The ONC released a funding opportunity notice in late June to support projects addressing barriers to the development and advancement of interoperable health IT.
Here are four things to know about the funding opportunity:
1. The ONC is seeking "leading edge acceleration projects in health IT," according to the notice. The funding opportunity centers on solutions related to two areas of interest:
- Expanding the scope, scale and utility of population-level data-focused application programming interfaces
- Advancing clinical knowledge at the point of care
A potential project might include a searchable registry that provides data related to certain types of patients, or software that informs providers of new clinical developments at the point of care, according to the Politico Morning eHealth newsletter.
2. The ONC's goal for the selected projects is to accelerate health IT research that guides the development and implementation of standards for overcoming interoperability hurdles.
3. The ONC anticipates it will issue two awards — one for each area of interest — of up to $1 million each in fiscal year 2018. The each award will be doled out throughout a two-year period. However, the ONC may provide additional funding for years three through five, contingent on the availability of funds.
4. Applications to participate in both projects are due Aug. 17. The ONC plans to award the funding to selected developers in September.
To access the ONC's notice, click here.