Sunday, May 6, 2012

HHS Issues RFI


HHS seeks information on how to develop a centralized, secure, flexible data reporting system that grantees can use to provide information on HIV prevention, treatment, and care services. HHS wants to see technological developments to make it possible to streamline data, share data, and process data to produce a comprehensive data system to be known as the “HIV Open Data Project.”

Today, the systems in place don’t necessary collect all of the information from the grantees in the right format. As a result, many required HIV/AIDS elements in the databases are inconsistent, impede evaluation, and are not effective in monitoring all of the relevant HHS funded services.

HHS wants to develop a reporting system to compile programmatic, funding, and other data that is reported to HHS. HHS is exploring the possibility of establishing a single data reporting tool for funders, grantees, and sub-grantees that will build upon or share many of the features of the HRSA Ryan White HIV/AIDS Services Report, a secure, online, data collection system for programmatic and fiscal data.

The anticipated “HIV Open Data Project” would help to better monitor and evaluate information, provide for more coordinated program administration, establish patient identifiers, reduce administrative and infrastructural costs, streamline and standardize data, facilitate data sharing, integrate data into EHRs, identify service gaps, and enhance transparency.

In answering this RFI, responders need to examine existing systems that are already available that monitor health grants, what data would be the most useful, costs and benefits of such a system, technological resources and expertise available, the system’s architecture, and what additional information might be available.

For more information on the RFI, go to the May 2, 2012 Federal Register. Comments in response to the RFI are to be received by May 17, 2012.