$92.4 Million In HRSA Grants Demonstrates Interest In Funding Healthcare IT – Health Centers

Veteran grant seekers know that you must be familiar with a funder’s past history when you are conducting grant research for a new project.

That said, healthcare It is muy caliente now. But you still need to go back for your history lessons. Who really is interested in funding this particular topic?

Here’s an example worth keeping in your project file:

The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) awarded grants totaling $92.4 million to help Americans access healthcare services and health centers adopt electronic health records (EHRs).

Administrator Elizabeth Duke said $61 million will aide half a million people gain access to comprehensive primary and preventive services.

The health center grants are: 

• 75 grants totaling $36.5 million to create new health centers in low-income counties;
• 25 grants totaling $2 million to develop health centers in high poverty counties;
• Grants totaling $20 million to establish 41 new health centers in 25 states; and
• Grants totaling over $1 million to expand medical capacity at four existing health centers in:Arizona, Indiana and South Carolina.

The grants are in support of former President Bush’s initiative to increase access to primary healthcare services in 1,200 communities by supporting new or expanded health centers, said Duke.

Forty six grants were awarded to help health centers adopt EHRs and other health information technology (IT).

“Health IT has the potential to revolutionize healthcare especially for residents of underserved communities, and its expansion is a priority for HRSA,” said Duke.

The health IT grants were awarded to health centers in California, Delaware, Florida, Minnesota, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island and Utah. There were:

•  25 grants totaling $27 million to implement EHRs at health centers and networks linking multiple health center grantees;
• Eight grants totaling $1 million to help health centers plan activities to adopt EHRs or other healthcare IT; and
• 13 grants totaling $3 million to help health center networks implement physician order entry, personal health records, community health records, health information exchanges and smart cards.

Address: Health Resources and Services Administration, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, MD 20857; (301) 443-3376, www.hrsa.gov.

Understanding The Possibilities: AHRQ’s HIT Evaluation Funding

The types of funding that is or will be flowing from the federal government is illustrated in an Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). Look for similar types of funding programs coming from the various health agencies under the federal health IT stimulus money.

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) recently said it will fund real-world applications of health information technology (HIT) to evaluate efficiency in different care settings.

“The use of HIT has been demonstrated to improve healthcare in various large healthcare delivery systems. Yet, there has been limited diffusion and evaluation of the implementation and utility of HIT in ambulatory care settings and in transitions between care settings,” said AHRQ.

The grants will “support HIT demonstration projects that evaluate factors associated with successful implementation and utilization of health IT to improve the quality, safety, effectiveness and efficiency of healthcare in ambulatory settings and in the transitions between care settings,” said AHRQ.

Funding will be awarded to applicants who submit projects within the following research areas:

1) HIT to improve the quality and safety of medication management. This includes the utilization of medication management systems and technologies; ambulatory healthcare providers and out-patient pharmacists’ use of electronic prescribing systems and/or medication management technologies; integration of evidence-based decision support for priority conditions within electronic prescribing systems; and providing patients electronic tools to support medication self-management.

2) HIT to support patient-centered care. This includes a focus on the coordination of care across transitions in care settings and the use of electronic exchange of health information to improve quality of care. AHRQ defines patient-centered care as responsive to the needs and preferences of individual patients, provides patients and/or their caregivers with access to their medical information, facilitates communication between patients, caregivers and providers, and empowers patients to be active participants in care decisions and in the daily management of their health and illnesses.

3) HIT to improve health care decision making. This includes the development, implementation, and integration of health information tools, products or systems through the use of integrated data and knowledge management. AHRQ encourages research projects that propose use of HIT applications applying principles of evidence-based medicine including the use of the best available evidence, healthcare providers’ ability to execute their best judgment, and consideration of patients’ expressed treatment preferences.

Total funding available has not been determined, but each applicant is eligible for a maximum of $1.2 million over three years and not to exceed total costs of $500,000 per year. Applications asking or budgeting for more than the allotted amount will not be reviewed, AHRQ noted.

Eligible applicants are public or non private institution; a university or college; faith-based or community-based organization; local or state government; specific federal agencies; and Native- American tribal government. AHRQ will not fund for-profit organizations for this project.

The deadline for this particular program was May 7, 2009. But the idea is to stay on top of these kinds of opportunities.

Address: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, 540 Gaither Road, Rockville, MD 20850; (301) 427-1364, www.ahrq.gov.

Grants.gov: Record Applications, Alternate System To Process

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act infused the grant world with millions in opportunities, weighing down the government’s grant processing system, Grants.gov.

“Grants.gov has reached a new milestone, exceeding the number of submissions in FY 08 (fiscal year) before the end of FY 09,” said the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the administrator of Grants.gov.

“On May 18, Grants.gov processed a total of 205,591 applications, surpassing the 202,133 applications processed in FY 08 with more than four months remaining in FY 09,” HHS said.

Due to the influx of applications a few agencies will begin to accept application submissions through an alternate system.

“As a result, once you have identified your grant opportunity, be sure to carefully read the instructions to ensure you are following proper submission procedures for that application, even if you have applied before,” HHS cautioned.

The agencies to begin processing outside of Grants.gov are:

• Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS)
• Department of Defense (DOD)
• Department of Education (DOED)
• Department of Energy (DOE)
• Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
• Department of Justice (DOJ)
• Department of Treasury (DOT)
• Department of Transportation (DOT)
• Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
• National Air and Space Administration (NASA)
• Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
• National Science Foundation (NSF)

Grants.gov is compatible with Adobe Reader version 8.1.5 and 9.1.1, HHS noted.

Address: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Grants.gov, 200 Independence Ave. SW, HHH Building, Washington DC 20201; (800) 518-4726, www.grants.gov.