R -- National Provider Identifier (NPI) Enumerator

The contract is a 5-year cost-plus-award-fee agreement with one base year and four one-year options, set aside exclusively for small businesses, aimed at supporting the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) in assigning National Provider Identifiers (NPIs) and National Plan IDs (NPlanIDs) to healthcare providers and plans. This work involves utilizing the National Plan and Provider Enumeration System (NPPES), the central system for generating, updating, and disseminating provider identifiers as mandated by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). The contractor will handle multiple essential functions, including processing provider applications submitted on paper, assisting with Internet applications, addressing provider inquiries, handling data updates, resolving application errors, managing requests for deactivations and replacements of NPIs, and supporting electronic file interchange with provider organizations. Additionally, responsibilities include validating organizational identities, maintaining user accounts, resetting passwords, and operating a call center to support providers. The contract reflects CMS’s commitment to implementing HIPAA’s administrative simplification provisions, which require a national standard identifier for healthcare providers to improve industry-wide transactions and data accuracy. The contractor’s role is critical in ensuring the smooth operation of the NPI enumeration process starting from the effective date of May 23, 2005, through compliance deadlines in 2007 and 2008 for covered entities and small health plans, respectively. This contract emphasizes the necessity for an adequate accounting system for cost determination and includes specific federal regulations such as FAR Clause 52.219-14 related to subcontracting limitations. The solicitation was anticipated to be released electronically in early November 2004, providing an opportunity for small businesses to participate in this significant healthcare administrative initiative.