Health Equity Data Access Program (HEDAP)
HEDAP funds VRDC access for researchers studying health disparities in underserved groups using CMS data to inform CMS and improve health equity.
Funder: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)
Due Dates: No current deadline (Forecasted opportunity)
Funding Amounts: Funding for 6 VRDC user seats, each funded for 36 months; award ceiling $90,000 per seat
Summary: Provides VRDC access funding for researchers studying health disparities in underserved populations using CMS data to inform health equity efforts.
Key Information: Supports innovative applied research on health disparities and intersectionality among Medicare, Medicaid, and CHIP enrollees.
Description
The Health Equity Data Access Program (HEDAP) offers funding to support six individual researcher "seats" in the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Virtual Research Data Center (VRDC). The VRDC provides secure access to restricted CMS data, enabling researchers to conduct health services research focused on minority health and health disparities.
Research topics include physical health, oral health, behavioral health, population health, and social determinants of health, with a focus on underserved groups such as racial and ethnic minorities, people with disabilities, LGBTQ+ individuals, those with limited English proficiency, rural residents, and populations affected by persistent poverty or inequality.
HEDAP encourages projects that use creative and innovative methods to analyze CMS data to identify, document, assess, and evaluate health disparities among Medicare, Medicaid, and CHIP enrollees. The program also promotes research exploring intersectionality — recognizing overlapping social and health inequities and strengths among individuals belonging to multiple groups.
The results from funded projects will provide CMS and its partners (including Quality Improvement Organizations and Hospital Engagement Networks) with actionable insights to help identify and eliminate health disparities in underserved populations.
Each VRDC seat is funded for a 36-month period, contingent on available funds.
