03-11719. Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request; NCCAM Customer Service Data Collection

SUMMARY:

Under the provisions of Section 3507(a)(1)(D) of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), will submit to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) a request for review and approval of the information collection listed below. A notice of this proposed information collection was previously published in the Federal Register on February 24, 2003, page 8610-8611, and allowed 60 days for public comment. No public comments were received. The purpose of this notice is to announce a final 30 days for public comment. NIH may not conduct or sponsor, and the respondent is not required to respond to, an information collection that has been extended, revised, or implemented on or after October 1, 1995, unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number.

Proposed Collection

Title: NCCAM Customer Service Data Collection. Type of Information Collection Request: New. Need and Use of Information Collection: NCCAM provides the public, patients, families, health care providers, complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) practitioners, and others with the latest scientifically based information on CAM and information about NCCAM's programs through a variety of channels including its toll-free telephone information service and its quarterly newsletter. NCCAM wishes to measure customer satisfaction with NCCAM telephone interactions and the NCCAM newsletter and to assess which audiences are being reached through these channels. This effort involves a telephone survey consisting of 9 questions, which will be asked of 50 percent of all callers, for an annual total of approximately 4,059 respondents; and a newsletter survey consisting of 10 questions, which will be sent as a print survey to all newsletter subscribers, for an annual total of approximately 823 respondents. NCCAM will use the data collected from the surveys to help program staff measure the impact of their communication efforts, tailor services to the public and health care providers, measure service use among special populations, and assess the most effective media and messages to reach these audiences. Frequency of Response: Once for the telephone survey, and periodically for the newsletter survey (to measure any changes in customer satisfaction). Affected Public: Individuals and households. Type of Respondents: For the telephone survey, patient, spouse/family/friend of patient, health care providers, physicians, CAM practitioners, or other individuals contacting the NCCAM Clearinghouse; for the newsletter survey, subscribers to the NCCAM newsletter. The annual reporting burden is as follows.

Type of respondents	Estimated number of respondents	Estimated number of responses per respondent	Average burden hours per response	Estimated total annual burden hours requested
Telephone survey
Individuals or households	4,059	1	0.075	305
Newsletter survey
Individuals or households	823	2	0.050	82
Annualized totals	4,882			387

The annualized cost to respondents is estimated at $5,545 for the telephone survey and $1,312 for the newsletter survey. There are no Capital Costs to report. There are no Operating or Maintenance Costs to report.

Request for Comments

Written comments and/or suggestions from the public and affected agencies are invited on the following points: (1) Whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the function of the agency, including whether the information will have practical utility; (2) The accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of information, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions; (3) Ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and (4) Ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who are to respond, including the use of appropriate automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or other forms of information technology.

Direct Comments to OMB

Written comments and/or suggestions regarding the item(s) contained in this notice, especially regarding the estimated public burden and associated response time, should be directed to the Office of Management and Budget, Office of Regulatory Affairs, New Executive Office Building, Room 10235, Washington, DC 20503, Attention: Desk Officer for NIH. To request more information on the proposed project or to obtain a copy of the data collection plans and instruments, contact: Christy Thomsen, Director, Office of Communications and Public Liaison, NCCAM, 6707 Democracy Boulevard, Suite 401, Bethesda, MD 20892-5475; or fax your request to 301-480-3519; or e-mail [e-mail]. Ms. Thomsen can be contacted by telephone at 301-451-8876.

Comments Due Date

Comments regarding this information collection are best assured of having their full effect if received within 30 days of the date of this publication.

Dated: May 1, 2003.

Christy Thomsen,

Director, Office of Communications and Public Liaison, National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, National Institutes of Health.