6140 Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 21 / Wednesday, February 1, 1995 / Notices

The project, at a minimum, must be

able to provide teleconsultations in the

following specialty services:

Teleradiology, cardiology,

dermatology, mental health and/or

substance abuse, obstetrics and

gynecology, orthopedics, subspecialties

of pediatrics, and stabilization of trauma

patients. Applicants may propose to

provide teleconsultations for additional

services, such as physical therapy,

speech therapy, diabetic counseling,

dentistry, or otolaryngology.

This grant is intended to support

telemedicine for medical diagnosis and

treatment of patients, including patient

counseling. It is not for didactic

distance learning programs, such as

lectures or other programs designed

solely for the purposes of instructing

health care personnel or patients.

Applicants must develop projects that

address specific, well-documented

needs of the rural communities. In

doing so, applicants are advised to

consider both the health care needs of

the rural communities served by the

project, and the extent to which the

project can build upon existing

telecommunications capacity in the

communities to facilitate efficient use of

that capacity by multiple users. Needs

can be established through a formal

needs assessment or by population

specific demographic data.

All the grant funding must be used for

services provided to or in rural

communities. A majority of grant dollars

must actually be spent for equipment

placed in rural communities and for

costs incurred in rural communities,

including salaries, maintenance of

equipment, and transmission costs.

Eligible Applicants

The demonstration grant award will

be made only to an entity located in the

western third of the State of Nebraska.

The entity can be either (1) a health care

provider that is a member of a

telemedicine network serving rural

western Nebraska, or (2) a consortium of

providers that are members of a

telemedicine network serving rural

western Nebraska. The applicant must

be a legal entity capable of receiving

Federal grant funds. The grant recipient

can be a public (non-Federal) or private

nonprofit or for-profit entity, located in

either a rural or urban area. Rural spoke

sites may be public or private entities,

either nonprofit or for-profit. All spoke

facilities supported by this grant must

be located in the western third of

Nebraska, all of which is defined by

OMB as a non-metropolitan statistical

area.

Review Consideration

Grant applications will be evaluated

on the basis of the following criteria:

(1) Extent to which the project facilitates

development of an integrated system of care

for the rural areas served by the project by

providing referral linkages, facilitating

consultations among health care

professionals, and reducing the isolation of

health care practitioners, as evidenced by the

strength of the contractual arrangements

among the members of the telemedicine

network.

(2) Demonstrated ability to monitor the

performance of the project, collect data, and

participate in an evaluation of telemedicine.

(3) Demonstrated capability, experience,

and knowledge by the applicant and other

network members to carry out the project.

(4) Reasonableness of the budget proposed

for the project.

(5) Level of local commitment and

involvement with the project, as evidenced

by the extent of cost participation by the

applicant and/or other organizations, letters

of support, and the feasibility of plans to

sustain the project after Federal grant support

has ended.

(6) Extent to which the applicant has

justified and documented the need(s) for the

project, developed measurable goals and

objectives for meeting the need(s), and

designed a project that could be replicated in

rural areas with similar needs and

characteristics.

Other Information

Applicants are advised that the

narrative description of their program

and the budget justification may not

exceed 30 pages in length. All

applications must be typewritten and

clearly legible, using print no smaller

than 12 characters per inch and having

margins no less than one inch on all

sides. Any applications that are judged

nonresponsive because they are

inadequately developed, in an improper

format, exceed the specified page

length, or otherwise are unsuitable for

peer review and funding consideration,

will be returned without further

consideration. All responsive

applications will undergo objective peer

review.

Public Health System Impact Statement

This grant is subject to the Public

Health System Reporting Requirements.

Reporting requirements have been

approved by the OMB—0937–0195.

Under these requirements, the

community-based nongovernmental

applicant must prepare and submit a

Public Health System Impact Statement

(PHSIS). The PHSIS is intended to

provide information to State and local

health officials to keep them apprised of

proposed health services grant

applications submitted by communitybased nongovernmental organizations

within their jurisdictions.

Community-based nongovernmental

applicants are required to submit the

following information to the head of the

appropriate State and Local health

agencies in the area(s) to be impacted no

later than the Federal application

receipt due date:

a. A copy of the face page of the

application (SF 424)

b. A summary of the project PHSIS,

not to exceed one page, which provides:

(1) A description of the population to be

served.

(2) A summary of the services to be provided.

(3) A description of the coordination planned

with the appropriate State of local health

agencies.

Executive Order 12372

This grant program is subject to the

provisions of Executive Order 12372

concerning intergovernmental review of

Federal programs by appropriate health

planning agencies as implemented by 45

CFR part 100. Executive Order 12372

allows States the option of setting up a

system for reviewing applications from

within their States for assistance under

certain Federal programs. Applicants

(other than Federally-recognized Indian

tribal governments) should contact their

State Single Point of Contact (SPOCs), a

list of which will be included in the

application kit, as early as possible to

alert them to the prospective

applications and receive any necessary

instructions on the State process. For

proposed projects serving more then one

State, the applicant is advised to contact

the SPOC of each affected State. All

SPOC recommendations should be

submitted to Opal McCarthy, Office of

Grants Management, Bureau of Primary

Health Care, West Tower, 11th Floor,

4350 East West Highway, Rockville,

Maryland 20857, (301) 594–4260. The

due date for State process

recommendations is 60 days after the

application deadline for new and

competing awards. The granting agency

does not guarantee to ‘‘accommodate or

explain’’ for State process

recommendations it receives after that

date. (See Part 148, Intergovernmental

Review of PHS Programs under

Executive Order 12372 and 45 CFR part

100 for a description of the review

process and requirements.

This is intended to be a one-time program.

Therefore, a Catalog of Federal Domestic

Assistance number has not been requested.

Dated: January 26, 1995.

Ciro V. Sumaya,

Administrator.

[FR Doc. 95–2432 Filed 1–31–95; 8:45 am]

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