National Consensus Development and Strategic Planning for Healthcare Quality Measurement

This is a SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE to determine the availability of potential contractors who can demonstrate the ability to provide consensus endorsement of healthcare performance measures, maintenance of performance measures and their data items, efforts to make recommendations on integrated national strategies and priorities for healthcare performance measurement, and convene multi-stakeholder groups and transmit their consensus-based input on national priorities and performance measurement activities. This is NOT a solicitation for proposals, proposal abstracts, or quotations. Background: With the development and release of the 2011 National Quality Strategy, coordination of public- and private- quality improvement initiatives, and passage of legislation, such as the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act (MIPPA), American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), consensus-based endorsement and input from experts and stakeholders are seminal for the improvement of healthcare performance measurement. CMS and HHS have previously contracted with consensus-based entities to support efforts driven to improve performance measurement. Requirements Overview: These requirements apply to contractors under the 541990 NAICS code. The Contract will require preparation and completion of the tasks detailed in the IDIQ Statement of Work (SOW) and the SOW within each individual Task Order. Task Orders under the IDIQ Contract will involve work under the following domains: 1. National Strategy and Priorities for Healthcare Performance Measurement The Contractor will synthesize evidence and convene key stakeholders to make recommendations on an integrated national strategy and priorities for health care performance measurement in all applicable settings. 2. Consensus Endorsement of Healthcare Quality Measures The Contractor will provide for the endorsement of standardized health care performance measures. 3. Maintenance of Consensus Endorsed Measures The Contractor will establish and implement a maintenance and ad hoc review process to ensure that endorsed measures are updated (or retired if obsolete) as new evidence is developed. 4. Multi-stakeholder Input The Contractor will convene multi-stakeholder groups and transmit their consensus-based input on the selection of quality and efficiency measures for use in certain federal programs and on national priorities for improvement in population health and in the delivery of healthcare services for consideration under the National Quality Strategy. The multi-stakeholder groups will also review the selection of quality measures, as described in Social Security Act Section 1890(b)(7), as a part of the Federal Pre-rulemaking Process. The multi-stakeholder group input will support alignment activities involving performance measurement programs, priorities, and initiatives. Under each Task Order domain, the Contractor will provide appropriate outreach to stakeholders, public and CMS/HHS education, and public dissemination of activities. The contract will include the following requirements (note that although this is an extensive list, it is not meant to be all inclusive): 1. Overall Contract Work Plan. The Contractor must submit to the CMS Contracting Officer's Representative (COR) an Overall Contract Work Plan, in Microsoft Project, that addresses project planning, implementation, management, quality assurance, and evaluation during the contract performance period. At a minimum, the Work Plan must address all methods, processes, procedures, quality assurance, management activities, and protocols necessary for effective and efficient completion of tasks. The Work Plan requirements are further outlined in the IDIQ SOW. 2. Summary of Individual Task Order Work Plan. The Contractor must submit to the CMS COR and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Government Task Lead (GTL) a Summary Work Plan which summarizes for each Task Order issued, the project plan for implementation, management, quality assurance, and evaluation that will occur for the Task Order. The Summary Work Plan, at a minimum, must address all methods, processes, procedures, quality assurance, management activities, and protocols necessary for an effective and efficient completion of tasks. The Summary Work Plan requirements are further outlined in the IDIQ SOW. 3. Education. Prior to initial deliberations for committees and multi-stakeholders review and evaluation of measures and applicable content for endorsement, reports, and input, the Contractor will provide the CMS COR, HHS GTL, and the committees and multi-stakeholders with the appropriate material and education necessary for the review process in a timely fashion. The Education requirements are further outlined in the IDIQ SOW. 4. Monthly Progress Reports. The Contractor staff will be responsible for e-mailing the CMS COR and HHS GTL a Monthly Progress Report for each Task Order. The Monthly Progress Report requirements are further outlined in the IDIQ SOW and Task Order SOWs. 5. Weekly Conference Calls. Every Week conference calls, specific to Task Orders, must be held between the CMS COR, HHS GTLs, and Contractor staff to go over current activities. 6. Final Report. The final reports that have been endorsed and prepared by the Contractor will be provided to CMS and HHS. Final reports will adhere to the IDIQ SOW and the Task Order SOW. Capability Statement Information: Contractors must respond to all of the following points, by indicating your experience and ability to provide documentation and/or evidence of meeting each of the following requirements: 1. The Contractor must be a private nonprofit entity governed by a board. 2. The members of the board of the Contractor must include: a. representatives of health plans and health care providers and practitioners or representatives of groups representing such health plans and health care providers and practitioners; b. health care consumers, or representatives of groups representing health care consumers; and c. representatives of purchasers and employers or representatives of groups representing purchasers or employers. 3. The membership of the Contractor must have experience with: a. urban health care issues; b. safety net health care issues; c. rural and frontier health care issues; and d. health care quality and efficiency and safety issues. 4. With respect to matters related to the contract, the Contractor must conduct its business in an open and transparent manner and include: a. the opportunity for public comment on its activities; b. input from expert technical opinion on the quality of candidate consensus measures - with assurances that such input does not impede the consensus process by prohibiting opportunities for broad membership and public review and comment; c. the inclusion of quality measure developers on technical expert panels when possible; and d. access to the consensus-process by a wide variety of both individual and group healthcare industry stakeholders. 5. The Contractor must operate as a voluntary consensus standards setting organization as defined for purposes of section 12(d) of the National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995 (Public Law 104-113) and Office of Management and Budget Revised Circular A-119 (published in the Federal Register on January 27, 2016.). 6. The Contractor must have at least four years of experience in establishing national consensus standards. 7. If the entity requires a membership fee for participation in the functions of the entity, such fees shall be reasonable and adjusted based on the capacity of the potential member to pay the fee. In no case shall membership fees pose a barrier to the participation of individuals or groups with low or nominal resources to participate in the functions of the entity. 8. The Contractor must demonstrate the ability to synthesize evidence and convene key stakeholders to make recommendations on an integrated national strategy, and priorities for health care performance measurement in all applicable settings and input on the selection of performance measures, as defined under Social Security Act Section 1890(b)(7). 9. The Contractor must demonstrate the ability to provide for the endorsement of standardized health care performance measures. The endorsement process under the preceding sentence shall: a. consider whether a measure is evidence-based, reliable, valid, verifiable, relevant to enhanced health outcomes, actionable at the caregiver level, feasible to collect and report, and responsive to variations in patient characteristics, such as health status, language capabilities, race or ethnicity, and income level; b. consider whether a measure is consistent across types of health care providers, including hospitals and physicians; and c. include an appeals process congruent with a voluntary consensus standards setting organization as defined under the National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995 (Public Law 104-113) and Office of Management and Budget Revised Circular A-119. The Contractor must provide samples of endorsement and expedited review processes that have taken place. 10. The Contractor must exhibit the ability to establish and implement a process to ensure that endorsed measures are updated (or retired if obsolete), under a maintenance and ad hoc review process, as new evidence is developed and priorities evolve. 11. The Contractor must demonstrate the ability to prepare and finalize reports and measurement frameworks involving topics such as measurement gaps, multiple chronic conditions, and priorities of the National Quality Strategy. 12. The Contractor must provide evidence of convening multi-stakeholders to provide input on national priorities and the HHS selection of quality measures under the Pre-rulemaking Process of the Social Security Act Section 1890(b)(7). The Contractor must also demonstrate the transmission of such input to HHS. 13. The Contractor must provide evidence that their ability to conduct consensus-based endorsement activities will not conflict with the organization's other duties. A conflict of interest may affect consensus-based processes. Teaming Arrangements: All teaming arrangements shall include the above-cited information and certifications for each entity on the proposed team. Teaming arrangements are encouraged. Additional Information Requested: Interested parties having the capabilities necessary to perform the stated requirements may submit capability statements via email to Scott Filipovits, Scott.Filipovits@cms.hhs.gov. CAPABILITY STATEMENTS MUST DEMONSTRATE THE MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS OUTLINED ABOVE. Please address each in order listed above. Capability statements shall also include the following information: Business information: 1. DUNS Number 2. Tax ID 3. Company Name 4. Company Address 5. Company Point of Contact, phone number and email address 6. Business Size Status (e.g., large business, small business, 8(a), woman owned small business (WOSB/EDWOSB), veteran owned, etc.) as validated via the Central Contractor Registration (CCR) for the applicable NAICS code (i.e. 541990). Additional information on NAICS codes can be found at www.sba.gov. Any potential government contractor must be registered on the CCR located at http://www.ccr.gov/index.asp. 7. Corporate structure (corporation, LLC, sole proprietorship, partnership, limited liability partnership, professional corporation, etc.) 8. Current GSA Schedules appropriate to this Sources Sought 9. Current Government Wide Agency Contracts (GWACs) 10. Point of Contact, phone number and email address of individuals who can verify the demonstrated capabilities identified in the responses. 11. Responders should also include a statement about whether or not they have an approved Federal audited accounting system. If the responder has an approved accounting system, please provide the certification in which the accounting system was deemed adequate (e.g. the name of the audit agency and audit number). You may submit as an attachment, which will not count towards the overall page limit. Responses must be submitted no later than Monday, April 11, 2016, 2pm EDT. Capability statements will not be returned and will not be accepted after the due date. This is not an invitation for bid, request for proposal or other solicitation and in no way obligates CMS to award a contract or otherwise pay for the information provided in response. The sole intent of this Sources Sought Notice is to obtain capabilities for procurement planning purposes. All capability statements can be submitted via e-mail to the point of contact listed below. Responses shall be limited to no more than 15 pages, with the exception of the SOW questions/comments. CMS software standard is MS Word. Therefore, responses should be submitted in a Word, or Word compatible, document. Page size should be 8.5 by 11 inches with a 1 inch boarder. Responses must be submitted no later than Monday, April 11, 2016, 2pm EDT. Documentation should be sent to: Contracting Officer, Scott Filipovits, Scott.Filipovits@cms.hhs.gov. Caution: In an effort to respond timely, you are hereby notified that the CMS email server does not deliver emails and/or attachments over 5 megabytes to recipients during normal working hours. These large files are released from the CMS server after 5:00pm each business day. 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).