[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 44 (Tuesday, March 5, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8630-8633]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-5113]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES-
Health Resources and Services Administration
Rural Health Research Centers; Availability of Funds
AGENCY: Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), HHS.
ACTION: Notice of availability of funds.
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SUMMARY: The Office of Rural Health Policy (ORHP), Health Resources and
Services Administration, announces that applications are being accepted
for cooperative agreements to support Rural Health Research Centers.
This program is authorized by Section 301, Title III, of the Public
Health Service Act. These centers will conduct policy relevant research
on rural health services issues of multi-state and national
significance, and disseminate the findings of their research.
This program announcement for the above stated program is subject
to the appropriation of funds. Applicants are advised that this program
announcement is a contingency action being taken to assure that should
funds become available for this purpose, awards can be made in a timely
fashion consistent with the needs of the program. At this time, given a
continuing resolution and the absence of FY 1996 appropriations for
this program, the award of cooperative agreements cannot be assured and
the amount of funds available cannot be estimated. Should funds become
available, awards will be made to up to five Rural Health Research
Centers for up to $480,000 per center per year in total costs (direct
plus indirect). The project period for these cooperative agreements is
not to exceed 4 years, subject to the availability of funds. Should
funds become available, notification of the total funding amount
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available will be mailed to all persons who received application
packets from the Grants Management Officer, c/o Global Exchange, Inc.
DATES: Applications must be received by the close of business May 31,
1996, to be considered for competition. Applications shall be
considered as meeting the deadline if they are either (1) received on
or before the deadline date; or (2) postmarked on or before the
deadline date and received in time for submission to the review
committee. A legibly dated receipt from a commercial carrier or U.S.
Postal Service will be accepted in lieu of a postmark. Private metered
postmarks will not be acceptable as proof of timely mailing.
Applications not meeting the deadline will be returned to the
applicant.
ADDRESSES: Requests for application packets and completed applications
should be addressed to: The Grants Management Officer, c/o Global
Exchange, Inc., 7910 Woodmont Avenue, Suite 400, Bethesda, Maryland
20814; tel: 1-800-784-0345; fax: 301-652-5264.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information on program aspects,
contact: Patricia Taylor, Ph.D., Office of Rural Health Policy, Room 9-
05, Parklawn Building, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, MD 20857, (301)
443-0835.
For information or technical assistance regarding business, budget,
or financial issues contact: the Office of Grants Management, Bureau of
Primary Health Care, Health Resources and Services Administration, 4350
East West Highway, 11th Floor, Bethesda, Maryland 20814, 301/594-4260.
The Standard Application Form and general instructions for
competing applications, Form PHS 398 (revised 5/95) Public Health
Service Grant, have been approved by the Office of Management and
Budget (OMB No. 0925-0001). The narrative description of the research
plan and the budget justification may not exceed a combined length of
30 pages.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Eligible Applicants
All public and private entities, both non-profit and for-profit,
are eligible to apply.
Information Session for Prospective Applicants
An information session for prospective applicants will be held at
10 a.m., Wednesday, April 3, 1996, in Room H, Parklawn Conference
Center, Third Floor, Parklawn Building, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville
MD. The information session will focus on the programmatic and
administrative details of the program. Also, questions from prospective
applicants will be answered. A summary of this meeting will be
available by faxed request to ``Meeting Summary, RHRC Program,'' 301/
443-2803.
Applications
Applicants should follow the instructions in Application Form PHS
398 where appropriate and the Supplemental Instructions where
indicated. Applicants are strongly encouraged to obtain the application
materials from the Grants Manager Officer, c/o Global Exchange, Inc.,
at the address above. This will assure that applicants have the
complete application packet including the Supplemental Instructions.
Notification
In order to allow ORHP to plan for the Objective Review Process,
applicants are encouraged to notify ORHP in writing of their intent to
apply. This notification serves to inform ORHP of the anticipated
number of applications which are being submitted. The address is:
Patricia Taylor, Ph.D.; Office of Rural Health Policy; Health Resources
and Services Administration; Parklawn Building Room 9-05; Rockville MD
20857. If notification is offered, it should be received by April 30,
1996.
Program Objectives
These awards will enable organizations to support research centers
that conduct policy relevant research on rural health issues. Should
funds become available, awards will be made for up to three general
Rural Health Research Centers and up to two analytic Rural Health
Research Centers for project periods not to exceed 4 years. These
centers will be expected to (1) conduct policy relevant rural health
services research and policy analyses and (2) disseminate their
research findings and policy analyses to the rural health policy
audience.
Background
The objective of the Rural Health Research Center cooperative
agreement program is to increase the amount of high quality, policy
relevant rural health services research and policy analysis being
conducted in the nation. It is intended that the research and policy
analysis reports of these centers will be useful to policy makers as
they work to maintain and improve the availability, affordability and
accessibility of health care services for rural residents.
The work carried out by each center will be multi-disciplinary,
conducted principally by social scientists in such disciplines as
economics, organizational behavior, statistics, political science,
sociology, and geography. Center staff may also include researchers
from other relevant disciplines, for example, medicine, nursing, law
and public health.
The general centers and analytic centers will have different
emphases. The general Rural Health Research Centers will concentrate on
rural health services research. Individual projects, which will
generally require one to two years to complete, may include but are not
limited to collection and analysis of new data, secondary analysis of
existing data, comparative case studies, and evaluation of
demonstration projects. These centers will be responsive to the diverse
policy information needs of rural health policy makers in their multi-
state regions as well as at the national level.
The analytic Rural Health Research Centers will concentrate on
analytic policy studies that will be immediately useful in national
policy development activities. These analyses, which will generally be
completed in less than a year, will rely primarily on existing national
data bases or synthesize findings from a variety of other studies to
address national health policy issues affecting rural residents,
communities and providers. These centers will have demonstrated
capabilities in policy analysis, research methodologies, and data
handling. In particular, they will have extensive experience with and
access to large scale national data sets; and expertise in the linkage
of and analyses across data sets.
In each year of the cooperative agreement, a center will be funded
to carry out a number of research or policy analytic projects. These
projects together constitute a center's research agenda or policy
analysis agenda for the year. Each applicant's proposed research or
policy analysis agenda should be well focused, preferably on no more
than three clearly delineated areas of rural health services research
or policy. Examples of focus areas include but are not limited to:
Rural Health Care Financing/System Reform
--Rural impact of Medicare, Medicaid and private insurer policies
--Rural impact of managed care, including managed care carve-outs, on
access, cost and quality of health and mental health services
--Rural considerations in health care insurance, legislative,
regulatory and other reforms
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Rural Systems Building
--Maintenance of health services capacity in rural communities through
system development
--Development and operation of rural networks, managed care
organizations, and provider sponsored organizations
--Alternative models for delivering health services, including
alternative models for small rural hospitals
Rural Health Professions Supply
--Financing
--Training
--Recruitment
--Retention
--Mid-level health care practitioners
Meeting the Health Care Needs of Rural Populations
--Low income residents
--Racial and cultural groups
--Age groups (e.g., adolescents)
--Occupational groups (e.g., farm families)
Awards will be in the form of cooperative agreements. The ORHP
involvement in the conduct of the cooperative agreements will generally
include:
Approval of key research staff
Joint center/program staff participation in development of
the center's annual agenda of research and policy analytic projects
Possible center/program staff cooperation in study and
survey designs
Possible center/program staff cooperation in preparation
and publication of results
Joint center/program staff participation in designing
strategies for dissemination of center reports to the rural health
policy audience
Healthy People 2000
The Health Resources and Services Administration urges applicants
to submit proposed research agendas that address specific objectives of
``Healthy People 2000.'' Potential applicants may obtain a copy of
``Healthy People 2000'' (Full Report; Stock No. 017-001-00474-0) or
``Healthy People 2000'' (Summary Report; Stock No. 017-001-00473-1)
through the Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office,
Washington, DC 20402-9325 (telephone 202-783-3238).
Review Procedures
Applications will be assessed for responsiveness to this notice.
Any applications judged nonresponsive because they are incomplete, in
an improper type size or exceed the specified page limit will be
returned without further consideration. All responsive applications
will undergo objective review for scientific merit.
Review Criteria for General Rural Health Research Centers
Grant applications for general rural health research centers will
be evaluated on the basis of the following criteria:
1. The qualifications and achievements of the principal
investigator, including level of productivity and quality of research
on general and rural health services; record in use of research
findings by health policy makers at state and national levels; record
in timely completion of Department of Health and Human Services' funded
health services research studies; experience in leading research teams;
and appropriateness of time commitment. Expertise in Medicare and
Medicaid is desirable.
2. The multi-disciplinary mix, number, qualifications and
achievements of the senior personnel of the center, including level of
productivity and quality of research on rural and general health
services, demonstrated methodological skills, and experience in
management and use of large data sets; record in use of their research
findings by health policy makers at state and national levels; record
in timely completion of U.S. Department of Health and Human Services'
funded health services research studies; and appropriateness of their
specific time commitments. Expertise in Medicare and Medicaid is
desirable.
3. The quality of the organizational, physical and institutional
arrangements to operate the proposed center, including computer
facilities, access to large national data sets, and the availability of
adequate space for routine interaction among the core research staff.
4. The planned level of commitment of the applicant institution to
the proposed center including its specific plans to support research
personnel and the organizational and management structure of the
center.
5. The quality of the two individual research project proposals
presented as part of this application.
6. The importance and relevance of the center's proposed Year One
research agenda to rural health policy issues of multi-state and
national concern, whether it is focused on no more than three clearly
delineated substantive areas of rural health services, and degree to
which it is a realistic and well conceived program in view of available
skills and funding resources.
7. The appropriateness of the proposed budget.
Review Criteria for Analytic Rural Health Research Centers
Grant applications for analytic rural health research centers will
be evaluated on the basis of the following criteria:
1. The qualifications and achievements of the principal
investigator, including level of productivity and quality of national
health policy analyses on general and rural issues; experience in
leading research teams; and appropriateness of time commitment.
Expertise in Medicare, Medicaid and rural health policy is highly
desirable.
2. The multi-disciplinary mix, number, qualifications and
achievements of the senior personnel of the center, including level of
productivity and quality of national health policy analyses and health
services research on rural and general issues, expertise in Medicare,
Medicaid and rural health policy, demonstrated methodological skills,
experience in production of analytic reports suitable for professional
and lay audiences, experience in management and use of large data sets,
and expertise in the linkage of and analyses across data sets; and
appropriateness of their specific time commitments.
3. The record of the applicant organization and the lead
investigators in timely completion of health services research and
policy analytic studies funded by the U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services.
4. The quality of the organizational, physical and institutional
arrangements to operate the proposed center, including computer
facilities, access to large scale national data sets, and the
availability of adequate space for routine interaction among the core
research staff.
5. The quality of the two individual analytic policy study
proposals presented as part of this application.
6. The importance and relevance of the center's proposed Year One
agenda of analytic policy studies to rural health policy issues of
national concern, whether it is focused on no more than three well
delineated substantive areas of rural health policy, and the degree to
which it is a realistic and well conceived program in view of available
skills and funding resources.
7. The appropriateness of the proposed budget.
In awarding grants, geographic distribution of centers will be
considered.
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Other Information
The Rural Health Research Centers Grant Program has been determined
to be a program which is not subject to the provisions of Executive
Order 12372 concerning intergovernmental review of Federal programs.
The OMB Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance number is 93.155.
Dated: February 29, 1996.
Ciro V. Sumaya,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 96-5113 Filed 3-4-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4160-15-P
