SOURCES SOUGHT
U -- Primary Care Partnerships to Prevent Heart Disease in Women
- Notice Date
- 6/3/2008
- Notice Type
- Sources Sought
- NAICS
- 611430
— Professional and Management Development Training
- Contracting Office
- Department of Health and Human Services, Program Support Center, Division of Acquisition Management, Parklawn Building Room 5-101, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, Maryland, 20857
- ZIP Code
- 20857
- Solicitation Number
- 08T080127
- Archive Date
- 7/2/2008
- Point of Contact
- Clint D Druk,, Phone: 301-443-0403
- E-Mail Address
-
clint.druk@psc.gov
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- INTRODUCTION This SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE is to determine the availability of potential small businesses (e.g., 8(a), service-disabled veteran owned small business, HUBZone small business, small disadvantaged business, veteran-owned small business, and women-owned small business) that can provide statewide evidence-based education interventions (using The Heart Truth Professional Education Campaign materials) to expand the role of primary care in the prevention and treatment of heart disease risk factors, and the diagnosis of the metabolic syndrome and heart disease among women ages 40 to 75, with specific emphasis on blood pressure control, tobacco cessation, lipids control (including triglycerides, LDL-C, HDL, total cholesterol), diabetes control (including testing, monitoring, nutrition counseling, and foot care), weight loss or control, and symptoms of heart disease. The information from this market research will help the Department of Health and Human Services, Office on Women’s Health (DHHS/OWH), plan their acquisition strategy. Please be sure to indicate if you have a GSA schedule contract, a contract on GSA 8(a) STARS, or a contract on GSA VETS GWAC. THIS IS STRICTLY MARKET RESEARCH. DHHS/OWH WILL NOT ENTERTAIN QUESTIONS REGARDING THIS MARKET RESEARCH. BACKGROUND The Heart Truth Professional Education Campaign was developed and launched in 2007 by the United States Department of Health and Human Services Office on Women’s Health (DHHS/OWH), the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, the American Heart Association, and supported by several primary care organizations to determine the effects of a structured educational program to improve provider knowledge and self-assessed skills. The Heart Truth Professional Education materials were based on the 2004 and now 2007 AHA Evidence–Based Guidelines for Cardiovascular Disease in Women. Results of a pilot program among 1200 health care professionals have shown significant increases in knowledge about women and heart disease and interest in incorporating these materials into practice after exposure to the materials. At pre-test, family practice physicians were significantly more knowledgeable than OBGyns, and RNs were significantly less knowledgeable than other groups. After exposure to the Heart Truth Professional education program materials, there was a 40% improvement in scores, although RNs were still significantly less knowledgeable than family physicians. All Heart Truth materials were deemed helpful for communication with patients, and 72% of the providers said they would use them in their practices. The problem is that these materials have not been widely distributed to primary care physicians in the United States. Primary care settings are one of the key points of access to screening, assessment, prevention, early intervention, referral, and treatment for women at risk for heart disease. Most women do not seek regular care from cardiologists but do visit a primary care provider or come into regular contact with other medical caregivers regularly. In fact, about 85 percent of women in the U.S. see a physician at least once a year. Despite this seemingly obvious connection, heart disease prevention, screening, diagnostic referral, and brief behavioral treatment interventions are not consistently provided in primary care settings. Primary care providers have not begun to recognize the clinical symptoms that lead to the diagnosis of heart disease in women, an integral part of patient care. Part of this gap can be accounted for by lack of women’s heart disease knowledge and practical skills among primary care providers. In a survey of 500 randomly selected physicians in 2005, Mosca et al. (circ.ahajournals.org/cgi/content/full/111/4/499) found that only 60% of primary care physicians (PCP’s) and Obstetricians/Gynecologists (OBGyns) were aware of the American Heart Association Evidence-based Guidelines for Cardiovascular disease in Women. Of those aware, PCP’s were twice as likely to report incorporation of the AHA Women’s Guidelines into their practice than OBGyns (39% vs. 20%, respectively). In addition, 28% of PCP’s and 43% of OBGyns were willing to seek additional training to allow them to better engage in preventive health treatments for CVD in women. Furthermore, limited research has examined effective ways to educate and encourage practicing primary care providers to address heart disease prevention, diagnosis and treatment of women in their standard care routines. However, important lessons have been learned from several successfully tested tobacco cessation, breast and cervical cancer screening interventions in women in the primary care setting (Cancer Control P.L.A.N.E.T.). Also lacking are practical incentives for primary care providers to focus on heart disease in women. It is unclear the extent to which the current lack of attention to heart disease in women in primary care settings is related to factors such as the complex nature of heart disease and its associated risk factors; lack of awareness of efficacious tools for screening, assessing, preventing, or treating women and heart disease in primary care settings; lack of health care provider training in women and heart disease; and/or organizational, management, time, or financing issues, including limited reimbursement for care. The new Medicare coverage for heart prevention services and their appropriate Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System (HCPCS) codes needs to be widely circulated among primary care providers: especially the one-time physical exam and EKG, cardiovascular screening to measure LDL and HDL cholesterol, smoking cessation counseling, diabetes self-management and medical nutrition training, diabetic shoes and supplies, including testing strips and insulin, and medications for high blood pressure and high cholesterol(www.cms.hhs.gov/mlnproducts/downloads/mps_guides_web_061305.pdf). The goal of this initiative is to increase knowledge, counseling skills, and treatment of women according to the AHA Evidence-based Guidelines for the Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease in Women. This Request for Proposals (RFP) seeks to build on recent efforts to reduce the knowledge gap on women and heart disease among primary care providers through dissemination of The Heart Truth Professional Educational materials. In addition, the Office on Women’s Health within Department of Health and Human Services (OWH) seeks to expand the availability and delivery of evidence-based risk factor and diagnostic interventions in primary care from lessons learned from other evidence-based programs. The objectives of the Primary Care Partnerships program include: 1.Increase the number of primary care providers in high risk states who receive CME on The Hearth Truth Professional Education materials 2.Improve knowledge and preparedness on the AHA Guidelines for the Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease in Women in high risk States 3.Increase the number of medical and nursing journal articles on The Heart Truth information 4.Increase the number of primary care physicians offices in high risk states using risk assessments and office reminder systems for women and heart disease. For the purposes of this RFP, the term high risk state is intended to include the top 15 states with the highest heart disease mortality rates for women (2001-2003): Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee, West Virginia, and Michigan. The term primary care setting is defined broadly to include all outpatient clinics (public and/or private) and private practices that offer office-based general medical care. These clinics and practices are staffed by physicians—often with other health care providers such as physician assistants, nurse practitioners, nurses, social workers, nutritionists, or behavioral health practitioners—typically within the following categories: internal medicine, general medicine, family practice, and gynecology. Not included in this RFP are the following care settings: emergency rooms, acute care facilities, and chronic care facilities. Primary care providers refer to all of these professionals. RESPONSE INFORMATION In order to respond to this notice, contractors must be able to clearly convey its experience and/or ability to perform the following tasks identified: 1. Must have extensive experience in training primary care physicians or nurses in women's heart disease as demonstrated by grand rounds, medical or nursing schools, or similar endeavors. 2. Must demonstrate having extensive experience in implementing office- based practice interventions for prevention, such as the AHRQ “Put Prevention into Practice” program. 3. Must demonstrate the ability to provide continuing medical education credits to physicians and nurses. 4. Must demonstrate that the vendor has a partnership with (memorandum of agreement) a primary care physician or nursing organization or be a primary care physician or nursing organization. 5. Must have in depth knowledge about women and heart disease as demonstrated by publications, presentations, or training on this area. Each response should include the following Business Information: a. DUNS. b. Company Name. c. Company Address. d.Current GSA Schedules appropriate to this Sources Sought. e. Do you have a Government approved accounting system? If so, please identify the agency that approved the system. f. Type of Company (i.e., small business, 8(a), woman owned, veteran owned, etc.) as validated via the Central Contractor Registration (CCR). All offerors must register on the CCR located at http://www.ccr.gov/index.asp g. Company Point of Contact, Phone and Email address Teaming Arrangements: All teaming arrangements should also include the above-cited information and certifications for each entity on the proposed team. Teaming arrangements are encouraged. Responses must be submitted not later than JUNE 17, 2008 by 9:30 A.M. Eastern Time. Capability statements will not be returned and will not be accepted after the due date. The maximum number of pages for submission is 25 pages. RESPONSES MUST BE SUBMITTED VIA E-MAIL to clint.druk@psc.gov. GENERAL INFORMATION This Sources Sought Notice is for information and planning purposes only and should not be construed as a commitment by the Government. This is not a solicitation announcement for proposals and no contract will be awarded from this Notice. No reimbursement will be made for any costs associated with providing information in response to this Notice. Respondents will not be notified of the results of this evaluation. Capability statements will not be returned and will not be accepted after the due date. As previously stated, the Government will not entertain questions regarding this Market Research; however, general questions may be forwarded to the following: Contracts Specialist: Clint Druk Email Address: clint.druk@psc.gov Contracting Officer: Marie Sunday Email Address: marie.Sunday@psc.gov
- Web Link
-
FedBizOpps Complete View
(https://www.fbo.gov/?s=opportunity&mode=form&id=27be4fd7dff441cc0063e24d23db4096&tab=core&_cview=1)
- Place of Performance
- Address: Preference will be given to interventions in the fifteen states with the highest heart disease mortality rates in women., United States
- Record
- SN01586169-W 20080605/080603220937-27be4fd7dff441cc0063e24d23db4096 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)
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