HHS Announces Funding for AI, Behavioral Health IT Projects

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has announced a new funding opportunity through the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology for projects focused on artificial intelligence and behavioral health IT. 

In line with the Leading Edge Acceleration Projects in Health IT program, the funding seeks applications in two key areas: improving the quality of health care data used by AI tools and accelerating the adoption of health IT in behavioral health settings, the HHS said.

The first area looks for scalable ways to assess and improve the quality of information stored in electronic health records that AI tools rely on. The second area seeks proposals to create and test lightweight health IT tools for behavioral health settings, improving communication between behavioral health and regular health care providers.

The initiative builds on recent efforts by the ONC, including new transparency requirements for AI algorithms in certified health IT and a multiyear project with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration to advance health IT in behavioral health care.

The ONC is set to award up to $1 million for each selected project in the two categories.