RAPS Seed Grant Program Opens Request for Proposals

The RAPS Seed Grant Program is now accepting proposals for multidisciplinary Research & Development teams, start-ups or tech companies in the Pittsburgh region that are developing, testing, or adopting an autonomous solution to prevent medical errors.

To establish Pittsburgh as a global tech hub for developing autonomous patient safety technologies, the Jewish Healthcare Foundation and Pittsburgh Regional Health Initiative created the Regional Autonomous Patient Safety (RAPS) initiative in 2022. Its goal is to address the triple crisis of workforce shortages, increased rates of injury and harm, and a deterioration of patient safety measures.

The RAPS Seed Grant Program is designed to support multidisciplinary Research & Development (R&D) teams, start-ups, or tech companies in the Pittsburgh region that are in the earliest stages of developing, testing, and promoting autonomous, technology-enabled solutions to prevent harm in health care.

Applications are currently being accepted with funding being awarded based on the extent to which the autonomous patient safety solution is aligned with what healthcare providers need to work in a safe environment and the extent to which it is aligned with federal funding opportunities. Applications will be due October 16, 2023, with $300,000 available to be awarded in total. Deadlines, application requirements, and additional details about the RFP can be found here.