Request for Information Regarding Physician Data for NAMCS and NEHRS Surveys-AMENDED

AMENDED RESPONSE DEADLINE: 3:00 PM Eastern Time on March 2, 2020 SEE ATTACHED AMENDMENT FOR RESPONSES TO QUESTIONS. This is a Request for Information (RFI) for market research purposes to obtain information how data pertaining to the most updated list of practicing physicians in the United States are gathered, stored, and updated. The details of the RFI can be found below and in greater detail in the attached RFI document. This posting is not a request for competitive proposals and does not commit the Government to issue a solicitation, make an award, or pay any costs associated with responding to this notice. All responses shall remain with the Government and will not be returned. Responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract. Any contractor who provides a favorable response may be invited to NCHS for an oral presentation. If, after reviewing this Request for Information, you desire to submit a response, you should reply via email to the Contracting Officer, Eric Sullivan, at contact@example.gov by no later than 3:00 PM on February 24, 2020. All coorespondance regarding this RFI is to be with the Contracting Officer who will accept questions regarding this RFI. Proprietary information should be clearly marked. All submissions shall be sent via e-mail. All questions will be reviewed and answered as decided by the Government. Please ensure that any e-mail responses have "2020-RFI-NAMCS-EDS" in the subject line. Any responses received after the specified response due date and time will not necessarily be accepted or acknowledged. Introduction: This is a request for information (RFI) only to obtain information on how data pertaining to the most updated list of practicing physicians in the United States - including physician names, addresses, phone numbers, employment, primary specialty, and National Provider Identifier (NPI) numbers - are gathered, stored, and updated. It is not a request for a proposal and does not commit the Government to issue a solicitation, make an award, or pay any costs associated with responding to this announcement. All submitted information shall remain with the Government and will not be returned. The objectives of this RFI are to: Gather information on the collection, and maintenance of U.S. physician databases. Evaluate the ability of existing databases to serve as a physician frame for NAMCS and NEHRS. Optional and at the discretion of the Government: invite vendors to present information about their physician databases in-person, onsite at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). Background: NCHS fields two surveys of office-based physicians in the United States: the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NAMCS) and the National Electronic Health Record Care Survey (NEHRS). The NAMCS collects information on office visits to a sample of non-Federal, office-based physicians through an annual survey and supplemental surveys. The NEHRS is a multi-mode survey with self-administered web, self-administrated mail, and computer-assisted telephone interview of physician use and adoption of electronic health records, interoperability, and health information exchange. The sampling frame is used to not only draw a nationally-representative sample of this population, but also to weight the data collected from the sample for national and regional estimates. In order to ensure the reliability of NAMCS and NEHRS estimates, the breadth and depth of the frame from which the samples are drawn are extremely important. In order to make reliable estimates, the sampling frame needs to include all possible eligible physicians, based on NCHS criteria within the United States, and up-to-date contact information for these physicians. Information such as the inclusion and exclusion criteria for physicians in a potential physician database is crucial to ensuring that all eligible physicians needed by NCHS are included in the frame. Additionally, information such as how physicians are added, organized, and maintained in the database is important to understand. For example, are retired or deceased physicians identified or removed in the database? How often is the contact information updated? Does the database contain email addresses? If so, what is the source and how often are the email addresses verified or updated? Just as important as the breadth of the database is the type of information collected about each physician, and the manner it is collected and updated. Appendix A (see attached) includes a list of variables the are required for sampling and weighting the NAMCS and NEHRS, as well as variables that are of interest for analysis. In addition to information about the variables that are collected, information about how data are collected (e.g., primary or secondary data collection), the date of collection, and how often data are updated to ensure accuracy is central to using a database for sampling and weighting. Information Requested: We ask that the responder address the following areas: 1. Overall Corporate Capability Provide a brief Statement of Corporate Capability (SOCC) on your company and include a client list of Government agencies and private companies that you have supported. The SOCC and client list are limited to 1 double-spaced page, in Times New Roman 12 font, with 1 margins. 2. Physician Data Experience Provide a brief statement of your specific experience with collecting, organizing, and maintaining physician data including (but not limited to): name of the database, eligibility rules for inclusion in the database, means of data collection (e.g., electronic, paper questionnaire, and/or telephone survey), most recent year of data, frequency of data collection/updates (e.g., annually, biannually), level of data collection (e.g., from the physician, physician group or network, etc.), information on physician practice membership (e.g., solo or group practice, health maintenance organization, insurance organization, academic medical center, etc.), and total number of physicians include in the most recent version of the database. Written responses on - Physician Data Experience are limited to 3 double-spaced pages, in Times New Roman 12 font, with 1 margins. 3. Capabilities in Variable Collection NCHS is seeking information on the capabilities of organizations collecting physician data to provide information about the variables listed in Appendix A below. Submissions should cover ability to collect each variable described that is required for sampling (marked with an - R in the appendix), and the ability to collect any other variables of interest. Written responses on - Capabilities in Variable Collection are limited to 3 double-spaced pages, in Times New Roman 12 font, with 1 margins. 4. Data Dictionary/Documentation NCHS is seeking information on the physician database contents, format, and structure, and the relationship between its elements, including variable values and missingness, for the variables both required and of interest (listed in Appendix A). Written responses to - Data Dictionary/Documentation are limited to 3 double-spaced pages, in Times New Roman 12 font, with 1 margins. 5. Cost NCHS is seeking cost information for the U.S. physician databases in their entirety, and for only the variables listed in Appendix A. Written responses to - Cost are limited to 1 double-spaced page, in Times New Roman 12 font, with 1 margins.