Opportunity Information: Apply for COVID C3 20 003
The funding opportunity titled "Public Health Emergency Response Related HL7(r) Standards, Solutions and Future Pandemics" is a discretionary cooperative agreement issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC). It was created on August 12, 2020, with an original closing date of September 11, 2020, and it falls under the health funding activity category (CFDA 93.826). The program is structured as a single-source award, meaning ONC intended to make one cooperative agreement directly to HL7(r), rather than running a broad competition among multiple applicants. The expected number of awards is one, and the maximum funding amount (award ceiling) is $2,000,000.
The core purpose of the award is to speed up the development and real-world deployment of key HL7(r) standards and related implementation solutions that ONC identified as urgent "gap and opportunity" areas revealed or intensified by COVID-19 and other public health emergencies. In practical terms, the grant focuses on making health data more usable, consistent, and shareable across clinical care, public health, and population-level response workflows. By using a cooperative agreement mechanism, ONC signals that it expects substantial federal involvement during the project, typically including ongoing collaboration, joint planning, and coordination on deliverables rather than a hands-off grant relationship.
ONC identifies five specific priority areas for accelerated work. The first is expanding the clinical domains supported by HL7(r) standards, which points to extending standardized data models and implementation guidance into additional areas of clinical practice that became critical during the pandemic (for example, domains related to testing, diagnostics, therapeutics, clinical status tracking, and emerging care settings). The intent is to reduce fragmentation by ensuring that more kinds of clinical information can be captured and exchanged in a consistent way across different health IT systems.
The second priority area is privacy, security, and consent, emphasizing that emergency response data sharing has to be balanced with strong protections and clear rules for how patient information is accessed, used, and disclosed. This area generally covers standardized ways to represent consent directives, apply security controls, and support lawful, trustworthy data exchange across organizations, including in fast-moving emergency scenarios where time-sensitive sharing can conflict with complex privacy requirements.
The third area is an application programming interface (API) for population-level services. This focuses on enabling APIs that support public health and population health needs, not just individual patient lookups. The idea is to make it easier for authorized entities to query, aggregate, and analyze data for situational awareness, outbreak tracking, resource planning, and other population-scale functions, using standardized API patterns that reduce custom interfaces and speed integration.
The fourth area targets social determinants of health (SDOH) standards, reflecting the pandemic-era recognition that factors like housing stability, food security, transportation access, and employment conditions strongly influence risk and outcomes. Standardizing SDOH data supports consistent screening, documentation, referral, and reporting, and it helps connect clinical care with community-based services. It also improves the ability to stratify populations and identify disparities during emergencies.
The fifth area is advancing public health standards, which is aimed at strengthening the standards foundations for public health reporting and interoperability. This includes improving the consistency, timeliness, and completeness of data flows between healthcare providers, laboratories, and public health agencies. During COVID-19, gaps in reporting capacity and inconsistent formats created delays and data quality problems; this priority area is meant to modernize and align standards-based public health exchange so that future outbreaks and emergencies can be handled with better information infrastructure.
Overall, this NOFO is a targeted investment designed to accelerate standards work that ONC viewed as immediately relevant to pandemic response and future preparedness. By funding HL7(r) directly through a cooperative agreement, ONC sought to move quickly on specific deliverables across clinical interoperability, privacy and consent, scalable population-level APIs, standardized SDOH data, and stronger public health reporting standards, all with the goal of improving diagnosis, treatment, care coordination, and emergency response capabilities nationwide.Apply for COVID C3 20 003
- The Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the National Coordinator in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Public Health Emergency Response Related HL7® Standards, Solutions and Future Pandemics" and is now available to receive applicants.
- Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.826.
- This funding opportunity was created on Aug 12, 2020.
- Applicants must submit their applications by Sep 11, 2020. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
- Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $2,000,000.00 in funding.
- The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
- Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).
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FAQs: Public Health Emergency Response Related HL7(r) Standards, Solutions and Future Pandemics
What is the title of this funding opportunity?
The funding opportunity is titled "Public Health Emergency Response Related HL7(r) Standards, Solutions and Future Pandemics."
Which federal agency is offering this award?
This is a discretionary cooperative agreement issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC).
What type of funding mechanism is it?
It is a cooperative agreement. This typically means ONC expects substantial federal involvement during the project, such as ongoing collaboration, joint planning, and coordination on deliverables, rather than a hands-off grant relationship.
Is this a competitive opportunity open to multiple applicants?
No. The program is structured as a single-source award, meaning ONC intended to make one cooperative agreement directly to HL7(r) rather than running a broad competition among multiple applicants.
How many awards does ONC expect to make?
The expected number of awards is one.
What is the maximum funding amount available (award ceiling)?
The maximum funding amount (award ceiling) is $2,000,000.
When was the opportunity created, and what was the original closing date?
The opportunity was created on August 12, 2020, with an original closing date of September 11, 2020.
What funding activity category does it fall under?
It falls under the health funding activity category.
What is the CFDA number for this program?
The CFDA number listed for this opportunity is 93.826.
What is the overall purpose of the award?
The core purpose is to speed up the development and real-world deployment of key HL7(r) standards and related implementation solutions that ONC identified as urgent "gap and opportunity" areas revealed or intensified by COVID-19 and other public health emergencies.
What kinds of problems is the funding trying to address?
The funding targets interoperability gaps that can slow emergency response, including inconsistent data formats, fragmentation across health IT systems, and challenges in sharing usable, consistent information across clinical care, public health, and population-level response workflows.
Who is the intended award recipient?
ONC intended to make the cooperative agreement directly to HL7(r).
Why did ONC choose a cooperative agreement for this work?
Based on the description, ONC used a cooperative agreement because it expects substantial federal involvement, including active collaboration and coordination with the awardee to move quickly on specific deliverables tied to public health emergency response and preparedness.
What are the priority areas ONC identified for accelerated work?
ONC identifies five priority areas: (1) expanding the clinical domains supported by HL7(r) standards, (2) privacy, security, and consent, (3) an API for population-level services, (4) social determinants of health (SDOH) standards, and (5) advancing public health standards.
What does "expanding the clinical domains supported by HL7(r) standards" mean in this context?
It refers to extending standardized data models and implementation guidance into additional areas of clinical practice that became critical during the pandemic. Examples noted include domains related to testing, diagnostics, therapeutics, clinical status tracking, and emerging care settings. The goal is to reduce fragmentation so more kinds of clinical information can be captured and exchanged consistently across health IT systems.
What is included under the "privacy, security, and consent" priority area?
This priority area focuses on balancing emergency response data sharing with strong protections and clear rules for access, use, and disclosure of patient information. It generally includes standardized ways to represent consent directives, apply security controls, and support lawful, trustworthy data exchange across organizations, including time-sensitive emergency scenarios.
What is meant by an "API for population-level services"?
This priority area emphasizes enabling APIs that support public health and population health needs, not just individual patient lookups. The intent is to make it easier for authorized entities to query, aggregate, and analyze data for situational awareness, outbreak tracking, resource planning, and other population-scale functions, using standardized API patterns that reduce custom interfaces and speed integration.
Why are social determinants of health (SDOH) standards included as a priority?
The opportunity highlights that pandemic response underscored how factors like housing stability, food security, transportation access, and employment conditions influence risk and outcomes. Standardizing SDOH data supports consistent screening, documentation, referral, and reporting, helps connect clinical care with community-based services, improves population stratification, and supports identifying disparities during emergencies.
What does "advancing public health standards" focus on?
This priority area is aimed at strengthening standards foundations for public health reporting and interoperability. The emphasis is on improving the consistency, timeliness, and completeness of data flows between healthcare providers, laboratories, and public health agencies. It is intended to address COVID-19-era challenges such as reporting capacity gaps and inconsistent formats that contributed to delays and data quality problems.
How does this opportunity relate to COVID-19 and future public health emergencies?
ONC describes the work as addressing urgent gaps and opportunities revealed or intensified by COVID-19 and other public health emergencies, with a clear goal of improving preparedness and response capabilities for future outbreaks and emergency scenarios.
What kinds of outcomes is ONC aiming for nationwide?
The description points to improving diagnosis, treatment, care coordination, and emergency response capabilities nationwide by making health data more usable, consistent, and shareable across clinical care, public health, and population-level workflows.
Does the opportunity specify exact deliverables or a project timeline beyond the closing date?
No additional deliverables or detailed timelines are provided in the information shown, beyond the stated purpose, the five priority areas, and the original closing date.
Does the opportunity describe eligibility requirements besides being single-source to HL7(r)?
No further eligibility requirements are provided in the information shown. The description states it is a single-source award intended to be made directly to HL7(r).
Does the opportunity mention cost sharing or matching requirements?
No cost sharing or matching requirements are described in the information shown.
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