This solicitation expired July 16, 2008, 12:00 a.m. EDT.

Program Area:

Human Capital

Purpose:

Public health and health care workers have many opportunities to acquire quality improvement (QI) training. However, limited evidence exists about whether and how these training programs increase the ability of individuals to successfully engage in work to improve health and health care. Information about the impact of such programs on organizational culture and patient outcomes is also scarce. This information gap may lead to under-investment in effective QI training opportunities and over-investment in training that is not effective. This call for proposals solicits evaluations of existing QI training programs to produce evidence that will inform decision-making about whether and how to invest in QI training.

Program Information:

• Call for Proposals

Total Awards:

This initiative will support up to five projects with budgets of up to $350,000 for a time period of no more than three years.

Eligibility & Selection Criteria:

We encourage researchers from all disciplines—including multidisciplinary teams—to respond to this solicitation. Doctoral degrees are not required. Preference may be given to public agencies, public charities and/or organizations that are tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Applicant organizations must be based in the United States or its territories at the time of application. No members of the evaluation team may be employed by the QI training program they propose to evaluate. We will, however, request a letter of support from the QI training program to be evaluated to help assure the that the applicant has permission to access data necessary for analysis.

A panel of experts in QI research and practice will review and evaluate the proposals based on the criteria outlined in the call for proposals.

Key Dates:

• June 3, 2008 and June 12, 2008 (2 p.m. ET)—A Web conference for potential applicants will be held to provide an overview of this solicitation and offer an opportunity to ask questions. To register, send an e-mail to EQIThelpdesk@sra.com. In the e-mail, please include your name, organization and e-mail address.
• July 16, 2008 (3 p.m. ET)—Deadline for receipt of proposals.
• January 2009—Start of grants.

Contact:

Evidence for Improvement
eqithelpdesk@sra.com
Office: (800) 978-8309