National Provider Directory (NPD) Work Areas A and E: Ground Truth Datasets and Data Aggregation, Quality & Assurance Services

The National Provider Directory (NPD) initiative, managed by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services under the Department of Health and Human Services, seeks industry input through a Request for Information (RFI) to establish contractor capabilities for Work Areas A and E, focusing on ground truth data sourcing and data aggregation, quality, and assurance services. The effort aims to enhance provider directory accuracy, improve interoperability, and reduce fraud, waste, and abuse in Medicare and Medicaid by securing authoritative provider data from primary sources such as FSMB, ABMS, CAQH, NABP, and AHA, and integrating corrections and enrichments from third-party aggregators. Contractors must manage direct licensing agreements with these data providers under strict compliance with the License-Free Output Mandate, ensuring CMS retains full ownership and unrestricted rights to use, retain, and redistribute all delivered data. All agreements must eliminate exit fees, prevent restrictions on data reuse, and allow seamless transition without data destruction obligations. Contractors are required to deliver normalized ground truth data files weekly in CMS-specified formats, along with data corrections and enrichments via CMS-designated storage or the NPD API write-back mechanism, without direct database access. Performance is governed by a Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan with 100% requirements for reporting timeliness, sprint status update completeness, and self-assessment adherence, measured by correction acceptance rates through the WA B pipeline. Security compliance is mandatory, including TLS 1.2+ encryption for data in transit, AES-256 encryption at rest, and adherence to CMS Acceptable Risk Safeguards. All personnel must be cleared for CMS system access, trained in federal and CMS policies, and proficient in agile collaboration tools including Slack, Confluence, Jira, and GitHub. Work is remote-first within the U.S., though periodic meetings may be required at CMS facilities in Baltimore or Washington, DC. The proposed contract has a five-year potential duration with a one-year base period and four one-year options, and pricing must differentiate between management services and licensing fees, with itemized, unbundled cost breakdowns for each data source. Offerors must submit a 5-year Total Cost of Ownership analysis, distinguish staffing for each work area, demonstrate a feasible Initial Operating Capability within 30 days for WA A and 45 days for WA E, and ensure all publications undergo CMS approval prior to release. All proposals are government property and will not be returned.