$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.

Achieve IT Funding Through Study Meet Case Process

To maximize funding for the adoption of a health information technology (HIT) project, a simple formula should be followed, according to Michael Christopher, development analyst, Healthcare IT Transition Group.

The study meet case process “is the overarching strategy to acquiring external funding for IT projects, health IT projects in particular,” Christopher said during an audio Webcast, “How To Get Funding and Support For Your Healthcare IT Projects” presented by the Health Grants Information Center.

To begin, an internal study should be completed to determine what type of project your organization will take on.

Internally, this will allow your organization to objectify the need and pinpoint what areas are in need of improvement.

“Model the existing reality based on the processes you had in place. Then you simulate that model until you are familiar with it and then you discover the weaknesses, the bottlenecks, the ceilings, the waste, etc. Then you model a proposed reality, you look at that model and what you’d have to tweak,” said Christopher, a chief technology officer.

“You run your model again and see what you can do to widen the bottlenecks, eliminate the ceilings, the waste, etc. And then of course the final step in the process is to compare the existing with the proposed reality and see what the cost differential is getting from A to B,” he continued.

Once the needs are highlighted then the solution can be created by identifying the resources necessary to overcome the challenges.

“Now you take that internal model and you turn it into some language that you will begin talking to potential grant makers,” Christopher said.

The internal study will not only objectify the need, but will also prepare your feasibility study to determine what resources can be accessed and how the project should be designed to fit in with funders’ goals and objectives.

Christopher suggested talking with governmental offices at the local and state level as well as private philanthropists.

“You’ll want to interview them and tell them you’re looking for external funding but most of all you’re asking for their guidance about the project – Is this the project that we need in this particular community at this time? Is this the best way to meet these objectives? – You’re going to ask for guidance because they’re going to know about strategic initiatives and some shading on those strategic initiatives, health initiatives in our region.

“You want an understanding of those initiatives in your area that matches quite perfectly with the understanding of the funding committee,” Christopher pointed out.

“The real trick here is if there is a deep, dark secret, in how to fund health IT projects, it’s that there are health IT regional initiatives out there and there will [be] more of those kind of projects, so it’s a matter of getting involved with those initiatives, getting to understand them, borrowing their language, mapping your project to their accountability, needs, review and structures. And thereby getting their endorsement for your project,” he revealed.

After determining what the community needs are and what health IT initiatives may be in place, then your project should have the final mold to appeal to funders.

The feasibility study also begins the recruitment of support.

“Approaching grant makers is really about asking for their guidance first. The money request comes later; of course they always know what the discourse is going to be about. You need their involvement on that personal level, you need that connection and I’m talking in particular here about private funding resources,” he suggested to apply to private funders rather than government agencies to quicken the cash flow and to protect future funds.

“You engage the players in this process, potential funders by actually having them help you write this [proposal]. They become the keepers of the case. They have ownership in your project,” which could result in greater funds over time Christopher explained.

“Finding and closing those deals is about talking to those new friends, learning about the programs within their organizations, and opportunities that they know of outside their organization, maybe another foundation within their network, and of course getting introductions and endorsements leading to mobilizing that case for support and getting actual cash from it,” he continued.

“If there’s a best-kept secret, it’s that where the money is going to go is where other people wanted it to go long before your project ever came along. The best strategy of course is to find out where that is and be there to take that money, so you have to adjust your project sometimes to these initiatives as you begin to go through the process of looking at federal programs that are available you’re going to see that that’s not true there as well,” Christopher concluded.

Editor’s Note: A CD-ROM recording of the speaker presentations and all conference materials for “How To Get Funding and Support For Your Healthcare IT Projects” is now available to order online or by calling toll free (800) 516-4343.

For more information visit:

www.healthresourcesonline.com/edu/hit.htm

Address: Health Grants Information Center, Health Resources Publishing, 1913 Atlantic Ave., Ste. 200, Manasquan, NJ 08736; (732) 292-1100, www.healthresourcesonline.com.

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.