NIHCM: Research Grants

The NIHCM Foundation is seeking innovative research proposals that address critical issues in U.S. health care, particularly focusing on drug pricing, provider consolidation, health care delivery, chronic disease management, and the role of artificial intelligence. Projects should aim to improve affordability and quality of care. We welcome submissions from a variety of researchers and organizations, with a preference for studies that can be completed within one year.

NIHCM Foundation supports innovative, independent, investigator-initiated research that has the potential to inform managed care organizations, policymakers, and related stakeholders to improve the affordability and quality of U.S. health care.
This year, we accepted letters of inquiry for projects in the following topic areas:
Drug pricing and affordability: Research that examines the factors influencing drug pricing, patents, pricing transparency, and policy interventions aimed at improving access to affordable medications. We are especially interested in work on GLP-1 agonists and related medications.Provider consolidation & market power: Research that evaluates the effects of health care competition and consolidation on costs, price variation, quality of care, and patient access.Health care delivery: Research that assesses the adoption, challenges, and outcomes of care delivery models—including value-based care and hybrid care models—in reducing health care costs, while also improving health care efficiency, quality, and patient outcomes. We are especially interested in research on how prior authorization protocols can optimize for both affordable coverage and high-quality care.Chronic disease management: Research that addresses the challenges and opportunities in managing chronic diseases and their associated costs, while improving patient outcomes and health care efficiencies.Artificial Intelligence: Research that explores the transformative potential of artificial intelligence and machine learning to improve health care delivery, efficiency, patient outcomes, and/or the potential challenges that AI introduces in terms of costs, quality of care or security. We are especially interested in research on how the use of AI with electronic health records may be increasing coding intensity in the commercially insured population.
We also accepted proposals outside of these specific topic areas that meet the general criteria of focusing on rising health care costs and affordability, through improved health care management, financing, delivery and organization.

Eligibility

All NIHCM-funded research should advance the evidence base on rising health care costs and affordability, through improved health care management, financing, delivery and organization.We welcome applications from individual researchers as well as from all types of organizations and institutions, including both non-profit and for-profit entities. Multiple organizations may apply jointly, but one must be named as the principal organization and others will have a subcontract relationship with that organization. There is no limit to the number of project ideas that may be submitted by a given applicant, organization or academic department.Acceptable Budget Items and Costs: Allowable direct costs include salaries and fringe benefits for project personnel and the direct cost of data, supplies, other incidental expenses and any subcontracts required to conduct the project. Domestic travel for the purpose of sharing results with policymakers and researchers at professional conferences and other venues is a permissible expense. Costs for items such as rent, utilities and other costs of doing business must be included as part of overhead and not billed separately as a direct cost. Indirect costs (overhead) are limited to 12 percent of the budget, excluding any subcontracts. Your expected overhead charges (up to the 12 percent limit) should be included in the anticipated budget figure that you provide as part of the initial letter of inquiry.

Ineligibility

NIHCM will not cover expenditures for patient care, case management services, capital purchases including computers, international travel or lobbying.NIHCM will not accept a budget that includes an additional “fee” beyond the labor expenses, other direct costs and overhead.