SOURCES SOUGHT
R -- Consumer Assessment of Health Providers and Systems (CAHPS)/Surveys on Patient Safety Culture (SOPS) User Network Contract
- Notice Date
- 11/10/2011
- Notice Type
- Sources Sought
- NAICS
- 541990
— All Other Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services
- Contracting Office
- Department of Health and Human Services, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Contracts Management, 540 Gaither Road, Rockville, Maryland, 20850
- ZIP Code
- 20850
- Solicitation Number
- HHS-AHRQ-SBSS-12-003
- Archive Date
- 12/13/2011
- Point of Contact
- Jessica Alderton, Phone: 301 427-1783
- E-Mail Address
-
jessica.alderton@ahrq.hhs.gov
(jessica.alderton@ahrq.hhs.gov)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- This is a Small Business Sources Sought notice. This is NOT a solicitation for proposals, proposal abstracts, or quotations. The purpose of this notice is to obtain information regarding: (1) the availability and capability of qualified small business sources; (2) whether they are small businesses; HUBZone small businesses; service-disabled, veteran-owned small businesses; 8(a) small businesses; veteran-owned small businesses; woman-owned small businesses; or small disadvantaged businesses; and (3) their size classification relative to the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for the proposed acquisition. Your responses to the information requested will assist the Government in determining the appropriate acquisition method, including whether a set-aside is possible. An organization that is not considered a small business under the applicable NAICS code should not submit a response to this notice. Background The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) was created in 1989 "to enhance the quality, appropriateness and effectiveness of health care services and access to such services, through the establishment of a broad base of scientific research and through the promotion of improvements in clinical practice (including the prevention of diseases and other health conditions and in the organization, financing and delivery of health care services CAHPS (Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Services). Consumers and other purchasers of health care are among AHRQ's primary constituents. One of the Agency's goals is to help these groups make informed choices about their health care purchasing decisions. Since October of 1995, the CAHPS Consortium-CAHPS grantees, the User Network contractor and AHRQ CAHPS staff-have developed and tested surveys that consumers can use to assess the quality of care they receive through their health plans, from providers and in hospitals, nursing homes, in-center hemodialysis facilities, and other settings. The CAHPS team has also conducted research and developed guidance for reporting these data to consumers, providers and other audiences. (Detailed information about CAHPS products and history can be found at www.cahps.ahrq.gov.) SOPS (Surveys on Patient Safety Culture). In the landmark study "To Err is Human," the Institute of Medicine (IOM, 1999) called for the creation of a culture of safety as a major component in a program to reduce the risk of harm to patients from the process of care. The IOM and other organizations have stressed the need to measure the safety culture in health care organizations. Organizations with a positive safety culture are characterized by communications founded on mutual trust, by shared perceptions of importance of safety, and by confidence in the efficacy of preventive measures. An organization's safety culture will determine the success or failure of any safety initiatives. Yet, at the beginning of the patient safety movement, there were no valid and reliable instruments through which to assess patient safety culture. In order to meet this need, AHRQ has funded the development and testing of Surveys for Patient Safety Culture for care delivered in hospitals, medical offices, nursing homes and pharmacies. AHRQ also funds databases that collect data for each of these surveys through voluntary contributions from users, analyzes these data, and prepares reports based on them. Purpose and Objectives The purpose of the proposed acquisition is to operate the CAHPS User Network and infrastructure. More specifically, this contractor will: • Develop and maintain of CAHPS and SOPS products. • Provide technical assistance to CAHPS and SOPS product users. • Promote the adoption and use of CAHPS products and SOPS surveys. • Develop new and maintain existing CAHPS and SOPS databases. • Conduct meetings and conferences. • Develop timelines and manage all aspects of the project work. Project requirements Demonstrate a thorough understanding of the development, testing, implementation and use of patient experience surveys, especially CAHPS; and development, testing, implementation and use of AHRQ Surveys of Patient Safety Culture. This includes knowledge of and experience working with all potential users of these products, as well as barriers to use of CAHPS and SOPS data in real-world settings. Maintain the two existing CAHPS databases and the four SOPS databases. Both the CAHPS and SOPS databases have over a million records and will likely double in size in the next two years. Develop at least three new databases. This includes developing instructions through which users can submit their data; cleaning the data; analyzing data and producing up to 10 chart books per year; maintaining security of the data and updating software on a regular basis to eliminate threats to security. Provide technical assistance to users of CAHPS and SOPS survey products. The contract receives over 1000 requests for assistance each year. About 70% of the calls require less than 30 minutes for a response; about 20% require two days, including consultation with other project staff; the remaining 10% require 10 days. To develop accurate responses, a contractor must understand all survey administration activities such as sampling procedures; response biases; data analysis; reporting survey results to a variety of audiences, including consumers, researchers, QI professionals and the electronic and print media. The contractor must have the ability to explain all aspects of survey implementation in language that users can understand, including users who are unfamiliar with data collection procedures. Collaborate in the development of materials that instruct users of CAHPS and SOPS products of their appropriate use. There are currently 20 different CAHPS Surveys, eight sets of supplemental items and four SOPS Surveys. Each survey set of supplemental items and all associated materials are available in Spanish. Each survey requires a mail and telephone version. Up to 10 new surveys may be developed over the next five years for which new administration materials will need to be developed (English and Spanish; mail and telephone versions as well). All existing surveys will be updated during this time frame. The contractor must also have experience in preparing this information for publication on the CAHPS website and in adapting materials to be 508 compliant. Plan and execute meetings on issues related to patient safety and patient experience of care. This includes small meetings (12 to 15 participants; 8 per year) as well as large ones (500 or more participants; two of these in the five year contract period). Develop and track the progress of up to 10 packages to OMB seeking approval for data collection. Promote CAHPS and SOPS products. Products include surveys; user websites such as TalkingQuality.com; chart books based of CAHPS and SOPS data; electronic reports about all aspects of the project. This also includes working with staff from AHRQ's Office for Communication and Knowledge Transfer on dissemination plans; developing and updating an archive of CAHPS and SOPS presentations; developing up to 10 presentations per year for the grantees and AHRQ staff when necessary; developing and promoting up to 10 webinars and 20 podcast per year; research new means (through social media or other sources) of reaching potential users of CAHPS and SOPS products; identifying and developing responses to FAQs from users; identifying venues for promotion of CAHPS and SOPS products such as health quality-related professional meetings; attending such meetings and operating information booths with project-related materials; managing information booths in 20 locations per year. Perform technical tasks such as literature reviews; collection of cognitive testing data; collection of focus group data; interviews with researchers, stakeholders and others on issues related to collection of CAHPS and SOPS data. Manage all within-project communications. This includes developing and maintaining an intranet for team members; preparing quick turn-around notes for five or more weekly conference calls and occasional in-person meetings. The ability to develop and post these accurate call notes quickly and efficiently requires thorough understanding of: issues related to survey development; preparation of "report cards" based on patient experience data; and use of health quality data for quality improvement purposes in a number of settings (e.g., hospitals, doctor's offices, nursing homes and many others). Anticipated period of performance The anticipated period of performance: 5 Years from Award date Other important considerations Additional capabilities that offerors must possess include: Ability to adapt rapidly to changing needs and agendas. Sometimes an urgent and unanticipated need for a certain type of product (survey, quality improvement plan or reporting resource) asserts itself. In such cases, the offeror must be prepared to rearrange resources and the schedule to accommodate these changes. Experience with and ability to manage large-scale collaborations among professionals who have different kinds of expertise and who work in various locations across the country. Knowledge of and experience working with key organizations related to patient safety and patient experience surveys, including but not limited to: government organizations such as AHRQ, CMS and HRSA; accreditation and quality organizations such as NCQA, NQF, and JCAHP; consumer organizations such as AARP and the Disclosure Project; state Medicaid organizations; health care professional organizations (AMA, AHA, ANA, etc.); and others. Also, potential offerors must show that they have all the capabilities in-house to perform the work described in this document, or that they have assembled a team which adds whatever expertise is necessary to perform the work. Capability statement / information sought Small Business Organizations who are interested in presenting their capabilities and experience regarding this potential requirement should send a statement describing: (a) staff expertise, including their availability, experience, and formal and other training; (b) current in-house capability and capacity to perform the work; (c) prior completed projects of similar nature and scale; (d) corporate experience and management capability; and (e) examples of prior completed Government contracts, references, and other related information. Offeror must describe both their capabilities for performing the work as well as their experience working in all the areas and with all the professionals described above. Offerors should include technical and administrative points of contact, including names, titles, addresses, telephone and fax numbers, and e-mail addresses, DUNS Number, Size and Type of Business. Information may be sent electronically or by mail but should not exceed 10 pages and must be received by AHRQ no later than 12:00 PM EST on November 28, 2011. This information should be sent electronically or by mail to: Jessica Alderton Contract Officer Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality 540 Gaither Road Rockville, MD 20850 jessica.alderton@ahrq.hhs.gov 301-427-1783 (voice) 301-427-1740 (fax) Disclaimer and Important Notes. This notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay for the information provided in response. The Government reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate. Any organization responding to this notice should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed to allow the Government to determine the organization's qualifications to perform the work. Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted. After a review of the responses received, a pre-solicitation synopsis and solicitation may be published in Federal Business Opportunities. However, responses to this notice will not be considered adequate responses to a solicitation. Confidentiality. No proprietary, classified, confidential, or sensitive information should be included in your response. The Government reserves the right to use any non-proprietary technical information in any resultant solicitation(s)."
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