ONC Announces Funding Opportunity to Improve Health IT for Laboratories

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) published a notice of funding opportunity (NOFO) under the Leading-Edge Acceleration Projects (LEAP) Health Information Technology (Health IT) for fiscal year 2026.

Among three stated areas of interest, ONC plans to assess laboratory interoperability gaps to improve small independent laboratories’ adoption and use of standard codes (Area of Interest 3).

ONC plans to identify at least three small, independent laboratories that will participate in pilot activities aimed at improving inefficiencies or inaccuracies in the coding processes. Existing solutions for implementation include Logical Observation Identifiers Names and Codes (LOINC), SNOMED Clinical Terms (SNOMED CT), and Unified Codes for Units of Measure (UCUM).

ONC expects to issue one cooperative agreement award per area of interest; Area of Interest 3 will be awarded up to $500,000. The awards will have a two-year project and budget period at initial award, with the option for applications to be submitted based on a three-year budget period.

The application period ends at 12 p.m. ET on July 16, 2026.

Sources:

https://healthit.gov/about/funding-announcements/leap-notice-of-funding/#notice-of-funding-opportunity-2026

https://healthit.gov/interoperability/investments/lantern-project/

https://healthit.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Leading-Edge-Acceleration-Projects-LEAP-FY2026.pdf