Group items tagged

This announcement solicits applications for the Rural Health Care Coordination Network Partnership Program (Care Coordination Program). The purpose of the Rural Health Care Coordination Network Partnership Program is to support the development of formal, mature rural health networks that focus on care coordination activities for the following chronic conditions: diabetes, congestive heart failure (CHF) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Care coordination in the primary care practice involves deliberately organizing patient care activities and sharing information among all of the participants concerned with a patient¿s care to achieve safer and more effective care. Rural Americans are unhealthier, with higher rates of chronic illnesses, such as diabetes, CHF, and COPD and have higher rates of high-risk behaviors such as smoking, physical inactivity, and poor nutrition.[1],[2],[3],[4] These high-risk behaviors cause many of the illnesses, suffering and deaths due to chronic diseases and conditions.[5] The increasing prevalence of chronic diseases and the high cost of health care in the U.S. bring treatment of the ¿whole¿ person to the forefront, especially as there are often psychosocial (psychological and social) issues related to chronic diseases; for example, there is a link between diabetes and depression. In addition, more mental health problems are seen in the primary care setting than other health care settings; thus, integrating behavioral health care into primary care helps address both the physical and psychosocial aspects of health and wellness. Reviews and reports from the Agency for Healthcare Quality and Research (AHRQ) have shown a positive impact from integrating a team approach to care for a variety of disease conditions.[6] Health care coordination for people living with chronic conditions is vital to providing high quality care, especially in rural areas where access to health care is an issue. The main goal of care coordi

This notice announces the opportunity to apply for funding under the Rural Health Innovation and Transformation Technical Assistance (RHIT-TA) program. The purpose of this program is to provide technical assistance (TA) to rural stakeholders and the public to help them understand and engage in the value-based care landscape in the context of rural health care. In an effort to control health care costs and improve the quality of care, public and private payers have increasingly implemented initiatives to encourage value-based care. Value-based care programs reward health care providers for the quality of care through the realignment of financial incentives towards value over volume. Because of the unique economic factors affecting rural providers, the implementation and effects of value-based care initiatives may look different in rural, low-volume settings. For example, low patient volumes, along with low margins, in rural settings can make it more difficult to absorb the financial risks associated with value-based care. Start-up costs for value-based care may seem prohibitive for some, while small volumes may make it more difficult to measure value and may increase the risk of skewed outcomes. At the same time, value-based care initiatives are evolving towards risk-based models, and there is a need to help stakeholders and the public understand how these changes affect rural health care. Therefore, a major goal of this funding opportunity is to support the ability of rural providers to participate and succeed in current and emerging payment and delivery system models designed to provide value-based care. Value-based care is one of the four priorities of the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

This notice announces the opportunity to apply for funding to maintain and strengthen the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program (RWHAP) Access, Care, and Engagement Technical Assistance Center (ACE TA Center), previously funded under Funding Opportunity Number HRSA-16-081, Building RWHAP Recipient Capacity to Engage PLWH in Health Care Access. This cooperative agreement will build the capacity of RWHAP recipients and subrecipients to ensure people living with HIV (PLWH) understand and use the range of health care coverage options available to facilitate access to and maintain engagement in care. The funded entity will work collaboratively with Health Resources and Services Administration's (HRSA) HIV/AIDS Bureau (HAB) on a national scale to achieve the following goals: Maximize PLWH engagement in health care through increased health literacy regarding how to access and engage with the health care system, including clinicians, support service providers, and other practitioners. Increase RWHAP recipient, subrecipient, provider, and PLWH awareness and understanding of, enrollment in, and/or utilization of health care coverage options available in the evolving health care landscape. Identify or develop strategies and messages for how "Treatment as Prevention" principles can be used to increase PLWH engagement in care and maintain health care coverage by outreach workers; health educators; case managers; peer navigators; health care navigators, certified application counselors, and other assisters; and administrators. Improve health outcomes across the HIV care continuum for PLWH. Ensure RWHAP funding remains a payor of last resort.

This announcement solicits applications for the National Training and Technical Assistance Cooperative Agreements (NCAs) Program to provide necessary technical and non-financial assistance to potential and existing Health Center Program[1] grantees and look-alikes (hereafter referred to as health centers) nationwide. The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) is seeking to fund up to four NCAs to provide training and technical assistance (T/TA) directly and through collaborative partnerships[2] to support health centers in providing better, more affordable care and improving the health of individuals and communities in accordance with the following Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) National Quality Strategy (NQS) priorities:[3] 1. Making care safer by reducing harm caused in the delivery of care. 2. Ensuring that each person and family is engaged as partners in their care. 3. Promoting effective communication and coordination of care. 4. Promoting the most effective prevention and treatment practices for the leading causes of mortality. 5. Working with communities to promote use of best practices to enable healthy living. 6. Making quality care more affordable and accessible for individuals, families, and the community by developing and spreading new health care delivery models. Target Areas Organizations that receive NCA funding under this announcement will provide specialized national T/TA to health centers in one of the following Target Areas: Oral Health: The Oral Health cooperative agreement will provide specialized T/TA to help health centers provide new high-quality oral health services, enhance the quality of oral health services currently provided, and accurately report on oral health care quality in annual reports to HRSA. Health Information Technology (HIT) and Data: The HIT and Data cooperative agreement will provide specialized T/TA to help health centers adopt, optimize, and implement meaning

This notice announces the opportunity to apply for funding under the Rural Health Network Development Planning Program ("Network Planning"). Health care networks can be an effective strategy to help smaller rural health care providers and health care service organizations align resources and strategies, achieve economies of scale and efficiencies, and address challenges more effectively as a group than as single providers. For example, a critical access hospital, a community health center, and a public health department may collaborate to form a network around a shared purpose. Other examples of health care providers could be: hospitals, public health agencies, home health providers, mental health centers, substance abuse service providers, rural health clinics, primary care providers, oral health providers, social service agencies, health profession schools, local school districts, emergency services providers, community and migrant health centers, federally-qualified health centers, tribal health programs, churches, faith-based organizations, and civic organizations that are/will be providing health care. The goals of the Network Planning program are centered around approaches that will aid providers in better serving their communities given the changes taking place in health care, as providers transition from focusing on the volume of services to focusing on the value of services. The intent is that rural health networks will expand access to care, increase the use of health information technology, explore alternative health care delivery models, and continue to achieve quality health care across the continuum of care from prevention and wellness to acute and long-term care.

The purpose of this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is to stimulate research evaluating the effect of care planning on self-management of late effects of cancer therapy; adherence to medications, cancer screening, and health behavior guidelines; utilization of follow-up care; survivors' health and psychosocial outcomes. How organizational-level factors influence the implementation of care planning and its associated costs is also of interest. Specifically, the FOA aims to stimulate research that will: 1) develop and test metrics for evaluating the impact of survivorship care planning; 2) evaluate the impact of survivorship care planning on cancer survivors' morbidity, self-management and adherence to care recommendations, utilization of follow-up care; 3) evaluate effects of planning on systems outcomes, such as associated costs and impact on providers and organizations implementing the care planning; and 4) identify models and processes of care that promote effective survivorship care planning. The ultimate goal of this FOA is to generate a body of science that will inform the development and delivery of interventions that improve follow-up care for cancer survivors.

This notice solicits applications for Advancing Systems of Services for Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs. The purpose of this program is to improve health and well-being for children and youth with special health care needs (CYSHCN) and their families by addressing three core systems focus areas for CYSHCN-access to patient/family-centered medical home, transition of youth into the adult health care system, and adoption of health care financing models that improve care and outcomes while achieving cost savings. This program will establish a national collaborative network of resource centers supporting state Title V programs, families of CYSHCN, child health professionals, and other stakeholders through the provision of technical assistance, training, education, partnership building, policy analysis, and research. Program Goal: The overall goal of this program is to strengthen the system of services for CYSHCN and their families by awarding three separate and distinct cooperative agreements. Cooperative agreements will be awarded to three recipients, who will collaborate to establish a national network of resource centers, with one center awarded for each of the following three focus areas: (1) Patient/family-centered medical home; (2) Transition of youth into the adult health care system; and (3) Health care financing models that improve care and outcomes while achieving cost savings. The three recipients will coordinate efforts to achieve quality care, decrease health care costs, and improve experience of care for CYSHCN and their families. An applicant can apply and be awarded only one focus area. For specific information about applying for one focus area, see Section IV. Application and Submission Information, Project Abstract.

Purpose This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) invites R01 grant applications for funding health services research that improves the quality of care and patient outcomes during transitions of care. The purpose of this FOA is to support large-scale research projects that rigorously test promising interventions aimed at improving communication and coordination during care transitions. Background Transitions of care are the movements of patients between providers or clinical settings which typically occur when primary care providers refer patients to specialty care, or when patients are discharged from the hospital to subsequent care settings. During care transitions, critical information aimed to improve the patient's condition and health outcomes needs to be accurately communicated and coordinated between health professionals, the patient, and the family to ensure that safe, high-quality care is provided and care continuity is maintained.

The purpose of this FOA is to solicit applications for the AD/ADRD Health Care Systems Research Collaboratory ("Collaboratory", henceforth) to improve care for persons with dementia (PWD) and their caregivers through health systems. Health and long-term systems for this FOA are defined broadly and include organizations providing care across settings to include primary and specialty outpatient care, acute inpatient care, skilled nursing and other rehabilitation facilities, residential long-term care, and home and community-based services. Organizations may be traditional health care systems (e.g., health maintenance organizations, or HMOs), health insurance companies, managed care plans, home health care providers, memory clinics, nursing homes, assisted living facilities, outpatient clinics, federally-designated health centers, hospitals, and other providers of acute and long-term care.

The purpose of this program is to support integrated rural health care networks that have combined the functions of the entities participating in the network, including skilled and experienced staff and a high functioning network board, in order to address the health care needs of the targeted rural community. Recipients will combine the functions of the entities participating in the network to address the following legislative aims: (i) achieve efficiencies; (ii) expand access, coordinate, and improve the quality of essential health care services; and (iii) strengthen the rural health care system as a whole. The RHND Program encourages innovative solutions to local health care needs identified by local communities and supports rural communities in preparing for changes within the health care environment. Furthermore, the program creates an opportunity for rural health networks to collaboratively address the key priorities of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS): mental health, substance use disorder, and value-based care. The overarching goals for the RHND Program are to: * Improve access and quality of health care in rural areas through sustainable health care programs created as a result of network collaboration; * Prepare rural health networks for the transition to value-based payment and population health management; * Demonstrate improved health outcomes and community impact; * Promote the sustainability of rural health networks through the creation of diverse products and services; * Utilize and/or adapt an evidence-based or promising practice model(s) in the delivery of health care services.

This announcement solicits applications for the Rural Health Network Development Planning Grant Program (¿Network Planning¿).   The purpose of the Network Planning program is to assist in the development of an integrated healthcare network, if the network participants do not have a history of formal collaborative efforts.  Health care networks can be an effective strategy to help smaller rural health care providers and health care service organizations align resources and strategies, achieve economies of scale and efficiency, and address challenges more effectively as a group than as single providers.  The Network Planning program promotes the planning and development of healthcare networks in order to: (i) achieve efficiencies; (ii) expand access to, coordinate, and improve the quality of essential health care services; and (iii) strengthen the rural health care system as a whole.  The health care system is undergoing a significant amount of change and this can be particularly challenging for small rural providers.  The goals of the Network Planning program represent ways to help rural providers better serve their communities given changes taking place in health care, as providers move from focusing on the volume of services to focusing on the value of services.  This program brings together key parts of a rural health care delivery system, particularly those entities that may not have collaborated in the past under a formal relationship, to work together to establish and improve local capacity and coordination of care.  Furthermore, this program supports one year of planning with the primary goal of helping networks create a foundation for their infrastructure and focusing member efforts to address important regional or local community health needs.

A public/private partnership, the Virginia Health Care Foundation helps uninsured Virginians and those who live in underserved communities receive medical, dental, and mental health care. To advance this mission, VHCF supports free clinics, community health centers, and other organizations working to expand both the types of care offered and the number of patients cared for each year. The foundation currently is accepting applications for its Health Safety Net Grants program. Through the program, grants will be awarded in support of programs that increase access to primary care for uninsured Virginians and those who live in areas with limited access to care by developing or expanding patient capacity; establishing a broader scope of service; creating local systems of care; and/or strengthening organizational infrastructure. To be eligible, applicants must be a Virginia-serving public agency or private nonprofit with 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status under the Internal Revenue Code or an organization with a tax-exempt fiscal sponsor, or an organization applying for federal tax-exemption under 501(c)(3). Free clinics or community health centers applying for grants must be members in good standing with either the Virginia Association of Free Clinics or the Virginia Community Healthcare Association. For complete program guidelines and application instructions, see the Virginia Health Care Foundation

This notice announces the opportunity to apply for funding under the Innovations in Access to Care for Children and Youth with Epilepsy Program. The purpose of this program is to support those working to improve access to coordinated, comprehensive, quality care for children and youth with epilepsy (CYE) in medically underserved and/or rural areas. The project will support recipients of funding under the Transforming Health Care for CYE program (HRSA-19-060) and provide national leadership and resources on practices, policies, and tools to improve the care of CYE. The recipient will coordinate HRSA-19-060 grant recipient activities and provide HRSA-19-060 grant recipients with technical assistance, training, and education to implement telehealth and telemedicine strategies and improve youth health care transition processes, communication and collaboration between primary and specialty care, data collection, quality improvement, and evaluation. Additionally, the recipient will analyze, compile and disseminate evidence-based and innovative practices, policies, tools, and resources related to health care management of CYE and develop partnerships with national organizations and key stakeholders to improve health care of CYE, especially those residing in rural and/or medically underserved areas.

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's (AHRQ) mission is to produce evidence to make health care safer, of higher quality, more accessible, equitable, and affordable, and to work within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and with other partners to make sure that the evidence is understood and used. AHRQ's Center for Quality Improvement and Patient Safety (CQuIPS) works to ensure patient safety in multiple settings with recent efforts to increase the development of processes including measures, metrics, tools and practices to increase patient safety in the ambulatory care setting and long term care facilities. This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) will fund large research demonstration and implementation projects that pertain to ambulatory care settings and long term care facilities with a focus on implementing evidence-based processes to improve patient safety, especially those involving transitions in care. AHRQ is interested in studies in these two settings that develop, utilize, and evaluate strategies to implement existing measures, metrics, tools or practices that have already been validated and have been shown to be efficacious in improving patient safety sites.

Health care professionals seek to ensure access to health care services in a manner that meets the standards set out in the Institute for Healthcare Improvement's Triple Aim (http://www.ihi.org/Engage/Initiatives/TripleAim/Pages/default.aspx): by improving the patient experience of care, improving the health of populations, and reducing the per capita cost of health care. The transportation sector seeks to improve mobility and access for many trip purposes, including work, shopping, social, and, importantly, health care. Effective transportation to health care services addresses the patient experience in traveling to and from health care and helps to ensure patient access to services that lead to better health outcomes.

Substantial progress has been made in the development and testing of efficacious theory-based developmentally focused prevention interventions designed to address modifiable proximal risk and protective factors with the goal of having an impact on distal mental health outcomes, including suicide behaviors and the occurrence of serious mental illness. Pediatric-serving primary care (including obstetrics/gynecological for pregnancy and post-partum, pediatric care, family practice, adolescent medicine) is a health care setting that holds potential for the implementation of mental health prevention interventions because it offers broad access and is non-stigmatizing. In addition, there is the potential for prevention interventions found to be efficacious in the primary care setting to be endorsed by the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) and covered under insurance. Because pediatric primary care offers broad access and is non-stigmatizing, it may be an appropriate setting for reaching populations who experience mental health disparities, including racial/ethnic minority groups, sexual and gender minorities, individuals living in rural areas, socioeconomically disadvantaged persons, or any other subgroup with documented disparities in prevalence of mental illnesses, mental illness trajectories, access to prevention services, and quality and outcomes of mental health care. Accordingly, this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) encourages studies that involve diverse populations, including groups that might experience health disparities, and as appropriate, it encourages examination of whether prevention services in primary care can potentially reduce or eliminate disparities.

Substantial progress has been made in the development and testing of efficacious theory-based developmentally focused prevention interventions designed to address modifiable proximal risk and protective factors with the goal of having an impact on distal mental health outcomes, including suicide behaviors and the occurrence of serious mental illness. Pediatric-serving primary care (including obstetrics/gynecological for pregnancy and post-partum, pediatric care, family practice, adolescent medicine) is a health care setting that holds potential for the implementation of mental health prevention interventions because it offers broad access and is non-stigmatizing. In addition, there is the potential for prevention interventions found to be efficacious in the primary care setting to be endorsed by the United States Prevention Services Task Force (USPSTF) and covered under insurance. Because pediatric primary care offers broad access and is non-stigmatizing, it may be an appropriate setting for reaching populations who experience mental health disparities, including racial/ethnic minority groups, sexual and gender minorities, individuals living in rural areas, socioeconomically disadvantaged persons, or any other subgroup with documented disparities in prevalence of mental illnesses, mental illness trajectories, access to prevention services, and quality and outcomes of mental health care. Accordingly, this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) encourages studies that involve diverse populations, including groups that might experience health disparities, and as appropriate, it encourages examination of whether prevention services in primary care can potentially reduce or eliminate disparities.

This notice announces the opportunity to apply for funding under the Rural Health Care Services Outreach Program (Outreach Program). The Outreach Program is a community-based grant program aimed towards promoting rural health care services by enhancing health care delivery to rural underserved populations in the local community or region. Through consortia of local health care and social service providers, communities can develop innovative approaches to challenges related to the specific health needs in rural areas that expand clinical and service capacity in rural communities. The overarching goals for the Outreach Program are to: * Expand the delivery of health care services to include new and enhanced services exclusively in rural communities; * Deliver health care services through a strong consortium, in which every consortium member organization is actively involved and engaged in the planning and delivery of services; * Utilize community engagement and evidence-based or innovative, evidence informed model(s) in the delivery of health care services; and * Improve population health, and demonstrate health outcomes and sustainability In addition to funding Outreach programs through the Regular Outreach track, in FY 21, FORHP will also afford applicants a unique opportunity to take part in a national effort that targets rural health disparities through a second track called the "Healthy Rural Hometown Initiative."

The purpose of the NHEPL is to reduce lupus related health disparities among racial and ethnic minority populations disproportionately affected by this disease by conducting a national lupus education initiative that includes the general public, health professionals and student trainees in targeted communities, schools and health care systems and practices. Three to five grantees will be funded to conduct this national initiative. These grantees will be responsible for conducting at least two of the following three priority activities: A. Conduct provider training to include physicians, nurses, pharmacists, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, and allied health professionals to engage them to improve lupus diagnosis and treatment through education, appropriate linkages to care, disease management, and enrollment in health coverage.B. Implement a lupus program through a comprehensive community level education effort that will serve persons living with lupus and their family members. The program will include: community outreach to improve awareness and understanding oflupus and management of primary and secondary conditions; access to care and coverage to increase the number of persons linked to health care services and enrolled in health coverage; and communication strategies such as electronic media and patient/provider software application development to improve disease management and outcomes and patient/provider communication.C. Develop and maintain patient and family care networks to identify strategies that address the emotional and social support needs of individuals diagnosed with lupus and their families and improve care coordination across the health care delivery system.

The Office of Rural Health Policy (ORHP) will fund a cooperative agreement to support a Rural Assistance Center (RAC). The RAC is a gateway to information on rural health for residents in rural areas of the United States and for all others interested in the issue. Through daily interactions and responding to inquiries and concerns, the RAC will be able to ensure that ORHP and the Department of Health and Human Services are informed of developing and ongoing grass-roots issues in the rural U.S. The role of ORHP as the Department of Health and Human Service¿s focal point for rural information allows its staff to identify key regulatory and statutory issues. The staff of ORHP will work collaboratively with the RAC to prioritize key issues and develop information resources to share with callers and web users. It is also expected that RAC staff will produce publications to respond to emerging issues. ORHP and Department staff will review RAC proposals for publications to ensure that critical issues are appropriately identified. When publications are prepared for release, ORHP and Department staff will review them for accuracy and completeness. The awardee must be able to identify and facilitate access to information from a wide range of sources that deal with aspects of rural health care. ORHP will also coordinate information sharing between the RAC and the Rural Health Research Centers, the Rural Recruitment and Retention Network, State Offices of Rural Health, and other projects that are funded by the Office. RAC staff will work with ORHP to develop strategies for dissemination of key research findings and for providing synthesis of key research findings. The applicant should be familiar with providers of Technical Assistance (TA) for rural health care providers funded by ORHP and be able to make referrals, avoid duplication of services, and ensure that rural residents are directed to appropriate resources for their information needs. The awardee will provide