HHS opening notice of funding opportunity for state-based health cooperatives

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is announcing a funding opportunity aimed at revolutionizing healthcare with up to 15 grants across the country. The announcement comes through the HHS’ Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). The Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) will introduce the establishment of state-based Healthcare Extension Cooperatives and begin development on the Healthcare Extension Service program.

In a bid to address pressing health disparities, particularly among Medicaid recipients, the uninsured and medically underserved populations, AHRQ plans to award grants over five years. The initiative includes a special focus on behavioral health and will provide significant support to local health care systems in their quest to enhance care delivery and reduce disparities.

The Healthcare Extension Cooperative initiative will engage industry stakeholders and collaboratively enhance behavioral healthcare to states. The proposed cooperatives will start discussions with Medicaid agencies, healthcare executives, patients and families, clinicians and other organizations that serve people who are medically underserved. These cooperatives will develop improved policy, payment, community, care delivery and research plans. With patient-centered outcomes research (PCOR) in mind, cooperatives will also further patient-centered, evidence-based healthcare delivery and support ongoing learning through training and other tools.

Eligible applicants for the Healthcare Extension Cooperative NOFO include higher education institutions, 501(c)(3) nonprofits outside of higher education, for-profit organizations, local and state governments, federal government agencies and community- or faith-based organizations. Projects given grants under the Healthcare Extension Cooperatives NOFO will not exceed $6.25 million in any given year and must not exceed $25 million for the length of the project.

Applications for the state-based Healthcare Extension Cooperatives are open until Dec. 12. For more resources on this funding opportunity and how to apply for Healthcare Extension Cooperative grants see AHRQ’s grant posting.

The NOFO announcement kicks off AHRQ’s Healthcare Extension Service program, starting the development of a multi-piece system to turn patient evidence generation into clinical practice. Funded under the Affordable Care Act’s Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Trust Fund, the five-year program will include three main components: state-based Healthcare Extension Cooperatives, a National Coordinating Center and a National Evaluation Center. Initiatives funded under the trust fund will also support its Strategic Framework and AHRQ’s broader mission to improve the quality of patient care by making it safer, more effective, efficient and equitably distributed.

In addition to the grants for state-based cooperatives, AHRQ will announce two additional NOFOs supporting future cooperatives and the Healthcare Extension Service program’s implementation. One NOFO will back the National Coordinating Center, which will provide state-based Healthcare Extension Cooperatives with resources, collaborative guidance and a central mutual learning place. The future NOFO will fund the National Coordinating Center with up to $14.25 million over five years.

The second upcoming NOFO will support the development of an independent National Evaluation Center. Funded up to $14.8 million over the next five years, the National Evaluation Center will enhance the Healthcare Extension Service’s goal of accelerating dissemination and implementation of PCOR data through the development of data, measures and methods that access the program. The center will also conduct summative evaluations of the Healthcare Extension Service program and provide recommendations for best practices.

AHRQ anticipates releasing the two additional NOFOs soon with applications due by late fall 2024.

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