Coordinating Center for Strategic Approaches to Improving Access to Quality Health Care for Children and Youth with Epilepsy

The summary for the Coordinating Center for Strategic Approaches to Improving Access to Quality Health Care for Children and Youth with Epilepsy grant is detailed below. This summary states who is eligible for the grant, how much grant money will be awarded, current and past deadlines, Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) numbers, and a sampling of similar government grants. Verify the accuracy of the data FederalGrants.com provides by visiting the webpage noted in the Link to Full Announcement section or by contacting the appropriate person listed as the Grant Announcement Contact. If any section is incomplete, please visit the website for the Health Resources and Services Administration, which is the U.S. government agency offering this grant.
Coordinating Center for Strategic Approaches to Improving Access to Quality Health Care for Children and Youth with Epilepsy: This announcement solicits applications for a Coordinating Center for Strategic Approaches to Improving Access to Quality Health Care for Children and Youth with Epilepsy (hereafter referred to as the “Coordinating Center”).  The purpose of this award is to provide support and technical assistance to grantees receiving funding from HRSA/MCHB through the Strategic Approaches to Improving Access to Quality Health Care for Children and Youth with Epilepsy announcement (HRSA-16-055) with their quality improvement learning collaboratives[1] focused on efforts to implement telehealth/telemedicine[2]/mobile health (mhealth)[3] and youth transition[4], and to provide outreach and education regarding epilepsy to pertinent stakeholders.  The awardee will implement a quality improvement learning collaborative and protocol for grantees, and ensure the grantees have access to relevant evidence based models, best practices, and strategies regarding the patient/family-centered medical home model,[5] youth transition[6], and the Got Transition Six Core Elements of Health Care Transition Framework.[7]  In addition, the awardee will identify and implement a primary care provider education and training system on pediatric epilepsy.

The goal of this initiative is to improve access to coordinated and comprehensive[8] quality care for children and youth with epilepsy (CYE) with an emphasis on populations experiencing health disparities[9] and CYE residing in medically underserved/rural communities.[10] 

The awardee will be expected to perform the following activities:

Conduct ongoing assessments and evaluations of the grantees’ outcomes and objectives, including data collection analysis, and timely provision of performance improvement data feedback to the grantees.  When appropriate, the Coordinating Center will provide real time data to the grantees regarding their quality improvement efforts.

Develop and maintain collaborative partnerships with relevant private and public entities.

Provide technical assistance to the grantees via webinars, a shared web-based resource, conferences, and training opportunities.

Identify and disseminate effective tools and strategies for outreach, collaborations, communication, and information sharing/dissemination.

Provide assistance to the awardees to assist them in identifying evidence-based and innovative promising practices related to:

youth and family engagement and activation;
outreach to diverse populations;
health care system transformation, as it relates to pediatric epilepsy care;
use of health information technology to improve access to and quality of pediatric epilepsy care;
supporting the medical home approach;
education and training of clinicians;
partnership building with stakeholders; and
project sustainability.

Plan, develop, and implement an annual awardee meeting.

Develop and support primary care provider learning communities in pediatric epilepsy.[11]

Establish a cross-site state learning community for awardees to discuss the project’s progress, challenges, and potential solutions.

Develop and disseminate a quarterly newsletter that highlights the awardees’ initiatives, the Coordinating Center’s activities, and provides relevant evidence-based information regarding pediatric epilepsy.

Assemble a multidisciplinary advisory committee to advise and guide the activities of the Coordinating Center.

The committee must be inclusive of CYE, CYE families, and entities with subject matter expertise and knowledge in:

the development of a comprehensive system of services for children and youth with special health needs,

cultural competency,

rural health,

health disparities,

health information technology, and

pediatric epilepsy.

Representatives from state Title V Children with Special Health Care Needs and Medicaid/CHIP agencies should be included.

Implement and update an evaluation plan annually.  The plan should address:

the extent to which the program-specific objectives have been met;
the evaluation of the project’s goals and objectives;
the effectiveness of strategies implemented to address barriers/challenges; and
the data collection/monitoring/reporting pertaining to all project strategies.

The awardee must report on the following program-specific objectives:

            Outcome objectives:

By August 2019, increase by 10 percent over baseline, the percentage of primary care providers that indicate a change in their delivery of care for CYE (i.e. medical home approach, transition planning) based on the education and training received.

By August 2019, increase by 10 percent over baseline, the percentage of partnerships created between primary care-and epilepsy subspecialty providers due to the awardees’ initiatives.

            Process Measures:

By August 2019, increase by 10 percent over baseline, the percentage  of clinical sites (e.g. hospitals, primary care practices, community health centers, rural health clinics, and federally qualified health centers) that report an increase in the use of health technology methods  (i.e., telehealth/telemedicine/ and or mhealth).

By August 2019, increase by 10 percent over baseline, the percentage of clinical sites (e.g. hospitals, primary care practices, community health centers, rural health clinics, and federally qualified health centers) that have implemented the Got Transition Six Core Element Framework.

By August 2019, increase by 10 percent over baseline, the percentage of primary care providers and families of CYE that report an increased knowledge regarding pediatric epilepsy in the context of a comprehensive coordinated system of services for CYE.

[1] A learning collaborative is a basic structure of collective transformation and consists of a sequenced, ordered, and layered series of in-person, web-enabled, and data-oriented cycles of pedagogy aimed at building accountable capacity for team-based testing and transformation.  Additionally, collaborative improvement networks use standardized quality improvement methods to translate evidence into practice, and support teams to test and implement changes in a reliable, sequenced way. Clancy CM, Margolis PA, Miller M. Collaborative networks for both improvement and research. Pediatrics. 2013;131 (suppl 4): S210–S214.

[2] According to American Telemedicine Association, telemedicine is the use of medical information exchanged from one site to another via electronic communications to improve a patient’s clinical health status. Telemedicine includes a growing variety of applications and services using two-way video, email, smart phones, wireless tools and other forms of telecommunications technology (http://www.americantelemed.org/about-telemedicine/what-is-telemedicine#.VsrcU_7VzIU).

[3] According to the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (FNIH), mHealth is the delivery of healthcare services via mobile communication devices.

[4] http://www.gottransition.org .

[5] As defined by the American College of Physicians, the Patient Centered Medical Home is a care delivery model whereby patient treatment is coordinated through their primary care physician to ensure they receive the necessary care when and where they need it, in a manner they can understand (https://www.acponline.org/node/293847).

[6] http://www.gottransition.org/providers/index.cfm

[7] http://www.gottransition.org/providers/index.cfm

[8] The Agency for Healthcare Research Quality defines coordinated care as care that is coordinated across all elements of the broader healthcare system whereas comprehensive care is defined as patients having the large majority their physical and mental health needs met (https://pcmh.ahrq.gov/).

[9] HRSA defines health disparities as the differences in length and quality of life and rates and severity of disease and disability because of social position, race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, education, or other factors (http://www.hrsa.gov/publichealth/).

[10]The medically underserved population can be defined as a population with one or more of these attributes:

a.  a part of a Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA); it may be a whole county or group of county or group of contiguous counties, a group of civil divisions or a group of urban census tracts to which residents have a shortage of primary care clinicians and/or mental health professionals; and

b. an area that includes groups of persons who face economic, cultural or linguistic barriers to health care.

[11] A learning community is an environment created for peer-to-peer learning. www.mpca.net
Federal Grant Title: Coordinating Center for Strategic Approaches to Improving Access to Quality Health Care for Children and Youth with Epilepsy
Federal Agency Name: Health Resources and Services Administration
Grant Categories: Health
Type of Opportunity: Discretionary
Funding Opportunity Number: HRSA-16-056
Type of Funding: Cooperative Agreement
CFDA Numbers: 319499
CFDA Descriptions: Maternal and Child Health Federal Consolidated Programs
Current Application Deadline: May 17, 2016
Original Application Deadline: May 17, 2016
Posted Date: Mar 7, 2016
Creation Date: Mar 7, 2016
Archive Date: Jul 16, 2016
Total Program Funding: $1,950,000
Maximum Federal Grant Award: $0
Minimum Federal Grant Award: $0
Expected Number of Awards: 1
Cost Sharing or Matching: No
Category Explanation
https://grants.hrsa.gov/2010/Web2External/Interface/FundingCycle/ExternalView.aspx?fCycleID=9023b8c8-5a79-411f-bf79-bb188990ebd2
Applicants Eligible for this Grant
Others (see text field entitled "Additional Information on Eligibility" for clarification)
Additional Information on Eligibility
As cited in 42 CFR § 51a.3(a), any public or private entity, including an Indian tribe or tribal organization (as those terms are defined at 25 U.S.C. 450(b)).  Faith-based and community-based organizations are eligible to apply.  A full listing of eligibility types is listed on the CFDA website:  https://www.cfda.gov.

Foreign entities are not eligible for HRSA awards, unless the authorizing legislation specifically authorizes awards to foreign entities or the award is for research.  This exception does not extend to research training awards or construction of research facilities.
Grant Announcement Contact
Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration [email protected]
Contact Sadie Silcott at (301)443-0133 or email [email protected]

Health Resources and Services Administration 301-443-7432