[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 4 (Thursday, January 7, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 990-991]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-31340]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
HHS Intent To Publish Grant and Contract Solicitations for
Comparative Effectiveness Research (CER) Projects With Funds Allocated
to the Office of the Secretary From the American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act (ARRA)
AGENCY: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), HHS.
ACTION: Notice of intent.
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SUMMARY: The Department of Health and Human Services announces its
intention to support new CER projects with funds allocated by the
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). The ARRA appropriated
$400 million to the Office of the Secretary for support of CER. AHRQ
has been designated point of contact for management of these funds.
Prioritization of the OS ARRA CER allocation was determined by
several factors: public input, the Comparative Effectiveness Research-
Coordination Implementation Team, the Federal Coordinating Council for
Comparative Effectiveness Research (FCC), and the Institute of Medicine
Report on CER. OS ARRA CER projects will focus, initially, on either
(1) one of the 14 priority conditions established by the Secretary of
the Department of Health and Human Services under Section 1013 of the
Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003,
(2) 100 Institute of Medicine topic recommendations, or (3) topics that
fall into one of the AHRQ identified evidence gaps or are identified in
the FCC report. An additional integral focus for these OS ARRA CER
funds are the priority populations, which include low income groups;
minority groups; women; children; the elderly; and individuals with
special health care needs, including individuals with disabilities and
individuals who need chronic care or end-of-life health care. The CER
solicitations will come from a diverse set of divisions and agencies
across the Department of Health and Human Services.
DATES: HHS anticipates grant and contract solicitations to be published
over the next several months.
ADDRESSES: The future CER funding opportunity announcements will be
published in the NIH Guide: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/index.html and on Grants.gov.: http://www.grants.gov/. Contract
solicitations can be found on the Federal Business Opportunity site at
https://www.fbo.gov/index?cck=1&au=&ck=.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Until the solicitations are published,
AHRQ cannot provide information on their contents.
Direct any general comments regarding the OS ARRA CER program to:
Kathleen Kendrick, Deputy Director, Office of the Director, Agency for
Healthcare Research and Quality, 540 Gaither Road, Rockville, MD 20850,
Telephone: 301-427-1200, e-mail address: ARRA Support@AHRQ.HHS.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) provided $1.1
billion for comparative effectiveness research (CER). The Act allocated
$300 million to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ),
$400 million to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and $400
million to the Office of the Secretary (OS) of the Department of Health
and Human Services (HHS). These funds are dedicated specifically
towards CER and must be obligated by the end of fiscal year 2010.
Comparative Effectiveness Research Initiative Description
The Department of Health and Human Service's overall goal for the
investment in comparative effectiveness research is to promote high
quality care through broad availability of information that helps
clinicians and patients match the best science to individual needs and
preferences. Moreover, the investment can build a sustainable
foundation for CER so that it will enable--now and in the future the
United States healthcare system to deliver the highest quality and best
value care to all Americans.
Funding Opportunity Announcements soliciting grant applications and
Requests for Contracts for CER will provide $210.5 million for data
infrastructure and related research, $89.5 million for dissemination
and translation, $71 million for research, $7.6 million for inventory
and evaluation projects and $4 million for
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salary and benefits for ARRA-related staff and administrative support.
An additional, $17.4 million will be allocated to projects that
address any gaps within the new and existing CER programs.
Dated: December 30, 2009.
Carolyn M. Clancy,
AHRQ, Director.
[FR Doc. E9-31340 Filed 1-6-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4160-90-M