Tailoring Interventions to Improve Preventive Health Service Use (R61/R33 Clinical Trial Required) | RFA AG 20 045

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA AG 20 045

The NIH grant opportunity "Tailoring Interventions to Improve Preventive Health Service Use (R61/R33 Clinical Trial Required)" (RFA-AG-20-045; CFDA 93.866) supports research aimed at improving how consistently physicians deliver recommended preventive services to older adults, using guidance from the CDC and the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. The central focus is on building and testing interventions that are embedded in electronic health records (EHRs), with the idea that EHR-based tools can more directly influence real-world clinical workflows, raise adherence to prevention guidelines, improve care quality and patient outcomes, and, importantly, reduce inequities in preventive care.

The FOA uses a phased, milestone-driven R61/R33 structure. The first phase (R61) functions as a pilot and feasibility stage where teams are expected to use EHR data and advanced analytics, including machine learning methods where appropriate, to identify specific groups of patients who are not receiving recommended preventive services. Rather than treating underuse of prevention as a single broad problem, the goal is to segment patients into meaningful subgroups and understand the distinct barriers each group faces (for example, gaps related to access, visit patterns, documentation issues, clinician decision-making, language needs, or other social and structural factors). Researchers then design scalable, tailored intervention strategies for these identified groups, with the interventions being deliverable through or tightly integrated with the EHR (such as clinical decision support, reminders, workflow prompts, panel management tools, targeted outreach triggers, or other EHR-enabled mechanisms).

If the R61 phase demonstrates feasibility and meets predefined milestones, projects may transition to the R33 phase. The R33 is intended for implementation and evaluation through pragmatic trials, meaning studies carried out under routine care conditions to test whether the intervention actually changes preventive service delivery and related outcomes when deployed in real clinical environments. Because this FOA is explicitly labeled "Clinical Trial Required," applicants are expected to propose a study design that includes a clinical trial component, particularly in the later pragmatic implementation stage, rather than stopping at tool development or observational analyses.

A non-negotiable requirement across the application is a direct focus on health disparities. Applicants must incorporate disparity considerations into how they identify under-served or under-reached patient groups, how they design and tailor the EHR-based intervention, and how they evaluate outcomes. In practice, this means the proposed work should not only improve overall preventive service use but also address unequal uptake and outcomes among populations that experience disproportionate barriers to preventive care. The FOA is oriented toward interventions that can be scaled and sustained, so reviewers will generally be looking for approaches that can be integrated into standard clinical operations rather than one-off, labor-intensive programs.

Eligibility is broad and includes many U.S.-based organization types: state, county, and local governments; special districts; independent school districts; public and private institutions of higher education; federally recognized Native American tribal governments; tribal organizations that are not federally recognized; public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; nonprofit organizations (with or without 501(c)(3) status); for-profit organizations (other than small businesses); small businesses; and other eligible entities. The FOA also highlights additional eligible applicant categories such as Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Hispanic-serving Institutions, Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs), faith-based or community-based organizations, certain tribal governments other than federally recognized, regional organizations, eligible federal agencies, and U.S. territories or possessions. At the same time, it clearly limits foreign involvement: non-U.S. entities (foreign organizations and foreign institutions) are not eligible to apply, non-U.S. components of U.S. organizations are not eligible, and foreign components (as defined by NIH policy) are not allowed.

Administratively, this is an NIH discretionary grant opportunity created on September 11, 2019, with an original closing date of November 4, 2019. The listing does not provide an award ceiling or expected number of awards in the provided text, so applicants would typically need to consult the full FOA and NIH budget guidance for funding levels, project period details, and milestone expectations. Overall, the opportunity is designed for research teams that can combine geriatric prevention priorities, EHR-based implementation strategies, data analytics for identifying unmet preventive needs, and pragmatic trial methods, while keeping equity and disparity reduction as a core objective rather than an add-on.

• The National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Tailoring Interventions to Improve Preventive Health Service Use (R61/R33 Clinical Trial Required)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.866.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2019-09-11.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2019-11-04. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Independent school districts, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities, Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments), Nonprofits having a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Nonprofits that do not have a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education, For-profit organizations other than small businesses, Small businesses, Others.

Apply for RFA AG 20 045

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