Associate Professor Dennis Scanlon will use the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation funding to evaluate that organization's national initiative "Aligning Forces for Quality," or AF4Q.

The grant is in addition to last year's original $3.4 million award from the foundation.

"AF4Q aims to bring together patients, healthcare providers and payers to turn proven practices for improving (healthcare) quality into real results," Penn State said in a statement. "Through regional collaboratives, it aims to lift the overall quality of health, reduce racial disparities and provide models for national reform."

The $300 million initiative involves 14 community-based programs across the United States in which teams help physicians improve their quality of care and give consumers information that helps them manage their health and in making informed choices about their healthcare.

The community alliances will also work to improve care inside hospitals, with a special focus on nursing and on reducing inequality in care for patients of different races and ethnicities.

Scanlon and his colleagues will evaluate the impact of the program in the 14 communities.