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Freedom of Information Activities

Annual Report, Fiscal Year 1999


Agency: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)

Report Prepared By: Nancy Comfort

Title: Freedom of Information Officer

Address: 2101 E. Jefferson Street, Rockville, MD 20852

Phone number: (301) 427-1866

Electronic Address for Report on the World Wide Web:

www.ahrq.gov/info/foiafy99.htm

Address For Paper Copies of Report:

Office of Health Care Information Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Suite 501 2101 E. Jefferson Street Rockville, MD 20852


How To Make a FOIA Request:

Submit a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) in writing, by mail or by fax.  The agency does not 
accept requests via telephone or email.  The address is as follows:

Nancy Comfort
Freedom of Information Officer 
Agency for Health Care Policy and Research
540 Gaither Road, Room 2222
Rockville, MD 20850 

Our fax number is: (301) 427-1873.

You may obtain additional information about FOIA and our agency by visiting our 
Web site at: http://www.ahrq.gov/news/foia.htm.


A.  Names, addresses, and telephone numbers of all individual agency components 
and offices that process FOIA requests:
  

N/A


B.  Brief description of agency's response time range(s):

                     Many of our requests were processed and completed within 10 working 
                      days.

C.  Brief description of why some requests are not granted:

                      Documents requested were not found.

Definitions of Terms and Acronyms Used in Report:

A.  Agency-specific acronyms or other terms:
AHCPR - Agency for Health Care Policy and Research
AHRQ - Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (formerly AHCPR) is an agency within the 
Department of Health and Human Services.  The agency is charged with 
supporting research designed to improve the quality of health care, reduce 
its cost and broaden access to essential services.

B.  Basic terms:

FOIA - Freedom of Information Act request.  A FOIA request is generally a 
request for access to records concerning a third party, an organization, or 
a particular topic of interest.

Processed/Completed Request - a request for which AHCPR took final action 
on the request.

Denial - AHCPR made a decision not to release any part of a record or records 
in response to a FOIA request because all the information in the requested 
records is determined by the agency to be exempt under one or more of the FOIAs 
exemptions, or for some procedural reason.

Exemption 3 statute - a separate federal statute prohibiting the disclosure 
of a certain type of information and authorizing its withholding under FOIA
subsection (b)(3).  
Exemption 2 statute - a federal statute prohibiting the disclosure of the 
agency's internal personnel rules and practices.


Exemption 3 Statutes:

A.  List of Exemption 3 statutes relied on by the agency during report year:

 None
1.  Brief description of type(s) of information withheld under each statute:

2.  Has a court upheld the use of each statute?  If so, cite example:

N/A

Initial FOIA/PA Access Requests

A.  Numbers of initial requests:

1.  Number of requests pending at close of preceding fiscal year: 0            
2.  Number of requests received during reporting fiscal year: 75
3.  Number of requests processed during reporting fiscal year: 75
4.  Number of requests pending at close of reporting fiscal year: 4            

B.  Disposition of Initial Requests:

1.  Number granted in full                          12
2.  Number granted in part                          48
3.  Number of full and partial denials		     2

a.  Number of times each FOIA exemption was used:

Exemption 1                  0
Exemption 2                  0
Exemption 3                  0
Exemption 4                  1
Exemption 5                  1
Exemption 6                  1
Exemption 7                  0
Exemption 8                  0
Exemption 9                  0

4.  Other reasons for non-disclosure (total)      13
a.  no records			                  10
b.  referrals	                                   1
c.  request withdrawn	                           2
d.  fee-related reason			           0				
e.  records not reasonably described	           0
f.  not a proper FOIA request for some other reason   0
g.  not an agency record		              0
h.  duplicate request				      0
i.  other (specify)			              0
Appeal of Initial Denials of FOIA/PA Requests:
A.  Numbers of Appeals: 
										
1.  Number of appeals received during the fiscal year: 0			                                                                               

2.  Number of appeals processed during the fiscal year: 0 				       

B.  Disposition of Appeals:	N/A

1.  Number completely upheld

2.  Number partially reversed

3. Number completely reversed
a.  Number of times each FOIA exemption used
Exemption 1
Exemption 2
Exemption 3
Exemption 4
Exemption 5
Exemption 6
Exemption 7(A)
Exemption 7(B)
Exemption 7(C)
Exemption 7(D)
Exemption 7(E)
Exemption 7(F)
Exemption 8
Exemption 9

4.  Other reasons for non-disclosure (total)      
a.  no records			                   
b.  referrals	                                   
c.  request withdrawn	                           
d.  fee-related reason			           				
e.  records not reasonably described	           
f.  not a proper FOIA request for some other reason   
g.  not an agency record		              
h.  duplicate request				      
i.  other (specify)			              

Compliance With Time Limits/Status of Pending Requests:
A.  Median Processing Time for Requests Processed During the Year.

1.  Simple Requests:
a.  number of requests processed                                  75
b.  median number of days to process                              24

2.  Complex Requests:
a.  number of requests processed                                   0
b.  median number of days to process                               0

3.  Requests Accorded Expedited Processing:
a.  number of requests processed                                0
b.  median number of days to process                            0

B.  Status of Pending Requests.

1.  Number of requests pending as of the end of the fiscal year
    covered in this report:  4
2.  Median number of days that such requests were pending as of that date:  2

Costs/FOIA Staffing:

A.  Staffing levels:

1.  Number of full-time FOIA personnel		           1
2.  Number of personnel with part-time or occasional 
    FOIA duties (in total work-years)                    1/4
3.  Total number of personnel (in work years)            3/4

B.  Total costs (including staff and all resources):

1.  FOIA processing (including appeals)           $29,980.00
2.  Litigation-related activities (estimated)             0
3.  Total costs                                   $29,980.00
4.  Comparison with previous year                

Fees:

A.  Total amount of fees collected by agency for processing requests: $1,413.60

B.  Percentage of total costs:  


Internet Citation:

Freedom of Information Activities: Annual Report, Fiscal Year 1999. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD. http://www.ahrq.gov/news/foiafy99.htm


 

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