Questions for 05-03-2021
- Q: We are applying for a LEAP Grant. In filling out the SF-LLL (lobbying disclosure form), we do not have any contracted or paid Lobbyist. We are a nonprofit, are we required to put the name of a member of our staff (such as CEO) or can we just submit N/A? Thank you.
A:You may submit N/A.
Questions for Week Ending 04-30-2021
- Q: Below is a list of questions regarding the ONC LEAP SEN 2021 for your review and we kindly request a reply:On Page 3 of the SEN, the below phrasing is used, indicating that non-proprietary approaches for managing referrals are to be used:The current challenges in SDOH data use and interoperability warrant investment in piloting health IT standards and non-proprietary approaches for managing care referrals for social services and support, and secure communication tools for non-clinical, health-supporting services. Innovation is needed to ensure care referrals and the bi-directional exchange of electronic information across these organizations are not only possible but done in a manner that keeps patient health records up-to-date and represent longitudinal and person-centered health and care.They later, in page 4 when speaking about goals that must be addressed to receive funding they use this phrasing:The development and/or use of any non-proprietary tools necessary for the successful completion of a pilot project must be clearly defined.Finally they use this line on page 5 when talking about to be considered for an award:An applicant’s proposal shall not rely on a single vendor or proprietary technology.Are an HIE’s IR and/or SDOH tools considered to be proprietary?
A: We are seeking projects that can demonstrate and advance interoperability between health IT systems or clinical and community resources systems. Reliance on a single vendor or use of a proprietary tool that is not openly accessible does not meet the objective of this SEN, which is to develop standards and solutions that are usable and scalable. For example, previous awardees work on existing standards and contributed to updates to implementation guides, which are non-proprietary and openly accessible.
- Q: I was reviewing this opportunity and had a question about implementing EPIC Community Connect within our health system. I read in the announcement that An applicant’s proposal shall not rely on a single vendor or proprietary technology. Would EPIC be considered as an exclusion?
A: EPIC would not be considered as an exclusion. However, reliance on only EPIC products would not meet the objectives of this award. We are seeking projects that can demonstrate and advance interoperability between health IT systems or clinical and community resources systems.
- Q: Good afternoon,Is this grant still open for applications?https://www.grantsolutions.gov/gs/preaward/previewPublicAnnouncement.do?id=62586
A: Yes. The application deadline is May 10, 2021
Questions for Week Ending 04-23-2021
- Q: My organization, [Redacted], will be submitting an application for the referenced notice. In the process of deciding upon which SDOH domain to focus on, we simultaneously received a request from a local substance abuse coalition who is attempting very similar work. The coalition is a multi-disciplinary team consisting of public health officials, health care providers, law enforcement and others.They currently are working under 2 federal grants, one of which provides for a Quick Response Team (QRT). While this work has positively impacted the response to overdoses they have learned they have data coming in from multiple sources and there is no feedback loop.While helping them enhance service to overdose victims is worthy and has immense value in terms of scalability and replicability, we also suspect reduction of drug overdoses does not meet the requirements of this particular NOFO. Would that be accurate? If so, love your advice on how to request funding for this worthy cause…
A: Please refer to pages 2-5 of the SEN that describes the desired outcomes/deliverables for Area 1 of this year’s SEN. We welcome any eligible organization to submit an application that is designed to meet the intended outcomes. As an open and competitive award program, we are unable to provide any direct advise or pre-approve a potential applicant’s proposal.
- Q: For Area 1 in the Special Emphasis Notice LEAP 2021: Is there a formal Evaluation Section required as part of the submission? There seems to be no specific mention of it in the instructions as the focus seems to be on demonstrating a functional system rather than measuring its impact on patient outcomes. Is that correct?
A: As stated on the slide 19 and during the Informational Session , and on page 8 of the SEN, “Unless otherwise indicated in this Notice, all requirements, instructions, and terms and conditions of the Leading Edge Acceleration Projects (LEAP) in Health Information Technology (IT) funding opportunity (see NAP-AX-18-003 at https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=306704 ) will apply to applications submitted and awards made in response to this Notice.” This includes any evaluation requirements for applicant proposals.
- Q:
- The LEAP Notice of Funding Opportunity describes key project milestones, including establishing a technical expert panel (TEP). The FY2021 Special Emphasis Notice does not mention forming a TEP. Does ONC require formation of a TEP for these current SEN projects?
- The grants.gov entry for NAP-AX-18-003 indicates that the Funding Instrument Type is “Cooperative Agreement/Grant”. Could you confirm whether the funding instrument used for this program will be a cooperative agreement or a grant? Furthermore, is it correct to assume that substantial ONC programmatic involvement with the awardees is anticipated during the performance of the activities?
- The LEAP Notice of Funding Opportunity specifies that any material meant for public release must be compliant with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794d). Could you clarify the extent to which 508 Compliance applies to software developed under this agreement and the expectations for demonstrating such compliance?
- Is the basis for determining an employee’s salary (relevant to the salary ceiling) recognized as annual or hourly?
A:
- As stated in the slide 19 and during the Informational Session , and on page 8 of the SEN, “Unless otherwise indicated in this Notice, all requirements, instructions, and terms and conditions of the Leading Edge Acceleration Projects (LEAP) in Health Information Technology (IT) funding opportunity (see NAP-AX-18-003 a will apply to applications submitted and awards made in response to this Notice.”
- This is a cooperative agreement. Please refer to pages 15-16 for a definition and activities that are part of a cooperative agreement.
- Materials that are public-facing such as Final Reports must be 508-complaiant. You can find guidelines, resources, and testing tool on the GSA 508 website.
- This determination would be at the discretion of the applying organization and how they determine that particular employee’s status (whether hourly or salary), based on their regular day to day operations and established policies and procedures
Questions for Week Ending 04-16-2021
- Q: This proposal reads “Development of health IT tools to facilitate the standardized gathering and assessment of high-quality data needed for research, including development and testing of artificial intelligence (AI) applications”.Does this imply that a responsive application must include an AI application? If so, are there any standard ones that ONC wishes to be used?
A: ONC does not have a ‘preferred’ AI application to be utilized – we do ask for examples / use cases. ONC would further highlight that the goal of this areas of interest is to develop open, scalable health IT-based tools that make EHR data research and AI-ready – by systematically measuring completeness and quality; improving interoperability; and automating assessment of data, their features, and provenance. The applicant should then provide specific examples of the types of research and AI algorithms and/or applications that would benefit from these data. ONC does not stipulate which algorithm or applications should be utilized. Applicants are encouraged to seek those that are open source.More specifically, to meet this goal, the recipient must:
- Implement a phased approach for the enhancement and/or development of open, scalable, health IT-based tools to • Provide specific examples of the types of research and AI algorithms and/or applications that would benefit from these data.
- Demonstrate their tools for preparing research- and AI-ready EHR data in partnership with at least two other institutions. It is desirable that institutions use differing health IT systems from different health IT developers. Partnerships should be formed to demonstrate generalizability and provide external validity of research findings. Involvement with FQHCs and small-sized health care providers is strongly encouraged to demonstrate tool scalability with providers typically unable to participate in research.
Develop and implement a comprehensive dissemination plan to scale and spread their awarded project’s findings and outputs to be used by other relevant stakeholders.
- Q: We are considering submitting a proposal entitled “[Redacted]” to the program “Develop Tools for Making Electronic Health Records Data Research and Artificial Intelligence-Ready” NOTICE NUMBER: NAP-AX-18-003We would like to discuss with you and check whether our proposal fits for the above program.
A: As per the instructions on Page 26 of the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO), Restrictions on Oral Conversations, “Federal officials may not participate in oral communications initiated by any person or entity concerning a pending application for a competitive grant or other competitive form of federal financial assistance,” All questions will be answered in the form of a FAQ that is updated weekly and publicly available.ONC is unable to discuss whether an organization’s proposal will appropriately fit with potential applicants.
- Q: [Organization redacted] is interested in the above named opportunity and wanted to find out if we have missed any deadlines that would prohibit us from responding.
A: The applications deadline for this year’s Special Emphasis Notice (SEN) is May 10, 2021. There are no other deadlines prohibiting an organization who meets the eligible applicant criteria from applying.
- Q: I am writing with a question regarding the [Organization redacted] participation in this LEAP grant submission. We have received several requests for partnership from entities and coalitions across the country. Before committing to all or just one entity I want to double-check whether the [Organization redacted] team can participate in more than one submission.
A: Yes, organizations are permitted to submit letters of commitment to participate in more than one organization’s submission proposal.
- Q: My organization is planning to submit a proposal under NAP-AX-18-003 due 05/10/2021 and I need to verify the following details/parameters:
- This proposal should be submitted System-to-System via Commons or should it be uploaded to grants.gov as a PDF separate from our electronic S2S method (which is the most commonly employed method in our submissions to NIH, NSF, and DoD)?
- It is not clear to me what type of budget should be used here – should it be modular, detailed, or another budget format?
- I am also not clear on what type of application this should be classified as (i.e. R01, P01, etc) and would greatly appreciate if this could be clarified).
- Should we use our full IDC rate in this budget, since it is very limited in its total cost cap for a 2 (to possibly 5 overall) year project and the preponderance of effort will be off-campus?
- Is the proposed budget submitted for this application should include 5 years or only the initial 2 years that the award would be made for should this be chosen for funding?
A:
- Please refer to the How to Apply page on grants.gov, which also has an FAQ page to guide potential applicants. All applications must be submitted via grants.gov in order to be considered for award.
- Budgets must be submitted on the SF-424A; please refer to slide 29 from the SEN Informational Session for a list of required documents. Your application should also include a brief budget narrative as part of your application package that provides a high-level overview of your proposed budget and how it supports your proposed project activities.
- This is a cooperative agreement award
- Yes
- The budget should cover a 2-year period-of-performance but may also include an extended budget and project proposal for years 3-5. Please note however, that the LEAP award only commits to awarding projects for a 2-year period-of-performance and that the decision to extend and fund years 3-5 is subject to the availability of funds and alignment with ONC’s priorities.
- Q: We’re looking to apply to the attached grant (Leading Edge Acceleration Projects (LEAP) in Health Information Technology and Leading Edge Acceleration Project), but are a bit confused as to whether these applications apply to the same grant opportunity.Could you please explain the difference between the two attachments, and if we should be applying to one or the other? Lastly, we’re under the impression that as a small business, we are eligible for this grant opportunity. Could you please confirm this? Attachments: LEAP Notice of Funding Opportunity and LEAP Special Emphasis Notice 2020
A: ONC is accepting applications in response to the Special Emphasis Notice (SEN) for FY 2021.As stated in the slide 19 and during the Informational Session , and on page 8 of the SEN, “Unless otherwise indicated in this Notice, all requirements, instructions, and terms and conditions of the Leading Edge Acceleration Projects (LEAP) in Health Information Technology (IT) funding opportunity (see NAP-AX-18-003 at https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=306704 ) will apply to applications submitted and awards made in response to this Notice.”Please refer to the eligibility requirements on page 13 of the NOFO, to see what organizations are eligible to apply for this award. If your organization is a for-profit organization, you are not eligible, however, a for-profit organization may participate as a sub-member in a consortium or project partner under a non-profit organization’s application.
Questions for Week Ending 04-09-2021
No questions submitted for week ending April 9, 2021
Questions for Week Ending 03-02-2021
No questions submitted for week ending April 2, 2021
Questions for Week Ending 03-26-2021
- Q: We are a group of digital health companies that have developed an integrated set of care and health tools, resources and systems. On page 5 of your ONC Notice # NAP-AX—18-003, you indicated that “An applicant’s proposal shall not rely on single vendor or proprietary technology.” Some of our technologies are open source and some pieces of the AI technologies and systems are proprietary. Is it possible for us to discuss these issues with you to see if we are eligible to submit an application?
A: As per the instructions on Page 26 of the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO), Restrictions on Oral Conversations, “Federal officials may not participate in oral communications initiated by any person or entity concerning a pending application for a competitive grant or other competitive form of federal financial assistance,” All questions will be answered in the form of a FAQ that is updated weekly and publicly available.On Page 1-2 of the SEN, the stated objective for the LEAP in Health IT projects are to, “address well-documented and fast emerging challenges inhibiting the development, use, and/or advancement of well-designed, interoperable health IT, which is scalable across the health care industry.”Reliance on a single vendor or proprietary technology does not ensure widespread scalability and ease of adoption and is the reason behind this requirement.
- Q: On page 5 of the Special Emphasis Notice it state that “An applicant’s proposal shall not rely on a single vendor or proprietary technology”. Does this specifically disqualify applicant organizations (e.g., a health system, payor, or health information exchange, etc.) from using an I&R vendor platform (e.g., Aunt Bertha, NowPow, UniteUS, etc.) as part of its solution?
A: On Page 1-2 of the SEN, the stated objective for the LEAP in Health IT projects are to, “address well-documented and fast emerging challenges inhibiting the development, use, and/or advancement of well-designed, interoperable health IT, which is scalable across the health care industry.”Reliance on a single vendor or proprietary technology does not ensure widespread scalability and ease of adoption and is the reason behind this requirement.
- Q: On this page I see the Special Emphasis Notice, followed by a link for the full notice of funding opportunity. However, the full notice appears to be the 2018 announcement. Is there an updated version for 2021?
A: As per the guidance on Page 2 of the SEN and Slide 20 of the Informational Session PPT, “Aside from areas of interest, required expertise, and deadlines listed in the Special Emphasis Notice all other requirements, application instructions, and terms and conditions of NOFO NAP-AX-18-003 apply”
- Q: Can collaborating institutions/ sub-award recipients can be located abroad?
A :HHS Policy allows for organizations outside of the US to operate as subcontractors/subrecipients however, these relationships require prior approval.
- Q: Are co-PIs allowable under this award?
A: No, each project must have one Principal Investigator (PI) who serves as the sole point of authority and accountability for the project.
- Q: We are looking for clarification on where to find the downloadable application for this funding opportunity, NAP-AX-18003, that is due by May 10, 2021.https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/search-grants.html?keywords=NAPAX18003 However, when I click on the “PACKAGE” tab and then click on the “Preview” hyperlink, and the “Download Instructions” button, it opens up a 53 page PDf file that appears to be an older version of the application for two different “Areas of Interest”. Also, the cover page on the application contains, “Notice of Funding Opportunity Leading Edge Acceleration Projects (LEAP) in Health Information TechnologyApplication Due Date: [08/17/2018] Anticipated Award Date: [09/19/2018]”. Should we just use this as our outline?We’d greatly appreciate if you can provide some guidance and/or direct us as to where a copy of the application for this most recent NOFO is available.
A:Please refer to the How to Apply page on grants.gov, which also has an FAQ page to guide potential applicants.As stated in the slide 19 and during the Informational Session , and on page 8 of the SEN, “Unless otherwise indicated in this Notice, all requirements, instructions, and terms and conditions of the Leading Edge Acceleration Projects (LEAP) in Health Information Technology (IT) funding opportunity (see NAP-AX-18-003 at https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=306704 ) will apply to applications submitted and awards made in response to this Notice.”
- Q: A question about the requirements for the special emphasis notice for FY21Page 7:More specifically, to meet this goal, the recipient must:
- Implement a phased approach for the enhancement and/or development of open, scalable, health IT-based tools to boost high quality data for training, learning, modeling, and analysis in coordination with relevant stakeholders, including but not limited to federal health research funders, researchers (i.e., potential tool end-users), and health IT developers, to advance their use in at least two of the health research needs identified above.
Our question is what exactly is meant by “two of the health research needs identified above”.1) I believe the reference is to the research needs listed in the final paragraph on Page 6:The goal of this area of interest is to develop tools for making EHR data research- and AI-ready by systematically measuring completeness and quality; improving interoperability; and automating assessment of data, their features, and provenance.2) Alternatively, the reference could be to the problems listed in the immediately preceding paragraph on Page 7:Such tools should provide universal solutions to problems faced by researchers such as:
- Automating mapping of EHR data to common data models (e.g., Informatics for Integrating Biology & the Bedside [i2b2]’s data model, Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Network [PCORnet]’s common data model, Observational Medical Outcomes Partnership [OMOP], FDA’s Sentinel Initiative common data model)
- Enhancing semantic interoperability (i.e., fluent machine-to-machine communications) of multi-institution generated data
- Assessing and documenting data quality using standardized terms such as conformance, completeness, and plausibility
- Synthesizing metadata (e.g., patient demographic or provider characteristic metrics) in a standardized way to assess and mitigate downstream bias, including representation bias, measurement bias, aggregation bias, and historical bias
However the “such as” suggests that these are examples of meeting the requirement, but not the requirement itself.
A: The goal is what is stated on the SEN. The list below is an example of solutions the applicant could propose to address under this award.
General Questions from March 9, 2021 Informational Session
- Q: My question is, provided the submission includes these partnerships, is a for-profit company able to submit a proposal for this award or must it come from another partner in the grant consortium who is not a for-profit company?
A: The slides from the March 9, 2021 Informational Session, along with video recording are available on our webpage.
- Q: Can a 501c-6 association be an applicant?
A: Yes. A 501c-6 is considered a non-profit organization and is therefore eligible to apply. Please refer to page 24-25 of the original Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for required documents that must be included in your application package as proof of non-profit status.
- Q: Is the Letter of Intent (LOI) to be sent only by the primary organization? Or all participating organizations?
A: A LOI should be sent from the primary applicant, though they may list their intended partners for the project.
- Q: If I’m going to partner with a non-profit to be eligible for this grant who needs to send the Letter of Intent to Apply?
A: A LOI should be sent from the primary applicant, though they may list their intended partners for the project.
- Q: Are biosketches requested but they do not count towards the page limit?
A: Biosketches are required for key personnel. They are attached as an appendix and do not count toward the page limit.
- Q: Can one institution or PI apply for both areas separately?
A: Yes. Organizations can apply for both Areas of Interest. However, please note that you must submit two separate applications. Applications that include proposals for both Areas of Interest in a single application will not be considered.
- Q: Any restrictions on the number of co-principal investigators?
A: Yes, each project must have one Principal Investigator (PI) who serves as the sole point of authority and accountability for the project.
- Q: Can you confirm that applicants are not required to submit a letter of intent? If we do submit a letter of intent, will we get any review or additional information before the application deadline?
A: Letters of Intent are strongly encouraged, but not required. Please refer to slide 27 of the SEN Informational Session for additional information. We do not review or provide additional information on an applicant’s proposed project when a LOI is submitted.
- Q: Can we partner with Health Systems for both of the areas of interest?
A: Yes. However, please note that you must submit two separate applications. Applications that include proposals for both Areas of Interest in a single application will not be considered, and your proposals in each Area of Interest must include the Health Systems roles and budget allocations are distinct between each application and interest area.
- Q: Can a qualified applicant who has not done any business with ONC/ Federal Health IT, apply for both areas?
A: This funding opportunity is open to anyone who meets the eligibility requirements as noted on slide 21 on the SEN Informational Session slide deck and page 13 of the original Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) may apply regardless of having done any business with ONC or not.
- Q: Who would own any potential IP that may come out of this grant? Does the applicant team/company surrender their developer rights and possible future commercialization plans to ONC and/or the Gov?
A: Please refer to the section on Intangible Property and Copyrights (45 CFR Part 75) on pages 35-36 of the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) that HHS maintains the right to have irrevocable rights to access the information pertaining to an awardees’ efforts to building solutions or platforms using government funds to use as applicable. We are not seeking to own an organization’s licensure or IP.
Budget-Related Questions from March 9, 2021 Informational Session
- Q: What are the budget restrictions on what % of the total budget can be allocated to sub-contracts?
A: ONC does not have a set limitation on the amount of funds that can allocated to sub-contracts. ONC is required to review in advance the potential effect of the transfer of substantial funds on the approved project. This is done through a review of the sub recipients’ budget. There should be an allocation in the prime awardees budget to manage the sub recipient.
- Q: Is there any indirect cost that can be billed, separately from the grant? Please clarify this for the letter of intent also.
A: Any organization planning to account for indirect costs within their budget must have an approved indirect cost rate agreement and must maintain it throughout the period of performance in order to charge those costs to the award. Other restrictions will be determined on a case-by-case basis and is dependent on additional details regarding the circumstance.
Please refer to slide 27 of the SEN Informational Session for Letter of Intent-related information.
Area of Interest 1 Questions from March 9, 2021 Informational Session
- Q: Can proposed projects be for organizations that are already using a SDOH community referral management platform? Or does it have to be for the implementation/measurement of net new projects?
A: The intent of the LEAP in Health IT awards is to seek projects that will demonstrate the objectives as identified in the SEN. If your organization has already accomplished something similar and intends to build upon that platform to expand/further adoption, with the focus on the use and/or enhancement of health IT standards as per the SEN then it would fit the intent of this SEN.
- Q: Regarding the two (2) jurisdictions, do they have to be two (2) different states? Or may it be, for example, two (2) different municipalities or two (2) different cities in the same state?
A: There is no specific requirement that they have to be two different states, though it can be. We would consider two different jurisdictions as being two un-associated organizations and/or disparate EHRs.
- Q: How jurisdictions are defined? Would two health centers serving different cities within a county be considered as entities from two jurisdictions?
A: Yes, two health centers serving different cities within a county could be considered as entities from two jurisdictions.
- Q: Can the solution involve the use of a vendor solution (such as a closed loop referral system) that would be used along with other clinical systems (so it would not be the sole system)? Or does the use of a vendor solution prohibit eligibility to apply/successfully be awarded?
A: Please refer to slide 13 of the SEN Informational Session slides under “Other Requirements”.
- Q: Area 1: requirement is to “develop and/or use non-proprietary tools necessary to complete the project”. Does this mean that there will be a requirement to make available “open source” software upon completion of the project? Or, alternatively, can the university work with the investigators for an IP plan to license the technology developed afterwards?
A: The intention of these projects is to address well-documented and fast emerging challenges that inhibit the development, use, and/or advancement of well-designed, interoperable health IT. It is expected to further a new generation of health IT development and inform the innovative implementation and refinement of standards, methods, and techniques for overcoming major barriers and challenges as they are identified. Scalability is an important part of furthering a new generation of health IT development and interoperability, with open source software such as FHIR-based APIs is a big part of. If an applicant does not intend to build off of an open source platform, they must explain how they intend to make their end products widely available to the public.
Please refer to the section on Intangible Property and Copyrights (45 CFR Part 75) on pages 35-36 of the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) that HHS maintains the right to have irrevocable rights to access the information pertaining to an awardees’ efforts to building solutions or platforms using government funds to use as applicable. We are not seeking to own an organization’s licensure or IP.
- Q: Can you please provide, in the chat, the summary of Area 1 that was described on an early slide?
A: We are not able to directly respond to questions during the Informational Session. The summary of Area 1 can be found on the slide deck posted on our LEAP SEN page on slides 10-13.
- Q: If an Area 1 applicant is working with an EHR vendor and an SDOH vendor, is it possible for that solution/approach to work with the prototype/open-source rules? Epic or Cerner (for example) may not share their source code, and the existing SDOH vendor may not as well. But this project would be coordinating information between those systems and the applicant could share any specific prototypes/data/screening questions and coding information. Can that work or do all technology solutions need to be open-sourced and shared as part of this project?
A: The intention of these projects is to address well-documented and fast emerging challenges that inhibit the development, use, and/or advancement of well-designed, interoperable health IT. It is expected to further a new generation of health IT development and inform the innovative implementation and refinement of standards, methods, and techniques for overcoming major barriers and challenges as they are identified. Scalability is an important part of furthering a new generation of health IT development and interoperability, with open source software such as FHIR-based APIs is a big part of. If an applicant does not intent to build off of an open source platform, they must explain how they intend to make their end products widely available to the public.
Please refer to the section on Intangible Property and Copyrights (45 CFR Part 75) on pages 35-36 of the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) that HHS maintains the right to have irrevocable rights to access the information pertaining to an awardees’ efforts to building solutions or platforms using government funds to use as applicable. We are not seeking to own an organization’s licensure or IP.
Area of Interest 2 Questions from March 9, 2021 Informational Session
- Q: For Area 2, must the two partner institutions be US-based?
A: Yes
- Q: You had mentioned that we need to show partnership with 2 other institutions. Will you be recommending potential partners, or we need to seek them out prior to application? How does the I/P and legal terms work out when in such a partnership.
A: Applicants should seek out potential partners and note guidance within the SEN if involving other institutions and partners (e.g., working with a federally qualified health center (FQHC) or community-based organizations (CBO))For Area 2, can for-profit companies submit the grant proposal provided the consortia meets the requirement of including approved organizations types (non-profit, fqhc, etc…)? Or are submissions only allowed from those organizations regardless of how the consortia is structured?.
- Q: For Area 2, can for-profit companies submit the grant proposal provided the consortia meets the requirement of including approved organizations types (non-profit, fqhc, etc…)? Or are submissions only allowed from those organizations regardless of how the consortia is structured?
A: Any application submitted under this SEN, regardless of which Area of Interest, must meet the eligibility requirements as noted on slide 21 on the SEN Informational Session slide deck and page 13 of the original Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO).
Questions for Week Ending 03-12-2021
- Q: During yesterday’s information session the presenter described certain eligibility requirements for for-profit companies to participate in the Area 2 funding opportunity. Specifically it was mentioned that for-profit companies may participate as a sub-member of a consortium. The funding notice (here) specifies partnership with 2 other institutions, with a preference for FQHC’s and other small-sized healthcare provider groups.My question is, provided the submission includes these partnerships, is a for-profit company able to submit a proposal for this award or must it come from another partner in the grant consortium who is not a for-profit company?
A: Per the eligibility requirements on page 13 of the NOFO, for-profit organizations are not eligible to apply for this award. However, a for-profit organization may participate as a sub-member in a consortium or project partner under a non-profit organization’s application.
- Q: May we please have access to the slides that were presented?Our non-profit mission is tightly aligned with the goals of Area 1: Referral Management to Address Social Determinants of Health Aligned with Clinical Care.
A:The slides from the March 9, 2021 Informational Session, along with a video recording will become available on our webpage shortly. Please continue to check this page for updates.
- Q: Could you connect me to the recording of the Feb 9 webinar described below?ONC Information Session – LEAP SEN 2021
Mar 9, 2021 02:00 PM in Eastern Time (US and Canada)
A: The recording of the March 9, 2021 Informational Session, along with slide deck will become available on our webpage shortly. Please continue to check this page for updates.
Questions for Week Ending 03-05-2021
- Q: Upon reviewing the NAP-AX-18-003 document, we would like to ask for clarification on the second to last paragraph of page 3. The paragraph reads, “The approach must be piloted in at least (2) jurisdictions to ensure the approach is scalable and replicable to one or more of the SDOH domains regardless of locality.” Should we assume that this is not a requirement to have done something in the past but rather something that will be accomplished in the future as a part of area 1 activities.
A: Correct. The intent of the LEAP in Health IT awards is to seek projects that will demonstrate the objectives as identified in the SEN. However, if your organization has already accomplished something similar and intends to build upon that further, that would fit the intent of this SEN.
- Q: In reviewing the eligibility criteria for the LEAP Notice of Funding Opportunity, no reference was made (either as a qualification or a disqualification) to organizations that are incorporated as a 501c-6 Trade Association.Our non-profit mission is tightly aligned with the goals of Area 1: Referral Management to Address Social Determinants of Health Aligned with Clinical Care.Can you let me know if a 501c-6 is eligible to participate in the opportunity?
A: As 501c-6 is considered a non-profit and therefore eligible to apply.
