[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 44 (Tuesday, March 5, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8630-8633]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-5113]



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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES-
Health Resources and Services Administration


Rural Health Research Centers; Availability of Funds

AGENCY: Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), HHS.

ACTION: Notice of availability of funds.

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SUMMARY: The Office of Rural Health Policy (ORHP), Health Resources and 
Services Administration, announces that applications are being accepted 
for cooperative agreements to support Rural Health Research Centers. 
This program is authorized by Section 301, Title III, of the Public 
Health Service Act. These centers will conduct policy relevant research 
on rural health services issues of multi-state and national 
significance, and disseminate the findings of their research.
    This program announcement for the above stated program is subject 
to the appropriation of funds. Applicants are advised that this program 
announcement is a contingency action being taken to assure that should 
funds become available for this purpose, awards can be made in a timely 
fashion consistent with the needs of the program. At this time, given a 
continuing resolution and the absence of FY 1996 appropriations for 
this program, the award of cooperative agreements cannot be assured and 
the amount of funds available cannot be estimated. Should funds become 
available, awards will be made to up to five Rural Health Research 
Centers for up to $480,000 per center per year in total costs (direct 
plus indirect). The project period for these cooperative agreements is 
not to exceed 4 years, subject to the availability of funds. Should 
funds become available, notification of the total funding amount 

[[Page 8631]]
available will be mailed to all persons who received application 
packets from the Grants Management Officer, c/o Global Exchange, Inc.

DATES: Applications must be received by the close of business May 31, 
1996, to be considered for competition. Applications shall be 
considered as meeting the deadline if they are either (1) received on 
or before the deadline date; or (2) postmarked on or before the 
deadline date and received in time for submission to the review 
committee. A legibly dated receipt from a commercial carrier or U.S. 
Postal Service will be accepted in lieu of a postmark. Private metered 
postmarks will not be acceptable as proof of timely mailing. 
Applications not meeting the deadline will be returned to the 
applicant.

ADDRESSES: Requests for application packets and completed applications 
should be addressed to: The Grants Management Officer, c/o Global 
Exchange, Inc., 7910 Woodmont Avenue, Suite 400, Bethesda, Maryland 
20814; tel: 1-800-784-0345; fax: 301-652-5264.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information on program aspects, 
contact: Patricia Taylor, Ph.D., Office of Rural Health Policy, Room 9-
05, Parklawn Building, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, MD 20857, (301) 
443-0835.

    For information or technical assistance regarding business, budget, 
or financial issues contact: the Office of Grants Management, Bureau of 
Primary Health Care, Health Resources and Services Administration, 4350 
East West Highway, 11th Floor, Bethesda, Maryland 20814, 301/594-4260.
    The Standard Application Form and general instructions for 
competing applications, Form PHS 398 (revised 5/95) Public Health 
Service Grant, have been approved by the Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB No. 0925-0001). The narrative description of the research 
plan and the budget justification may not exceed a combined length of 
30 pages.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Eligible Applicants

    All public and private entities, both non-profit and for-profit, 
are eligible to apply.

Information Session for Prospective Applicants

    An information session for prospective applicants will be held at 
10 a.m., Wednesday, April 3, 1996, in Room H, Parklawn Conference 
Center, Third Floor, Parklawn Building, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville 
MD. The information session will focus on the programmatic and 
administrative details of the program. Also, questions from prospective 
applicants will be answered. A summary of this meeting will be 
available by faxed request to ``Meeting Summary, RHRC Program,'' 301/
443-2803.

Applications

    Applicants should follow the instructions in Application Form PHS 
398 where appropriate and the Supplemental Instructions where 
indicated. Applicants are strongly encouraged to obtain the application 
materials from the Grants Manager Officer, c/o Global Exchange, Inc., 
at the address above. This will assure that applicants have the 
complete application packet including the Supplemental Instructions.

Notification

    In order to allow ORHP to plan for the Objective Review Process, 
applicants are encouraged to notify ORHP in writing of their intent to 
apply. This notification serves to inform ORHP of the anticipated 
number of applications which are being submitted. The address is: 
Patricia Taylor, Ph.D.; Office of Rural Health Policy; Health Resources 
and Services Administration; Parklawn Building Room 9-05; Rockville MD 
20857. If notification is offered, it should be received by April 30, 
1996.

Program Objectives

    These awards will enable organizations to support research centers 
that conduct policy relevant research on rural health issues. Should 
funds become available, awards will be made for up to three general 
Rural Health Research Centers and up to two analytic Rural Health 
Research Centers for project periods not to exceed 4 years. These 
centers will be expected to (1) conduct policy relevant rural health 
services research and policy analyses and (2) disseminate their 
research findings and policy analyses to the rural health policy 
audience.

Background

    The objective of the Rural Health Research Center cooperative 
agreement program is to increase the amount of high quality, policy 
relevant rural health services research and policy analysis being 
conducted in the nation. It is intended that the research and policy 
analysis reports of these centers will be useful to policy makers as 
they work to maintain and improve the availability, affordability and 
accessibility of health care services for rural residents.
    The work carried out by each center will be multi-disciplinary, 
conducted principally by social scientists in such disciplines as 
economics, organizational behavior, statistics, political science, 
sociology, and geography. Center staff may also include researchers 
from other relevant disciplines, for example, medicine, nursing, law 
and public health.
    The general centers and analytic centers will have different 
emphases. The general Rural Health Research Centers will concentrate on 
rural health services research. Individual projects, which will 
generally require one to two years to complete, may include but are not 
limited to collection and analysis of new data, secondary analysis of 
existing data, comparative case studies, and evaluation of 
demonstration projects. These centers will be responsive to the diverse 
policy information needs of rural health policy makers in their multi-
state regions as well as at the national level.
    The analytic Rural Health Research Centers will concentrate on 
analytic policy studies that will be immediately useful in national 
policy development activities. These analyses, which will generally be 
completed in less than a year, will rely primarily on existing national 
data bases or synthesize findings from a variety of other studies to 
address national health policy issues affecting rural residents, 
communities and providers. These centers will have demonstrated 
capabilities in policy analysis, research methodologies, and data 
handling. In particular, they will have extensive experience with and 
access to large scale national data sets; and expertise in the linkage 
of and analyses across data sets.
    In each year of the cooperative agreement, a center will be funded 
to carry out a number of research or policy analytic projects. These 
projects together constitute a center's research agenda or policy 
analysis agenda for the year. Each applicant's proposed research or 
policy analysis agenda should be well focused, preferably on no more 
than three clearly delineated areas of rural health services research 
or policy. Examples of focus areas include but are not limited to:
Rural Health Care Financing/System Reform
--Rural impact of Medicare, Medicaid and private insurer policies
--Rural impact of managed care, including managed care carve-outs, on 
access, cost and quality of health and mental health services
--Rural considerations in health care insurance, legislative, 
regulatory and other reforms 

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Rural Systems Building
--Maintenance of health services capacity in rural communities through 
system development
--Development and operation of rural networks, managed care 
organizations, and provider sponsored organizations
--Alternative models for delivering health services, including 
alternative models for small rural hospitals
Rural Health Professions Supply
--Financing
--Training
--Recruitment
--Retention
--Mid-level health care practitioners
Meeting the Health Care Needs of Rural Populations
--Low income residents
--Racial and cultural groups
--Age groups (e.g., adolescents)
--Occupational groups (e.g., farm families)

    Awards will be in the form of cooperative agreements. The ORHP 
involvement in the conduct of the cooperative agreements will generally 
include:
     Approval of key research staff
     Joint center/program staff participation in development of 
the center's annual agenda of research and policy analytic projects
     Possible center/program staff cooperation in study and 
survey designs
     Possible center/program staff cooperation in preparation 
and publication of results
     Joint center/program staff participation in designing 
strategies for dissemination of center reports to the rural health 
policy audience

Healthy People 2000

    The Health Resources and Services Administration urges applicants 
to submit proposed research agendas that address specific objectives of 
``Healthy People 2000.'' Potential applicants may obtain a copy of 
``Healthy People 2000'' (Full Report; Stock No. 017-001-00474-0) or 
``Healthy People 2000'' (Summary Report; Stock No. 017-001-00473-1) 
through the Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office, 
Washington, DC 20402-9325 (telephone 202-783-3238).

Review Procedures

    Applications will be assessed for responsiveness to this notice. 
Any applications judged nonresponsive because they are incomplete, in 
an improper type size or exceed the specified page limit will be 
returned without further consideration. All responsive applications 
will undergo objective review for scientific merit.

Review Criteria for General Rural Health Research Centers

    Grant applications for general rural health research centers will 
be evaluated on the basis of the following criteria:
    1. The qualifications and achievements of the principal 
investigator, including level of productivity and quality of research 
on general and rural health services; record in use of research 
findings by health policy makers at state and national levels; record 
in timely completion of Department of Health and Human Services' funded 
health services research studies; experience in leading research teams; 
and appropriateness of time commitment. Expertise in Medicare and 
Medicaid is desirable.
    2. The multi-disciplinary mix, number, qualifications and 
achievements of the senior personnel of the center, including level of 
productivity and quality of research on rural and general health 
services, demonstrated methodological skills, and experience in 
management and use of large data sets; record in use of their research 
findings by health policy makers at state and national levels; record 
in timely completion of U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' 
funded health services research studies; and appropriateness of their 
specific time commitments. Expertise in Medicare and Medicaid is 
desirable.
    3. The quality of the organizational, physical and institutional 
arrangements to operate the proposed center, including computer 
facilities, access to large national data sets, and the availability of 
adequate space for routine interaction among the core research staff.
    4. The planned level of commitment of the applicant institution to 
the proposed center including its specific plans to support research 
personnel and the organizational and management structure of the 
center.
    5. The quality of the two individual research project proposals 
presented as part of this application.
    6. The importance and relevance of the center's proposed Year One 
research agenda to rural health policy issues of multi-state and 
national concern, whether it is focused on no more than three clearly 
delineated substantive areas of rural health services, and degree to 
which it is a realistic and well conceived program in view of available 
skills and funding resources.
    7. The appropriateness of the proposed budget.

Review Criteria for Analytic Rural Health Research Centers

    Grant applications for analytic rural health research centers will 
be evaluated on the basis of the following criteria:
    1. The qualifications and achievements of the principal 
investigator, including level of productivity and quality of national 
health policy analyses on general and rural issues; experience in 
leading research teams; and appropriateness of time commitment. 
Expertise in Medicare, Medicaid and rural health policy is highly 
desirable.
    2. The multi-disciplinary mix, number, qualifications and 
achievements of the senior personnel of the center, including level of 
productivity and quality of national health policy analyses and health 
services research on rural and general issues, expertise in Medicare, 
Medicaid and rural health policy, demonstrated methodological skills, 
experience in production of analytic reports suitable for professional 
and lay audiences, experience in management and use of large data sets, 
and expertise in the linkage of and analyses across data sets; and 
appropriateness of their specific time commitments.
    3. The record of the applicant organization and the lead 
investigators in timely completion of health services research and 
policy analytic studies funded by the U.S. Department of Health and 
Human Services.
    4. The quality of the organizational, physical and institutional 
arrangements to operate the proposed center, including computer 
facilities, access to large scale national data sets, and the 
availability of adequate space for routine interaction among the core 
research staff.
    5. The quality of the two individual analytic policy study 
proposals presented as part of this application.
    6. The importance and relevance of the center's proposed Year One 
agenda of analytic policy studies to rural health policy issues of 
national concern, whether it is focused on no more than three well 
delineated substantive areas of rural health policy, and the degree to 
which it is a realistic and well conceived program in view of available 
skills and funding resources.
    7. The appropriateness of the proposed budget.
    In awarding grants, geographic distribution of centers will be 
considered. 

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Other Information

    The Rural Health Research Centers Grant Program has been determined 
to be a program which is not subject to the provisions of Executive 
Order 12372 concerning intergovernmental review of Federal programs.
    The OMB Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance number is 93.155.

    Dated: February 29, 1996.
Ciro V. Sumaya,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 96-5113 Filed 3-4-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4160-15-P