Attachment B -- Federal Register Notice

Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 248 / Friday, December 28, 2007 / Notices
of the Loewenstein group; and Karl
Randecker, Jr., Cozad, Nebraska,
individually and as a member of the
Randecker group; to acquire control of
Stamford Banco, Inc., Stamford,
Nebraska, and thereby indirectly acquire
control of Community Bank, Alma,
Nebraska.
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve
System, December 21, 2007.
Robert deV. Frierson,
Deputy Secretary of the Board.
[FR Doc. E7–25158 Filed 12–27–07; 8:45 am]

holding company, by acquiring 100
percent of the voting shares of Great
Western Bancorporation, Inc., Omaha,
Nebraska, and thereby indirectly acquire
voting shares of Great Western Bank,
Watertown, South Dakota.
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve
System, December 21, 2007.
Robert deV. Frierson,
Deputy Secretary of the Board.
[FR Doc. E7–25157 Filed 12–27–07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6210–01–S

BILLING CODE 6210–01–S

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND
HUMAN SERVICES

FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM

Agency for Healthcare Research and
Quality

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Formations of, Acquisitions by, and
Mergers of Bank Holding Companies
The companies listed in this notice
have applied to the Board for approval,
pursuant to the Bank Holding Company
Act of 1956 (12 U.S.C. 1841 et seq.)
(BHC Act), Regulation Y (12 CFR Part
225), and all other applicable statutes
and regulations to become a bank
holding company and/or to acquire the
assets or the ownership of, control of, or
the power to vote shares of a bank or
bank holding company and all of the
banks and nonbanking companies
owned by the bank holding company,
including the companies listed below.
The applications listed below, as well
as other related filings required by the
Board, are available for immediate
inspection at the Federal Reserve Bank
indicated. The application also will be
available for inspection at the offices of
the Board of Governors. Interested
persons may express their views in
writing on the standards enumerated in
the BHC Act (12 U.S.C. 1842(c)). If the
proposal also involves the acquisition of
a nonbanking company, the review also
includes whether the acquisition of the
nonbanking company complies with the
standards in section 4 of the BHC Act
(12 U.S.C. 1843). Unless otherwise
noted, nonbanking activities will be
conducted throughout the United States.
Additional information on all bank
holding companies may be obtained
from the National Information Center
website at www.ffiec.gov/nic/.
Unless otherwise noted, comments
regarding each of these applications
must be received at the Reserve Bank
indicated or the offices of the Board of
Governors not later than January 18,
2008.
A. Federal Reserve Bank of New
York (Anne MacEwen, Bank
Applications Officer) 33 Liberty Street,
New York, New York 10045–0001:
1. National Australia Bank Limited,
Melbourne, Australia; to become a bank

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Agency Information Collection
Activities: Proposed Collection;
Comment Request
Agency for Healthcare Research
and Quality, HHS.
ACTION: Notice.
AGENCY:

SUMMARY: This notice announces the
intention of the Agency for Healthcare
Research and Quality (AHRQ) to request
that the Office of Management and
Budget (OMB) approve the proposed
information collection project:
‘‘Evaluation of the Effectiveness of
AHRQ’s Grant-Supported Research on
Healthcare Costs, Productivity, and
Market Forces.’’ In accordance with the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995,
Public Law 104–13 (44 U.S.C.
3506(c)(2)(A)), AHRQ invites the public
to comment on this proposed
information collection.
DATES: Comments on this notice must be
received by February 26, 2008.
ADDRESSES: Written comments should
be submitted to: Doris Lefkowitz,
Reports Clearance Officer, AHRQ, by Email at doris.lefkowitz@ahrq.hhs.gov.
Copies of the proposed collection
plans, data collection instruments, and
specific details on the estimated burden
can be obtained from the AHRQ Reports
Clearance Officer.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Doris Lefkowitz, AHRQ Reports
Clearance Officer, (301) 427–1477 or by
E-mail at doris.lefkowitz@ahrq.hhs.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Proposed Project
‘‘Evaluation of the Effectiveness of
AHRQ’s Grant-Supported Research on
Healthcare Costs, Productivity, and
Market Forces’’
The proposed information collection
will support AHRQ’s efforts to
systematically review the effectiveness

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of its grant-supported research on
healthcare costs, productivity, and
market forces since the late 1990s. In the
first phase of its ongoing evaluation,
AHRQ determined it had funded 149
grants in the area of cost, productivity,
organization and market forces since the
late 1990s (Krissik, Lake and Gold,
2007). Prior to this proposed
information collection, no evaluation of
these grants and their effects has been
conducted. Collecting such information
through a survey of the 149 grantees
will assist AHRQ in its mission of
supporting the synthesis and
dissemination of available scientific
evidence for use by patients, consumers,
practitioners, providers, purchasers,
policymakers, and educators. The
survey will provide information on
grant activities that is not currently
available, including up-to-date
information on grantee dissemination
activities and feedback on AHRQ’s role
in supporting research and
dissemination.
A survey of the universe of grantees
who were funded to carry out the abovedescribed health services research work
offers a rational and scientific approach
to collecting data on the impact of
AHRQ’s research in this area that is
otherwise not currently available. The
survey will be an integral part of
AHRQ’s overall evaluation, which
attempts to describe the research and
the pathways through which research
findings that it has supported are
disseminated and used. The survey
interviews principal investigators about
their grant research projects and will
capture data that systematically track
grant outcomes, providing information
on: (1) The main substantive findings
from the work and the ways they have
been communicated; (2) known impacts
of the work to date; (3) linkage of work
to other research in the field; (4) grantee
ratings of the support that AHRQ
provided before, during, and after award
and how AHRQ services for grantees
could be improved; and, (5) grantee
perceptions of AHRQ’s role in research
funding in this area and how sponsor
interest influences the topics that are
addressed.
Method of Collection
A web-based questionnaire will be
used to conduct the survey with AHRQ
grantees. A self-administered mode was
selected for this survey because
respondents may need to look up
information in order to answer some
questions. A self-administered mode
allows respondents to complete the
survey at their own pace and schedule.
If requested, a hardcopy of the

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Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 248 / Friday, December 28, 2007 / Notices

questionnaire will be mailed to the
respondent.

ESTIMATED ANNUAL RESPONDENT BURDEN
Form Name

Number of respondents

Number of responses per
respondent

149
149

1
na

AHRQ Grantee Survey ....................................................................................
Total .................................................................................................................

Hours per response

Total burden
hours

2
na

298
298

Average hourly wage rate*

Total cost burden

$42.98
na

$12,808
$12,808

ESTIMATED ANNUALIZED RESPONDENT COST BURDEN
Number of respondents

Form Name
AHRQ Grantee Survey ....................................................................................
Total .................................................................................................................

Total burden
hours

149
149

298
298

*Based upon the mean of the average wages for teachers (college and university), National Compensation Survey: Occupational Wages in the
United States 2005, U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Estimated Annual Costs to the Federal
Government
The proposed information collection
is part of a larger evaluation of the
effectiveness of AHRQ’s grant-supported
research on healthcare costs,
productivity, and market forces, which
includes a systematic review of the
research that AHRQ has funded, indepth interviews with grantees and
grant document review, case studies to
assess the effects and dissemination
pathways of market forces research, and
preparation of reports and briefings. The
cost to conduct the survey of identified
grantees is $38,962.

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Request for Comments
In accordance with the above-cited
Paperwork Reduction Act legislation,
comments on the AHRQ information
collection proposal are requested with
regard to any of the following: (a)
Whether the proposed collection of
information is necessary for the proper
performance of functions of the Agency,
including whether the information will
have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of
the Agency’s estimate of the burden
(including hours and costs) of the
proposed collection of information; (c)
ways to enhance the quality, utility, and
clarity of the information to be
collected; and (d) ways to minimize the
burden of the collection of information
on respondents, including the use of
automated collection techniques or
other forms of information technology.
Comments submitted in response to this
notice will be summarized and included
in the request for OMB approval of the
proposed information collection. All
comments will become a matter of
public record.

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Dated: December 17, 2007.
Carolyn M. Clancy,
Director.
[FR Doc. 07–6187 Filed 12–27–07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4160–90–M

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND
HUMAN SERVICES
Agency for Healthcare Research and
Quality
Agency Information Collection
Activities: Proposed Collection;
Comment Request
Agency for Healthcare Research
and Quality, HHS.
ACTION: Notice.
AGENCY:

SUMMARY: This notice announces the
intention of the Agency for Healthcare
Research and Quality (AHRQ) to request
that the Office of Management and
Budget (OMB) approve the proposed
information collection project: ‘‘Focus
Groups on Consumer Engagement in
Developing Electronic Health
Information Systems.’’ In accordance
with the Paperwork Reduction Act of
1995, Public Law 104–13 (44 U.S.C.
3506(c)(2)(A)), AHRQ invites the public
to comment on this proposed
information collection.
DATES: Comments on this notice must be
received by February 26, 2008.
ADDRESSES: Written comments should
be submitted to: Doris Lefkowitz,
Reports Clearance Officer, AHRQ, by email at doris.lefkowitz@ahrq.hhs.gov.
Copies of the proposed collection
plans, data collection instruments, and
specific details on the estimated burden
can be obtained from the AHRQ Reports
Clearance Officer.

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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Doris Lefkowitz, AHRQ Reports
Clearance Officer, (301) 427–1477, or by
e-mail at doris.lefkowitz@ahrq.hhs.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Proposed Project
‘‘Focus Groups on Consumer
Engagement in Developing Electronic
Health Information Systems’’
This project will consist of focus
groups to gain insights into healthcare
consumers’ awareness and perceptions
of Health Information Technology (IT),
and how best to engage consumers in
the development of these technologies.
AHRQ has so far invested significant
resources in initiatives to promote the
planning and development of new
Health IT that should improve
healthcare, lower healthcare costs, and
improve patient safety. For such
benefits to be maximized, it is important
to understand how consumers view
Health IT and how to engage them in
the design and implementation of future
innovations.
AHRQ will conduct 20 focus groups
(in addition to two pretest groups) with
healthcare consumers, that is persons
who have visited a healthcare provider
(either for their own health or the health
of a family member) in the previous two
years. For the most part, the groups will
be homogenous with respect to the
presence or absence of either of the
following characteristics: (a) Managing a
chronic health condition (or the
condition of a close family member), or
(b) Having visited at least three
healthcare providers in the past two
years.
Participants will be covered by a
range of health insurance plans, and
persons not covered by health insurance
will also be recruited. Some groups will
include only persons enrolled in a

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