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BACKGROUND/RATIONALE:
The VA Office of Research and Development (ORD) currently allocates approximately 7% of its budget to VA health care systems (VAHCS) to support their research administration activities. These allocations are known as "101 funds." This system is thought to be too inflexible and inadequate for research programs that are expanding and that are facing increasing regulatory demands, is overly dependent on a Medical Center's past performance, and is very difficult to update.
OBJECTIVE(S):
This project developed a new allocation method for 101 funds that addresses these limitations and is easy to calculate in terms of staff time and existing data sources.
METHODS:
We conducted in-depth interviews with staff from eight VAHCS representing different facility sizes and geographic areas. We then surveyed all Administrative Officers (AOs), asking about staff, expenditures, and revenues. We used these findings to investigate the underlying needs of research administration at VAHCS, and through an iterative process, developed three alternative allocation models to meet these needs. To compare the three models, we simulated their effects on VA health care systems.
FINDINGS/RESULTS:
The three proposed allocation models provide research offices with funds for core personnel, although they use slightly different formulate in the calculation. All three models use the health care system's size, as determined by the number of VA funded projects, to calculate the core personnel. Funds for additional personnel are provided based on the health care system's volume of protocols undergoing review by the oversight committees, such as Research Safety, Institutional Review Board (IRB) and Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC). Additional funds are provided for supplies and education. Finally, to meet each health care systems unique needs, they will receive flexible funds calculated at 3% of VA-funded research conducted at the health care system.
IMPACT:
No data available.
PUBLICATIONS:
None at this time.
DRA:
Health Services and Systems
DRE:
none
Keywords:
Cost
MeSH Terms:
none
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