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New initiative will award millions in grants for medical liability, patient safety programs
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On the heels of President Barack Obama’s address to Congress on health care reform, the White House has announced that the Department of Health and Human Services will provide $25 million in grants for states and health systems testing patient safety and medical liability reform demonstrations.
Last week, President Obama formally requested that the Secretary of Health and Human Services announce that the department will make grants available for the development, implementation and evaluation of alternatives to the medical liability system.
“We should explore medical liability reform as one way to improve the quality of care and patient-safety practices and to reduce defensive medicine,” President Obama wrote in his memorandum. “But whatever steps we pursue, medical liability reform must be just one part of broader health insurance reform — reform that offers more security and stability to Americans who have insurance, offers insurance to Americans who lack coverage, and slows the growth of health care costs for families, businesses, and government.”
Grants will be awarded to states and health systems with demonstrations that meet the following goals:
- prioritize patient safety and lower the incidence of preventable injuries;
- ensure that patients are compensated in a fair and timely manner for medical injuries, while reducing the rate of frivolous lawsuits;
- lower liability premiums; and,
- improve communication between doctors and patients.
Under the initiative, states and health systems that implement and evaluate evidence-based patient safety and medical liability programs can receive grants of up to $3 million each year for up to 3 years. Those that plan to implement such demonstrations will be eligible for 1-year grants of up to $300,000.
A review of known initiatives that improve patient safety and decrease medical liability will be available in December 2009 to give applications information and to aid in the evaluation of submissions.
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) will oversee the demonstration program and select grant winners early next year. Grantees must submit patient safety information to AHRQ databases for evaluation, and public reports assessing patient safety and the medical liability systems will be released within 18 months of the program’s conclusion.
An announcement for the funding opportunity will be posted on grants.gov within 30 days, and applicants will have 2 months to submit their materials.
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