[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 100 (Thursday, May 23, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 36198-36200]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-12928]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Health Resources and Services Administration


Availability of Funds

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

ACTION: General Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) 
announces that applications will be accepted for fiscal year 2002 
competitive Cooperative Agreements for health workforce research.

Purpose

    The purpose of these Cooperative Agreements is to conduct research 
that will contribute to: (1) The development of information describing 
the current status of the health professions workforce and (2) the 
analysis of fundamental health workforce related issues. These 
Cooperative Agreements will support a wide range of projects designed 
to address health workforce issues at the National, Regional and State 
levels.

Authorizing Legislation

    These Cooperative Agreements are governed by section 761 of Title 
VII of the Public Health Service Act, as amended, which authorizes the 
development of information describing the health professions workforce 
and analysis of workforce related issues and necessary information for 
decision-making regarding future direction in health professions and 
nursing programs in response to societal and professional needs. 
Section 761 also authorizes the development of a non-Federal analytic 
and research infrastructure for health workforce data collection and 
analysis.

Federal Role

    The Federal role in the conduct of these cooperative agreements 
allow for substantial Federal programmatic involvement in the planning 
and development of and the reports resulting from these studies. The 
Bureau of Health Professions (BHPr) program officer may be assisted in 
this effort by program staff of the BHPr divisions. The Federal 
Government involvement will include:

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    (a) Participation in the approval of study protocols and 
methodologies;
    (b) Providing information about issues that are relevant to Federal 
policy makers or issues of particular national interest;
    (c) Consultation regarding sub-contracts awarded under these 
cooperative agreements;
    (d) Assistance in supplying data relevant to the studies or in 
identifying sources of such data, including other Federal agencies, or 
other public and private organizations; and
    (e) Assistance in the dissemination of the results and, if 
appropriate, participation in their publication in peer-reviewed 
journals.

Eligible Applicants

    Eligible applicants are State or local governments, health 
professions schools, schools of nursing, academic health centers, 
community-based health facilities, and other appropriate public or 
private non-profit entities, including faith-based organizations.

Review Criteria

    The specific review criteria used to review and rank applications 
are included in the individual guidance material provided with the 
application kits and are listed below. Applicants should pay strict 
attention to addressing these criteria, as they are the basis upon 
which their applications will be judged by the reviewers and are as 
follows:
    1. The degree to which an applicant specializes in health workforce 
research. An applicant will be considered as specializing in health 
workforce research through identification of it's mission, health 
workforce research accomplishments, and dedicated staff to health 
workforce research.
    2. The degree to which the applicant demonstrates State and 
National experience and accomplishments in health workforce issues and 
research directly supporting the BHPr National Center for Health 
Workforce Analysis and the BHPr priorities: Health workforce 
distribution, racial/ethnic diversity of the health workforce, 
geriatrics, and genetics. Experience and accomplishments can be 
demonstrated through past or currently funded research.
    3. The degree to which the applicant has health workforce research 
experience relevant to the proposed research project. For example, for 
a proposed research project that focuses on a given geographic area 
such as the US-Mexico border, the applicant should demonstrate 
experience in conducting US-Mexico border health workforce research. In 
terms of workforce discipline-specific studies, the applicant should 
demonstrate experience in conducting research on the given discipline.
    4. The degree to which the applicant's proposed research includes:
    a. A well-developed background statement
    b. Clearly stated research objectives
    c. Clearly stated project activities and methodology
    d. A well-developed, reasonable management plan that will enable 
the successful completion of the project.

Application Requests, Availability, Dates and Adresses

    Application kits will be available upon request on May 1, 2002. 
Applicants may request the application kits by contacting the HRSA 
Grants Application Center, 901 Russell Avenue, Suite 450, Gaithersburg, 
Maryland, 20879, by calling at 1-877-477-2123, by fax at 1-877-477-
2345, or by e-mail at [email protected]. Application materials will also 
be available for downloading via the World Wide Web at: http://www.hrsa.gov/grants.htm. In order to be considered for competition, 
applications must be received by mail or delivered to the HRSA Grants 
Application Center by no later than June 19, 2002. Applications 
received after the deadline or sent to any address other than the 
address above, will be returned to the applicant and not processed.

Estimated Project Period

    The estimated project period for each of the Cooperative Agreements 
is one year with an approximate award date of September 30, 2002.

Project Descriptions

Understanding International Medical Graduates (IMGs) 93.900

    The purpose of this cooperative agreement is to collect data and 
information that will describe IMGs-who they are, where they came from, 
their visa status, role in addressing needs for healthcare providers in 
HPSA's and how long they stay in underserved areas. It will also study 
the impact of September 11 on the number of J-1 waivers.
    Estimated award: $250,000.

Role and Limitations of Telemedicine in Improving ``Access'' 93.900

    The purpose of this cooperative agreement is to conduct a 
comprehensive analysis of telemedicine in rural and other underserved 
areas. It will also identify the issues and barriers in the 
implementation of telemedicine and evaluate and research sucessful 
models to identify best practices.
    Estimated award: $200,000.

Supply, Demand and Workforce Issues for 25 Allied Health Occupations 
93.900

    The purpose of this cooperative agreement is to provide projections 
of supply and demand for and an analysis of allied health occupations, 
including Diagnostic Medical Sonographer, Dietetic Technician, EMT-
Paramedics, Medical Assistant, Nuclear Medicine Technologist, and 
Surgical Technologist. Applicant may propose and justify additional 
disciplines to be included.
    Estimated award: $275,000.

Clinical Laboratory Sciences Workers Shortage Study 93.900

    The purpose of this cooperative agreement is to analyze data on 
medical laboratory personnel including demographics, employment, 
education, employment issues, and assess supply and demand for 
shortages. The study will define the magnitude of laboratory personnel 
shortage and identify major contributing factors influencing the supply 
and demand of laboratory personnel. The study will describe impact of 
shortage on the health care system.
    Estimated award: $160,000.

Supply, Demand, Use of Licensed Practical Nurses (LPNs) 93.900

    The purpose of this cooperative agreement is to provide a better 
understanding of the supply, demand, distribution and utilization of 
LPNs (including their ability to substitute for registered nurses) and 
to develop recommendations for the education and utilization of LPNs.
    Estimated award: $275,000.

Develop National Database on Nurse Practitioners 93.900

    The purpose of this cooperative agreement is to design and promote 
the development of a national nurse practitioner database that 
documents the number and characteristics of nurse practitioners, 
including demographic, job activity, and work-setting data. The 
database should be designed to provide the basic research information 
needed to analyze the nurse practitioner workforce.
    Estimated award: $125,000.

Adequacy of Current and Future Dental Workforce 93.900

    The purpose of this cooperative agreement is to: (1) assess the 
adequacy of the current dental workforce supply and expected demand and 
(2) project the demand of dental workforce.

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    Estimated award: $100,000.

Assessing Variations in Retirement Plans of Physicians by Gender, Race, 
Specialty, Age and Other Factors 93.900

    The purpose of this cooperative agreement is to assess variations 
in the retirement plans of physicians by: gender, race specialty, age, 
practice location (urban, suburban and rural) and by location of 
medical school (International Medical Graduate versus U.S. Medical 
Graduate).
    Estimated award: $50,000.

Assessing Disparities of the Health Workforce Distribution in 
Underserved Areas of Texas and New Mexico Border Regions 93.900

    The purpose of this cooperative agreement is to determine the 
applicability of recent developments in Geographic Information Systems 
(GIS) technology and studies to more clearly assess and monitor 
shortages and health workforce needs in underserved areas of the U.S./
Mexico Border region of Texas and New Mexico. Estimated award: 
$148,000.

Genetic Issues of the Hispanic Border Population 93.900

    The purpose of this cooperative agreement is to: (1) Characterize 
testable genetic issues along the border, (2) characterize genetic 
services in rural and underserved areas of the Texas and U.S./Mexico 
border region, and (3) identify the roles of health professionals in 
providing genetic services in rural areas of Texas and border regions.
    Estimated award: $100,000.

Improving Health Professions Education Programs Planning in New York 
93.900

    The purpose of this cooperative agreement is to develop a model 
collaboration between a Regional Workforce Study Center and a 
university to better plan health professions/nursing education 
programs. The Regional Workforce Center will use it knowledge about 
health workforce supply, demand and issues to advise educational 
program planners.
    Estimated award: $50,000.

The Workforce Investment Act of 1998: Are States Targeting the Health 
Workforce? 93.900

    The purpose of this cooperative agreement is to identify and 
enumerate the goals and strategies that State Workforce Reinvestment 
Boards have identified or employed in an effort to develop the health 
care workforce. The analysis should include all States and Territories.
    Estimated award: $100,000.

Health Workforce Needs in the U.S. Virgin Islands 93.900

    The purpose of this cooperative agreement is to evaluate the health 
workforce needs in the U.S. Virgin Islands as a first step in assuring 
access to high quality health care.
    Estimated award: $50,000.

Additional Information

    For programmatic information, please contact Sarah Richards (phone 
301-443-5452 or via email at [email protected]) or Lou Kuta (phone 
301-443-6634 or via e-mail at [email protected]).

Paperwork Reduction Act

    The Standard application form PHS 398, PHS Grant Application, has 
been approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under the 
Paperwork Reduction Act. The OMB clearance number is 0925-0001.
    The Cooperative agreements described in this announcement will not 
involve data collection activities that fall under the purview of the 
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

    Dated: May 17, 2002.
Elizabeth M. Duke,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 02-12928 Filed 5-22-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4165-15-P