Date:
December 03, 2015
To:
Minnesota Clinical Training Facilities
Attn: CEO, CFO, or Authorized Representative
From:
Darwin Flores Trujillo, Division of Health Policy
651/201-3850
Subject:
Medical Education and Research Cost (MERC) Grant Application
Clinical Training - Fiscal Year 2014
The facility you represent has applied for a MERC grant for fiscal year 2014 through a qualified
teaching program providing clinical training for one or more of the following: advanced practice
nursing, clinical social workers, community health workers, community paramedics, dental
students/residents, dental therapists/advanced dental therapists, chiropractic students, medical
students/residents, pharmacy students/residents, physician assistants, or psychologists.
As you may recall, the 2013 Minnesota Legislature passed legislation that impacted eligibility
and grantee requirements. The requirements are as follows:
1. Inclusion of additional provider types: clinical social workers, community health
workers, community paramedics, dental therapists/advanced dental therapists, and
psychologists.
2. Facilities must train a minimum of 0.1 FTE across teaching programs.
3. Grant funds are limited to expenses related to clinical training program costs. Recipients
must report their clinical training expenditures.
4. Grants cannot exceed the 95th percentile grant per FTE.
5. Based on the formula, facilities whose grant would be less than $5,000 will not be
eligible.
To meet the requirements in #3 above, fiscal year 2014 expenditure reports must be
reported to the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH). Within twenty-four hours, you
will receive an email containing a link to the website where expenditure data must be
entered. The report must be completed online and submitted no later than 8 a.m. on
Friday, January 08, 2016. If expenditure data is not provided by the deadline, the facility’s
grant application will be considered incomplete and denied.
To prepare you for the online expenditure report, a sample has been provided. MDH is
requesting summary level data by the following expense category definitions:
Direct Costs
Student / Resident Costs: Stipends / Benefits, Housing, Educational Conferences / Classes, Simulation Training,
Malpractice Insurance.
Faculty/ Preceptor Costs: Teaching Time / Preceptors, Training Faculty, Support Staff Salaries, Teaching Materials.
Training Program Operating Costs: Training Related Equipment, Dues / Licenses / Fees / Subscriptions,
Infrastructure / Facility Space (e.g. call rooms, workrooms, conference/lecture room), Environmental and
Occupational Health and Safety Services (e.g. Mantoux, blood and body fluid exposures, etc.).
Indirect Costs
Education-related Care Delivery Costs: Additional Tests / Orders, Higher Staff Ratio to Support Clinical
Education, Administrative Record Keeping and Documentation. (Including these costs is optional; include
only if these costs can be documented.)
Expenditure data must be based on direct documentation such as accounting records or
reports if it is available with a reasonable effort. All figures must be rounded to the
nearest dollar.
If grantees cannot provide expenditure data based on direct documentation, MDH will
allow grantees to estimate a proxy per FTE cost by applying MDH validated methods for
the average cost per year for trainees in the relevant disciplines (MD, NP, PA, etc.).
MDH proxy per FTE not available for clinical social workers, community paramedics,
community health workers, advanced dental therapists, dental therapists, and
psychologists. Grantees must begin tracking actual clinical training expenditures for
future reporting.
If the facility you represent chooses to withdraw their grant application and forgo reporting
clinical training expenditures and a potential grant, the online form will accommodate this
request and will not require much time or effort. Please keep in mind, this will then remove the
facility as a potential grantee.
If you have any general questions regarding the MERC grant, please visit our website at
http://www.health.state.mn.us/divs/hpsc/hep/merc/index.html. If you have questions about how
to complete the online expenditure report, contact Darwin Flores Trujillo at 651-201-3850 or
[email protected].
Expenditure reporting implementation was planned in collaboration with MERC stakeholders
and approved by the MERC Advisory Committee.
Thank you for your commitment to providing training opportunities for the future health care
workforce.