Quality Health Foundation Announces Call for Proposals

Grant-Giving Organization to Provide Funding in 2011 to Eligible Groups

EASTON, Md., Nov. 22, 2010 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Quality Health Foundation (QHF), the mission arm of Quality Health Strategies Group, a national not-for-profit organization committed to improving the quality of healthcare, announces a call for proposals for the 2011-2012 grant cycle. QHF will award grants to eligible organizations that work to improve health care for individuals and communities through measurable outcome improvement projects.  In 2010, QHF awarded $200,000 to seven organizations in Maryland and the District of Columbia.

Various projects will be funded, including service demonstration programs producing high-impact results on health outcomes.  Projects selected for funding should directly impact individuals and their communities and the results should be exportable to other organizations.  Applications for grants will be accepted from December 1, 2010 through January 19, 2011.  Grant applicants will be notified of their award status in June 2011.

"We were pleased by the scope of projects we were able to fund in 2010 and are certain that efforts by the grant recipients will have a measurable impact on the access to and quality of health care," said Brenda Crabbs, Chair of QHF's Board of Directors.  "We plan to again award grants up to $50,000 to recipients, such as faith-based groups; healthcare providers; educational institutions; community-based non-government organizations; and other organizations and individuals committed to improving access to quality health care.  We will prioritize funding based on a project's potential impact on healthcare improvement and access to care for individuals and communities."

Funding priorities for the 2011 grant cycle include:

* Using best practices to improve care

* Improving access to healthcare services

* Sharing techniques for improving the health of individuals and communities

Quality Health Strategies Group formed The Quality Health Foundation in 2003 in an effort to further its mission of improving health care in local communities.

"Quality Health Strategies Group works across the nation to help improve the quality of health care people receive. QHF was established to give back to the communities we collaborate with in our business contracts and further our mission by providing services others have not funded," stated Christian E. Jensen, MD, Chief Executive Officer, Quality Health Strategies Group. "We are looking forward to seeing what types of projects will be proposed for funding in the 20011-2012 grant cycle."

Applicants must be from Maryland, where the Delmarva Foundation for Medical Care (DFMC) is the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Quality Improvement Organization (QIO) or from the District of Columbia, where the Delmarva Foundation of the District of Columbia (DFDC) is the CMS QIO.  Applications are available at www.qualityhealthfoundation.org. The deadline for 2011-2012 proposals is January 19, 2011.

About Quality Health Foundation

Quality Health Foundation is the mission arm of Quality Health Strategies, a national not-for-profit organization dedicated to improving healthcare quality. Formed in 2003, the mission of Quality Health Foundation is to improve the health of individuals and communities. To achieve this goal, the organization provides modest grants to local charitable, not-for-profit and governmental organizations that are undertaking improvement projects to impact access to and quality of healthcare and human services for individuals and communities. Since 2004, Quality Health Foundation has awarded grants totaling almost $2 million to 33 organizations in Maryland and the District of Columbia. For more information, visit Quality Health Foundation on the Web at http://www.qualityhealthfoundation.org/.

SOURCE Quality Health Foundation