Appendix B. Interview Protocol

Oral Consent:

Before we begin I'd like to give you some background information on RAND and this study and also go over our confidentiality agreement.  RAND is a private nonprofit research institution that conducts independent and objective research and analysis to advance public policy.  RAND has been contracted by AHRQ to evaluate the impact of their children's health research. This interview is part of that evaluation.

Required Consent Procedures: Before we get started, let me assure you that your responses to these questions will be held in strict confidence, and will not be disclosed to anyone outside the project, except as required by law.  Summary information from these interviews, together with material taken from public documents, will be presented in reports; however, no specific individual will be identified by name or affiliation in any reports or publications without his or her permission. 

Your participation in this discussion is completely voluntary. We would like to have your responses to all of the questions; however, if you are uncomfortable with any question we can skip it.  We estimate that the interview will take about 1 hour.

Do you have any questions about our confidentiality procedures before we begin? (If yes, respond to all questions. If no, proceed with discussion).

Interview:

We are interested in understanding more about (Case Activity), as well as your impressions, more generally, with regard to AHRQ and its children's health activities. With regard to (Case Activity), we would like to know what impact it had, how that impact came about, and the role that AHRQ and other stakeholders played in bringing about this impact.

Background

1. How would you describe your work or your organization's work related to child health policy/clinical care/outcomes?
2. What work have you or your organization done related to (Case Activity)?

Impact

3. How would you describe the impact that this (Case Activity) had on child health policy/clinical care/outcomes?
   1. What, in your opinion, was the main impact of this work?
   2. What factors were most important in creating the impact?
   3. What factors prevented it from having a larger impact?

Process

4. How would you describe your involvement in this (Case Activity)?
5. How would you describe the role of other stakeholders in this (Case Activity)?
6. How would you describe AHRQ's role in this (Case Activity)?
7. How did the different stakeholders connect around this (Case Activity)?

AHRQ

8. What was it like to work with AHRQ in terms of this (Case Activity)?
   1. What were the positives and negatives?
   2. Where to improve?
9. What role did AHRQ play in connecting stakeholders around this (Case Activity)?
   1. How, if at all, did AHRQ partner with other HHS agencies in this case?
10. Do you know of others who were affected by this case?
11. What, if anything, could AHRQ have done to increase the impact of this (Case Activity)?
    1. Are there things you think AHRQ could do differently in similar cases in the future?
12. What was the most important aspect of AHRQ's involvement?
13. Comment on AHRQ staff's activities related to partnership, implementation, dissemination

I'd like to switch now to thinking about AHRQ and their children's health activities more broadly:

14. How do you see children's health activities fitting into the overall mission of AHRQ?
15. What are your impressions generally of AHRQ's children's health activities and their impact on policy, practice, or outcomes?
16. Can you comment on the ways that structural or organizational characteristics of AHRQ enhanced or diminished the impact of these activities?
17. Are there ways AHRQ could be organized differently to enhance the impact of its child health activities?

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