Health Care Financing Administration, Acquisition and Grants Group, C2-21-15, 7500 Security Boulevard, Baltimore, MD., 21244-1850

B -- AMENDMENT TO IMPLEMENTING THE HEDIS MEDICARE HEALTH OUTCOMES SURVEY DUE 053000 POC Dawn L. Tucker, Contract Specialist -- 410-786-5162 E-MAIL: click here to contact the contract specialist via, dtucker@hcfa.gov. AMENDMENT TO ANNOUNCEMENT W-140 SN456579 -- The Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) intends to negotiate a sole source procurement with the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) to assist in continuing to manage the Health Plan Employer Data and Information Set (HEDIS ) Medicare Health Outcomes Survey (HOS) with HCFA and to support the development of the Medicare HOS measure. HCFA is seeking a contractor that will develop the technical specifications and provide the support necessary for continued implementation of HEDIS HOS data collection and transmittal for Medicare Managed Care Organizations. "Technical specifications" includes details of processes, calculations, and content of necessary training. "Support" includes providing technical assistance to HCFA and/ or its designee. The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) sponsors, supports, and maintains HEDIS in collaboration with HCFA and other representatives of major public and private payer, purchaser, managed care industry, provider/practitioner and health services research communities. HEDIS is a widely used set of health plan performance measures employed by both private and public health care purchasers to promote accountability and to assess the quality of care provided by managed care organizations. HCFA requires Medicare managed care organizations to report health care quality performance measures from HEDIS as part of its Medicare quality assurance strategy. NCQA is the industry leader in assessing and reporting on the quality of managed care organizations. This specialized expertise in developing health plan quality performance measures and prior experience with managing large data collection efforts for HCFA, uniquely qualifies NCQA for this proposed follow-on contract. The Health Care Financing Administration is committed to the implementation of quality assessment processes in Medicare Health Plans. In 1998, HEDIS 3.0 represented a significant extension in the range of health care services being evaluated, including an outcomes measure initially entitled the Health of Seniors. During the first year of implementation, HCFA renamed the measure the Medicare Health Outcomes Survey (HOS) to reflect the inclusion of disabled beneficiaries under the age of sixty-five. The Medicare Health Outcomes Survey uses the SF-36 (a self-reported measure of functional status) to assess the health status of Medicare beneficiaries in managed care. The HOS measure is designed to measure the physical and mental health functioning of Medicare beneficiaries at the beginning and end of a two-year period. The results will be used to guide quality improvement project activities. It is the first outcome measure used by HCFA and was implemented nationally in May 1998. This effort will ensure that the Health Outcomes Survey data are turned into usable and actionable information. HCFA is requiring Medicare Managed Care plans to collect and report data following the Medicare Health Outcomes Survey protocols. These data will help purchasers and beneficiaries to evaluate and compare plans. The period of performance shall be a base year plus two one year options. Telephone requests will NOT be honored. THE RFP PACKAGE IS NOT AVAILABLE. Interested parties should submit a capability statement to Dawn L. Tucker, Contract Specialist, 7500 Security Boulevard, Baltimore, MD 21244-1850 or E-mail address dtucker@hcfa.gov, and HCFA will make a determination regarding the applicant's qualifications. The Capability Statement shall be submitted NO LATER THAN MAY 30, 2000 by 2:00 EST, should address points discussed in this CBD announcement including contractor's ability to manage, maintain and update HEDIS, and be no longer than 10 pages inclusive of attachments. Also, the capability statement shall be submitted in Microsoft Word in courier 12 point. Posted 05/23/00 (W-SN457891). (0144)

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