SOURCES SOUGHT
U -- Trauma-Informed Care Training For Healthcare Providers: Online Clinical Cases
- Notice Date
- 8/12/2014
- Notice Type
- Sources Sought
- NAICS
- 611710
— Educational Support Services
- Contracting Office
- Department of Health and Human Services, Program Support Center, Division of Acquisition Management, 12501 Ardennes Avenue, Suite 400, Rockville, Maryland, 20857, United States
- ZIP Code
- 20857
- Solicitation Number
- 14-233-SOL-00647
- Archive Date
- 9/6/2014
- Point of Contact
- Anthony Foster, Phone: 301-443-3415
- E-Mail Address
-
anthony.foster@psc.hhs.gov
(anthony.foster@psc.hhs.gov)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- THIS IS NOT A SOLICITATION. THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (RFP), INVITATION FOR BID (IFB), REQUEST FOR QUOTES (RFQ), OR AN ANNOUNCEMENT OF A SOLICITATION AND DOES NOT ASSUME THE GOVERNMENT WILL AWARD A CONTRACT OR PROCEED WITH ANY OF THE ABOVE SOLICITATIONS IN THE NEAR FUTURE. THIS NOTICE IS ONLY FOR MARKET RESEARCH PURPOSES. This is a Small Business Sources Sought notice to determine the availability of potential small businesses. 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. The purpose of the requested service is on behalf of The Office on Women's Health (OWH) in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health (OASH), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for the Contractor to provide "Trauma-Informed Care Training for Healthcare Providers: Online Clinical Cases," as described herein and as funds are available. Background: The purpose of the requested service is on behalf of The Office on Women's Health (OWH) in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health (OASH), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) was established in 1991. Its mission is to provide leadership for the promotion of health equity for women and girls through sex/gender-specific approaches. The vision of the Office on Women's Health is that all women and girls are healthier and have a better sense of well-being. Violence and trauma, defined as an event that overcomes one's ability to cope, are incredibly common in the U.S, and pose an enormous threat to public health. Exposure to traumatic events in the lives of women, including but not limited to, Intimate Partner Violence (IPV), Military Sexual Trauma (MST), rape and other forms of sexual assault, child abuse and neglect, terrorism, natural disasters and street violence, all predispose affected individuals to poor health outcomes in part through the use of high risk behaviors such as smoking, drinking, illicit drug use, and risky sex, as means to cope with trauma. As a function of both engaging in high risk behaviors and the trauma itself, survivors are at high risk of poor physical and mental health outcomes. The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) study has produced stunning data on the prevalence of traumatic events in the United States and their impact on the health of Americans. The study examined the experiences of childhood abuse, neglect, and household dysfunction in 17,000 adults and followed their health status as they aged. Using this data, researchers were able to demonstrate a step-wise progression, also known as a dose-response, between how many types of trauma were experienced in childhood and the health risk behaviors and outcomes in adults, ranging from smoking and obesity rates to suicide risk, mental health disorders, and ischemic heart disease.1,2,3,4 They also found that childhood traumatic events are so prevalent, that they can account for over 17% of morbid obesity and 64% of illicit drug use in the U.S.2, 5 Similar results have been found in other populations, with 12-18% of the population having been exposed to four (4) or more adverse childhood experiences, resulting in increased likelihood of low educational attainment, low income, poor self-rated health, alcoholism, and other poor outcomes.6 Effects can translate into an average life expectancy 20 years shorter than average, and extend to future generations when a mother's alcoholism becomes a child's traumatic experience, or even earlier, as astute community health workers have reported that trauma survivors frequently have difficulty breastfeeding. 6 Further evidence of the relationship between trauma exposure and poor health outcomes has been demonstrated in adults. Studies have shown that 1 in 6 women will be a victim of sexual assault in her lifetime, and 1 in 4 will be a victim of intimate partner violence.7,8 Both have been shown to increase the likelihood of poor health outcomes from premature delivery to depression to gastrointestinal disorders.8, 25 Reported rates of military sexual abuse (MSA) vary, but it is likely that the majority of women serving in the military have been victimized. Consequences of MSA include decreased access to care and poorer overall health.9 Reported rates of elder abuse range from 11% of all elders to over 50% of women over 55, with exposure to abuse linked to a variety of conditions including depression, chronic pain, and heart problems.10, 11 Traumatic exposure has also been linked to HIV treatment failure.12 As a result of this emerging body of information about the prevalence and effects of trauma on the U.S. population, particularly on women and girls, there is a growing consensus that trauma must be addressed as a major public health issue. SAMHSA has dedicated resources to this cause, and agencies throughout the federal government, recognizing the impact of trauma exposure, have formed the Federal Partners Women and Trauma Working Group, which now has representatives from over 14 agencies and offices. A handful of state, county, and city governments across the nation have similarly begun to recognize these issues and are beginning to address trauma in their jurisdictions. Despite these efforts, and the enormous impact traumatic experiences can have on health, patients often do not disclose this information to their healthcare providers, and even when they do, providers are not always aware of the impact this history may have on the patient's health.13 In addition, women with a history of traumatic experiences are less likely to be insured or obtain preventative care, emphasizing the difficulty this group can have accessing and interfacing with the healthcare system.6 Internationally, there is also a growing consensus that trauma informed care is a necessary practice to implement in patient and client settings. In fact many presentations and trainings have been developed to familiarize professionals with adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), their consequences, and trauma-informed care in fields ranging from mental health and substance abuse to justice and education. However, there is as of yet no easily accessible material for health care providers outside of the mental health field, despite clearly articulated needs by the survivor and advocate communities.17 To address this need, we will use the interactive, case-based, online format to create an easily accessible training that can address the specific content needs for various types of providers in a format that is useful and effective for them. Interactive case-based learning has been recommended as the best use of online CME trainings.19 The ability for physicians to self- tailor their CMEs has also been cited as a necessary element in making CME more meaningful for providers.20 By using free standing cases, providers can choose cases most relevant to their learning, and can choose their own level of reinforcement by selecting the number of cases in which they engage. Several studies addressing the effectiveness of online continuing medical education (CME) have shown that online CME is equal to or better than paper or in-person CME in terms of gains in knowledge and changes in attitudes, with consistently higher participant satisfaction among online users.21 Limited studies have been conducted addressing changes in practice behavior as a result of online CME, but in those studied, both self-reported and objective behavior change have been shown.22, 23 Purpose and Objectives: The Office of Women's Health (OWH) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is looking for firms which have the capability to: Produce and implement an on-line set of 16 - 20 interactive clinical cases for federal front line health care providers, particularly physicians, advanced practice nurses and physician assistants and others. Providers to be trained include physicians and clinicians from the HRSA federally funded clinics, Indian Health Service, Veterans' Administration, the Department of Defense and the Department of Justice Bureau of Prisons, among others. The latter four groups of clinicians are federal employees. The HRSA clinics are funded entirely by the federal government. All of these federal entities provide direct health care services to populations with exceptionally high levels of traumatic exposure which is associated with higher healthcare utilization and poorer health outcomes. Training providers to be trauma-informed has the potential to improve outcomes and decrease cost in government healthcare expenditures. The clinical cases to be created will help providers acquire the knowledge and skills required to interact effectively with patients, particularly women and girls with histories of trauma, both disclosed and undisclosed, in a way that promotes the patient-provider relationship, improves patient engagement in care, and prevents re-traumatization. One anticipated result will be improved patient outcomes. The on-line clinical cases complete with continuing medical education (CME) credits, will facilitate reaching a large audience of busy health care providers in a format with which they are already very familiar and that is known to be effective. Further, the federal government will secure content, materials and delivery mechanism which currently do not exist to inform and benefit the development and implementation of current and future provider training and care delivery initiatives. Core tasks of this effort would include: 1) Coordinate, convene and host a project start up meeting with appropriate personnel, including project leadership and COR to review contract tasks, deliverables, reporting requirements and project management plan, 2) Identify and convene an expert panel appropriate for each of the training clinical cases to be created. This panel will include subject matter experts (SME) in trauma-informed care and clinical care providers appropriate for the respective training objectives for each clinical case. These expert panels will then inform the content of the clinical cases according to the learning objectives articulated by OWH, 3) Take the content provided by the panel of experts and write the interactive clinical cases in the case-based learning format consistent with the learning objectives articulated by OWH and those added by the SMEs, 4) Create on-line interactive training cases for professional education, 5) Conduct necessary testing to ensure the interactive training clinical cases are of high quality with respect to both content and technical functioning, 6) Coordinate access and promote the use of the interactive clinical training cases to federal clinicians, and other providers and medical students, 7) Secure continuing medical education units (CME) and other continuing education units (CEU) for the clinical cases and will arrange the mechanism by which providers can earn CME/CEUs, 8) Collect and report aggregate user data on usage, increased knowledge, user satisfaction and other appropriate metrics for evaluation purposes, 9) Provide information related to project development, implementation and metrics for purposes of presentation in peer-reviewed journals and/or professional conferences. Capability Statement / Information Sought: Interested qualified small business organizations should submit a tailored capability statement to address the following: 1) Experience developing, implementing, promoting and tracking usage and user satisfaction of interactive virtual patient clinical cases created with latest evidence-based teaching methodologies 2) Demonstrated experience convening interdisciplinary expert panels to inform content to write and edit interactive virtual patient clinical cases 3) Existing formal relationships with majority of academic medical training institutions in the U.S. with access to provide clinical cases to students and providers to ensure capacity to adequately promote cases to providers and those in training. 4) Samples of interactive virtual patient clinical cases with built in user feedback developed using the latest evidence-based on-line teaching methodologies. 5) Demonstrated ability to provide CME/academic credit to learners. 6) Access to interactive evidence-based virtual clinical cases through user-friendly non-commercial website. CAPABILITY STATEMENTS MUST DEMONSTRATE THE MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS OUTLINED ABOVE, INCLUDING ANY TEAMING ARRANGEMENTS Capabilities for this requirement shall not to exceed 8 single-sided pages (including all attachments, resumes, charts, etc.) presented in single-space and using a 12-point font size minimum, that clearly details the ability to perform the aspects of the notice described above. Statements should include information regarding respondents': (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; (d) corporate experience and management capability; and (e) examples of prior completed Government contracts, references, and other related information. Capability statements should also include an indication of current certified small business status (e.g., small business, 8(a), veteran-owned small business, service-disabled veteran owned small business, HUB Zone small business, small disadvantaged business, and women owned small business); this indication should be clearly marked on the first page of your capability statement, as well as the eligible small business concern's name, point of contact, address and DUNS number. Teaming Arrangements are encouraged. All teaming arrangements shall also include the above-cited information and certifications for each entity on the proposed team. Information Submission Instructions: All capability statements sent in response to this SOURCES SOUGHT notice must be submitted electronically (via email) to Anthony Foster, Contract Specialist, at Anthony.Foster@psc.hhs.gov in Microsoft Word (MS) or Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF), no later than 12:00 PM (noon) EST on Friday, August 22, 2014. All responses must be received by the specified due date and time in order to be considered. ANY RESPONSES RECEIVED AFTER THAT DATE AND TIME WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED. 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.
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