National Training and Technical Assistance Cooperative Agreements (NCAs)

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This announcement solicits applications for the National Training and Technical Assistance Cooperative Agreements (NCAs) Program to provide necessary technical and non-financial assistance to potential and existing Health Center Program[1] grantees and look-alikes (hereafter referred to as health centers) nationwide.  The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) is seeking to fund up to four NCAs to provide training and technical assistance (T/TA) directly and through collaborative partnerships[2] to support health centers in providing better, more affordable care and improving the health of individuals and communities in accordance with the following Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) National Quality Strategy (NQS) priorities:[3] 1.      Making care safer by reducing harm caused in the delivery of care. 2.      Ensuring that each person and family is engaged as partners in their care. 3.      Promoting effective communication and coordination of care. 4.      Promoting the most effective prevention and treatment practices for the leading causes of mortality. 5.      Working with communities to promote use of best practices to enable healthy living. 6.      Making quality care more affordable and accessible for individuals, families, and the community by developing and spreading new health care delivery models. Target Areas Organizations that receive NCA funding under this announcement will provide specialized national T/TA to health centers in one of the following Target Areas: Oral Health:  The Oral Health cooperative agreement will provide specialized T/TA to help health centers provide new high-quality oral health services, enhance the quality of oral health services currently provided, and accurately report on oral health care quality in annual reports to HRSA. Health Information Technology (HIT) and Data:  The HIT and Data cooperative agreement will provide specialized T/TA to help health centers adopt, optimize, and implement meaningful use of electronic health records (EHRs) and related health information technology; develop and improve data quality, aggregation, and analytic capacity; use data to support clinical and operational quality improvement; and support effective recruitment and retention strategies for informatics and information management staff. Clinical Workforce Development:  The Clinical Workforce Development cooperative agreement will provide T/TA to help health centers identify and implement innovative models and effective practices to train health profession students, residents, and licensed clinicians to provide high quality care to vulnerable populations in team-based primary care settings. [1] As authorized under section 330(l) of the PHS Act, Uniform Guidance 2 CFR 200 as codified by HHS at 45 CFR 75. [2] Collaborative partners include Health Center Controlled Networks (HCCNs), Primary Care Offices (PCOs), and Primary Care Associations (PCAs), as appropriate. [3] More information on the National Quality Strategy is available at http://www.ahrq.gov/workingforquality/.

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