the ability to validly trend performance
results should VHA pursue adopting HCAHPS as the standard survey
for inpatients. The purpose of the pilots is to prepare VA to
conform to future AHRQ standards for Medicare claims. The purpose
of these patient satisfaction surveys is to determine how to
improve services, customer satisfaction with existing services and
how or if customer satisfaction has changed in response to
reengineering efforts. The results will be used by management at
all levels as a tool for assessing and improving the quality of
services being provided to patients. Patient satisfaction scores
are part of the evaluation system for senior VHA managers.
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that
the collection of information encompassed by this request complies
with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR
1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding
the proposed collection of information, that the certification
covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a
benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control
number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of
these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked
and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.