Vol XXVI, July `06

The first partnership—with the RAND Corporation—was described in last month's issue of the Foundation E-Report. This grant enables the Research Network, working in collaboration with RAND, to respond to task orders from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Policy. The Foundation already has begun work on the project with much success. According to Executive Director Gwendolyn Maddox, "We received a task order, circulated it, organized a work group, and pulled in other appropriate people. We received a great response from our membership, and we were able to write and submit the proposal in about 6-8 weeks." If the proposal is approved for funding, the project will begin in September.

A second partnership represents a non-traditional—and extremely creative—mechanism for seeking a research grant. This activity also demonstrates the Foundation's tenacity. As Foundation Research Director Barbara Calabrese explains, "We submitted a grant proposal to the Commonwealth Fund to conduct a study on provider practice patterns in long term care. Even though we did not receive funding for the proposal, we still believed in the value of this project. So we decided to partner with a small business that had a handheld device we could use to record what providers do and the time spent." The Foundation found TechCode, an Alabama-based company that uses barcode technology to track practitioner actions. Working with TechCode, the Foundation is writing a small business grant that is due on August 1.