U.S. Office Of Personnel Management, 1900 E Street, NW., Room 1342, Washington, DC 20415

B -- SURVEY RESEARCH SOL OPM-00-00910 DUE 011800 POC James C. Thieme 202/606-1570 WEB: OPM's procurement home page, http://www.opm.gov/procure. E-MAIL: Click here to contact the contracting officer via, JCTHIEME@OPM.GOV. This is a request for information only. NO SOLICITATION WILL BE ISSUED IN RESPONSE TO THIS ANNOUNCEMENT. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is seeking information from small or small disadvantaged business concerns to help support a decision as to whether or not an acquisition for a survey research contractor may be considered as a Small Business Set-aside or as a Small Disadvantaged Business Set-aside. A separate synopsis will be issued upon completion of the Small Business Set-aside determination. OPM manages the Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) Program. Nearly 300 health plans provide health insurance to the more than 9 million Federal enrollees and family members covered by the Program. Annually, FEHB health plans with at least 500 subscribers (approximately 225 plans) must administer the Consumer Assessment of Health Plans (CAHPS ) 2.0H Survey or other versions specified by OPM. OPM uses the results of this survey to measure health plan enrollees' satisfaction with services they receive from their health plans, while the health plans use the information for quality improvement. FEHB health plans must use vendors certified by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) to administer CAHPS . Vendors must use NCQA survey instruments and protocols as defined in Health Plan Employer Data and Information Set (HEDIS) 2000 Specifications for CAHPS 2.0H, Volume 3 (or other versions specified by OPM). Further, participating health plans or their vendors must report their CAHPS survey results to OPM according to NCQA's Survey File Layouts issued October 1999, and any additional file layout requirements that may be subsequently issued. OPM is seeking a contractor to coordinate the collection of final CAHPS data from FEHB plans. The contractor will also be responsible for processing the data (to include the conversion of member level data to summary level data) and reporting the data to OPM. The prospective contractor should have extensive experience collecting and reporting health plans survey data. Also, the prospective contractor must demonstrate expert knowledge about CAHPS, NCQA protocols, analysis methods and reporting formats. Specific task requirements for the annual CAHPS include the following: 1. Develop and present a detailed survey data collection work plan and timeline to include: A. Data logging & follow-up (tracking receipt/non-receipt of plans survey data) B. Data processing & quality control (cleaning, checking for accuracy, editing and logging into database) C. Data analysis (according to NCQA and CAHPS protocols, and OPM specifications) D. Reporting data to OPM. E. Complete list of all personnel, by names, position/job titles who will be responsible for specific phases of the project. 2. Provide expert consultation and technical assistance on matters related to CAHPS, including, but not limited to NCQA Protocols, File Specifications and Data Analyses to OPM and FEHB plans as needed. 3. Collect and report CAHPS survey results (Adult, Child, MOM, PPO or other CAHPS data that OPM may require) from approximately 225 FEHB health plans. 4. Provide weekly project status reports to OPM to include the status of plans (by name and Sub-Code) reporting or not reporting data and the completeness of data received. The report will include a copy of the contractor's tracking database in Microsoft Excel or other software program acceptable to OPM. In addition, the status reports will include a description of the survey findings to date and any outstanding issues that may effect timely completion of the project. 5. Follow-up and work with plans/vendors who submit invalid, incomplete or no data to resolve outstanding issues. 6. Report CAHPS Survey results (Adult, Child, MOM, PPO or other survey data) to OPM according to NCQA's HEDIS 2000 Specifications for CAHPS 2.0H, Volume 3 (or subsequent specifications). The report will include, but is not limited to: . description and summary of results with associated graphs, charts and tables (data summaries will show results by plan type (HMO plans, POS plans, FFS plans, or other types as OPM may determine). In addition, the report will include national averages by plan type and significance test results by plan type (or other variables as specified by OPM). . file layouts and label descriptions for all data variables . Oral briefings on survey results at OPM's request Additional surveys, other than the Annual CAHPS Survey, may also be required. These surveys may cover any insurance related topic (including health and life insurance) and may involve mail, telephone, focus groups or combinations of these data collection methods. The additional surveys may require the contractor to perform one or more of the following tasks: 1. Develop a proposed survey work plan and timeline 2. Develop and design survey instruments 3. Print survey materials (cover letters, questionnaires and envelopes) 4. Sampling; pretest 5. Administer the survey 6. Data collection 7. Data processing and analysis 8. Access reliability and validity 9. Data reporting (both oral and written presentations of findings) Small Businesses or Small Disadvantaged Businesses that can meet the above described requirements should submit complete technical information including a sampling of resumes for personnel that would perform these services, a listing of similar projects your company has performed, and references for us to contact. Also provide us with a dollar estimate for performing the services described above. Responses to this market investigation should be submitted by January 18, 2000. Address questions and responses to: James C. Thieme Office of Personnel Management 1900 E Street NW, Room 1342 Washington, DC 20415. E-mail JCTHIEME@OPM.GOV Phone (202) 606-1570 Fax (202) 606-1464 Posted 12/29/99 (W-SN412038). (0363)

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