Massachusetts Association for Healthcare Quality, Inc
Grants Program
Submission Deadline: March 15, 2012
Program description:
The Massachusetts Association for Healthcare Quality (MAHQ) is pleased to make funds available for grants to support new quality activities led by MAHQ members. The goals of this program are:
" To allow members to conduct performance improvement activities that address patient safety or quality issues relevant to both their organization and to providers and patients statewide
" To develop a research agenda that targets strategic priority areas in Patient Safety and Quality.
Trainees, staff, and faculty members may propose any research consistent with the mission of MAHQ to improve healthcare quality.
Eligibility:
The grant applicant must be a member in good standing of MAHQ.
Award amounts:
There will be one grant awarded for a maximum award of $1,000. The budget justification will affect an application's competitiveness.
Allowable use of funds:
Grants may be used to purchase materials such as videos, educational brochures, posters, consultation by biostatisticians or other specialists, acquisition of research materials (including electronic databases). Grants may be used for computer software and databases. Use of grants to support travel is not allowed.
Application procedures:
All application materials should be submitted electronically to GrantReviewCommittee@MAHQ.org.
" The research/program protocol should not exceed 5 pages and should follow the template below
" The application must include a detailed budget and budget justification.
" The application should describe any plans to obtain concurrent or subsequent funding from external sources.
Submission Dates:
The submission deadline is March 15, 2012. Decisions will be announced at our Annual Meeting on April 26, 2012. Funds will be disbursed within one month after the decision is announced.
Evaluation criteria:
Proposals will be scored on technical quality. However, preference will be given to proposals that meet one or more of the following criteria. Investigators should state in a cover letter whether and how these criteria are met.
" Projects that demonstrate effective involvement of patients in their own care
" Projects that demonstrative creative use of social networking tools to improve patient education
" Projects that are evaluations of quality improvement activities
Final Report:
Awardees will be expected to submit a brief statement with supporting documentation that the grant was spent in line with the application.
In addition, Awardees will present results of the program either as a poster project or a presentation at the Annual Meeting in 2013.
Questions: Please address questions to: GrantReviewCommittee@MAHQ.org.
Grant Application Template
1. Title
a. Indicates how the grant applicant intends to improve the quality of care (broadly defined to include the safety, effectiveness, patient-centeredness, timeliness, efficiency and equity of care)
b. States the specific aim of the intervention
2. Background knowledge:
a. Provides a brief summary of current knowledge of the care problem being addressed, and characteristics of organizations in which it occurs
3. Intended improvement:
a. Describes the specific aim (changes/improvements in care processes and patient outcomes) of the proposed intervention
b. Specifies who (champions, supporters) and what (events, observations) triggered the decision to make changes, and why now (timing)
4. Planning the intervention
c. Describes the intervention and its component parts in sufficient detail that others could reproduce it
d. Indicates main factors that contributed to choice of the specific intervention (for example, analysis of causes of dysfunction; matching relevant improvement experience of others with the local situation)
e. Outlines initial plans for how the intervention is to be implemented-for example, what is to be done (initial steps; functions to be accomplished by those steps; how tests of change will be used to modify intervention), and by whom(intended roles, qualifications and training of staff)
f. Specify the study method used
5. Outcome Measures
a. Define measures of success