The main emphasis of the project is on the application and evaluation of the technology, not on the development of the technology. The amount of time and money requested for development is deemed to be reasonable within the scope of the project. On the other hand, a 3-year project that involves some development in the first year and amounts to less than 10 percent of the budget would be considered responsive. In the field of medical errors and patient safety, a lot of work has occurred on errors of commission, especially on medication errors. For the purposes of this RFA, medical error is defined as the failure of a planned action to be completed as intended or the use of a wrong action to achieve an aim.
Errors can include problems in practice, products, procedures, and systems.
In the RFA, you say that partnerships are encouraged with developers and vendors. AHRQ is interested in evaluating new, innovative technologies that can improve patient safety. We are therefore encouraging partnerships with developers if it will enhance the ability of the investigators to study innovative technologies. However, there are no requirements for such partnerships. It should include a descriptive title of the proposed research, the name, address, and telephone number of the Principal Investigator, the identities of other key personnel and participating institutions, and the number and title of the RFA in response to which the application may be submitted.