System-level Workforce Capacity Building for Integrating HIV Primary Care in Community Health Care Settings - Demonstration Sites
This announcement solicits applications for a new Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program Special Projects of National Significance (SPNS) multi-site initiative entitled System-level Workforce Capacity Building for Integrating HIV Primary Care in Community Health Care Settings ¿ Demonstration Sites. .Eligible demonstration site applicants must be public or private non-profit organizations that receive funding under Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment Extension Act of 2009. This includes Community Health Centers (CHCs) receiving support under Section 330 of the PHS act; Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) as described in Title XIX, Section 1905 of the Social Security Act; faith-based and community-based organizations; and/or Indian Tribes or tribal organizations, This initiative seeks to enhance the capacity and readiness of funded organizations to adapt and re-align their workforce systems to improve the provision of quality care to people living with HIV (PLWH). Funding will be provided to support organizations to promote the design, implementation, and evaluation of system-level changes in staffing structures that improve health outcomes along the HIV Care Continuum. Applicants must propose innovative strategies to increase their capacity to achieve efficient and sustainable service delivery practices that both optimize human resources and improve health outcomes. Demonstration projects will implement and evaluate innovative Practice Transformative Models (PTMs) for the delivery of HIV treatment and comprehensive care services through workforce efficiencies that improve health outcomes. Evaluation of these innovative PTMs will identify best practices and methods to support organizations in adapting and re-aligning their workforce in a changing healthcare landscape, as well as factors that increase the potential for successful integration of HIV care into primary care and community healthcare settings serving vulnerable populations. Awardees will also be required to participate in a comprehensive multi-site evaluation throughout the four year project period led by an Evaluation and Technical Assistance Center (ETAC). The ETAC will identify and document successful PTMs and best practices for purposes of dissemination and replication at the national level. Funding for the ETAC to coordinate the initiative¿s multi-site evaluation is being made available under a separate announcement (HRSA-14-058). Dissemination of successful PTMs and best practices will help to build capacity and readiness of the HIV primary care workforce to identify, link, and retain PLWH on a path towards achieving viral load suppression. Successful applicants also will be required to partner with their Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program Regional AIDS Education and Training Center (AETC) for clinical training activities. Successful applicant organizations will design and implement efficiencies in their structural workforce systems that optimize human resources and improve health outcomes. Specific examples of system-level PTMs include but are not limited to task shifting or physician extension; patient navigation; restructuring staff to meet the standards of patient-centered medical homes; integration of community health workers into the medical team; and interprofessional team-based care and practice.  Applicants are encouraged to review the interprofessional education and workforce development programs funded by HRSA.[1] Successful applicants should strive to be leaders in adapting to the challenges of a dynamic healthcare environment, marked by a shortage of HIV primary care physicians coupled by an increasing demand and access for quality HIV services. This initiative provides an opportunity for organizations providing care and treatment of HIV infected populations to assess their workforce capacity issues and to better respond to the new demands in HIV care. By promoting the design, implementation, and evaluation of system-level change in staffing structures that improve health outcomes along the HIV Care Continuum, access to well trained, qualified, and diverse HIV care providers and support staff can become more available, despite the projected shortage of HIV specialist physicians. The identification of successful PTMs and best practices can help to ensure that PLWH receive optimal care across the HIV Care Continuum, with the goal of achieving increased rates of viral suppression, and the reality of an AIDS-free Generation.
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