2017-20606. Request for Public Comment: 60 Day Notice for Extension of Fast Track Generic Clearance for the Collection of Qualitative Feedback on Agency Service Delivery: IHS Customer Service Satisfaction and Similar Surveys

AGENCY:

Indian Health Service, HHS.

ACTION:

Notice and request for comments. Request for extension of approval.

SUMMARY:

In compliance the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Indian Health Service (IHS) invites the general public to take this opportunity to comment on the information collection Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Control Number 0917-0036, “Generic Clearance for the Collection of Qualitative Feedback on Agency Service Delivery” for approval under the Paperwork Reduction Act. This collection was developed as part of a Federal Government-wide effort to streamline the process for seeking feedback from the public on service delivery. This notice announces our intent to submit this collection to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for approval and solicits comments on specific aspects for the proposed information collection.

A copy of the draft supporting statement is available at www.regulations.gov (see Docket ID IHS_FRDOC_0001-[insert number]).

DATES:

Consideration will be given to all comments received by November 27, 2017.

For Comments: Submit comments to Evonne Bennett-Barnes by one of the following methods:

• Mail: Evonne Bennett-Barnes, Information Collection Clearance Officer, Indian Health Service, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, MD 20857.
• Phone: [phone].
• Email: [e-mail].
• Fax: [phone].

Comments submitted in response to this notice will be made available to the public by publishing them in the 30 day Federal Register notice for this information collection. For this reason, please do not include information of a confidential nature, such as sensitive personal information or proprietary information. If comments are submitted via email, the email address will be automatically captured and included as part of the comment that is placed in the public docket and made available on the Internet. Please note that responses to this public comment request containing any routine notice about the confidentiality of the communication will be treated as public comments that may be made available to the public notwithstanding the inclusion of the routine notice.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

To request additional information, please contact Evonne Bennett-Barnes, [e-mail] or 301-443-4750.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

The IHS is submitting the proposed information collection to OMB for review, as required by section 3507(a)(1)(D) of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. This notice is soliciting comments from members of the public and affected agencies as required by 44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A) concerning the proposed collection of information to: (1) Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including whether the information will have practical utility; (2) Evaluate the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of information; (3) Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and (4) Minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who are to respond; including through the use of appropriate automated collection techniques of other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting electronic submission of responses.

Title: Generic Clearance for the Collection of Qualitative Feedback on Agency Service Delivery: IHS Customer Service Satisfaction and Similar Surveys.

Type of Information Collection Request: Three year extension approval of this information collection.

OMB Control Number: 0917-0036.

Abstract: The proposed information collection activity provides a means to garner qualitative customer and stakeholder feedback in an efficient, timely manner, in accordance with the Administration's commitment to improving service delivery. Qualitative feedback is information that provides useful insights on perceptions and opinions, but is not statistical surveys that yield quantitative results that can be generalized to the population of study. This feedback will provide insights into customer or stakeholder perceptions, experiences and expectations, provide an early warning of issues with service, or focus attention on areas where communication, training or changes in operations might improve delivery of products or services. These collections will allow for ongoing, collaborative and actionable communications between the Agency and its customers and stakeholders. It will also allow feedback to contribute directly to the improvement of program management.

The solicitation of feedback will target areas such as: Timeliness, appropriateness, accuracy of information, courtesy, efficiency of service delivery, and resolution of issues with service delivery. Responses will be assessed to plan and inform efforts to improve or maintain the quality of service offered to the public. If this information is not collected, vital feedback from customers and stakeholders on the agency's services will be unavailable.

The agency will only submit a collection for approval under this generic clearance if it meets the following conditions:

• The collections are voluntary;
• The collections are low-burden for respondents (based on considerations of total burden hours, total number of respondents, or burden-hours per respondent) and are low-cost for both the respondents and the Federal Government;
• The collections are non-controversial and do not raise issues of concern to other Federal agencies; Any 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 near future;
• Personally identifiable information is collected only to the extent necessary and is not retained;
• Information gathered will be used only internally for general service improvement and program management purposes and is not intended for release outside of the agency;
• Information gathered will not be used for the purpose of substantially informing influential policy decisions; and Information gathered will yield qualitative information; and
• The collections will not be designed or expected to yield statistically reliable results or used as though the results are generalizable to the population of study.

Feedback collected under this generic clearance provides useful information, but it does not yield data that can be generalized to the overall population. This type of generic clearance for qualitative information will not be used for quantitative information collections that are designed to yield reliably actionable results, such as monitoring trends over time or documenting program performance. Such data uses require more rigorous designs that address: the target population to which generalizations will be made, the sampling frame, the sample design (including stratification and clustering), the precision requirements or power calculations that justify the proposed sample size, the expected response rate, methods for assessing potential non-response bias, the protocols for data collection, and any testing procedures that were or will be undertaken prior to fielding the study. Depending on the degree of influence the results are likely to have, such collections may still be eligible for submission for other generic mechanisms that are designed to yield quantitative results.

As a general matter, information collections will not result in any new system of records containing privacy information and will not ask questions of a sensitive nature, such as sexual behavior and attitudes, religious beliefs, and other matters that are commonly considered private.

Current Actions: Extension of approval for a collection of information.

Type of Review: Extension.

Affected Public: Individuals and households, businesses and organizations, and Tribal governments.

Estimated Number of Respondents: 105,000.

Below are projected annual average estimates for the next three years:

Average Expected Annual Number of activities: 100.

Average number of Respondents per Activity: 1050.

Annual responses: 105,000.

Frequency of Response: Once per request.

Average minutes per response: 10.

Burden hours: 17,500.

There are no direct costs to respondents to report.

All written comments will be available for public inspection on Regulations.gov.

An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number.

Comment Due Date: Your comments regarding this information collection are best assured of having full effect if received within 60 days of the date of this publication.

Dated: August 25, 2017.

Chris Buchanan,

Assistant Surgeon General, Deputy Director, Indian Health Service.