Priority Setting and Resource Allocation

The Integrated HIV/AIDS Planning Technical Assistance Center (IHAP TAC) has compiled a collection of over 30 relevant resources for priority setting and resource allocation. These include HRSA Guidance on Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program (RWHAP) regulations, tools, training and reference guides, and research articles. The resources are organized into four categories below: HRSA guidance, tools and job aids, trainings and reference guides, and research articles.

  • 2018 Annual Program Terms Report (PTR)/Allocations Instruction Manual
    The Program Terms Report/Allocations Report Instruction Manual provides instructions on how RWHAP recipients can access, complete, and submit the Program Terms Report/Allocations Report.
  • Completing the 2018 Part B Program Terms Report
    This webinar discusses provides RWHAP Part B and Part B Supplemental recipients with information on how to submit their 2018 Program Terms Report (PTR). The webpage also includes report templates and Q&A.
  • Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program Services: Eligible Individuals & Allowable Uses of Funds Policy Clarification Notice (PCN) #16-02 (Revised 10/22/18)
    This policy clarification notice (PCN) replaces the HRSA HIV/AIDS Bureau (HAB) PCN 10-02: Eligible Individuals & Allowable Uses of Funds. It defines and provides program guidance for each of the Core Medical and Support Services named in statute and defines individuals who are eligible to receive these Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program (RWHAP) services. This PCN applies to RWHAP Parts A, B, C, and D, and Part F recipients whose funding supports direct care and treatment services.
  • Part A Manual
    Manual for Ryan White Part A grantees and planning bodies on administration of their programs.
  • Part B Manual
    Manual for Part B Program Directors, staff and others, to serve as an orientation guide, reference document on legislative and program requirements, and a tool in managing fiscal and program components.

  • New York City Planning Council’s Priority Setting Tool
    This worksheet developed by the New York City Part A Planning Council is a tool for setting priorities among the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program (RWHAP) service categories.
  • Model Priority Setting and Resource Allocations (PSRA) Process
    Drawing on the RWHAP Part A Manual, this guide provides a concise, step-by-step overview of a suggested priority setting and resource allocation (PSRA) process for RWHAP Part A jurisdictions. The guide presents key considerations for each step of the Part A PSRA process and is accompanied by sample worksheets for preparing service data and population data in advance of PSRA discussions.
  • Service Category Scorecards FY 2017
    The Multnomah County (Portland, OR) Part A grantee has a process for working collaboratively with their Planning Council, using a scorecard which shows how funds were allocated and cost and care outcomes.
  • Broward County (Florida) Part A Planning Council Scorecard
    The Broward County (Florida) Part A Planning Council developed a scorecard to show data on each service category. The scorecard includes 5 years of funding allocations for each service category, as well as client demographics, relevant performance measures, and notes.
  • Service Priorities List and Worksheet
    A model Priority Setting worksheet showing priorities for RWHAP service categories.
  • Detroit EMA Mock PSRA Planning Activity
    This sample PSRA planning activity includes instructions for conducting a mock case scenario to help teach Planning Council members how to make data-driven decisions that assist with prioritization of service categories to be funded with RWHAP resources.
  • Detroit EMA Priority Setting Worksheet
    This sample worksheet provides an Excel-based format for Planning Council members to rank and track both core medical and support service category priorities, including five key criteria to assist with the ranking process.
  • Detroit EMA Service Allocation Calculator Worksheet
    This sample Excel file links multiple worksheets that display comprehensive priority setting and resource allocation data.
  • Detroit EMA PSRA Final Ranking Sheet
    This sample ranking sheet in Word format lists the service categories to be prioritized for final decision making by the Planning Council. It shows current and two prior years’ rankings for reference.
  • PSRA Final Rankings
    This sample Excel document displays and averages the service category rankings of multiple Planning Council sub-groups.
  • Virginia Department of Health Annual Allocations Procedure
    This document outlines the steps and considerations that the Virginia Department of Health, RWHAP Part B recipient takes into account to develop their annual resource allocation amounts for service categories.
  • Virginia Department of Health Resource Allocation Tracking Sheet
    This Excel worksheet developed by the Virginia Department of Health, RWHAP Part B recipient, provides a format for recording considerations for resource allocation and resource allocation decisions for the RWHAP service categories.
  • HIV Prevention, Care and Treatment Resource Inventory Compiler
    This resource supports the collection and analysis of information about HIV funding in the jurisdiction. The Excel tool generates a formatted table for inclusion in the Integrated Plan submission and a dashboard for data analysis.

  • Training Guide for RWHAP Part A Planning Councils/Planning Bodies, Module 5: Priority Setting and Resource Allocation
    This module prepares Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program (RWHAP) Part A planning council/planning body (PC/PB) members for active and informed participation in priority setting and resource allocation (PSRA). It provides the information needed by new PC/PB members and other individuals who have not previously participated in an annual PSRA process, including the purposes, importance, components, and processes related to Part A PSRA.
  • Conducting RWHAP Part A Planning Council/Planning Body Priority Setting and Resource Allocation (PSRA)
    This webinar focused on the priority setting and resource allocation (PSRA) process that RWHAP Part A planning councils/planning bodies engage in every year.
  • Philadelphia HIV Integrated Planning Council Allocation Materials
    This document includes all of the financial and service data which the Philadelphia EMA Planning Council uses in order to make resource allocation decisions for Part A funds. The materials include RWHAP service category definitions, client usage data, current funding sources for each service, qualitative data on client satisfaction and unmet need, and other relevant data points.
  • Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program Part B and ADAP Uses of Rebate Funds
    This guide includes strategies for RWHAP Part B and AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP) recipients to optimize the use of ADAP rebate funds in order to improve the overall effectiveness and reach of HIV services. The document describes four rebate types by funding origin (federal or state) and allowable uses. The guide also describes several state-specific examples of rebate use to support RWHAP administration (e.g. training the workforce on technical areas and health equity, improving data systems, and conducting outreach to at-risk populations) and Core Medical and Support Services (e.g. expanding access to HIV medication to hard-to-reach populations, bolstering efforts to identify undiagnosed PLWH and link them to care, and funding interpreters to provide culturally competent care).
  • Planning Council Primer
    A reference guide to help Part A Planning Council members understand the roles and functioning of planning councils. It explains what RWHAP does and how planning councils make decisions about what RWHAP services to fund and deliver in their geographic areas.
  • Philadelphia EMA HIV Integrated Planning Council Ryan White Part A Resource Allocation Process
    This is a concise, step-by-step description of the annual resource allocation process undertaken by the Philadelphia EMA for Part A funds.
  • Planning 101: Model Training Session on The Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program Part A Planning Cycle
    This provides a model training that can be customized for the local setting. The training covers: the PC/PB as a community planning mechanism; the annual planning cycle; expectations and best practices for key planning tasks such as needs assessment, data review, priority setting and resource allocation; comprehensive plan and annual work plans; evaluation and planning outcomes; and planning challenges.
  • Quick Reference for Planning Council Support (PCS) Staff: Legislative Requirements for Planning Councils/Bodies, with HRSA/HAB Definitions, Clarifications, and Expectations
    This reference guide includes descriptions of the legislative requirements for planning councils/planning bodies with HRSA/HAB definitions, clarifications, and expectations. The guide is meant for use by Planning Council Support Staff.
  • ADAP
    This HRSA HAB webpage provides an overview of the AIDS Drug Assistance Programs (ADAPs), including their function, budget, and eligibility criteria for clients.
  • Priority Setting and Resource Allocation: Training Manual
    This is a comprehensive manual summarizing the Greater Baltimore HIV Health Service Planning Council’s PSRA process. The manual sets expectations for Planning Council members, introduces key regulations and terms, and describes tools available to assist with the PSRA process, including an electronic priority setting tool.
  • Ryan White Planning Council - Resource Allocation Process
    This video offers an illustration of the resource allocation process which the Boston EMA Ryan White Planning Council conducts annually. The video mentions three planning process: planning for the use of underspent funds within the fiscal year, allocating carryover from prior fiscal year, and planning for alternative funding scenarios for the next fiscal year.
  • 2016 Funding Streams Overview for HIV/AIDS Services in the Boston Eligible Metropolitan Area
    This report provides a summary of the federal, state, and local funding sources available to support HIV services within the Boston RWHAP EMA in 2016. Results from the report were used by the Boston EMA Planning Council to make resource allocation decisions.

  • Know Your Epidemic, Strengthen Your Response: Developing a New HIV Surveillance Architecture to Guide HIV Resource Allocation and Target Decisions
    This article has helpful information on collection for data-driven PSRA decision making. To guide HIV prevention and treatment activities up to 2020, we need to generate and make better use of high quality HIV surveillance data. To highlight our surveillance needs, a special collection of papers in JMIR Public Health and Surveillance has been released under the title “Improving Global and National Responses to the HIV Epidemic Through High Quality HIV Surveillance Data.” This article provides a summary of these papers and highlight methods for developing a new HIV surveillance architecture.
  • Stochastic dynamic resource allocation for HIV prevention and treatment: An approximate dynamic programming approach
    This is a technical article focused on mathematical modeling, but it is framed in the US context and provides an example of how to use advanced modeling to inform resource allocation decisions over a multi-year planning period.
  • Optimal Allocation of HIV Prevention Funds for State Health Departments
    This article describes an analysis of optimal allocation of CDC and HRSA funding for HIV prevention services as well as RWHAP Part A and B expenditures on services for linkage to care, retention in care, and adherence to antiretroviral therapy. The resource allocation analysis was conducted for 52 health departments, which were stratified into five groups based on the size of their HIV-positive population. Results were similar across the five types of health departments, suggesting that the optimal allocation of CDC funds focuses on prevention and linkage to care for Men who have Sex with Men (MSM) and prevention services for partners of HIV-positive individuals.
  • From Theory to Practice: Implementation of a Resource Allocation Model in Health Departments
    This article presents lessons learned from implementation of a RA model for evidence-based HIV prevention interventions, with the objective of averting new HIV infections. As part of the CDC’s HIV Resource Allocation Modeling Pilot (HIV-RAMP) project, four health departments (two municipalities and two states) implemented the RA model. The model generated distinct RA recommendations for each municipality given to the dynamics of the local epidemic and available funding. Following the pilot, health departments reported that the model yielded useful information for RA decision making; however, its application was limited to CDC-funded interventions and thus did not consider the full continuum of care.
  • Data-Driven Decision-Making Tools to Improve Public Resource Allocation for Care and Prevention of HIV/AIDS
    This article describes a data-driven decision making methodology called the “Robust Decision Making Approach.” Researchers applied the tool to various combinations of HIV prevention and treatment interventions in order to simulate the impact of each RA method on National HIV/AIDS Strategy (NHAS) objectives. The model had been developed for use in other sectors (e.g. water management and severe weather planning) and was applied to the HIV context.
  • Employing Resource Allocation Modeling to Inform HIV Prevention Planning For the State of Iowa
    The article describes a resource allocation modeling exercise carried out in Iowa in 2012 following a significant decrease in the state’s HIV prevention funding budget. The model indicated that focusing funds on prevention activities would enable to state to nearly reach national goals for reduction in HIV incidence.
  • The Development and Implementation of a User-Friendly Priority Setting Tool for HIV Care and Treatment Services in New York City
    This article provides an historical overview of the New York City Planning Council’s priority setting process, including the development of an enhanced tool for priority setting in 2008, and the decision-making principles which the Planning Council used.
  • Cost Analysis of the Caribbean Peer Promoter Initiative: The Impact of Budget Allocation Strategies on Program Participation and Retention
    This is a review of program costs and outcomes for a Ryan White SPNS Caribbean Peer Promoter Initiative. The analysis compares funds that RWHAP grant recipients dedicated to different areas of their programs, and concludes with funding recommendations.