2015-CommunityHealthProgram.pdf

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, Community Health Peer Learning Program (CHP)

Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology

Department of Health and Human Services

Release Date: February 3, 2015

Table of Contents Opportunity Overview Executive Summary

1. Funding Opportunity Description

1.1 Purpose and Background

1.1.1 Purpose

1.1.2 Background

1.2 Program Description

1.3 Project Approach

1.3.1 Program Overview

1.4 Program Detail

1.5 Project Evaluation

1.5.1 Project Evaluation and Measurement

2 Award Information

2.1 Summary of Funding

2.2 Performance Evaluation

2.3 Award Type

3. Eligibility Information

3.1 Eligible Applicants

4. Application and Submission Information

4.1 Address to Request Application Package

4.2 Content and Form of Application Submission

4.2.1 Project Abstract

4.2.2 Project Narrative

4.3 Submission Dates and Times

4.4 Application Responsiveness and Completeness Criteria

4.5 Notice of Intent to Apply

4.6 How to Apply Information

4.6.1 Address to Request Application Submission

4.6.2 Application procedures

4.6.3 Grants.gov Registration

4.6.4 Applying Electronically through Grants.gov

4.6.5 Intergovernmental Review

4.6.6 Funding Restrictions

5. Application Review Information

5.1 Criteria

5.2 Evaluation

5.3 Objective Review Overview

5.4 Objective Review Detail (Maximum total score range: 0 - 100 points)

5.5 Objective Review and Selection Process

5.6 Discussions and Award

5.7 Anticipated Announcement and Award Date

5.8 Award Administration Information

5.9 Cost-Sharing or Matching

5.10 Performance Evaluation

5.11 Public Material Use

5.12 Intellectual Property/Copyrights

6. Award Administration Information

6.1 Award Notices

6.2 Notice of Award

6.3 Administrative and National Policy Requirements

6.4 Reporting

6.4.1 Performance Reports

6.5 Non-Disclosure Requirements

6.6 Potential for Organizational and Personal Conflicts Of Interest (COI)

7. Agency Contact(s)

7.1 Agency Contacts

8.0 Other Information

8.1 Restrictions

8.2 HHS Grants Policy Statement

8.3 Records Retention

8.4 Cooperative Agreement Terms and Conditions of Award

8.5 Standard Terms and Conditions- ONC Grants

8.6 Other Terms and Conditions

8.7 Administrative and National Policy Requirements

8.8 Post-Award Reporting Requirements

8.9 Audit Requirements

8.10 Financial Status and Cash Transaction Reports

8.11 Performance Reports

9. Appendix A - Budget Detail

9.1 Instructions for completing the SF 424, Budget (SF 424A), Budget Narrative/Justification, and Other Required Forms

9.1.1 Standard Form 424

9.1.2 Standard Form 424A

9.1.3 Standard Form 424B - Assurances

9.1.4 Certification Regarding Lobbying

9.1.5 Other Application Components

Opportunity Overview Funding Opportunity Announcement Title: Community Health Peer Learning Program

Federal Funding Agency: Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)

Announcement Type: New Award

Funding Opportunity Number: CLP-CL-15-001

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 93.727

Statutory Authority: American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, Division A, Title XIII

- Health Information Technology, Subtitle C—Public Health Service Act (PHSA), Title XXX, Subtitle B, Section 3011

Funding available: $1,700,000

Anticipated number of awards: One (1) award

Period of Performance: Two (2) years (24 months)

Important Dates: Table 1 summarizes important information regarding this FOA, including the required submission and award dates.*

Table 1.FOA Summary Information Public FOA Release February 3, 2015 Notice of Intent to Apply Due March 2, 2015 at 11:59 PM ET* Applications Due April 6, 2015 at 11:59 PM ET* Estimated Award Announcements May 1, 2015 Anticipated Project Start Date June 1, 2015

* All times are Eastern Time.

ONC will conduct an informational session to provide information related to this FOA. The purpose of the session is to:

• Discuss the background, purpose and scope of services requested in the FOA;

• Explain the eligibility and application requirements;

• Describe the application review process; and

• Provide an opportunity for interested parties to ask questions about the FOA.

Further details about the informational session – including the date, time, and instructions for joining – are available at: http://healthit.gov/newsroom/community-health-peer-learning-program http://healthit.gov/newsroom/community-health-peer-learning-program

Executive Summary This funding opportunity announcement (FOA) describes a full and open competition to make a single award, through a cooperative agreement, with the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC). The awardee will manage the Community Health Peer Learning Program, funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act), Division A, Title XIII - Health Information Technology, Subtitle C—Public Health Service Act (PHSA), Title XXX, Subtitle B, Section 3011.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) activities support efforts to increase access to health care, protect those in greatest need, expand educational opportunities, and modernize the nation’s infrastructure. Total funding available under this FOA is $1,700,000. The Community Health Peer Learning Program will leverage and build upon health care delivery and practice transformation programs that have been introduced or have been updated since the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was signed into law on March 30, 2010. The goal of the Community Health Peer Learning Program is to identify data solutions, accelerate local progress, and disseminate local learning to other communities through the development of shared learning resources around population health challenges.

1. Funding Opportunity Description

1.1 Purpose and Background

1.1.1 Purpose

The purpose of this FOA is to address health challenges at the population level through a community-based collaborative approach. The Community Health Peer Learning Program supports HHS efforts to promote the development of a nationwide health information infrastructure built on the sustainable efforts of local providers and communities.

During the initial phase of the program, the awardee will release a call for applications to identify and select up to ten (10) communities 1 across the care management continuum to participate in the Community Health Peer Learning Program. During the following twelve to eighteen months, selected communities will complete a peer learning program to achieve the following:

1 For the purpose of this FOA, the definition of community may include, but is not limited to the following: a unified body of individuals living in a particular area with geographic boundaries; people with common characteristics or persons having common clinical and/or health interests.

• Develop and begin the implementation2of an impactful, measureable, and actionable community work plan to improve the use of health information through data aggregation, data portability, and data analysis on a self-identified population health challenge3.

• Access and cultivate cross-community partnerships around population health challenges through peer learning, subject matter expert (SME) guidance, stakeholder engagement,4 and development and dissemination of key resources highlighting best practices, case studies, and scalable strategies to assist with implementing the actionable community work plan.

1.1.2 Background

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has a critical responsibility to advance the connectivity of electronic health information and the interoperability of health information technology (health IT). This work has become particularly pressing with the need to address the national priority of better and more affordable health care, leading to improved population health. Achieving this goal requires a strong, flexible health IT ecosystem that can support transparency and decision-making through enhancing the use of data, reducing redundancy, and informing payment reform, all of which will help transform care delivery.

Previously, grantees under the Beacon Community Cooperative Agreement Program Funding Opportunity Announcement of 2009, HHS-2010-ONC-BC-004, worked to demonstrate how health IT investments and meaningful use of electronic health records (EHR) advanced the vision of patient-centered care, while achieving the three-part aim of better health, better care, and lower costs. ONC provided $250 million over three years to 17 communities throughout the United States that had made inroads in the development of secure, private, and accurate systems of EHR adoption and health information exchange. Each of the 17 communities actively pursued the following areas of focus:

1. Building and strengthening the health IT infrastructure and exchange capabilities within communities, positioning each community to pursue a new level of sustainable health care quality and efficiency;

2 Beginning implementation may include activities such as signed participation agreements and data exchange actions based on existing HIT infrastructure. Additional information on implementation will be included in the solicitation to communities.

3 Population health challenge is defined as addressing communities’ health inequities or disparities on health status and improving overall quality of care.

4 Stakeholders may include, but are not limited to, primary care providers (PCPs), practicing clinicians, hospitals, public and private payers, consumers, local and state public health departments, safety net providers, community- and non-government-based organizations, long term care and support services, employers, academic institutions, charitable foundations, industry, laboratories, pharmacies, employers, quality improvement organizations, hospital associations, government entities, and medical societies.

2. Translating investments in health IT to measureable improvements in cost, quality, and population health; and

3. Developing innovative approaches to performance measurement, technology, and care delivery to accelerate evidence generation for new approaches.

Collectively, the 17 Beacon Communities touched nearly 9,000 providers and over 8 million patient lives.

Today, progressive changes to the Medicare and Medicaid Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Programs and the establishment of new programs under the ACA require the use of health IT to improve and coordinate care, develop and sustain data infrastructure necessary for multi-payer value-based payment, and integrate clinical and claims data to enable data analytics for informed decision making and streamlined reporting. These improvements depend on information that is useful and accessible to those who provide, receive, and coordinate care.

As a result, it is important that the Community Health Peer Learning Program supports the advancement of health IT. The Community Health Peer Learning Program will facilitate this work and provide funding to communities experiencing population health challenges to demonstrate a vision of the future where hospitals, clinicians, and patients can achieve measurable improvements in health care delivery, safety, and efficiency through the improved use of information.

1.2 Program Description

The Community Health Peer Learning Program involves funding an awardee or organization, a Community Health Program Manager external to ONC, to work with ONC, communities, national experts, local technical experts, consumers, and other stakeholders to facilitate shared community learning and problem solving through a collaborative learning program. Participant program communities will focus on advancing population health management approaches through the improved use of health IT within and across local, regional, and state settings.

Communities further along the population health management implementation continuum– who have demonstrated effective use of health information–will participate in disseminating replicable strategies and approaches. Shared learning resources will be disseminated and made broadly available post-award.

1.3 Project Approach

1.3.1 Program Overview

The Community Health Peer Learning Program will fund one award of $1,700,000 through a cooperative agreement with ONC. The awardee will work with selected communities to identify challenges and develop strategies related to population health through a collaborative peer learning program. These challenges and strategies will be captured through learning guides and case studies to be shared and disseminated broadly.

Peer Learning Communities The awardee will identify, through a public call for application, communities with population health management challenges that can be addressed through improved use of information, such as data aggregation, data portability, or data analysis to improve the overall population health within the community.

Communities participating in the Community Health Peer Learning Program will consist of two broad program categories:

• Participating. Participating Communities will identify a population health management challenge and act in partnership with community and state stakeholders to establish strategies to create an impactful, measureable, and actionable plan around community-level data aggregation, portability, and analysis. Communities must demonstrate the ability to leverage existing community-based resources and health IT infrastructure and systems. Participating Communities will be selected using a public call for applications process that is led and managed by the awardee.

• Subject Matter Expert (SME) communities will be those that can provide concise and substantive evidence about their successful experiences addressing population health management challenges, where success was achieved through improved use of information.

Selected communities will receive funding through a sub-recipient agreement to support active and meaningful participation as members of the Community Health Peer Learning Program.

Types of participation may include:

• For Participating Communities, participation will allow the community to work with SME Communities, national experts, local technical experts, consumers, other stakeholders, the awardee, and ONC to develop an impactful and actionable plan to address and improve a self-identified population health management challenge.

Participating Communities will participate in two (2) national meetings with SME Communities, ONC, and other stakeholders.

• Sub-recipient agreements will supplement program activities such as participant travel expenses, community-level meeting support, and development of work products, including, but will not be limited to, case studies and community work plans.

• For SME Communities, participation will allow the awardee and ONC to conduct an in-depth assessment of key strategies leading to successful population health outcomes and document the data-specific processes, infrastructure, and systems that contributed to the community’s success. Work products will include development of an in-depth learning guide for use by all Community Health Peer Learning Program participants and ONC.

• Sub-recipient agreements will supplement program activities such as participant travel expenses, participation, and development of work products that may include, but will not be limited to webinars and an in-depth learning guide.

1.4 Program Detail

The first year of the program will include the following activities:

• Establishing the cooperative agreement and onboarding the awardee.

• Designing the communications, strategy, and project management plans for a nationwide call for applications. The call for applications will seek communities that have identified a population-level health management challenge that can be improved through the enhanced use of meaningful and actionable data related to population health and health care system reform.

• Selecting communities to participate in the Community Health Peer Learning Program.

Participating Communities must articulate a population-level health management challenge that has the following characteristics:

• The health management challenge must be likely to respond to interventions that will result in potential improvement in population health, quality of care, and decreased costs within the next three to five years;

• Data for measuring the health management challenge must be available for major segments of the population at the community, state, and/or sub-state level; and

• High population health management burden and societal costs should be reduced, through strategies such as:

o Integrating long-term and post-acute care settings;

o Sharing electronic care planning across settings;

o Implementing quality measure reporting across community care settings; and o Aggregating clinical and claims data to support value-based payment models.

• Conducting pre-meeting functions, including, but not limited to:

• Incorporating SME Communities in-depth learning through interviewing and capturing significant strategies and processes to facilitate an agenda for the two (2) meetings to assist Participating Communities in developing their action plans;

• Partnering with SME Communities to produce 1-3 webinars highlighting challenges, and creating an in-depth learning guide to inform the meetings;

• Creating program specific resources, such as:

o An implementation case study on each Participating Community; and o An SME in-depth learning guide to inform meetings and which can be shared broadly through ONC.

• Establishing, managing, and closing-out all aspects of two 3-5 day in-person meetings of Participating and SME Communities, local/state/federal partners, and experts supporting the program.

• Providing substantive, appropriate management reporting throughout the project.

At the end of year two, the Community Health Peer Learning Program Participating and SME Communities will have completed a peer learning program with the awardee and ONC. ONC expects to realize the following achievements as a result of this process:

• Developed an impactful, measureable, and actionable plan to implement solutions to specific population-level health management challenges using improved data access and flow.

• Worked with the awardee to develop resources, such as the implementation case study for Participating Communities and an in-depth learning guide from SME Communities.

These resources will be shared with the Community Health Learning Program participants and more broadly.

• Accessed and cultivated cross-community partnerships that address multiple population health challenges through peer learning, SME guidance, and program learning.

1.5 Project Evaluation

1.5.1 Project Evaluation and Measurement

This FOA provides applicants with flexibility to propose methods that support and enable communities to engage in innovative and novel approaches through a peer learning program that addresses population health challenges. However, ONC will measure the success of the awardee through milestones, including, but are not limited to, the following:

1. Successful program implementation within defined timelines and budget to include:

a. Release of public call for applications,

b. Selection of Participating and SME Communities,

c. Pre-/post meeting workshops/calls/webinars, and

d. Organizing and managing all aspects of the two (2) national meetings.

2. Total number of Participating Communities developing and implementing processes and system-level changes in relation to identified information and data aggregation, flow, and use around population health management challenges.

a. Percentage of Participating and SME Communities successfully meeting determined milestones and/or reporting on success measures.

3. Total number of ONC-approved program resources developed, generated, and created, such as case studies, webinars, and in-depth learning guides.

a. Potential metrics could include, but are not limited to:

i. Number of Community Health Peer Learning Program resources downloaded, cited, or shared by social media cites within 6 months of posting.

b. Produced resources that can be used across program communities:

c. Minimum number of three (3) communities represented within each resource, and

d. Number of resources that are generalizable across Participating and SME

Communities and at the national level.

e. Specific challenge resources that address nationally-recognized problems that are represented across multiple program communities.

f. Minimum number of population health management resources made available to the public via 508 compliance and working with ONC to post on HealthIT.gov.

For each of the milestones, ONC will work with the awardee and determine the appropriate targets and reporting requirements.

Additional requirements can be found in subsequent sections.

2 Award Information

2.1 Summary of Funding

Type of Award Cooperative Agreement Total Amount of Funding Available $1,700,000 Number of Awards One (1) award Project Period of Performance: Two (2) years (24 months) Estimated Start Date June 1, 2015

ONC reserves the right to increase the award under this announcement, consistent with Agency policy, if additional funding becomes available after the original selection is made. Any additional funding will be made no later than twelve (12) months after the original selection decision.

2.2 Performance Evaluation

The Awardee’s performance will be evaluated on a continuous basis by ONC to ensure that the project is meeting program objectives.

2.3 Award Type

The funding instrument used for this program will be the cooperative agreement, an award type in which substantial ONC programmatic involvement with the grantee (“grantee” and “awardee” are used interchangeably throughout this document) is anticipated during the performance of the activities. Under the cooperative agreement, ONC’s objective is to support and stimulate the grantee’s activities by involvement in the program and otherwise working with the grantee in a partnership role; it is not to assume direction, prime responsibility, or a dominant role in the activities. Consistent with this concept, the dominant role and prime responsibility resides with the grantee for the project as a whole, although specific tasks and activities may be shared among the grantee and the ONC as defined below.

3. Eligibility Information

3.1 Eligible Applicants

Applicants must be a United States-based for profit or nonprofit institution, organization, agency, or group thereof.

4. Application and Submission Information

4.1 Address to Request Application Package

The applicants will be able to download a copy of the application packet, complete it off-line, and then upload and submit the application electronically via: http://www.grants.gov.

APPLICATIONS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED THROUGH ANY WEBSITE AND WILL NOT

BE ACCEPTED THROUGH PAPER MAIL, COURIER, OR DELIVERY SERVICE.

• THE APPLICANTS ARE STRONGLY ENCOURAGED TO COMPLETE AND

SUBMIT APPLICATIONS AS FAR IN ADVANCE OF THE SUBMISSION

DEADLINE AS POSSIBLE. THE APPLICATION INCLUDING ALL REQUIRED

ATTACHMENTS AND INCLUDED FILES FOR POTENTIAL CONSIDERATION

IN THE REVIEW PROCESS MUST BE RECEIVED BY 11:59 PM EASTERN TIME

ON THE DATE SPECIFIED IN SECTION 4.3: SUBMISSION DATES AND TIMES

BELOW. All applicants should have a Dun and Bradstreet (D&B) Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number and register in the Systems for Award Management (SAM). Allow a minimum of five (5) days to complete the SAM registration.

• Grants.gov will automatically send each applicant a tracking number and date of receipt verification electronically once the application has been successfully received and validated in Grants.gov. After your application is retrieved by ONC from Grants.gov, a return receipt will be emailed to the awardee contact. This will be in addition to the validation number provided by Grants.gov.

4.2 Content and Form of Application Submission

4.2.1 Project Abstract

Applicants must include an abstract of the application of no more than two (2) pages, single spaced, and has a maximum of 500 words. This abstract is often submitted to provide information to the public and Congress and should present a high-level project summary.

Applicants should prepare a clear, accurate, and concise abstract that can be understood without reference to other parts of the application and which gives a description of the proposed project, including: the project’s goal(s), objectives, overall approach (including partnerships), anticipated outcomes, products, and duration.

http://www.grants.gov/

The applicant must place the following information at the top of the Project Abstract. (This information is not included in the 500 word maximum):

• Project Title

• Applicant Name

• Applicant Address

• Contact Name

• Contact Phone Numbers (Voice, Fax)

• E-Mail Address

• Web Site Address, if applicable

4.2.2 Project Narrative

The Project Narrative is an important aspect of the application. It is used to determine whether the application meets the minimum requirements for funding, and it will serve as primary basis for the review. The Project Narrative must provide a clear and concise description of goals, objectives, strategy, and outcomes. The narrative must provide the reader with an understanding of how the applicant will:

• Develop and disseminate learning resources;

• Support, design and convene the Community Health Peer Learning Program;

• Engage and support program communities;

• Partner with ONC throughout the program;

• Describe plans to share results with other communities and states and territories; and

• Describe how this work can improve individual and community health outcomes.

The Project Narrative must be double-spaced, printable on 8 ½” x 11” pages with 1” margins on all sides, use either Calibri or Time New Roman font, and use a font size of not less than 11 point. Smaller font sizes may be used to fill in the Standard Forms and Sample Formats, and also for exhibits and figures, though all text in exhibits and figures must not be below 8 point font.

Project Narratives should be no more than 15 pages. ONC will not review Project Narrative pages beyond the allowed 15 pages. The Project Abstract will not be counted as part of the narrative.

Key Staff Resumes/Curriculum Vitae (CV) are required and should be referenced in the Project Narrative, with resume/CV copies placed in Appendix B. Neither Appendix A nor Appendix B will be counted toward the Project Narrative’s 15-page limit.

The project narrative must conform to the following outline and include the information required under each section:

• Project Abstract (<500 words)

• Understanding the Program Purpose (<1 page)

• Organizational Capacity and Project Management Acumen (<4 pages)

• Proposed Approach and Work Plan (<4 pages)

• Sub-recipient Award Management, Evaluation, and Feedback

Structure (<2 pages)

• Collaborator Involvement and Partnerships (<1 page)

• Process for Dissemination of Learning Resource (<2 pages)

• Budget Justification and Budget Forms (<1 page)

• APPENDIX A: Copies of Letters of Commitment/Support

• APPENDIX B: Key Staff/Partner Resumes/CVs

Project Abstract:

Section 1: Understanding the Program Purpose (<1 page) This section must describe, from the applicant’s perspective, the benefits of making these funds available to communities. This section may contain:

• Defined core set of community-level population health management challenges,

• Topics the applicant understands are prominent, and

• Defined measures of success considered feasible and appropriate.

Section 2: Organizational Capacity and Project Management Acumen (<4 pages) This section must clearly demonstrate that the organizational and personnel capabilities of the applicant support its ability to implement the program. It also must demonstrate the applicant’s ability to bring together all of the resources, including the technical infrastructure and capabilities, to perform the proposed work. This section must include:

• The organization’s capabilities relevant to the program, including the partners and collaborative relationships with healthcare stakeholders the applicant has that will support the program’s success.

• Relevant organizational resources available to perform the proposed work, such as leveraging previous technical infrastructure investments, facilities, equipment, and related resources. Provide written descriptions of types of resources or tools developed or created and describe their impact on success related to improving measured outcomes.

• Demonstration of program management acumen, including a work breakdown structures and approach to completing deliverables, how the call for applications will be developed, how scope will be developed and controlled, data collection and reporting, project management techniques, communications methods and strategies, and partnership building.

• Specify who would have day-to-day responsibility for key tasks such as: program leadership; monitoring the program’s on-going progress; preparing management and status reports; communicating with program communities, other collaborating organizations, and ONC.

• The capabilities of the applicant not included in other portions of the project narrative, such as any current or previous relevant experience and/or the record of the project team in conducting similar or applicable proposed activities.

• Demonstration of support from key program partners. For example, a letter of support or a letter of commitment from specific healthcare stakeholders. All such documents should be included in a referenced bulleted list highlighting importance of partnership to the success of the program within this section. Copies of letters should be placed within Appendix A.

• A description of the qualifications of the proposed key staff. Resumes/CVs are required and should be included as attachments within Appendix B.

Section 3: Proposed Approach and Work Plan (<4 pages)

• This section must set out the approach and strategy proposed to address the applicant’s

Understanding of Program Purpose. It also must explain the timeline in a way that fully demonstrates feasibility and includes clear benchmarks and performance metrics to achieve program goals. This section must also include: A clear and concise description of the applicant’s approach for establishing and engaging community members within the peer learning program to address a population health management challenge.

• The work plan must clearly show the relationship of each work plan element with that of the proposed approach. The plan also must include tasks, activities, dependencies, timelines, resources, partners, deliverables, and major milestones. It also must align with the proposed budget and correlate to proposed design specification of the Community Health Peer Learning Program. The work plan also should specify the tasks and activities that the applicant expects partners and ONC staff to perform.

them.

Section 4: Sub-recipient Award Management, Evaluation, and Feedback Structures (<2 pages) This section must demonstrate the applicant’s ability to manage a national program with respect to measurement, reporting, evaluation, and employing mechanisms for gathering and incorporating feedback. This section should:

• Describe the applicant’s approach to monitor and track community progress on program tasks and objectives;

• Present a clear description of program success criteria and how program outcomes and impact will be measured, evaluated, and reported; and

• Describe four key elements, at minimum, the applicant would use as a set of criteria for measuring programmatic success.

Section 5: Collaborator Involvement and Partnerships (<1 page) This section must describe the role and composition of any strategic partners and collaborators the applicant plans to involve in implementing the approach and work plan and detail why their contribution is integral to program success.

Section 6: Process for Dissemination of Learning Resources (<2 pages) This section must fully describe the ways in which the program is broadly applicable to and/ or replicable in other communities, states, and territories by explaining how the results of the program will be disseminated, replicated, and used nationally. The section must:

• Clearly describe the applicant’s understanding of the community learning process to support a population health management analysis;

• Discuss how the applicant will develop resources such as case studies, webinars, white papers, and how these resources can and will be disseminated across the program and to local, state, and federal partners;

• Present the applicant’s ability to distill complex technical issues, such as health IT and policy challenges, as well as the applicant’s ability to synthesize recommendations and lessons learned to community, state, and federal partners through required reports and presentations.

Section 7: Budget Justification and Budget Forms (<1 page) All applicants must provide a detailed proposed budget that includes all costs necessary to complete their proposed project activities. The budget narrative/justification must include the allowable costs that will be incurred in support of the cooperative agreement. Costs may not be incurred until the beginning date of the award, as indicated on the official Notice of Award.

Whether direct or indirect, costs must be allowable, allocable, reasonable, and necessary under the applicable OMB Cost Circulars: (See, http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/circulars) and based on programmatic requirements for administering the program as outlined in the Recovery Act.

The duration of this award is for a maximum of 24 months (2 Years). The budget and justification must reflect the costs for the entire project period and must include:

• An explanation of how the proposed budget supports the proposed program and is reasonable to meet the program’s needs and is as cost-efficient as possible;

Budget Forms:

All applicants must complete the following budget forms to include the costs associated with the proposed project activities. These forms will be submitted through grants.gov as part of the application package and will include:

Note that these forms do not replace program-specific guidance provided in this funding opportunity announcement with additional instructions found under Appendix A.

Appendix A: Letters of Commitment/Support Include confirmation of the commitments to the project (should it be funded) made by key collaborating organizations and agencies. Any organization that is specifically named to have a significant role in carrying out the program should be considered an essential collaborator.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/circulars

Appendix B: Key Staff Resumes/CVs Include key staff and Partner Resumes and CVs here. Include only those Resumes and CVs for Key staff referenced under Organizational Capacity and Project Management Acumen.

4.3 Submission Dates and Times

Applications must be submitted electronically via http://www.grants.gov by11:59 P.M. Eastern Time April 6, 2015.

4.4 Application Responsiveness and Completeness Criteria

Applicants that do not meet the following completeness criteria will be administratively eliminated and will not be sent forward for objective review:

2015 through http://www.grants.gov.

management challenges and topics that the applicant understands.

• Appendices and attachments are not used as a mechanism to exceed page limits of the

Project Narrative.

4.5 Notice of Intent to Apply

Applicants are strongly encouraged to submit a non-binding e-mail notice of intent to apply for this funding opportunity to assist ONC in planning for the application review process by 11:59 P.M. Eastern Time, March 2, 2015. Only the primary applicant should submit this notice. This notice should simply identify the name of the applicant organization, the city and state in which the applicant organization is located, and identify the Funding Opportunity Announcement number CLP-CL-15-001 and Title: Community Health Peer Learning Program.

Notices of Intent should be sent to CommunityHealthFOA@hhs.gov by 11:59 P.M. Eastern Time, March 2, 2015.

4.6 How to Apply Information

4.6.1 Address to Request Application Submission

Application materials will be available for download at http://www.grants.gov. ONC requires full applications for all announcements to be submitted electronically through http://www.grants.gov.

APPLICATIONS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED THROUGH ANY OTHER WEBSITE AND

WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED THROUGH PAPER MAIL, COURIER, OR DELIVERY

SERVICE.

APPLICANTS ARE STRONGLY ENCOURAGED TO COMPLETE AND SUBMIT

APPLICATIONS AS FAR IN ADVANCE OF THE SUBMISSION DEADLINE AS POSSIBLE.

THE APPLICATION INCLUDING ALL REQUIRED ATTACHMENTS AND INCLUDED

http://www.grants.gov http://www.grants.gov mailto:CommunityHealthFOA@hhs.gov

FILES FOR POTENTIAL CONSIDERATION IN THE REVIEW PROCESS MUST BE

RECEIVED BY 11:59 P.M. EASTERN TIME ON APRIL 6, 2015.

4.6.2 Application procedures

• Applicants must access the electronic application for this program via http://www.grants.

gov. Search the downloadable application page by the Funding Opportunity Number CLP-CL-15-001 or CFDA number (93.727).

• Applicants should have a Dun and Bradstreet (D&B) Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number and register in the Systems for Award Management (SAM). Allow a minimum of five (5) days to complete the registration.

• Submit all documents electronically, including all information included on the SF424 and all necessary assurances and certifications.

• Ensure that the application complies with any page limitation requirements described in this FOA Guidance.

• After electronically submitting your application, an automatic email notification will be sent to confirm that the application was received. This notification does not provide assurance that your application was complete, only that the application was received.

• After ONC reviews the submission, a return receipt will be emailed to the applicant, indicating the files that were received and able to be successfully opened and read.

Organizations applying for federal grants will need to be registered with the System for Award Management (SAM). You can register with the SAM online at http://www.sam.

gov.

If you have already registered with SAM but have not renewed your registration in the last twelve

(12) months, you will need to renew your registration at http://www.sam.gov.

4.6.3 Grants.gov Registration

Registration with Grants.gov can take several days. Applicants are strongly encouraged to locate and test current logins and passwords for this system well in advance of the deadline date. For assistance with Grants.gov, please contact them at support@Grants.gov or 1-800-518-4726 between 7:00 AM and 9:00 PM Eastern Time.

4.6.4 Applying Electronically through Grants.gov

All information needed to submit applications electronically through this site can be found at Grants.gov. Additionally, there are a variety of requirements that are critical to know and comply with in order to meet the application deadline and submission requirements:

• Applicants will be able to download a copy of the application packet, complete it off-line, and then upload and submit the application via the website.

• Applicants can access the electronic application for this program on Grants.gov.

Applicants must search the downloadable application page by the Funding Opportunity CLP-CL-15-001 or CFDA number 93.727

• ONC strongly recommends that applicants not wait until the application due date to begin the application process through Grants.gov.

• To complete an application in Grants.gov, applicants must have a Dun and Bradstreet (D&B) Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number and be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM). Applicants should allow a minimum of five days http://www.grants.gov http://www.grants.gov http://www.sam.gov http://www.sam.gov http://www.sam.gov mailto:support@Grants.gov http://www.grants.gove http://www.grants.gov to complete the SAM registration. The DUNS number was required for the initial award, and the same number should be used for this supplemental program. It is critical to know that SAM registration requires an annual renewal. As a result, ONC strongly encourages applicants to ensure that their registrations are current or to renew their registrations well in advance of the application deadline. For more information or to check or renew registrations, go to http://www.sam.gov.

• Applicants must submit all documents electronically, including all information included on the SF424 and all necessary assurances and certifications.

• Prior to application submission, Microsoft Vista and Office 2007 users should review the Grants.gov compatibility information and submission instructions provided at Grants.gov (click on “Vista and Microsoft Office 2007 Compatibility Information”).

• After applications are submitted electronically, applicants will receive an automatic acknowledgement from Grants.gov that contains a Grants.gov Applications must be submitted via http://www.grants.gov no later than 11:59 PM EST on April 6, 2015.

• Applications that fail to meet the application due date will not be reviewed and will receive no further consideration.

• Grants.gov will automatically send applicants a tracking number. ONC will retrieve application forms from Grants.gov.

4.6.5 Intergovernmental Review

Applications for these cooperative agreements are not subject to review by states under Executive Order 12372, “Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs” (45 CFR 100). 40. Please check box “C” on item 19 of the SF 424 (Application for Federal Assistance) as Review by State Executive Order 12372, does not apply to these cooperative agreements.

4.6.6 Funding Restrictions

Funds under this announcement cannot be used for the following purposes:

improvements to any building;

http://www.sam.gov

5. Application Review Information

5.1 Criteria

Applications must be submitted electronically via http://www.grants.gov by 11:59 Eastern Time, April 6, 2015.

The Project Narrative Section of the Application must be double-spaced, printable on 8.5” X 11” plain white paper with 1” margins on all sides, use either Calibri or Time New Roman font, and use a font size of not less than 11 point. Smaller font sizes may be used to fill in the Standard Forms and Sample Formats, and also for exhibits and figures, though all text in exhibits and figures must not be below 8 point font. The Project Narrative must not exceed 15 pages.

All of the applicants must provide signed letters of commitment or letters of support as appropriate submitted under Appendix A and detailed budgets as part of the application.

5.2 Evaluation

Program and Project Management Leadership, Governance, and Evaluation Feedback structures.

Applicants should describe an existing and current organizational capacity to manage multiple advanced community-, state-, and national-level programs through sub-recipient and partnership processes. Successful applicants will demonstrate cross-functional capability and capacity to convene multi-stakeholder groups, facilitate pre-/post-meeting activity, and possess experience in disseminating learning resources. Applicants will demonstrate past and recent ability to design, implement, and manage program evaluations, including the implementation of performance, monitoring, and feedback structures for and with both internal and external partners and propose five key applicant evaluation criteria through which ONC can measure applicant success during the two-year program.

National program experience and ability to target healthcare stakeholders locally, with states, and at the federal level.

Applicants should specify and offer concrete examples of either recent projects with national scope and scale managed by and through the organization. Applicants will demonstrate understanding and familiarity with local and national health care reform efforts supporting public and population health management. The application should speak to the applicant’s ability to build strong local, state, federal and national partnerships, including resulting resource development from such partnerships.

Strategy for achieving improved community-level population health management outcomes.

Applicants must demonstrate the ability to engage and synthesize complex health IT technical and policy recommendations. Lessons learned will inform community, state, and federal stakeholders through reports and presentations. Applicants must have a proven ability to leverage staff to support the proposed activities for this award should reflect the applicant’s ability to work with selected disseminating a national strategy. Successful applicants must describe the approach to engage healthcare stakeholders, experts, and communities to identify challenges and develop solutions related to population health via participate with the program and propose, at minimum, four key elements the applicant would use as a peer learning program.

5.3 Objective Review Overview

Applications will be scored based on 100 available points. Reviewers will use the following criteria to evaluate applications received in response to this call for applications, with a maximum total score of between 0 - 100 points.

The following criteria will be used to evaluate applications:

5.4 Objective Review Detail (Maximum total score range: 0 - 100 points)

1. Program Purpose & Strength of Proposed Approach and Work Plan – 30 pts.

− Is program of an appropriate length and intensity to effectively achieve outcomes?

(20 pts.)

a. Program Proposal and Timeline

b. Program Leadership with ONC

c. Geographic and Community Diversity Experience

d. Opportunity to Leverage Assets

e. Health Information Technology and Population Health Experience

− Do a defined core set of community-level population health management challenges and topics express understanding of community-level issues? Are the proposed measures of success feasible and appropriate? (5 pts.)

a. Are the goals and objectives of the program reflected in the Proposed Approach and Work Plan?

b. Is the work plan logical, chronological, and achievable?

c. Does the approach and plan of action identify how population health management challenges will be addressed in partnership with participating program communities?

− Are the five key applicant evaluation criteria reasonable and effective? (5 pts.)

2. Process for Development and Dissemination of Learning Resources – 20 pts.

− Demonstrate organizational capacity, management, and ability to produce concise, clear, 508 compliant, relevant, and data driven materials (i.e., white papers, case studies, reports webinars).

− Demonstrate ability and understanding of how to share and broadly disseminate programmatic materials to scale learnings and promising practices.

3. Sub-recipient Award Management, Evaluation and Feedback Structures – 20 pts.

− Demonstrate organizational capacity, understanding, and ability to manage grant and programmatic reporting requirements of both internal and external agents.

− Demonstrate organizational capacity and ability to design, implement, and manage performance, monitoring, and feedback structures for and with internal and external agents.

− Are four key elements, at a minimum, defined as a set of criteria the applicant can effectively use to measure programmatic success?

4. Organizational Capacity and Project Management – 15 pts.

− Demonstrate organizational capacity to manage multiple state-, and national-level program(s).

− Demonstrate organizational capacity, understanding, and ability to convene and provide for facilitation of multi-stakeholder groups.

− Demonstrate organizational capacity to develop and implement project action plans and cooperative agreements.

− Demonstrate organizational capacity to partner with individual, communities, organizations, state, and federal partners.

− Provide four key elements, at minimum, the applicant would use as a set of criteria for measuring programmatic success reasonable and effective.

5. Communications and Facilitation Plan – 10 pts.

− Demonstrate organizational understanding and capacity to manage multiple communications modes across communities, states, and national structures.

− Demonstrate organizational ability to deliver programmatic messaging through a formal communications plan and outreach into smaller communities.

6. Reasonableness of Project Budget Justification – 5 pts.

− Extent to which the budget is justified with respect to the adequacy and reasonableness of resources requested, and extent to which the amount of the budget allocated to administration is minimized, while still allowing coherent management of an integrated…