SOURCES SOUGHT
A -- Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Measure Development Contract
- Notice Date
- 1/13/2011
- Notice Type
- Sources Sought
- NAICS
- 541712
— Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Biotechnology)
- Contracting Office
- Department of Health and Human Services, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Contracts Management, 540 Gaither Road, Rockville, Maryland, 20850
- ZIP Code
- 20850
- Solicitation Number
- AHRQ1110007
- Point of Contact
- Kori Kilfeather, Phone: 3014271786, Gayle Sunde, Phone: 3014271573
- E-Mail Address
-
kori.kilfeather@ahrq.hhs.gov, gayle.sunde@ahrq.hhs.gov
(kori.kilfeather@ahrq.hhs.gov, gayle.sunde@ahrq.hhs.gov)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- This is a Small Business Sources Sought notice. This is NOT a solicitation for proposals, proposal abstracts, or quotations. The purpose of this notice is to obtain information regarding: (1) the availability and capability of qualified small business sources; (2) whether they are small businesses; HUBZone small businesses; service-disabled, veteran-owned small businesses; 8(a) small businesses; veteran owned small businesses; woman-owned small businesses; or small disadvantaged businesses; and (3) their size classification relative to the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code of the proposed acquisition. Your responses to the information requested will assist the Government in determining the appropriate acquisition method, including whether a set-aside is possible. An organization that is not considered a small business under the applicable NAICS code should not submit a response to this notice. BACKGROUND: The Agency for Health Care Policy and Research was established in 1989. Its reauthorizing legislation (42 U.S.C. 299 et seq; "Healthcare Research and Quality Act of 1999") renamed it the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) and established it as the lead Federal agency whose mission was to enhance the quality, appropriateness, and effectiveness of health services and access to such services for all Americans. AHRQ's mission is to produce "measurable improvements in health care in America, gauged in terms of improved quality of life and patient outcomes, lives saved, and value gained for what we spend." Under the Healthcare Research and Quality Act of 1999 (S 580), which reauthorized AHRQ, AHRQ's reauthorizing legislation stated that, "The Agency shall promote health care quality improvement by conducting and supporting- (1) research that develops and presents scientific evidence regarding all aspects of health care, including- (2) methods for measuring quality and strategies for improving quality; and (3) initiatives to advance private and public efforts to improve health care quality." (cite http://www.ahrq.gov/hrqa99a.htm) To achieve its mission, the Agency conducts and supports a broad base of scientific research and promotes improvements in clinical and health system practices, including the prevention of diseases and other health conditions. AHRQ sponsors and conducts research that develops and presents evidence-based information on healthcare outcomes, quality, comparative effectiveness, patient safety, cost, use and access. Included in AHRQ's mandate is support of the generation, synthesis, and dissemination of scientific evidence, including effectiveness research and analytic methods. In particular, AHRQ's role in supporting efforts in these areas has included measurement for purposes of quality improvement and accountability. In part as a result of the recent enactment of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), AHRQ's role has increased in the following areas: • supporting scientifically-based measurement research; • developing products that advance quality improvement, public reporting, and other accountability efforts that focus on the goals of the ACA; • developing measurement tools that address the most pressing concerns of those who deliver, manage, pay for, or receive health care services. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) seeks to expand access to care while at the same time improving the quality and efficiency of that care. Achieving this goal requires the ability to measure, report, and track quality and efficiency accurately in a way that is meaningful to those in a position to improve care - health care providers, policy-makers, payers, consumers, and others. In the past decade, there has been a major growth in the transparency of provider-level quality reporting, supported by a concomitant increase in the number of measures used to track quality and efficiency. The challenge now is to identify, develop, and maintain a parsimonious set of measures that are evidence-based and meet the needs of stakeholders. Furthermore, the goal is to continue to improve these measures over time, to take advantage of new evidence and improvements in data availability resulting, for example from the enactment of Meaningful Use and new data investments under ARRA. Task Orders under this contract will enable HHS and the Secretary to fulfill several aspects of the ACA (HR3590 sections 3013, 3015, 10303, 10304, 10305 and the measurement aspects of 4302), which are authorized in the legislation. PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVES: The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) is looking for firms which have the capability to develop evidence-based measures of quality and efficiency for quality improvement, public reporting and pay for performance initiatives using a well documented and systematic process. Strong, evidence-based, credible, and usable measures of quality and efficiency are essential for improving the delivery of health care. The initiative to conduct this effort is titled Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Measure Development Contract. Under this initiative, AHRQ intends to establish an infrastructure to support work which connects research and data to develop and facilitate the use of evidence-based health care quality and efficiency measures. The creation of this infrastructure is meant to serve the following Agency goals: 1. Develop transparent, evidence-based measures using all payer all claims data, EHR, administrative data from providers, and/or health registry data via a transparent and systematic process; 2. Improve and enhance existing measures using enhanced data and new methodologies; 3. Facilitate innovative research in the area of measurement science; 4. Facilitate transparency and engage stakeholders in AHRQ measurement initiatives; 5. Facilitate transparency of measurement methodology; 6. Allow rapid and efficient initiation of new measurement activities; 7. Improve the coordination of existing measurement projects; 8. Conduct measurement development activities in a manner that maximizes flexibility, efficiency and effectiveness across AHRQ projects; 9. Facilitate the use of strong evidence-based measures and tools created under this mechanism To achieve this, AHRQ will establish a Multiple Award Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quality (IDIQ) contract under which a set of pre-competed contracts will be awarded to organizations with combined expertise in healthcare quality and performance measurement within areas of quality, efficiency and patient safety. This mechanism would consist of task orders that cover a wide range of measurement activities including generation of evidence, establishing standards measure and data formats, supporting measure specification and tool implementation, creating survey measure tools as well as other activities. PROJECT REQUIREMENTS: AHRQ is seeking qualified firms able to optimize their technical and management resources, creativity and flexibility to achieve Agency goals. Qualified firms must demonstrate substantial experience in developing and supporting an evidence-based measure development cycle and/or a systematic, evidence-based tool development cycle. Tasks will require contractors to manage and coordinate staff in support of developing measures across a broad range of content areas. Organizations that work at the national, state, regional, local or provider levels and who are engaged in developing, testing and implementing evidence-based quality measures to promote, understand, monitor or leverage evidence-based innovation and performance in health care delivery are encouraged to participate in this offering. Minimum qualifications include: • A minimum of 10 years' experience working in health services research. • Demonstrated evidence of a minimum of 8 years experience in measurement methodologies and tool development • Project leadership with advanced degrees such as an MD, PhD or MPH with a minimum of 10 years' experience in the development, implementation, dissemination and sustainability of evidence-based quality measures. • Corporate experience in measure development initiatives citing a minimum of 8-10 projects over the past 10 years with evidence of knowledge, experience and infrastructure to support health care quality measurement related activities (development, validation, testing etc.). • Corporate expertise in the following four competency areas: analytic data capacity; statistical, methodological and measurement expertise; clinical content expertise by disciplinary area, and tool development capacity. The capability statement should demonstrate the organization's ability to assist AHRQ in achieving the above stated goals. In particular, Sources must have an understanding of and/or experience in: • Conducting systematic evidence reviews; • Applying structured communication techniques to obtain clinical and/or methodological input from experts (i.e. Delphi process) • Using Clinical coding systems such as SNOMED, LOINC, CPT/HCPCS coding, ICD-9 and ICD-10 coding; • Conducting complex statistical programming in support of empirical analyses, risk adjustment modeling, composite weighting and other statistical analysis; • Using large, complex datasets (e.g. administrative, clinical etc.) to develop and test new measures; • Managing subcontracts and consultants; • Writing user-friendly, technically accurate reports and documentation; Sources must possess, or be able to obtain (in-house or through subcontracting/consulting arrangements) the staff and other resources needed to expeditiously carry out the different types of activities listed above. ANTICIPATED PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE: The anticipated period of performance is September 30, 2011 through September 29, 2012, with four (4) one-year options. CAPABILITY STATEMENT/INFORMATION SOUGHT: Interested SMALL BUSINESSES only should submit their capability statements electronically (no more than 5 pages in length) in Microsoft Word (MS) or Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) to Kori Kilfeather, Contract Specialist, by email at Kori.Kilfeather@ahrq.hhs.gov, no later than 12pm (noon) EST on January 28, 2011. Any responses received after that date and time will not be considered. Generic capability statements will be considered non-responsive. Capability statements must be tailored to this request and identify the source's capabilities to complete this requirement including information on key staff experience and education, and a description of corporate experience with similar projects. DISCLAIMER AND IMPORTANT NOTES This notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay for the information provided in response. The Government reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate. Any organization responding to this notice should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed. Information provided will be used to assess tradeoffs and alternatives available for the potential requirement and may lead to the development of a solicitation. Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted. Any solicitation resulting from the analysis of information obtained will be announced to the public in Federal Business Opportunities in accordance with the FAR Part 5. However, responses to this notice will not be considered adequate responses to a solicitation. Confidentiality. No proprietary, classified, confidential, or sensitive information should be included in your response. The Government reserves the right to use any non-proprietary technical information in any resultant solicitation(s).
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- Record
- SN02359580-W 20110115/110113234230-d17c99c74de27743065c3c1cd38389bb (fbodaily.com)
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