Preliminary Analyses of the Falls Prevention Demonstration Program

The Program Support Center on behalf of Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) intends to negotiate and award a contract to LifePlans, Inc on a sole source basis under the authority of FAR 6.302-1. The Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) has an interest in addressing the significant knowledge gap concerning the effects of a falls prevention program on acute and long-term care expenses. Falls constitute one of the most significant and common causes of injury and disability for the elderly. One in every three people age 65 and older living in the community falls during a year and fall-related injuries cost an estimated $17 billion annually. Falls are also associated with subsequent admission to a nursing home and use of long-term care services. While there are numerous studies identifying the major risk factors associated with falling (e.g., muscle strength/gait and balance, cognitive impairment, polypharmacy, and physical environment), there is virtually no research demonstrating the cost-effectiveness of comprehensive programs designed to reduce the incidence and impact of falls. LifePlans, Inc is the sole contractor conducting a demonstration based on the design developed in an earlier contract. The demonstration population is comprised of the private long-term care insurance policyholders allowing a unique opportunity to track acute care, post-acute care, and long-term care use and costs in a uniform way. Life Plans has agreements in place with the long-term care insurance companies to provide data on long-term care insurance claims by demonstration project participants. Life Plans, Inc. already has this data in hand for 50 percent of the sample, which will facilitate the analyses on the required time schedule. Life Plan, Inc. is the sole contractor that can provide the deliverables proposed on the projected delivery schedule; which will require analyzing data that are being collected contemporaneously as part of the demonstration. In order for another contractor to conduct the analyses; Life Plans, Inc. would have to divert resources from the ongoing demonstration to produce an analytic dataset that a third party could use; which would most likely result in the insurmountable obstacles due to proprietary information and/or data rights. The obstacles resulting from proprietary information and/or data rights would prevent any contractor, other than Life Plans, Inc. from performing the work desired. Finally, Life Plan, Inc. is the sole contractor that possesses the personal identifying information that is required to create a finder file and link to Medicare claims data. The anticipated contract type is firm fixed price and the anticipated period of performance is September 2, 2012, to September 1, 2103. Contractors that may have the requisite qualifications must have the ability to perform the work described below and should submit a statement of capabilities with documentation supporting its ability to meet the Government's requirements. The statement of capabilities must specifically demonstrate the contractor's ability to successfully complete each of the following items no later than January 1st, 2013: 1.Undertake a study of the impact of the Falls Prevention Demonstration Project on long-term care insurance claims 2.Obtain long-term care insurance company claims 3.Take all the steps necessary to link study participants' data to long-term care insurance claims data 4.Comply with all federal and state privacy regulations and 5.Use the linked data file to conduct analyses to evaluate the impact of the program on long-term care insurance utilization. In addition, the contractor shall conduct an initial evaluation of the effectiveness of the Falls Prevention Demonstration project using the self-reported data collected as part of the study. Analyses will include basic ANOVAs and t-tests to compare outcomes between groups, as well as multivariate analyses that will examine outcomes while controlling for individual participant characteristics. The contractor will also conduct analyses to determine which individual and behavioral factors are associated with a reduction in falls. Finally, the contractor shall take all the steps necessary to link study participants' data to Medicare claims data. This process must comply with all federal and state privacy regulations. This process may include writing and signing a data use agreement, creating a protected finder file with individual identifying information, addressing any problems that arise, and obtaining a linked data file stripped of all identifying information. No solicitation document is available. Capability statements should be sent electronically to Sean Dalenberg, Contract Specialist, at sean.dalenberg@psc.gov. Responses must be double-spaced and single-sided on 8.5" x 11" plain white paper, with 1" margins on all sides, using a standard font no smaller than 12 point. The response must be sequentially numbered, beginning on the first page after the table of contents. Responses are due May 5, 2012 by 5:00 pm. Responses will not be accepted after the due date. If no capability statements are received which specifically demonstrate the requirements above, the Government shall proceed with a sole source contract to LifePlans, Inc.