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North STAR Trial: Specialty Telemedicine Access for Referrals in Rural Alaska

Award Number: R01DC020026
ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON DEAFNESS AND OTHER COMMUNICATION DISORDERS
OPDIV: NIH
AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY
AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 09/17/2021
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 06/30/2026

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North STAR Trial: Specialty Telemedicine Access for Referrals in Rural Alaska - ABSTRACT Rural Alaska Native children experience a high prevalence of preventable childhood hearing loss. School-based programs provide the only access to preventive services for many underserved rural and minority children, yet loss to follow-up from school hearing screening is common and scarcity of specialists in rural areas compound barriers to care. The Alaska Tribal Health System addresses geographic barriers to care with a telehealth network, but the network is not used for school hearing screening and is only available in Tribal regions. This proposal brings a novel telehealth model directly into schools to reach underserved rural and minority children across the state of Alaska, including non-Tribal regions. The overall objective is to prospectively implement and evaluate a new virtual specialty care model in Alaska schools to reduce loss to follow-up from school hearing screening and improve access to specialty care in rural environments. This work builds on the team’s recent PCORI-funded cluster-randomized trial that translated Alaska’s existing Tribal telehealth network in village clinics to a prevention model for school hearing screening referrals. Children randomized to clinic- based telemedicine specialty referral were 2.3 (95% CI 1.4, 3.8) times more likely to receive an ear/hearing diagnosis than those receiving the standard referral of a letter home. Success of the clinic-based intervention varied substantially between communities; stakeholder interviews revealed implementation challenges that could be addressed by delivering telehealth directly in schools. The current proposal will establish a unique model of care in Tribal and non-Tribal regions across the state, bringing virtual specialty care directly into schools. Three accomplished and complementary multi-PIs, who collaborated on PCORI- and NIDCD-funded studies in rural Alaska, will lead an interdisciplinary team, and an Alaska Stakeholder Team that includes Alaska Commissioners for Education and Health and Social Services will guide study development. In Aim 1, the team will develop and pilot an implementation protocol for school-based virtual specialty care for hearing loss through focus groups and interviews with community stakeholders. In Aim 2, they will conduct a stepped wedge, cluster-randomized implementation trial of virtual specialty care in three representative regions (n=31 schools; 2,008 children). The primary outcome is proportion of hearing referrals resulting in specialty follow-up within two months of screening date. The conservative hypothesis, based on PCORI trial data, is that virtual specialty care will improve follow- up by 100%. In Aim 3, the team will evaluate sustainability of virtual specialty care in Alaska schools through a policy analysis to assess alignment between health and education sectors, identify policy and practice barriers and accelerators, and ascertain payment models for future programmatic financing. This school-based telehealth model to address preventable childhood hearing loss could be translated to other underserved rural and minority groups, bringing high-value services into rural schools to alter the paradigm of prevention nationwide.


Issue Date FY	Funding FY	Legal Entity Name	Legal Entity Address	Legal Entity City	Legal Entity State	Legal Entity Zip Code	Legal Entity COUNTY	Legal Entity COUNTRY	Assistance Listing	Award Code	Budget Year	Action Date	Action Type	Action Amount

Issue Date FY: 2025 ( Subtotal = $701,757 )
2025	2025	UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS FOR MEDICAL SCIENCES	4301 W MARKHAM ST	LITTLE ROCK	AR	72205	PULASKI	USA	Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders	003	6	7/7/2025	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$624,712
2025	2025	UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS FOR MEDICAL SCIENCES	4301 W MARKHAM ST	LITTLE ROCK	AR	72205	PULASKI	USA	Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders	002	5	6/9/2025	SUPPLEMENT FOR EXPANSION	$918
2025	2025	UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS FOR MEDICAL SCIENCES	4301 W MARKHAM ST	LITTLE ROCK	AR	72205	PULASKI	USA	Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders	000	5	10/25/2024	SUPPLEMENT FOR EXPANSION	$76,127
2025	2024	UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS FOR MEDICAL SCIENCES	4301 W MARKHAM ST	LITTLE ROCK	AR	72205	PULASKI	USA	Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders	001	5	4/11/2025	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$0
														Subtotal = $701,757

Issue Date FY: 2024 ( Subtotal = $649,512 )
2024	2024	UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS FOR MEDICAL SCIENCES	4301 W MARKHAM ST	LITTLE ROCK	AR	72205	PULASKI	USA	Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders	000	5	7/19/2024	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$649,512
														Subtotal = $649,512

Issue Date FY: 2023 ( Subtotal = $656,021 )
2023	2023	UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS FOR MEDICAL SCIENCES	4301 W MARKHAM ST	LITTLE ROCK	AR	72205	PULASKI	USA	Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders	000	4	7/20/2023	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$656,021
														Subtotal = $656,021

Issue Date FY: 2022 ( Subtotal = $598,394 )
2022	2022	UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS SYSTEM	4301 W MARKHAM ST SLOT 812 BIO-MED BLDG 1 STE 102	LITTLE ROCK	AR	72205	PULASKI	USA	Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders	004	3	8/17/2022	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$655,409
2022	2022	UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS SYSTEM	4301 W MARKHAM ST SLOT 812 BIO-MED BLDG 1 STE 102	LITTLE ROCK	AR	72205	PULASKI	USA	Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders	005	3	8/24/2022	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$0
2022	2021	UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS FOR MEDICAL SCIENCES	4301 W MARKHAM ST	LITTLE ROCK	AR	72205	PULASKI	USA	Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders	007	2	9/1/2022	CHANGE OF GRANTEE / TRAINING INSTITUTION / AWARDING INSTITUTION	$10,737
2022	2021	UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS SYSTEM	4301 W MARKHAM ST SLOT 812 BIO-MED BLDG 1 STE 102	LITTLE ROCK	AR	72205	PULASKI	USA	Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders	003	2	7/28/2022	CHANGE OF GRANTEE / TRAINING INSTITUTION / AWARDING INSTITUTION	$504,258
2022	2021	DUKE UNIVERSITY	2200 W MAIN ST STE 710	DURHAM	NC	27708	DURHAM	USA	Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders	000	1	12/31/2021	NEW	$0
2022	2021	DUKE UNIVERSITY	2200 W MAIN ST STE 710	DURHAM	NC	27708	DURHAM	USA	Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders	002	1	7/27/2022	NEW	-$561,273
2022	2021	DUKE UNIVERSITY	2200 W MAIN ST	DURHAM	NC	27705	DURHAM	USA	Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders	006	1	9/1/2022	NEW	-$10,737
2022	2021	DUKE UNIVERSITY	2200 W MAIN ST STE 710	DURHAM	NC	27708	DURHAM	USA	Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders	001	1	1/12/2022	NEW	$0
														Subtotal = $598,394

Issue Date FY: 2021 ( Subtotal = $687,498 )
2021	2021	DUKE UNIVERSITY	2200 W MAIN ST STE 710	DURHAM	NC	27708	DURHAM	USA	Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders	000	1	9/17/2021	NEW	$687,498
														Subtotal = $687,498

Grand Total All Awards = $3,293,182

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North STAR Trial: Specialty Telemedicine Access for Referrals in Rural Alaska

Award Number: R01DC020026

ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON DEAFNESS AND OTHER COMMUNICATION DISORDERS

OPDIV: NIH

AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY

AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 09/17/2021

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 06/30/2026

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