Revised FAQ HRSA-21-022 and HRSA-21-023.pdf

Frequently Asked Questions: HRSA-21-023 & HRSA-21-022 National Telehealth Resource Center & Regional Telehealth Resource Center

Cooperative Agreements

GENERAL QUESTIONS FOR BOTH NOFOs:

1. “Where can I find the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO)?”

Under each Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) link, look for the tab that reads “Package” to find the full PDF of the funding notice.

2. “What does ‘rural’ mean?”

The federal government uses two major definitions of “rural,” along with many variants that are also available. One is produced by the U.S. Census Bureau and the other by the Office of Management and Budget. The Federal Office of Rural Health Policy uses components of each definition when determining a classification for a geographic region. The HRSA website has a Rural Health Grants Eligibility Analyzer where you can search for eligible counties, or eligible census tracts inside Metro counties. You can also download complete lists of rural areas by County, Census Tract and ZIP code on the FORHP Data Files page.

3. “Does my organization need to be located in a rural area to be eligible to apply?”

https://data.hrsa.gov/tools/rural-health https://www.hrsa.gov/rural-health/about-us/definition/datafiles.html

No. We do encourage you to check out the current award recipients’ websites for additional context:

• Regional TRCs: https://www.telehealthresourcecenter.org/

• National Policy TRC: https://www.telehealthresourcecenter.org/cchp/?Center=CCHP

• National Technology TRC: https://www.telehealthresourcecenter.org/ttac/?Center=TTAC

4. “Are institutions of higher learning eligible to apply?”

Yes, although the NOFOs do not specifically mention institutions of higher learning, they are eligible.

5. “Can I use this funding for my company’s research and development of telehealth technology (or to purchase telehealth equipment for my hospital, etc.)?”

No, these cooperative agreements support telehealth technical assistance, training and support regionally (RTRCs) and nationally (NTRCs).

National TRCs NOFO (HRSA-21-023)

• Page 1 of the NOFO lists the core services required of NTRCs

• Page 18 lists Funding Restrictions for NTRC award recipients

Regional TRCs NOFO (HRSA-21-022)

• Page 2 of the NOFO lists the core services required of RTRCs

• Pages 19-20 list the Funding Restrictions for RTRC award recipients

6. “Will HRSA give me feedback on my idea/proposal before I apply?”

No. In fairness to the impartial grant application objective review process, HRSA is unable to offer feedback on your grant proposal.

7. “Are any TRC grant staff required to have PhD?”

No. Staff should be experienced (and your application should describe that) but HRSA indicates no specific educational requirements for these two programs.

QUESTIONS SPECIFIC TO THE NATIONAL TELEHEALTH RESOURCE CENTER (NTRC)

PROGRAM NOFO (HRSA-21-023):

8. “How can I review/share the applicant webinar information from Thursday November 12?”

You may download the Power Point slides in the lower left hand corner of the platform here:

https://hrsa.connectsolutions.com/ntrc-ta-applicants and you may listen to the audio replay here: 1-866-358-4519 https://www.telehealthresourcecenter.org/ https://www.telehealthresourcecenter.org/cchp/?Center=CCHP https://www.telehealthresourcecenter.org/ttac/?Center=TTAC https://hrsa.connectsolutions.com/ntrc-ta-applicants

9. “For the Technology-focused NTRC, are you looking for any new technology or just support current technologies?”

HRSA expects the Technology-focused NTRC to be well versed in current, as well as, new technologies in order to offer the most robust and complete technical assistance to the field.

10. “Please describe the relationship between the federal NTRC and the regional NTRCs.”

The National Telehealth Resource Centers (NTRCs) focus on larger technology and policy topics to allow the Regional Telehealth Resource Centers (RTRCs) to focus on the unique telehealth needs/requests of their region. Because the field of telehealth is changing and growing so quickly, this makes it possible for the TRCs to balance support demands as they emerge, whether they focus on a region (RTRC) or a national topic area (NTRC; technology or policy).

QUESTIONS SPECIFIC TO THE REGIONAL TELEHEALTH RESOURCE CENTER (NTRC)

PROGRAM NOFO (HRSA-21-022):

11. “How can I review/share the applicant webinar information from Tuesday, November 17?”

You may download the Power Point slides in the lower right hand corner of the platform here:

https://hrsa.connectsolutions.com/rtrc_ta_webinar_for_applicants and you may listen to the audio replay here: 1-800-867-1930 (Passcode: 1621) *the number in the NOFO has been updated to the correct number here; apologies for the confusion.

12. “To serve a specific Pacific Island entity in our catchment area as an RTRC, could we contract with someone on site and pay part of the government employee salary for that staff member?”

Yes, if this arrangement is treated similarly to doing so with a state.

13. “Is there a funding preference for previous TRC award recipients?”

No. In past NOFOs, currently funded TRC award recipients had received a five point advantage but this is removed this year. Please be attentive to completing the (unscored) Progress Report attachment in the NOFO as a currently funded award recipient.

14. “For previous TRCs, the NOFO states that we must include a progress report for the period covering September 1, 2017 through August 31, 2021. The grant proposals are due in January 2021. Can you provide clarification on what HRSA wants for the months that will not be covered yet? (January 2020-August 2021).”

For the period that has not happened yet (January-August 2021), indicate the activities and efforts you anticipate for the remainder of your award in this report. Be sure to distinguish between your completed grant progress leading up to January 2021 and your future plans for January through August of 2021.

https://hrsa.connectsolutions.com/rtrc_ta_webinar_for_applicants

15. “Do we need a letter (or signature) from each State Office of Rural Health in the region for which we are applying?”

No. For the purposes of your application, HRSA recommends you consult with the State Office of Rural Health (SORH) in which your organization resides. You will want to coordinate with the SORHs in the other states you will serve, once funded.

16. “Do for-profit applicants need to certify they will not be seeking a business contract with the entities served by their technical assistance provision?”

TRCs are “vendor agnostic,” that is to say, TRCs are not to be drumming up business for a solely for-profit entity. If a vendor is the only choice to acquire a particular kind of technology (for example), then then circumstances may dictate it but technical assistance should not be a vehicle for advertising, promotion or perceived vendor endorsement.