Request for Proposals

Medicaid Data Analysis Program

Request for Applications 2024
Application Deadline: 
March 26, 2024

The Translating Duke Health Children’s Health and Discovery Initiative is pleased to announce a request for applications for the Medicaid Data Analysis Program. The goal of this program is to support investigators who wish to use Medicaid claims data to conduct analyses that will inform our understanding of child health in North Carolina to guide policy change and improve equitable healthcare access and outcomes. The funds supplied by this award are intended to support research projects that have strong potential to lead to applications for external funding and/or that will help guide policy makers in promoting equitable healthcare access and outcomes in North Carolina. A secondary goal of this program is to support the formation of new collaborative relationships. Each application must have two principal investigators: one with a primary appointment in a clinical department within the Duke School of Medicine or Duke School of Nursing and one PI with experience in analyzing large datasets. We plan to award up to 2 grants with a combined maximum award of up to $100,000, which can be used to support access to North Carolina Medicaid data through the Pop Health Datashare and any additional supports required to carry out the proposed project over 18 months.  

I. Purpose and Overview

The intent of this program is to support investigators who wish to conduct analyses using state Medicaid data to evaluate child health in North Carolina and to support the formation of new research collaborations that bring together investigators with clinical expertise and expertise in analyzing large administrative data sets.  

Program Goals:

Utilize NC Medicaid claims data to understand or identify gaps in child healthcare access and outcomes 

  • Inform new strategies and policies to improve equitable child and family health outcomes in NC
  • Develop new lines of research that will support applications for external funding.
  • Facilitate new collaborations
  • Develop externally funded research programs focused on child health equity and health services research

The teams and project plans will be evaluated by established investigators with expertise in child health and administrative data analysis. Additionally, top-ranked proposals will be reviewed by the PopHealth Datashare team for feasibility.

The selected team(s) will receive up to $100,000 (including any G&A costs) to carry out their proposed project over 18 months. This budget must include costs associated with access to the PopHealth Datashare support for a Datashare team member to create the analytic dataset, any costs associated with PACE workspace requirements, and statistical support.

Selected project teams will be required to submit quarterly progress reports and to be available for presentations throughout the project period

Selection Criteria:

  • A project plan with the strong potential to provide new insights into child healthcare access and/or outcomes.
  • The potential to inform new policies related to Medicaid program
  • Development of a new research collaboration
  • A dissemination plan for sharing study plans and results with all stakeholder groups, including patients, community partners, and government agencies in a timely manner.
  • A plan for the development and submission of external funding applications
  • Potential partnerships with neighboring institutions, government organizations, and regional networks.

Please note that this program will support research projects focused specifically on child health, with an emphasis on health equity in terms of both healthcare access and health outcomes. Child health outcomes must extend beyond the perinatal period.
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Eligibility:

  • Project teams should consist of multiple investigators with complementary expertise.
  • At least one PI must have a primary appointment in a clinical department within the Duke School of Medicine or Duke School of Nursing; this individual will be responsible for the project’s fund code. A second PI must have prior experience in analyzing large administrative data sets. While a single PI may have both sets of expertise, one of the goals of this RFA is to develop new partnerships; thus, two PIs are still required.
  • Projects must budget for members of the PopHealth Datashare team to create the analytic dataset for the proposed work.
  • Project must budget for statistical support.

Faculty members may only submit one application in which they serve as the PI; however, they may also be included on other projects in non-PI roles.

Proposals will include the following components:

  • Research proposal: All proposals will be submitted via Qualtrics and will provide the following information:
    • Project abstract (250 words)
    • Project description (8 pages max, font size 11, 0.5 inch margins, excluding bibliography):
      • What questions do you propose to answer?
      • Provide a brief background describing the current state of affairs.
      • Describe the specific population that you will be studying, including inclusion/exclusion criteria
      • Describe the study design.
      • Describe how this project addresses child health equity.
      • Describe the expected outcomes of your project.
      • Describe how your study plans and findings will be shared with all relevant parties, including local communities and government and non-governmental organizations.
      • Describe plans for obtaining follow-on funding, including specific funding opportunities.
      • Describe your study team with respect to how the members’ skills and experiences make this study feasible. Please note that we are not requesting submission of biosketches for these proposals.
      • Describe key milestones with expected dates of completion.
    • Upload a PDF with proposed table shells (4 pages max)
    • Budget and budget justification using PHS 398 Form Pages 4 and 5 (no page limit; please compile as a single PDF)


II. Details and Proposal Preparation
Application Submission Deadline: March 26, 2024

  • Proposals must conform to the page limits and formatting requirements indicated. All components listed are required.
  • Funding: Each award will consist of up to $100,000 (direct costs, inclusive of G&A) with an expected start date of July 1, 2024 and ending on December 31, 2025.
     

III. Selection Process and Review Criteria

  1. Application Review: The review process will have two phases. The initial review will be performed by CHDI leadership in consultation with Duke investigators with relevant expertise. A second review will be performed by members of the PopHealth Datashare team to ensure project feasibility.
  2. Although not contributing to funding decisions, all IRB, animal use, and institutional approvals must be obtained (as applicable) prior to release of funds for awarded projects.
     

IV. Application Procedure
Please submit all applications through Qualtrics by 11:59pm on March 26, 2024.
https://duke.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_6KBxaZy9XFy5mke
 

V. Budget Guidelines
Please note the following during budget preparation:

  1. Total budget must not exceed $100,000, inclusive of G&A (see below).
  2. All funds are subject to G&A of 15%, which is included in the total award - this should be included in the budget. Please consult with your grants and contract manager regarding G&A rates.
  3. The main fund code must be held within a clinical department in the Duke School of Medicine or Duke School of Nursing; sub-awards may be made to other Duke departments and/or community partners.
  4. Grant funds must be budgeted for the cost of extracting the analytic dataset by members of the PopHealth DataShare team and any required PACE workspaces.
  5. Grant funds must budget for statistical support (either through DataShare analytics or another analyst who has completed regulatory and training requirements for Medicaid data access.)
  6. ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Grant funds may be budgeted for:
    • salary support for the PI(s) and Duke faculty members is allowable, but may not exceed 10% university effort
    • salary support for students (including prorated tuition remission), post-docs, and research support personnel. Salary for research staff and students must reflect actual institutional based rates supplied to you by your grants managers or business office.
    • travel necessary to perform the research (please note that approval for travel is subject to institutional criteria)
    • subcontracts for community partners (may include salary support, supplies, use of space provided by the community partner, and any G&A expenses for the community partner)
    • small equipment, subcontracts, research supplies and core lab costs, or
    • other purposes deemed necessary for the successful execution of the proposed project
  7. ​​​​​​​Grant funds may not be budgeted for:
    • foreign components, as defined in the NIH Grants Policy Statement
    • effort for post-doctoral trainees or fellows that are already on training grant equivalents
    • capital equipment
    • computers or audiovisual equipment
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VI. Terms of the Award
Investigators are expected to utilize the funding and support services provided by the CHDI to develop a pilot intervention during the 18 months of program support. Investigators will be required to hold a kick-off meeting prior to release of funds and will then be required to check in with the CHDI director on a quarterly basis.  Failure to participate in required components of the program may result in cancellation of funding.
 

VII. Post-Award Reporting
CHDI tracks significant events resulting from the funding. Any significant events should be included in the final project report, and CHDI will contact investigators annually to determine if any significant events have been achieved as a result of this award. Examples include:

  • Funding applications and awards
  • Abstracts/presentations, manuscripts, published guidelines
  • Regulatory meetings and filings
  • Initiation of clinical studies
  • Implementation in clinical practice and community
  • Translation of models to other geographic areas
  • Translation of models to other therapeutic areas
  • Clinical outcomes in practice and communities
  • Agreements with partners and strategic collaborators to translate the research
  • Commercialization (e.g., new intellectual property, license, commercial partnerships, or start-up company)
  • Direct-to-consumer interactions (e.g., mobile applications) 

When requested, all awardees will be expected to provide updates of publications and other successes that originated from the award.