ONC Grants Announced
The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) has recently release more information on two grant programs. The HITECH Act authorizes two grant programs: (1) a Health Information Technology Extension Program (Extension Program) and (2) the State Health Information Exchange Coopertive Agreement Program (Agreement Program). This program provides grants for the establishment of Health Information Technology Regional Extension Centers that will offer technical assistance, guidance and information on best practices to support and accelerate health care providers’ efforts to become meaningful users of Electronic Health Records (EHRs). The consistent, nationwide adoption and use of secure EHRs will ultimately enhance the quality and value of health care. The State Health Information Exchange Cooperative Agreement Program supports states and/or State Designated Entities (SDEs) in establishing health information exchange (HIE) capacity among health care providers and hospitals in their jurisdiction. Such efforts at the state level will establish and implement appropriate governance, policies and network services within the broader national framework to rapidly build capacity for connectivity between and among health care providers. State programs to promote HIE will help to realize the full potential of EHRs to improve the coordination, efficiency and quality of care. For those interested ONC has made available a “grants primer” (avaliable at http://healthit.hhs.gov/portal/server.pt/gateway/PTARGS_0_10741_877878_0_0_18/Grants_Primer_update.pdf). The primer will help a state find and apply for grants.
Health Information Technology Extension Program- Regional Centers
Grants are available to Regional Centers that are affiliated with a U.S.-based, nonprofit institution or organization, or an entity thereof, that applies for and is awarded funding under the Extension Program. “The program anticipates that potential applicants will represent various types of nonprofit organizations and institutions with established support and recognition within the local communities they propose to serve.”
Principally Regional Centers will support health care providers with direct, individualized and on-site technical assistance in:
- Selecting a certified EHR product that offers best value for the providers’ needs;
- Achieving effective implementation of a certified EHR product;
- Enhancing clinical and administrative workflows to optimally leverage an EHR system’s potential to improve quality and value of care, including patient experience as well as outcome of care; and,
- Observing and complying with applicable legal, regulatory, professional and ethical requirements to protect the integrity, privacy and security of patients’ health information.
The Grant Process
“The application review and funding process will be separated into three application cycles, the dates of which are outlined in the table below. Applicants will be required to submit a preliminary application that will undergo an objective review; successful preliminary applicants will be requested to submit a full application for merit review. Successful full applications will result in award of four-year cooperative agreements. Initial award decisions for Regional Centers are anticipated to be made in the first quarter of FY2010. Additional awards are expected to be made as a result of two subsequent application cycles to be completed in FY2010.”
|
Initial Cycle |
Approx Funding |
Preliminary Application |
Preliminary Approval |
Full Applications |
Awardee Selection |
| 1 | $189 mm | Sep. 8, 2009 | Sep. 29, 2009 | Nov. 3, 2009 | Dec. 11, 2009 |
| 2 | $225 mm | Dec. 22, 2009 | Jan. 19, 2010 | March 2, 2010 | Apr. 27, 2010 |
| 3 | $184 mm | Jun. 1, 2010 | Jun. 22, 2010 | August 3, 2010 | Sept. 28, 2010 |
State Grants to Promote Health Information Technology Planning and Implementation Projects
“The State Cooperative Agreements to Promote Health Information Technology: Planning and Implementation Projects are to advance appropriate and secure health information exchange (HIE) across the health care system. Awards will be made in the form of cooperative agreements to states or qualified State Designated Entities (SDEs). The purpose of this program is to continuously improve and expand HIE services over time to reach all health care providers in an effort to improve the quality and efficiency of health care. Cooperative agreement recipients will evolve and advance the necessary governance, policies, technical services, business operations and financing mechanisms for HIE over a four year performance period. This program will build off of existing efforts to advance regional and state level HIE while moving towards nationwide interoperability.”
Participating states will also be expected to use their authority and resources to:
- Develop and implement up-to-date privacy and security requirements for HIE;Develop directories and technical services to enable interoperability within and across states;
- Coordinate with Medicaid and state public health programs to enable information exchange and support monitoring of provider participation in HIE.
- Remove barriers that may hinder effective HIE, particularly those related to interoperability across laboratories, hospitals, clinician offices, health plans and other health information exchange partners;
- Ensure an effective model for HIE governance and accountability is in place; and
- Convene health care stakeholders to build trust in and support for a statewide approach to HIE.
“Total funding for this initiative is $564,000,000. States (including territories) or their non-profit SDEs may apply, as designated by the state. No more than one award will be made per state. States may choose in enter into multi-state arrangements.”
| Item to Submit | Date[1] | Section Reference |
| Letter of Intent | September 11, 2009, by 5:00pm EST | Section IV.B.1 – Application and Submission Information |
| Application | October 16, 2009 by 5:00pm EST | Section IV – Application and Submission Information |
| Award Announcements | December 15, 2009 | IV.A – Award Administration Information |
| Anticipated Project Start Date | Beginning January 15, 2010 | IV.A – Award Administration Information |
See http://healthit.hhs.gov/portal/server.pt?open=512&objID=1331&parentname=CommunityPage&parentid=47&mode=2&in_hi_userid=11113&cached=true# for more information.
See also http://healthit.hhs.gov/portal/server.pt?open=512&objID=1333&parentname=CommunityPage&parentid=47&mode=2&in_hi_userid=11113&cached=true#
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The first two HITECH priority grant programs, funded through the Recovery Act, support the national implementation of electronic health records (EHRs) initiative.
Approximately $598 million is being made available through the Health Information Technology Extension Program (Extension Program), to ensure that comprehensive support is available to health technology users.
Under the State Health Information Exchange Cooperative Agreement Program $564 million will be awarded to support efforts to achieve widespread and sustainable health information exchange (HIE) within and among States through the meaningful use of certified Electronic Health Records.
State Health Information Exchange Cooperative Agreement Program
The State Health Information Exchange Cooperative Agreement Program will help States and Qualified State Designated Entities (SDEs) to develop or align the necessary policies, procedures and network systems to assist electronic information exchange within and across states, and ultimately throughout the health care system. A key to this program’s overall success will be technical, legal and financial support for information exchanges across health care providers.
The Extension Program will provide grants for the establishment of Regional Health Information Technology Extension Centers (Regional Centers) that will offer technical assistance, guidance and information on Electronic Health Records best practices. These estimated 70 (or more) Regional Centers each will serve a defined geographic area. The Regional Centers will support at least 100,000 primary care providers, (and receive $5,000 for EACH PROVIDER that is successful at “meaningful use”) through participating non-profit organizations, in achieving meaningful use of EHRs and enabling nationwide health information exchange with direct, individualized and on-site technical assistance in:
Selecting a certified EHR product that offers best value for the providers’ needs;
Achieving effective implementation of a certified EHR product;
Enhancing clinical and administrative workflows to optimally leverage an EHR system’s potential to improve quality and value of care, including patient experience as well as outcome of care; and,
Observing and complying with applicable legal, regulatory, professional and ethical requirements to protect the integrity, privacy and security of patients’ health information.
The Extension Program will also establish a national Health Information Technology Research Center (HITRC), funded separately, which will gather relevant information on effective practices from a wide variety of sources across the country and help the Regional Centers collaborate with one another and with relevant stakeholders to identify and share best practices in EHR adoption, effective use, and provider support.
Grants under the Extension Program will be awarded on a rolling basis with an expected 20 grants awarded in the first quarter of FY2010, another 25 in the third quarter and the remaining awards in the fourth quarter of FY2010. The initial funding includes approximately $598 million to ensure that comprehensive support is available to providers under the Extension Program beginning early in FY2010, with an additional $45 million available for years 3 and 4 of the program. Federal support continues for four years, after which the program is expected to be self-sustaining. Of the total federal investment in this program, about $50 million is dedicated to establishing the national HITRC, and $643 million is devoted to the Regional Centers.
The law requires that Regional Centers be affiliated with a U.S.-based, nonprofit institution or organization, or an entity thereof, that applies for and is awarded funding under the Extension Program. The program anticipates that potential applicants will represent various types of nonprofit organizations and institutions with established support and recognition within the local communities they propose to serve.
The performance of each Regional Center will be evaluated every two years by a HHS-appointed panel of private experts, none of whom are associated with the center being evaluated. Continued support for the Regional Center after the conclusion of the second year of performance will be contingent on the panel’s evaluation being, on the whole, positive and on HHS’ determination that such continued federal support for the center is in the best interest of the program.
The Regional Centers will focus their most intensive technical assistance on clinicians (physicians, physician assistants, and nurse practitioners) furnishing primary-care services, with a particular emphasis on individual and small group practices (fewer than 10 clinicians with prescriptive privileges). Clinicians in such practices deliver the majority of primary care services, but have the lowest rates of adoption of EHR systems, and the least access to resources to help them implement, use and maintain such systems. Regional Centers will also focus intensive technical assistance on clinicians providing primary care in public and critical access hospitals, community health centers, and in other settings that predominantly serve uninsured, underinsured, and medically underserved populations.
The Extension Program expects all Regional Centers to be operating at full capacity by the end of December 2010. In addition, it is expected that by the end of December 2012, the Regional Centers will be largely self-sustaining and their need for continued federal support in the remaining two years of the program will be minimal.
Additional information is available at http://healthit.hhs.gov/extensionprogram