Technical Consulting Services

Notice Type: Sources Sought Notice

Posted Date: 14-MAR-18

Office Address: Department of Health and Human Services; Program Support Center; Acquisition Management Services; 7700 Wisconsin Ave Bethesda MD 20857

Subject: Technical Consulting Services

Classification Code: L - Technical representative services

Solicitation Number: 18-233-SOL-00256

Contact: Vincent E. Stephens, Phone 3014925576, Email Vincent.Stephens@psc.hhs.gov

Setaside: N/AN/A

Place of Performance (address): Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Secretary, Office of Health Policy, 200 Independence Avenue, SWDC, DC

Place of Performance (zipcode): 20201

Place of Performance Country: US

Description: Department of Health and Human Services

Program Support Center

Acquisition Management Services

Intent to Sole Source: Pursuant to the authority of FAR 13.106-1(b)(1)(i), the Contracting Officer may solicit from one source if the Contracting Officer determines that the circumstances of the contract action deem only one source is reasonably available. The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), Program Support Center (PSC), Acquisition Management Services (AMS) on behalf of PSC, Health and Human Services (HHS), Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) intends to sole source to:

Lena Chen 1200 N. Garfield Street, Apt. 720, Arlington, VA 22201

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is the U.S. government's principal agency for protecting the health of all Americans and providing essential human services, especially for those who are least able to help themselves. The Department manages programs that cover a vast spectrum of activities that impact health, public health, and human services outcomes throughout the life span. HHS accomplishes its mission through programs and initiatives that cover a wide spectrum of activities, serving Americans at every stage of life. Eleven operating divisions, including eight agencies in the U.S. Public Health Service and three human services agencies, administer HHS's programs. In addition, staff divisions within the Office of the HHS Secretary provide leadership, direction, and policy management guidance to the Department.

The Office of Health Policy (HP) in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) is a Staff Division in HHS that advises the HHS Secretary on policy development, and is responsible for major activities in policy coordination, legislation development, strategic planning, policy research, evaluation, and economic analysis. HP focuses on analyzing health policy issues, including public health, health care delivery, health care quality, health outcomes, health insurance, value-based purchasing, and health care financing programs in the public (e.g., Medicare, Medicaid, State Children's Health Insurance Program) and private sectors. HP also conducts and coordinates research, evaluation, and data collection on health policy matters. HP works closely with HHS Operating Divisions including the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and with the Public Health Service agencies such as the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), the Indian Health Service (IHS).

Section 2(d) of the Improving Medicare Post-Acute Care Transformation (IMPACT) Act of 2014 calls for the HHS Secretary, acting through ASPE, to conduct studies evaluating the effect of individuals' socioeconomic status (SES) on quality measures and measures of resource use under Medicare payment programs. The IMPACT Act requires ASPE to conduct a series of three related research projects, which are being conducted by analysts and researchers in HP. The first component of the required work, referred to in this description as Study A, focuses on socioeconomic information currently available in Medicare data, and specifically mandates a focus on Medicaid eligibility and urban versus rural location. The second component, Study B, expands the analyses by using non-Medicare datasets to quantify SES, and must be completed no later than October 2019 as required by the authorizing legislation. Finally, the Act requires qualitative work to inform and contextualize Studies A and B focusing on data availability and use; which is referred to as Study C. The statute also requires HHS to submit two reports on the studies conducted under IMPACT to Congress no later than 2 years (Report #1) and 5 years (Report #2) after the date of the enactment of the Impact Act.

The Office of Health Policy is currently conducting health services research to examine the impacts of delivery system and payment reform efforts, including studies evaluating the effect of individuals' socioeconomic status (SES) on quality measures and measures of resource use under Medicare payment programs. The technical consultant under this contract will provide leadership and expertise in HP in designing and conducting research and evaluations on a variety of policy issues related to the IMPACT Act. Services will include providing advice , research , and analytic support to the Office of Health Policy and the ASPE regarding (a) designing and executing research to monitor and evaluate various aspects of delivery system and payment reform across CMS value-based payment programs and initiatives to design alternative payment models; (b) designing and executing research to examine the relationship between SES and performance under Medicare's current and forthcoming value­ based payment programs and alternative payment models, as currently being evaluated under the IMPACT Act; (c) designing and executing research to examine the implications of program design , in terms of performance measurement, benchmark setting, and incentive design, on the impact of value-based payment programs and alternative payment models both overall and on subsets of providers serving vulnerable populations; and (d) designing and executing research around strategies for improving risk-adjustment models for quality, outcome , and cost measures across Medicare programs. The consultant will provide technical expertise on data analyses using the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services claims data and program data, including but not limited to hospital-focused, accountable care organization-focused, physician-focused, dialysis facility-focused, and post-acute-focused value-based and alternative payment models, as well as quality­ based payment under Medicare Advantage. In addition, the consultant will provide expertise in using non-Medicare datasets to quantify SES and its effects on Medicare programs in order to assist ASPE with conducting Study B as well as qualitative work to inform and contextualize Studies A and communicating the results of these studies.

Experience conducting research on SES using CMS claims data, as well as other linkable datasets including the Area Resource Files, Hospital Cost Reports, Dartmouth Atlas data, and Census data is critical for the execution of tasks under this contract. In addition, experience conducting research on SES using data sources other than CMS claims data such as national survey or clinical data are highly desirable for the tasks under this contract.

Statement of Work

The contractor shall provide the following services: 1. Provide research and analytic support to Office of Health Policy staff including :

* Designing and executing research to monitor and evaluate various aspects of delivery system and payment reform across CMS value-based payment programs and alternative payment models;

* Designing and executing research to examine the relationship between SES, social risk factors and performance under Medicare's current and forthcoming value-based payment programs and alternative payment models, as currently being evaluated under the IMPACT Act;

* Designing and executing research to examine the implications of program design , in terms of performance measurement , benchmark setting, and incentive design, on the impact of value-based payment programs and alternative payment models both overall and on subsets of providers serving vulnerable populations; and

* Designing and executing research around strategies for improving risk-adjustment models for quality, outcome, and cost measures across Medicare programs.

* Provide programming oversight for data analyses to examine the research issues outlined above; using CMS claims data and other linkable datasets.

* Prepare written documents as needed (issue briefs, white papers, memos, reports) for internal and public distribution that clearly present research methods, findings, and policy implications.

* Advise the ASPE and other Department leadership on health policy analyses related to delivery system and payment reform, vulnerable populations, and other high-priority issues as defined by the ASPE.

The contractor will be required to work on site at Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Secretary, Office of Health Policy, 200 Independence Avenue, SW Washington, DC 20201. Period of Performance

The period of performance shall be base period of 12 months with optional tasks, as described below. These optional tasks maybe executed at the COR's request. OPTIONAL TASK 1 - Technical consulting services as outlined above for 6 months. OPTIONAL TASK 2 - Technical consulting services as outlined above for 1 year. Schedule of Deliverables Deliverable Due Date Provide technical consulting services As required. Under statute, HHS is required to publish a list of measures under consideration for rulemaking by December 1 of each year, and the Measure Application Partnership (MAP) then provides input to HHS on those measures by February 1 of the following year.

This is not a solicitation for competitive proposal. No solicitation document is available. All responsible sources that have determined that they can provide the same services may submit product information and a capabilities statement addressing their specific abilities regarding this requirement. The email subject line must reference OS213130. All responses are due by March 28, 2018 2:00 PM Eastern Time and can be sent to Vincent Stephens at Vincent.Stephens@psc.hhs.gov.

A determination by the Government not to compete this proposed contract base upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the government.

Link/URL: https://www.fbo.gov/spg/HHS/PSC/DAM/18-233-SOL-00256/listing.html