HRSA Issued a Sources Sought Notice on July 19th seeking small businesses to build up data capacity in the safety net especially focusing on community health centers. The small businesses will also need to maintain, strengthen, expand, and extend the data and research infrastructure established under the Community Health Applied Research Network (CHARN).
ACA directs HHS to build data capacity for Patient-Centered Outcomes Research (PCOR) The practice-based network of community health centers established in 2010 are building the capacity for PCOR in the safety net.
This requires data sharing among participating health centers in order to conduct collaborative research. This is being accomplished with the help of CHARN via their centralized clinical data registry with data on 500,000 patients seen in the health centers.
CHARN is organized into a data coordinating center with the database housed at the Center for Health Research at Kaiser Foundation Hospitals and at four other research nodes that include the Association of Pacific Community Health Organizations, Alliance, Fenway Health, and OCHIN Inc.
Specifically HRSA is looking to contract out services to:
- Maintain and strengthen the existing data infrastructure for research
- Continue to build capacity for collaborative research within and among participating health centers
- Create a CHARN usable and available database for both CHARN investigators and researchers outside the CHARN network
- Develop a plan to increase sustainability of the network.
The Sources Sought announcement “Building Data Infrastructure in the Safety Net to Conduct Patient-Centered Outcomes Research” (12-250-SOL-CHARN) is due August 2, 2013.
For more information, go to www.fbo.gov. The primary contact at HRSA is John Biji at bjohn@hrsa.gov or call 301-443-0684.