SOLICITATION NOTICE
R -- Quality Control / Quality Improvement Support for the Surveillance Research Project (SEER)
- Notice Date
- 7/2/2015
- Notice Type
- Presolicitation
- NAICS
- 541990
— All Other Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services
- Contracting Office
- Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute, Office of Acquisitions, 9609 Medical Center Drive, Room 1E128, Rockville, Maryland, 20852, United States
- ZIP Code
- 20852
- Solicitation Number
- N02PC52625-76
- Archive Date
- 7/15/2015
- Point of Contact
- Catherine Muir, Phone: (240) 276-5434
- E-Mail Address
-
muirca@mail.nih.gov
(muirca@mail.nih.gov)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- Contracting Office Address: Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute, Office of Acquisitions, 9609 Medical Center Drive, Room 1E144, Bethesda, MD 20892, UNITED STATES Description: National Cancer Institute (NCI), Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences (DCCPS), Surveillance Research Program (SRP), Surveillance Informatics Branch (SIB) plans to procure on a sole source basis the services for quality control and quality improvement (QC/QI) support services for the Surveillance Research Project from Westat, Inc., 1600 Research Boulevard, Rockville, MD 20850. The response close date of this notice for this requirement is in accordance with FAR 5.203(a)(1). This acquisition will be processed under FAR Part 12 - Acquisition for Commercial Items and will be made pursuant to the authority in FAR 13.106-1(b)(2) and 13.501-(a)(1) using simplified acquisition procedures for commercial acquisitions, and is exempt from the requirements of FAR Part 6. The North American Industry Classification System code is 541990 and the business size standard is $15.0M. Only one award will be made as a result of this solicitation. This will be awarded as a firm fixed price, type contract. The period of performance will not exceed twelve (12) months from date of award. It has been determined there are no opportunities to acquire green products or services for this procurement. The Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences (DCCPS) aims to reduce the risk, incidence, and deaths from cancer as well as enhance the quality of life for cancer survivors. The Division conducts and supports an integrated program of the highest quality genetic, epidemiologic, behavioral, social, and surveillance cancer research. The Surveillance Research Program (SRP), Surveillance Informatics Branch (SIB), Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences (DCCPS), National Cancer Institute (NCI), National Institutes of Health (NIH) coordinates and supports research on informatics technology to optimize and enhance the acquisition, storage, retrieval, de-identification, analyses, reporting, and visualization of cancer surveillance systems, in particular of the NCI's SEER Program. Research areas of focus for the Branch include but are not limited to: • innovative methods and approaches for analyzing, interpreting, reporting, and visualizing data from cancer surveillance systems, • more automated and cost effective methods for data capture and integration, leveraging abstraction and the natural language processing pipeline, and • linkage of cancer registry data with additional data sources to expand the scope of cancer surveillance measures across the cancer continuum and to remain relevant to cancer research and precision medicine. The Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) Program, initiated by the National Cancer Act of 1971 has been collecting population based cancer related data continuously since 1973. Initially, data was collected from 10% of the United States population. Currently the SEER Program collects data on 28% of the population of the United States. Data is collected by central cancer registries from a variety of facilities including hospitals, pathology laboratories, radiology facilities and doctors' offices. Data is obtained electronically or in paper form or is collected by registry staff. Data collected includes demographic information including age, sex and race/ethnicity; diagnostic information including date of diagnosis and stage at diagnosis; characteristics of the cancer including site, histology/morphology, size of tumor, grade and first course of treatment. The SEER Program is the only source of population based survival data in the US and produces statistics on cancer survival by stage at diagnosis. Follow-up data, crucial for generating survival statistics, is obtained by both passive and active follow-up activities. The SEER Program is known as the "Gold Standard" for cancer data. Examination of data quality on a yearly basis, as well as feedback from registry staff, may reveal issues that require examination in order to maintain or enhance data quality. Structured QC/QI studies include data collection, analysis, generation of reports, presentations and recommendations and using these results to inform subsequent education efforts. These education efforts may involve in-person training, web based training, Breeze/WebEx sessions, videoconferences and written materials. As a result of QC/QI activities, documentation may be modified, and in extreme cases, changes in data definitions may be made. In most cases, QC/QI studies result in recommendations about which documents or sources are best for registry staff to obtain specific data items and recommendations on how to code specific data items. It is knowledge on these two aspects of registry function - how to collect and how to code data, that are particularly important. More information about these activities can be found at: www.seer.cancer.gov. At times there are additional special studies that may inform significant changes in data items. QC/QI activities link into many other aspects of function of the SEER Program. Results of QC/QI studies are used for many purposes within SEER cancer registries and to describe functioning of the Program as a whole. Data must be summarized and presented in different formats for these various purposes. Thus there are linkages between QC/QI activities and data collection activities on the one hand and analytic and data reporting and interpretation activities on the other hand. The SEER Program is the leader of QC/QI in the cancer registry community. Documentation of data items and SEER central cancer registry processes is also a component of maintaining high data quality, as is reporting on changes in the data and changes in medical practice that may lead to modifications of what data is collected and how it is collected. In addition, there are continual efforts to expand the data fields that are routinely collected and are available for cancer surveillance. Contractor shall perform the following tasks: • The Contractor shall provide support services in conducting QC/QI studies. Tasks include: o SEER TNM (Tumor-Node-Metastasis) Study:  Develop study protocols, identify study cases, develop materials including:  Download and store medical records from the SEER TNM website.  Report the number of cases uploaded by cancer site and facility type weekly.  Complete the assessment of eligibility for the SEER TNM study and select cases to be included in the study, and redact the information for all selected cases.  Develop written instructions for study participants. Review the results of PSA (Prostate-specific antigen) test identified from seven (7) medical records from the TNM study and updated the preferred answers list, rationales, and database.  Develop two versions of the preferred answers, one with blank responses for situations where some data elements are ineligible for TNM staging and one with ‘X' responses (e.g., TX).  Produce a final "Master List" of preferred answers and rationales.  Analyze and present the PSA analysis from the TNM study and the effect of inaccurate coding on stage group at the SEER PI webinar.  Review and provide feedback on draft article on results of TNM study for publication in Journal of Registry Management. o SEER CTR (Certified Tumor Registrars) Support:  Develop, update 2016 manual for SEER registries and others in the cancer surveillance community to use as reference materials  Review and update the 2016 SEER Coding Manual and the SEER Query information System, SQUISH, and formalize the SQUISH process.  Meet with NCI-SRP staff to discuss modifications to the manual and to discuss/clarify issues on the log.  Develop, update, maintain and synchronize 2016 databases for SEER registries and others in the cancer surveillance community to use as reference materials  Hematopoietic Project and Online training:  Edit slides according to instructions from the NCI-SRP staff.  Conduct monthly in-person meetings with NCI-SRP Lead staff to discuss revisions to slides that need to be implemented in the next year.  Populate Solid Tumor (SD) database Abstract relevant information available in the WHO Pathology and Genetics "blue" books.  UROLOGIC: All 42 histology terms need to be moved to the physician review level.  LUNG: the 65 histology terms need to be entered in the database  HEAD AND NECK: All 103 histology terms involving head and neck need to be moved in the database  76 histology terms for BREAST need to be assigned to the physician reviewer.  14 MELANOMA terms should be entered to the database and moved to the physician review-level. • Contractor shall have Certified Tumor Registrar certification, a minimum of five (5) years cancer registry experience, preferably central cancer registry experience. Hospital cancer registry experience shall also be considered a plus as will QC/QI experience in other situations. • The Contractor shall provide support services for geospatial activities in the Surveillance Research Program. Tasks include: o Evaluate accuracy of three (3) residential history data vendors based on actual residential histories. Collect survey data and present results of the survey. o Develop an approach to query the SEER registries plans for a series of geospatial educational webinars to focus on actual issues faced by registries, and organize a meeting of survey methods experts to discuss alternatives for conducting a more formal effort to collect sample residential histories for vendor evaluation. o Replace the old content of gis.cancer.gov with more updated links and resources for cancer surveillance o Improve the utility and content of State Cancer Profiles website. o Participate in monthly meetings with SRP staff to discuss progress and plans for moving forward. o Participate in monthly meetings with SRP Geospatial workgroup that follows up on the recommendations from SRP GIS workshop. • Contractor qualifications must include: a degree in Geography; at least five (5) years of experience using ArcGIS software; at least five (5) years of experience performing geo-statistical analysis and modeling, as documented in peer reviewed publications; and at least three (3) years of experience in developing geospatial tools for cancer surveillance. • The Contractor shall provide support services for statistical activities in the Surveillance Research Program. Tasks include: o provide statistical research expertise in imputation techniques o assess the impact of Census population estimates on cancer rates o Prepare tables that show the differences in cancer incidence over time when different population vintages are used o Assess the shifts in Hispanic race reporting among AIANs. (American Indian and Alaskan Native) and APIs (American Pacific Islander populations. Contractor staff will lead conference calls with Census Bureau staff and other National Center for Health Statistics of the Centers for Disease Control (NCHS/CDC). o Evaluate the impact of NCHS's decision to discontinue race bridging and to report mortality statistics using multi-race categories. o Review Census documentation on the methodology used for the estimates of older age group populations. o Review the web documentation for the new Vintage 2013 population data that NCI received from the Census Bureau. • Contractor qualifications must include a degree in Statistics, or Geography, and at least five (5) years of experience performing statistical and geo-statistical analysis and modeling, as documented in peer reviewed publications. • The Contractor shall provide a Project Manager whom will be responsible for the overall management, integration, and coordination of all contract activities, including the management and coordination of activities carried out in collaboration with other NCI Contractors, as indicated by the NCI Contracting Officer's Representative (COR). The Contractor shall provide Key Personnel.: senior cancer registrar, a physician, three (3) research assistants, GIS expert, project manager, and statistician. The Contractor shall have training and experience in overall project management, particularly in overseeing the daily operations of multiple, complex projects; tracking assignments; ensuring adherence to internal policies and procedures; and assisting in the resolution of deficiencies and problems. This quality control and quality improvement support services for the Surveillance Research Project is provided by Westat, Inc. The proposed source is the only known organization that can perform all the technical requirements in the SOW. The proposed Vendor's demonstrated expertise in supporting population-based cancer research spans more than 40 years. Their unique epidemiologic and surveillance qualifications and skills include: designing study protocols, data collection materials, specialty coding, statistical analysis, geospatial data systems, and quality improvement. This combination of unique qualifications and skills are needed to fulfill the technical requirements of the Surveillance Research Program, as described above. This requirement supports the continuation of the ongoing SEER Program mentioned above, and substantial support services contributing to its continuation have been provided by the proposed Vendor and their unique qualifications. Because of the continuing nature of the SEER Program, the unique performance qualifications and quality of the needed support services are required for maintaining the integrity of this on-going Program. A change would be disruptive to the ability of the SRP to analyze the SEER Program's cumulative results. This notice is not a request for competitive quotation. However, if any interested party, especially small businesses, believes it can meet the above requirement, it may submit a capability statement, proposal, or quotation, which shall be considered by the agency. The statement of capabilities and any other information furnished must be in writing and must contain material in sufficient detail to allow the NCI to determine if the party can perform the requirement. Responses must be received in the contracting office by 12:00PM EDT, on July 14, 2015. All responses and questions must be in writing and faxed (240) 276-5401 or emailed to Catherine Muir, Contracting Officer via electronic mail at muirca@mail.nih.gov. A determination by the Government not to compete this proposed requirement based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. Information received will be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement. No collect calls will be accepted. In order to receive an award, Contractors must be registered and have valid, current Entity Record, including current Representations and Certifications, in the System for Award Management (SAM) through SAM.gov. Reference: N02PC52625-76 on all correspondence.
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