Accessing Social Determinants of Health Data through Local Data Intermediaries Initiative in the US

Deadline: 28-Jul-21

The Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health (OASH) and the Office of Minority Health (OMH) is pleased to announce the availability of funds for Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 Accessing Social Determinants of Health Data through Local Data Intermediaries Initiative to improving the health of racial and ethnic minority populations through the development of health policies and programs that will help eliminate health disparities.

OMH expects recipients to build upon existing local data intermediary infrastructure, and design and implement a secure community-level SDOH/social need/social risk data and health data platform for the identified community of focus, ensuring personally identifiable health information is secured in accordance with the protections of the Privacy Rule and Security Rule of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA).

The data platform should allow for a diverse range of community stakeholders to access the integrated data, so that the data can be analyzed to inform efforts to address health disparities.

The recipient is prohibited from charging for access to the data platform that it will create using OMH grant funds. As part of the enhancement of existing data infrastructure, recipients are also expected to:

Develop and implement a Data Security/IT Security Plan, including an incident response plan. Recipients will be required to submit their Data Security/IT Security Plans in accordance with the timeframe outlined in the Notice of Award.
Identify SDOH/social need/social risk data sources and health data sources, and execute a Memorandum of Agreement(s) (MOA) with participating data providers. The focus of the initiative is on community-level data, but federal, state and other local data may also be useful and should be included.
Assemble and house SDOH/social need/social risk data and health data on the data platform. Ensure that the SDOH/social need/social risk and health data are linked in a way that supports meaningful utilization of the combined data.
Ensure the data platform is accessible to and user-friendly for a diverse range of users, including individuals with limited English proficiency and low health literacy.
Develop and implement a data management plan for how the SDOH/social need/social risk data and health data platform will be:
- designed and implemented to ensure appropriate management of data, including data security and privacy protections, and HIPAA compliance to protect confidentiality; and
- updated and managed throughout the project period to include the latest available data and to be responsive to feedback from data users.
Continuously update the data management plan based on quality improvement (QI) assessments and user feedback.
Configure data sharing and reporting systems, including the capability to provide real-time feedback and built-in analytic tools.
Assess reliability, validity and representativeness of data and platform.

Funding Information

Estimated Federal Funds Available: $ 500,000
Award Ceiling (Federal Funds including indirect costs): $250,000 per budget period
Anticipated Start Date: September 30, 2021
Anticipated Initial Budget Period Length: 12 months

Eligibility Criteria

Any public or private nonprofit entity located in a State (which includes one of the 50 United States, District of Columbia, Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa, Guam, Republic of Palau, Federated States of Micronesia, and the Republic of the Marshall Islands) is eligible to apply for an award under this announcement. Faith-based organizations and American Indian/Alaska Native/Native American (AI/AN/NA) organizations are eligible to apply. Examples include:
- State Governments
- County Governments
- City or township governments
- Special district governments
- Independent school districts
- Public and State controlled institutions of higher education
- Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized)
- Public Housing authorities/Indian housing authorities
- Native American tribal organizations (other than federally recognized tribal governments)
- Nonprofits having 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education
- Nonprofits without 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education
- Private nonprofit institutions of higher education
- U.S. territories