Indirect Costs of Research: VERA Research Support January 13 and 14, 2009 Sara Clark Gerard Husson Tony Laracuente Timot

1. Indirect Costs of Research: VERA Research Support January 13 and 14, 2009 Sara Clark Gerard Husson Tony Laracuente Timothy O’Leary Fred Wright

2. VERA BOOK 2008, p14 • “VA’s three Medical Care appropriations fund a variety of activities that support its research mission. • “The total dollars of funded research was selected as the appropriate metric for allocating Research Support funds. • “For the period FY2000 through FY2008, networks passed through the Research Support allocation as it is computed for each Medical Center. • “Research Support from the Medical Care budget includes: • Personal services costs for individuals on the Medical Care rolls who spend part of their time working on research projects; • Facilities costs (Engineering, etc.); • Administrative costs (Fiscal, HR, AMM, etc.)” vaww.arc.med.va.gov/references

3. vaww.arc.med.va.gov/reports

4. 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

5. Research and Research Support Funding Workgroup • Chartered in April 2008 by Joel Kupersmith, CRADO, and Paul Kearns, VHA CFO • Review uses of research funds (Research appropriation) and Research Support funds (Medical Care appropriations) • Current practices • Areas of ambiguity • Questions to be resolved • Areas for improvement and simplification • Recommendations

6. Research and Research Support Funding Workgroup • Site visits: • Baltimore • Bay Pines • Houston • Little Rock • Palo Alto • San Francisco • Tampa

7. Research and Research Support Funding Workgroup • Site visits findings: • Allocation – Some VISNs do not pass through separately identified Research Support funds. • Accounting – Fiscal services can’t track Research Support costs; the Decision Support System (DSS) does not do this. • Purpose of Research Support Funds – Interpretations vary widely regarding appropriateness of types of support costs (facilities maintenance, improvements, personnel, compliance, WOC appointments).

8. Research and Research Support Funding Workgroup Questionnaire Concerning VERA Research Support Majority Views ACOS,AODir,CFO Vera funds passed through? YES YES Vera funds accounted for? NO NO Fund projects with VERA $? NO NO Any ResSup not appropriate? NO NO Agree with current VERA model? NO YES Any obstacles supporting research? YES NO Is ResSup captured in DSS? NO YES

9. Research and Research Support Funding Workgroup • Survey: Admin cost of Research Office personnel • Response: 80% of 88 Medical Centers • Types of costs: • General Office • Budget • Committee Management • “HR” (WOC appointments, Training) • Compliance • Assistance to Principal Investigators • Other

10. Research and Research Support Funding Workgroup Survey: Administrative cost of Research Office Research Cost of Research Cost Center 101 Expenditures Office Personnel Allocation FY 2007 FY 2008 FY 2008 >$10 M (25) $1.40 M 6.0% $686,000 > $5 M (15) 0.90 M 12.9% 463,000 > $1 M (18) 0.60 M 22.1% 162,000 < $1 M (12) 0.33 M 68.8% 120,000 Total $744 M (70) $63 M $26 M

11. Research and Research Support Funding Workgroup • Survey: Admin cost of Research Office personnel • Sources of support: • Cost Center 101 (Research appropriation) • $28,448,622 • VERA Research Support (Med Care appropriation) • $29,856,256 • VA Nonprofit Corporations • $4,316,720 • Affiliated Medical Schools • $651,846