The Donaghue Foundation’s Greater Value Portfolio Grant

Quick Overview
  • Funding Source: The Donaghue Foundation
  • Funding Opportunity: 2025 Greater Value Portfolio grant
  • Description: In 2025, the Donaghue Foundation’s Greater Value Portfolio grant program will fund research projects for two years with a maximum amount of $500,000 per award (plus a 10% indirect cost rate) to advance promising approaches to achieving a higher-value healthcare system.This program aims to test approaches and tools that organizations can readily use to improve the value of the healthcare they provide to their patients and communities.
  • Deadline:  LOI due April 29, 2025
  • Applying: Apply using this link
Further Details
 

Symptoms of Low-Value Care 

In the context of the GVP grant program, we prioritize the development of solutions to combat the symptoms of low-value care. Our focus is on fostering a healthcare system where quality, efficiency, and fairness are not just aspirations but achievements realized through the implementation of actionable solutions. Research projects should target and propose corrective measures for the following critical symptoms of low-value care: 

  • High and rising healthcare costs. 
  • Unwarranted pricing variations. 
  • Racial and ethnic disparities in healthcare access, costs, and outcomes. 
  • Excessive financial burden of care on patients and families. 
  • Inconsistency in the quality of care delivered. 
  • Lack of price and outcome transparency in healthcare services. 

For consideration, research topics must demonstrate the potential to test or promote the following:

  • Existing care models, coverage, and systems, proposing modifications that address inefficiencies, reduce healthcare costs, and eliminate unwarranted price variations.
  • Unnecessary medical treatments, tests, and screenings, where potential harm or financial burden to patients may outweigh the benefits, promoting sustainable healthcare expenditure.
  • Tools that assist consumers in making healthcare decisions grounded in value, considering costs and the spectrum of patient-centered factors, all aiming to ensure equitable access and high-quality care.
  • New channels for patient-provider conversations that consider the trade-offs in treatment options, emphasizing transparent communication and the financial implications for patients and families.
  • Interventions with a focus on delivering higher-value healthcare, particularly those that enhance equitable access, ensure consistent quality of care across diverse populations, and strive for pricing that mirrors the value of healthcare services.

In all programs, the Foundation requires applicants to demonstrate that they have reviewed their research questions, protocols, sampling, and data analyses to ensure that they do not inadvertently mask or exacerbate racial, ethnic, or gender health inequities.

Eligibility Criteria

This program is open to PhD, MD, (or equivalent) investigators at tax-exempt research institutions in the United States. To receive an award, the applicant must partner with an organization that delivers healthcare services or be a researcher based in a research unit embedded in a healthcare organization. Partner organizations cannot be the applicant organization. A fuller description of eligible applicant institutions is in the detailed program description below. Grantees may use this award to augment funding for a project already funded through another grant.

The applicant organization must be a 501(c)3 research institution. Donaghue requires that the applicant organization has adequate infrastructure to ensure:

  • Ethical conduct of research, protection of research participants, and appropriate data protections
  • Financial monitoring of grant awards and administering any related subcontracts
  • Resources to assist the principal investigator with dissemination activities

Application Process

The application process will have two phases. Phase 1 is a letter of intent.  After reviewing all letters of intent, we begin Phase 2 by inviting some applicants to complete a more substantial application.

Please be advised that our letter of intent submission process has changed. All LOIs will be submitted through our online submission portal powered by: Wizehive

The LOI submission portal can be accessed by clicking here. Emailed submissions will not be accepted.

Program Timeline

The 2025 cycle of our Greater Value Portfolio grant program will be announced in late February/early March 2025. If you have any questions, you may contact Shamira Chappell, Program Manager, at chappell@donaghue.org.

  • April 29, 2025 - Letter of Intent Deadline
  • August 6, 2025 - Invited Applications Due
  • January 1, 2026 - Grant term begins