ONC Tech Assistance Calls Jan 4, 5, 6, 2010
(from email Jan 4, 2010)
$60 million Strategic Health IT Advanced Research Projects (SHARP) program funding is available to support four research projects designed to find solutions for health IT adoption challenges. Research will focus on areas where “breakthrough” advances are needed. The projects will be specifically designed and dedicated to overcoming health IT challenges to adoption and meaningful use and supporting the goals of the HITECH Act. Please note that the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) will be hosting a second Technical Assistance call for potential SHARP program applicants, TODAY, Monday, January 4 at 2:30 PM EST. Interested parties are encouraged to join the call using the following information:
To participate:
• https://www.livemeeting.com/cc/dtevents/join?id=GFFH62&role=attend&pw=S%23Ph4dP
 • Audio: Dial in number: 888-469-1244 o Participant passcode: 8113807
There will be time reserved for a Question and Answer session. A transcript of the call and the slide deck will be posted on http://healthit.hhs.gov  in the days following the call. A previous technical assistance call was held on December 22. Transcript and the PowerPoint slide presentation from the call are available at http://healthit.hhs.gov/sharp For detailed information on the SHARP program, visit http://healthit.hhs.gov/sharp

Visit http://healthit.hhs.gov/hitechgrants  for information on additional HITECH Funding Opportunity Announcements.

Additional TA calls scheduled for this week:
• Tuesday, January 5, 2010 at 3:00 pm EST
The University-Based Training Program will provide approximately $32 million in assistance through competitively awarded training grants to eight or more institutions of higher education to establish programs that will rapidly increase the availability of individuals qualified to serve in specific health IT professional roles requiring university-level training.
Updated as of 12/29/09: to participate:  https://www.livemeeting.com/cc/dtevents/join?id=MW6H6S&role=attend&pw=t%2BN9%21jd
Audio: Dial in number: 877-601-4720 Participant passcode: 1414879

• Wednesday, January 6, 2010 at 1:00 pm EST
The Competency Examination Program will provide approximately $6 million in assistance through a cooperative agreement to an institution of higher education to support the development and initial administration of a set of health IT competency examinations.
To participate: 
https://www.livemeeting.com/cc/dt/join?id=F56QDP&role=attend&pw=xk4%3ArZ4  Audio: Dial in number: 1-888-324-4392 (toll-free)  Participant passcode: 9313506

First Time Users: To save time before the meeting, check your system to make sure it is ready to use Microsoft Office Live Meeting.