HHS is providing $60 million in grants for researchers to develop so-called Strategic Health IT Advanced Research Projects to target "breakthrough advances" that overcome barriers to the adoption and meaningful use of health IT.
"Innovative research and approaches are required to overcome some of the foremost challenges we face in achieving our vision of a transformed healthcare system enabled through health IT," said David Blumenthal, MD, HHS' National Coordinator for Health Information Technology.
"The SHARP program will bring together some of the best and brightest minds in the nation to find breakthrough solutions and innovations that will eliminate barriers to adoption and, over time, increase the meaningful use of health IT to improve the health and care of all Americans," Blumenthal said.
Funding for the four-year research period will target:
- Security of health IT research to develop security and risk mitigation policies and the technologies to build and preserve the public trust as health IT systems become ubiquitous.
- Patient-centered cognitive support research to align health IT with the day-to-day practice of clinicians as they provide care.
- Healthcare application and network platform architectures research to achieve electronic exchange and use of health IT securely, privately, and accurately.
- Secondary use of electronic health record data research to improve the overall quality of healthcare, population health, and clinical research, while protecting patient privacy.
Each project will create a research agenda addressing the specific goals of the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act and identify the barriers to adoption and meaningful use of heath IT. HHS expects to award qualified applicants cooperative agreements to support research efforts in these four project areas.
The researchers will implement a collaborative, interdisciplinary program addressing short-term and long-term challenges in their focus area. Additionally, the projects will develop and implement a cooperative program between researchers, healthcare providers, and other health IT sector stakeholders to incorporate results into health IT practices and products.
The funding is authorized under the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Applications are due January 25, with awards anticipated in March 2010. Information about the SHARP program can be found at http://HealthIT.HHS.gov/ and at www.grants.gov.