Economics of Treatment and Prevention Services for Drug Alcohol Abuse (R03) | Apply Online

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What is the title and funding opportunity number for this grant?

The opportunity is titled "Economics of Treatment and Prevention Services for Drug and Alcohol Abuse (R03)" and the Funding Opportunity Number is PA-08-172.

Which federal agencies sponsor this opportunity?

This is a National Institutes of Health (NIH) discretionary grant sponsored jointly by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA).

What is the main purpose of this funding opportunity?

The program supports small, focused research projects that study the economic dimensions of substance use prevention and treatment services. The intent is to generate timely, policy-relevant evidence about how services are paid for, organized, improved, and evaluated from an economic perspective.

What grant mechanism does this opportunity use?

This funding opportunity uses the NIH R03 mechanism, which is the NIH "small grant" mechanism.

What kinds of projects are a good fit for an NIH R03 in this program?

The FOA is tailored to projects that can be completed relatively quickly and with limited resources, such as pilot and feasibility studies, secondary analysis of existing datasets, small self-contained research projects, development of new research methods, or early-stage development of research technology.

Is this opportunity intended to fund large trials or multi-year programs?

No. The stated intent is to support small, focused efforts that produce timely evidence or lay groundwork for larger future studies, rather than large, multi-year trials or expansive research programs.

What research topics are emphasized in this FOA?

The FOA highlights several priority areas: financing and purchasing of prevention and treatment services; economic incentives to raise quality and improve efficiency; alternative delivery systems and managed care; formal economic evaluation (cost-benefit, cost-effectiveness, cost-utility); service costs, production, and economic efficiency; and methodological research to improve economic research tools and approaches in this field.

What does the FOA mean by "financing and purchasing" topics?

It includes research on health insurance coverage, payment mechanisms, and how reimbursement models influence access to care, service utilization, and provider behavior within drug and alcohol treatment and prevention.

What types of "economic incentives" are of interest?

The FOA calls out incentives aimed at improving quality and efficiency, including pay-for-performance approaches and incentive structures for providers or patients, as well as other market-style tools intended to improve outcomes while controlling costs.

What does "alternative delivery systems and managed care" cover?

This area focuses on how organizational models, networks, contracting arrangements, and care management strategies affect both costs and outcomes in prevention and treatment settings.

What forms of economic evaluation are encouraged?

The FOA encourages formal economic evaluation, including cost-benefit, cost-effectiveness, and cost-utility analyses, such as comparing interventions or service models to determine outcomes per dollar spent, net societal benefits, or improvements in health-related quality of life relative to costs.

What does the FOA mean by studying "service costs, production, and economic efficiency"?

This refers to research that measures the costs of delivering services, analyzes how resources are translated into outputs and outcomes, and identifies inefficiencies or opportunities for productivity gains.

What kinds of methodological research does the FOA welcome?

The announcement explicitly welcomes work that improves the tools used for economic research in drug and alcohol services, including improved costing methods, better approaches to valuing outcomes, advances in modeling, and new data strategies or technologies that increase rigor or feasibility.

How broad is eligibility for applicants?

Eligibility is broad and includes many public and private organizations, including governments, educational institutions, nonprofits, and for-profits, as well as tribal entities and foreign organizations (non-U.S. entities).

Which government entities are listed as eligible?

Examples include state governments; county governments; city/township governments; special district governments; public housing authorities and Indian housing authorities; and eligible federal agencies.

Are colleges and universities eligible to apply?

Yes. The FOA lists public and private institutions of higher education and specifically notes eligibility for HBCUs, Hispanic-serving institutions, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian-serving institutions, and tribally controlled colleges and universities (TCCUs).

Are nonprofit organizations eligible?

Yes. Both 501(c)(3) nonprofits and non-501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations are listed as eligible applicants.

Can businesses apply under this opportunity?

Yes. Small businesses are listed as eligible, and other for-profit organizations are also listed (with an exclusion noted in that particular category listing for small businesses).

Are faith-based and community-based organizations eligible?

Yes. The FOA notes additional eligible applicants such as faith-based and community-based organizations.

Are tribal governments and tribal organizations eligible?

Yes. Eligibility includes federally recognized tribal governments and other tribal organizations.

Can applicants from U.S. territories and possessions apply?

Yes. The FOA includes U.S. territories and possessions among additional eligible applicants.

Are non-U.S. (foreign) organizations allowed to apply?

Yes. The FOA states that non-U.S. entities (foreign organizations) are eligible applicants.

Is cost sharing or matching required?

No. The FOA states there is no cost sharing or matching requirement.

When was this funding opportunity posted?

The archived listing shows a posted date of June 6, 2008.

What were the closing dates for this opportunity?

The archived listing indicates an original closing date of September 7, 2011, and a current closing date of September 7, 2011.

When was this opportunity archived?

The archive date listed is October 8, 2011.

Which CFDA numbers are associated with this program?

The program is associated with CFDA 93.273 (Alcohol Research Programs) and 93.279 (Drug Abuse and Addiction Research Programs).

Where can someone find the full FOA details?

The FOA was hosted through the NIH grants system at: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PA-08-172.html

Who is the listed contact for access or technical issues with the FOA webpage?

The NIH Office of Extramural Research (OER) webmaster contact was listed for access or technical issues.