The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is announcing the availability of funds under the Health Equity Data Access Program (HEDAP).
Donor Name: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
State: All States
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 07/16/2023
Size of the Grant: $90,000
Grant Duration: 36 months
Details:
The VRDC assists researchers in gaining access to CMS restricted data for minority health research. Seats, in this context are defined as an individual user with VRDC access. These researchers will conduct health services research focusing on, but not limited to, racial and ethnic minority groups; people with disabilities; members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) community; individuals with limited English proficiency; individuals residing in rural areas; and individuals adversely affected by persistent poverty or inequality. The HEDAP supports specific applied research projects that relate to creative and innovative methods utilizing CMS data to identify, document, assess, and evaluate health disparities among Medicare and Medicaid and CHIP enrollees. The project should enhance the capacity of the researcher to understand and utilize CMS data in future research projects. Additionally, HEDAP encourages cutting-edge proposals that explore intersectionality. “Intersectionality” means that people belong to more than one group and, therefore, may have overlapping health and social inequities, as well as overlapping strengths and assets.
HEDAP provides funding for three (3) “seats” in the CMS Virtual Research Data Center (VRDC) to allow researchers from institutions of higher education access to CMS restricted data for minority health research.
The HEDAP aims to:
- Help researchers gain access to CMS data to conduct health services research focusing on, but not limited to, racial and ethnic minority groups; people with disabilities; members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) community; individuals with limited English proficiency; individuals residing in rural areas; and individuals adversely affected by persistent poverty or inequality
- Produce specific applied research projects that relate to creative and innovative methods for using CMS data to identify, document, assess, and evaluate health disparities among Medicare, Medicaid and CHIP enrollees
- Create data driven research that explores, but is not limited to, the relationship between health disparities and:
- Improving the quality of care
- Increasing access to care
- Estimating the economic burden/financial costs of disparities
- Evaluating the effects of health care delivery system and payment model reforms
- Exploring disparity sensitive conditions or diseases
- Strengthening population health
CMS will award HEDAP funds, through a competitive process, to up to three (3) institutions of higher education per cohort. The HEDAP timeline is three (3) years, pending the availability of funds. The award only covers the cost of for access to the VRDC for a threeyear period. All research activities as described above must be funded by the recipients except for the access payment granted for the Chronic Conditions Data Warehouse (CCW) data in the VRDC to ResDAC.
Research topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following two (2) examples:
- To research racial and ethnic minority groups; people with disabilities; members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) community; individuals with limited English proficiency; individuals residing in rural areas; and individuals adversely affected by persistent poverty or inequality among Medicare, Medicaid and CHIP enrollees
- The relationship between health disparities and improving the quality of care, increasing access to care, estimating the economic burden/financial costs of disparities, evaluating the effects of health care delivery system and payment model reforms, exploring disparity sensitive conditions or diseases and strengthening population health for all the abovementioned populations.
Research topics that are not appropriate for this NOFO:
- Genome-Wide Association Studies (GWAS);
- Studies investigating biological mechanisms such as metabolic changes/chronic metabolic diseases on the microenvironment (including immune cells, surrounding blood vessels, soluble factors) in racial/ethnic minorities,
- Studies that do not propose health disparity research; and
- Studies not related to CMS programs as outlined in the Purpose (A1) and Background sections (A3) of this NOFO.
Funding Information
- The total anticipated amount of federal funds available is $270,000, pending the availability of funds.
- Individual fixed amount awards will not exceed $90,000. The period of performance is a 36- month budget period subject to availability of funds and satisfactory performance by the recipient.
Eligibility Criteria
- Government Organizations
- State governments
- County governments
- City of Township governments
- Special District governments
- Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized)
- Native American tribal organizations (other than federally recognized tribal governments)
- Education Organizations
- Independent School Districts
- Public and State Controlled Institutions of Higher Education
- Private institutions of higher education
- Public Housing Organizations
- Public housing authorities
- Indian housing authorities
- Nonprofit Organizations
- Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education
- Nonprofits that do not have a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education
- For-profit Businesses (organizations other than small businesses)
- Small Businesses
- Individuals
- Others
- Unrestricted
For more information, visit Grants.gov.
