Greater Value Portfolio Grant

In 2025, the Donaghue Foundation’s Greater Value Portfolio grant program will fund research projects 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.

Program Attributes: The Greater Value Portfolio program emphasizes research closely linked to ongoing improvement initiatives to achieve greater value in healthcare organizations. 

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.

The Foundation invites researchers to propose innovative solutions that contribute to an elevated healthcare system where value, including cost-effectiveness and patient-centered care, is paramount. Research should aim to advance models of care, insurance coverage, and healthcare systems that prioritize value, improve care delivery outcomes, and ensure equitable access for all demographics.

Grant funds may be used to support the following:

• The principal investigator’s salary (consistent with the applicant institution’s policy), project staff salaries, and employee benefits
• Data processing expenses, and other direct expenses including equipment and research participant expenses
• Appropriate expenses of the partnering organization to facilitate their support of the research; and costs associated with disseminating research findings