COLLABORATION WEB SITE FOR THE 11th SOW OF THE QUALITY IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM

THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (RFP) OR SOLICITATION AND NO SOLICITATION EXISTS AT THIS TIME. Purpose: This Sources Sought Notice is to obtain information regarding the availability and capability of contractors. This notice is for informational and planning purposes only and shall not be construed as a solicitation or as an obligation or commitment by the Government. This notice is intended strictly for Market Research is NOT a solicitation for proposals, proposal abstracts, or quotations. Your responses to the information requested will assist the Government in determining the appropriate acquisition method, including whether a set-aside is possible. PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL, NO SOLICITATION EXISTS AT THIS TIME. A. BACKGROUND INFORMATION The QIO Program and its components are national in scope and scale. By law, the mission of the QIO Program is to improve the effectiveness, efficiency, economy and quality of services delivered to Medicare beneficiaries. The purpose of this procurement is: To obtain the services of a contractor who will produce and maintain a web site used by contractors, stakeholders, beneficiaries, and the public for information and collaboration purposes to support the 11th Statement of Work (SOW) of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' (CMS'). This work includes: An understanding of and work with of the Quality Innovation Networks (QINs), the Quality Improvement Organizations (QIOs), the Quality Innovation Network - National Coordinating Center (QIN-NCC), the Beneficiary and Family Centered Care - Quality Improvement Organizations (BFCC-QIOs), the Beneficiary and Family Centered Care - National Coordinating Center (BFCC-NCC ), the Program Collaboration Center-Program/Project Management (PCC-PPM), the Program Collaboration Center-Integrated Communications (PPP-IC), and the Strategic Innovation Engine (SIE) contracts under the 11th Statement of Work (SOW). The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will use this site for collaboration, group, and communication technologies. Such technologies include library, storage, retrieval, search, education, and other functions under the rubric of "web portal," "knowledge management," and "social media." CMS will use these techniques to find, store, retrieve, and share papers, audio, video, slides, and other media within the QIO program and across provider groups including: hospitals, physicians and their offices, nursing homes, home health agencies, and hospice. CMS will also use these techniques to inform local healthcare stakeholders such as families, churches, community health centers, public health agencies, and others about quality improvement and value in healthcare B. GENERAL TASKS Task 1 Design, develop, and maintain a web site. In alignment with Presidential Executive Order of May 9, 2013 (Making Open and Machine Readable the New Default for Government Information) this web site shall make it possible for contractors working under the 11th SOW, other government associated healthcare contractors, healthcare providers and practitioners, CMS beneficiaries, and other taxpayers with an interest in improving healthcare quality to search through text, use and reuse materials, post and update materials, and provide flexibility in methods of presenting the data and materials to other end users who are all of those mentioned above. Task 2 System Functions - Non-proprietary, Commercial Off the Shelf (COTS) or open source based software - Code documented so that a knowledgeable professional can read and understand it - Standard naming conventions for documents arrived at by working with the PCC(s) and NCC(s) - Ability to link with source data - Ability to link with other Government sponsored sites; CDC for Maps, NCHS for data, Census for data, NLM for documents, - System focus is on load, storage, search, library, and access functions; the system focus is not on analysis of users, documents, etc. This is not a management dashboard. - Available to CMS, HHS, CMS contractors, providers, practitioners, and the public at large depending upon their particular set of permissions. Task 3 Authoring Functions Benefits - All content shall be under the control of the Quality Improvement Group (QIG) of CMS and such contractors as they shall name as content administrators; for example the NCC(s) and/or PCC(s) - Toolkit, standard toolkits available for uploads, downloads, content development, etc. - Compliant Authoring tools available to help users uploading content to match the web site specifications, multiple vendor support; Microsoft, Adobe, Visio, ESRI, - Training and Implementation Guidance shall be available and easy to access for all users; for example, how to structure documents, storyboards, audio, and video for use on the site, proper path for storage, etc. Task 4 Lifecycle Cost Benefits to Government - Reduced creation costs, due to data re-use - Lower document distribution costs, multiple methods of delivery available - Lower footprint costs, e.g. warehousing, multiple methods of delivery available - Wider access and more efficient retrieval of the documentation by the end user, multiple methods of delivery available - Easy filtering of information e.g. Search and retrieval by applicability, through use of metadata and content in searching - Increased operational readiness, through more focused maintenance - Increase in data integrity and the generation of better quality documents, through data integration and data module concept Task 5 Planning for the development and implementation of new technology Information technology develops rapidly and moves faster than an established contract with specified formats and deliverable is able to keep pace. CMS therefore desires one component of this contract to be development and testing of best practices in web design, communications techniques, and knowledge management functions. TASK 6 CMS ELC PROCESS The contractor shall provide all reports and documentation necessary to satisfactorily fulfill all requirements and conditions of http://www.cms.gov/Research-Statistics-Data-and-Systems/CMS-Information-Technology/XLC/index.html as directed by CMS TASK 7. ADMINISTRATION & REPORTING FORMAT - Initial Meeting - Monthly conference calls - Monthly progress reports - Report format Task 8: COLLABORATION AND INTERACTION WITH THE PROGRAM COLLABORATION CENTERS (PCC-PPM AND PCC-IC) AND NATIONAL COORDINATING CENTERS (BFCC-NCC AND QIN-NCC) C. INSTRUCTIONS FOR RESPONDING Responses shall be submitted in the form of a Capability and address all of the following: 1. Requirements: Demonstrate capability, experience, and ability to provide all of the requirements in the order outlined above. Ensure that the same information is provided for any other parties included in the response; i.e., teaming arrangements, subcontractors, consultants, etc. 2. Government Contract Experience: Note any previous Government contract experience, including experience managing work on Cost Plus Fixed Fee contracts. Responses must be submitted no later than 2pm EST, November 17, 2014. Capability statements will not be returned and will not be accepted after the due date. D. PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE 12 month base year, plus 4 one year options, upon contract award. Interested firms responding to this sources sought notice must adhere to the following: a. Provide a capability statement demonstrating relevant experience, skills, and ability to fulfill the Government's requirements for the above. The capability statement should contain enough sufficient detail for the Government to make an informed decision regarding your capabilities; however, the statement should not exceed 5 pages. b. The capability statement must identify the responder's business type and size. c. The capability statement must provide company name and address, point of contact, phone/fax/email and NAICS Code(s). d. All capability statements must be submitted electronically no later than 2:00 pm EST on November 17, 2014 to Christina.Heller@cms.hhs.gov. All capability statements can be submitted via e-mail to the point of contact listed. Responses shall be no more than 5 pages. THIS NOTICE IS NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS. 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 to allow the Government to determine the organization's qualifications to perform the work. 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. After a review of the responses received, a pre-solicitation synopsis and solicitation may be published in Federal Business Opportunities. 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). A determination by the Government on how to proceed with the acquisition is within the discretion of the Government. If capability statements are received from at least two responsible businesses by the response date or if the Government determines that small business concerns are capable of performing this requirement based upon an evaluation of the capability statements submitted, the Government may set aside this procurement to small business concerns. NO TELEPHONE REQUESTS WILL BE ACCEPTED.