SOLICITATION NOTICE
R -- RECOVERY STATE HEALTH POLICY CONSORTIUM
- Notice Date
- 1/29/2010
- Notice Type
- Presolicitation
- NAICS
- 541990
— All Other Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services
- Contracting Office
- Department of Health and Human Services, Program Support Center, Division of Acquisition Management, Parklawn Building Room 5-101, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, Maryland, 20857
- ZIP Code
- 20857
- Solicitation Number
- OS28155
- Point of Contact
- Anita L Nearhoof, Phone: 301-443-5312
- E-Mail Address
-
anita.nearhoof@psc.hhs.gov
(anita.nearhoof@psc.hhs.gov)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- THIS NOTICE IS PROVIDED FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. THIS OPPORTUNITY IS AVAILABLE ONLY TO CONTRACTORS UNDER THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, PROGRAM SUPPORT CENTERS 2009 TASK ORDER CONTRACTORS. State Health Policy Consortium The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) was established as a matter of law within the Department of Health and Human Services by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, and specifically Title XIII, the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act. ONC was directed by Congress to perform its duties “in a manner consistent with the development of a nationwide health information technology infrastructure that allows for the electronic use and exchange of information.” ARRA funding makes it possible to move ahead aggressively to support state and regional health information technology (HIT) developments by, among other initiatives, financing HIT Regional Extension Centers and state grants to promote HIT. These efforts will build upon other ONC efforts to promote interstate cooperation, including the State Alliance for E-Health, the Health Information Security and Privacy Collaborative. Because of these and other efforts some states are ready to work in regional collaboratives to exchange health information across state borders. To do this, they must resolve privacy and security issues at a very concrete level, in practical terms. This contract will support approved State Consortium Projects as they work to address and resolve the concrete problems that, without assistance, stand in the way of interstate exchange. We cannot foresee all issues that may arise. They may, however, include: •agreeing on the purposes for the exchange of information that will be enabled through the statewide exchange and the privacy policies related to those purposes; •agreeing on health information organization patient consent policies and designing common forms; •developing model state privacy laws to facilitate interstate exchange within a region; •developing a governance infrastructure or dispute resolution mechanism to resolve privacy and security issues as they arise within multi-state regional exchanges; •addressing liability coverage for breaches of legal duties related to the privacy and security activities of interstate exchanges; •developing software interfaces that connect different vendor software to facilitate auditing of compliance with privacy policies; and •conducting demonstrations to test the privacy and security features of interstate exchange. The selected Contractor will support selected State Consortiums in the development and implementation of solutions to privacy and security issues preventing or impeding the interstate exchange of health information. The Contractor will issue one or more RFP(s), at the direction of ONC, over the length of the contract to solicit potential State Consortium Projects. The Contractor will review proposed projects and present recommendations for ONC approval on which projects to select. For projects suggested for approval the Contractor will include a proposed budget for the cost to the Contractor to support the project. Once a State Consortium Project has been approved by ONC the Contractor, under the direction of ONC, will manage and support the project. Due to the open nature of this project, the Contractor must be very flexible, with the ability to access a wide range of staff, consultants, and expert resources to support identified State Consortium Projects, including but not limited to, the following: •Work closely with ONC to support regional, interstate projects that will further the development of a nationwide health information infrastructure; •Conduct policy assessment and analysis of state and federal issues related to health information technology in general and specifically the privacy and security of health information technology and health information exchange; •Provide, or access as needed, technical assistance and expertise on a wide range of issues related to interstate exchange of health information, including the ability to develop written materials and convene stakeholders; •Provide auxiliary and support services, including meeting planning, travel reimbursement, website support and production and distribution of publications; and •Understand federal and state privacy and security and other laws and regulations that impact health information technology and exchange. A broad understanding of ONC's central initiative to advance appropriate and secure health information exchange, the State HIE Cooperative Agreement Program, is essential for the Contractor. The State HIE Cooperative Agreement Program is providing funding to the 56 states and territories to develop and advance mechanisms for information sharing across the health care system. The State HIE Program has identified five essential domains that states and territories will need to address in planning and implementing health information exchange: •Governance – This domain addresses the functions of convening health care stakeholders to create trust and consensus on an approach for statewide HIE and to provide oversight and accountability of HIE to protect the public interest. One of the primary purposes of a governance entity is to develop and maintain a multi-stakeholder process to ensure HIE among providers is in compliance with applicable policies and laws. •Finance - This domain encompasses the identification and management of financial resources necessary to fund health information exchange. This domain includes public and private financing for building HIE capacity and sustainability. This also includes but is not limited to pricing strategies, market research, public and private financing strategies, financial reporting, business planning, audits, and controls. •Technical Infrastructure – This domain includes the architecture, hardware, software, applications, network configurations and other technological aspects that physically enable the technical services for HIE in a secure and appropriate manner. •Business and Technical Operations – The activities in this domain include but are not limited to procurement, identifying requirements, process design, functionality development, project management, help desk, systems maintenance, change control, program evaluation, and reporting. Some of these activities and processes are the responsibility of the entity or entities that are implementing the technical services needed for health information exchange; there may be different models for distributing operational responsibilities. •Legal/Policy – The mechanisms and structures in this domain address legal and policy barriers and enablers related to the electronic use and exchange of health information. These mechanisms and structures include but are not limited to: policy frameworks, privacy and security requirements for system development and use, data sharing agreements, laws, regulations, and multi-state policy harmonization activities. The primary purpose of the legal/policy domain is to create a common set of rules to enable inter-organizational and eventually interstate health information exchange while protecting consumer interests. The domains provide an overarching structure for planning and implementation of intra and inter state health information exchange. As such, understanding the State HIE Cooperative Agreement Program is important to the Contractor’s ability to understand and manage interstate Consortium Projects under this contract.
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