The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) announced that $220 million in grants will be awarded to 15 communities to advance health information technology (IT) infrastructure. The “Beacon Community Cooperative Agreement Program” awards will be made to non-profit organizations or government entities representing geographic health care communities. The grant may also be given to a consortium of stakeholder organizations and health care providers if the lead applicant is a U.S-based, non-profit organization or government entity in one of the five categories:
- State, local, tribal, or territorial government entity with a public health focus
- Integrated delivery network or health system with broad community partnerships
- Independent physician association or consortium of medical groups
- Public/Private partnership aimed at health system improvement and/or community health improvement
- ONC-funded regional extension center with the capacity to expand its services
Eligible applicants are expected to demonstrate an existing infrastructure for health IT and exchange, or previous success in either a community-level practice redesign and care coordination or community-level evaluation that advances health IT and exchange infrastructure. Applicants are required to provide a detailed approach describing how they plan to advance current health IT and exchange capabilities to achieve a more cost-effective and higher-quality patient care.
An additional $15 million will be provided for technical assistance to the communities to evaluate the success of the program.
An electronic Letter of Intent is required to be submitted by January 8, 2010. Final applications for the grants are due on February 1, 2010. Award decisions are anticipated in March 2010. The grants will last for a 36-months.
For more information, visit the HITECH website.