Call For R21 Applications To Address Health IT Safety

Notice Number: NOT-HS-HS-14-008

Key Dates
Release Date: February 7, 2014
Expiration Date: March 29, 2014

Related Announcements

None

Issued by
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)

Purpose

Areas of interest

The mission of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) is to produce evidence to make health care safer, higher quality, more accessible, equitable and affordable, and to work with HHS and other partners to make sure that the evidence is understood and used. AHRQ achieves this mission by supporting a program of health services research and by working with partners to promote improvements in clinical and health systems practice that benefit patients.

The 2011 Institute of Medicine report, "Health IT and Patient Safety: Building Safer Systems for Better Care", found large gaps in our knowledge of how health IT impacts overall patient safety. AHRQ is interested in funding focused research demonstration projects that provide evidence to inform the safe use of health IT. These projects would generate new evidence on safe health IT practices that could be used by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT, the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and others to inform health IT certification and other forms of policy guidance.

AHRQ is particularly interested in applications whose specific aims address any of the following:

  • Clinical patient safety: Clinical patient safety topics impacted most by health IT.
  • EHR system integrity: Frequency of and optimal mitigation strategies for EHR downtimes.
  • Health IT safety reporting: Optimal health IT patient safety reporting strategies.

AHRQ will prioritize funding of applications that address at least one of these subjects.

Further Guidance

Use of R21 Funding Mechanism. AHRQ will use it’s a standing Health IT-focused R21 Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) to support applications submitted in response to this Notice. This FOA, PA-14-001 can be found at https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PA-14-001.html.

Limitations on Timelines and Funds. AHRQ currently limits the total (direct plus indirect) costs for these R21 grant applications to no more than $200,000 in any given year and $300,000 for the entire project period. The project period can be up to two years.

Application Submission and Special Application Receipt Date. Information about the grant application process, can be found at http://www.ahrq.gov/funding/index.html. Applications focused on areas identified in this Notice may be submitted and will be accepted by AHRQ on a Special Receipt date, which is: March 28, 2014. This Notice will expire on March 29, 2014.

AHRQ will provide updates of new developments and research priorities as research budget information becomes available.

Inquiries

Please direct all inquiries to:

Angela Nunley
Program Analyst, Health IT Portfolio
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)
Phone: 301-427-1505
Email: Angela.Nunley@ahrq.hhs.gov