美国的SHARP计划---FAQ

medtech

Strategic Health IT Advanced Research (SHARP) Projects Program: Frequently Asked Questions
A. BACKGROUND
A1. Please provide an overview of the SHARP program.
The SHARP program provides for new competitively-awarded cooperative agreements to establish Strategic Health IT Advanced Research Projects (SHARP). Each awardee will implement a collaborative, inter-disciplinary research program addressing one of four research focus areas (for descriptions of each area, please see FAQ #4 below). Each awardee will develop and implement a cooperative program between researchers, industry, health care providers, and other health IT sector stakeholders to transition the results of research into practice.
A2. What is the purpose of the program?
The SHARP program seeks to support improvements in the quality, safety, and efficiency of healthcare, through advanced information technology.  The research projects supported by the SHARP program will focus on solving current and expected future challenges that represent barriers to adoption and meaningful use of health IT, through the proliferation of new methods and advanced technologies. These projects will focus on areas where “breakthrough” advances are needed to realize the full potential of health IT.
A3. What are the goals of each project?
The goals for each project are todevelop technology solutions in the selected area of research, make the technology solutions available to the health information technology market, and make research results available through publication.
Each project’s research focus and outcomes will include both near-term results and longer term results. The near-term results (those that can be addressed in two years) will be developed to meet the specific needs of the healthcare community to achieve meaningful use. The longer-term results (those that require longer than two years) will be contributions to methods and fundamental knowledge that can be leveraged over time for continuous improvement in health care.
A4. Who are the awardees and what is the research focus area of each?
An award was made to each of these institutions: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, and Harvard University. Brief descriptions of the research focus areas are as follows; listed next to each is the awardee whose project will address the focus area:

• Security of Health Information Technology - University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (#10510624) – Addresses the challenges of developing security and risk mitigation policies and the technologies necessary to build and preserve the public trust as health IT systems become ubiquitous.
• Patient-Centered Cognitive Support - The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (#10510592) – Addresses the challenge of harnessing the power of health IT so that it integrates with, enhances and supports clinicians’ reasoning and decision-making, rather than forcing them into a mode of thinking that is natural to machines but not to people.
• Healthcare Application and Network Platform Architectures - Harvard University (#10510924) – Focuses on the development of new and improved architectures that will leverage benefits of today’s architecture and focus on the flexibility and scalability needs for the future to address significant increase in capture, storage and analysis of data.
• Secondary Use of EHR Data - Mayo Clinic College of Medicine (#10510949) – Focuses on strategies to make use of data that will be stored in EHRs for improving the overall quality of health care, while maintaining data privacy and security.

A5. In addition to funding, what support will ONC provide to the projects?
ONC, and/or its representatives, will provide the following types of support to SHARP:

• Consultation and technical assistance in planning, operating, and evaluating the research activities
• Information about ONC programs relevant to the research activities
• Facilitate coordination/collaboration with other Federal agencies and ONC HITECH programs and award recipients
• Review of activities and feedback to ensure that objectives and award conditions are being met
• Review and approval of members of each SHARP’s advisory committees
• Guidance, facilitation, and/or assistance in dissemination of SHARP results and findings

B. AWARDS AND TIMELINE
B1. Who was eligible to apply for this program?
Any entity who submitted an application for this award was required to be a U.S.-based public or private institution of higher education; or other public or private institution or organization with a research mission.
B2. What is the amount and duration of each project?
The awards were made in the form of cooperative agreements with a four-year project period. Each cooperative agreement anticipates a total budget of approximately $15 million over the full four-year project period.

C. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
C1. What kind of coordination will there be between the four research areas?
Coordination will be facilitated by a Federal Steering Committee. There will be regular opportunities for interaction between principal investigators, senior staff, and senior researchers of the four awardees in order to take advantage of these relationships.
C2. Are these research areas solely for software and hardware design?
The cooperative agreements focus on breakthrough research. The work to be undertaken by awardees is intended to inform the development of tools and find its way into the development of tools and products that work in the world of healthcare. The intent of the program is the achievement of meaningful use in adoption of health IT. The program will inform design but remains research-focused.
C3. Are technologies developed in non-commercial settings or those intended to be distributed as part of an open source technology platform included within the definition of “IT products”?
Yes, the definition of IT products should be considered in the broadest possible sense and does not exclude those related to technologies developed in non-commercial settings or those intended to be distributed as part of an open source technology platform. The results of research should be applicable and suitable for all platforms including open source technology platforms. The awardees are strongly encouraged to conduct research using open source approaches and release the outcomes of their research into open source communities.
C4. What roles can or will vendors play in the program?
The SHARP program encourages collaborations with the vendor community and recognizes that they are essential to innovation within health IT. Vendors will be important in helping to develop the pathway for breakthrough ideas and findings to make their way into functioning products and services and are encouraged to establish relationships with the SHARP program.
C5. How can I learn more or identify new opportunities to collaborate?
For additional information, please contact the SHARP Project Officer, Wil Yu, at Wil.Yu@HHS.gov. Additional information can also be found at http://HealthIT.HHS.gov/Programs/SHARP.