The contractor shall model improvements to the current PE methodology, and develop and model alternative approaches to developing PE rvus, including the data used in such methodologies and…

This is a cost-plus-fixed-fee task order awarded by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to The RAND Corporation, a nonprofit research organization, under the Research, Measurement, Assessment, Design, and Analysis (RMADA) indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract vehicle. The contract, valued at $7,559,757.77, requires RAND to model improvements to the current practice expense (PE) methodology and develop alternative approaches for calculating PE relative value units (RVUs), including the underlying data and update mechanisms. RAND will document its work, provide all programs used, and collaborate with CMS to publish research articles. RAND has subcontracted a portion of the work to Actuarial Research Corporation, a for-profit small business specializing in healthcare policy research and analytics. This contract does not have a small business set-aside designation.

The contractor shall model improvements to the current PE methodology, and develop and model alternative approaches to developing PE rvus, including the data used in such methodologies and mechanisms for regularly updating such data. The contractor shall provide all supervision, administrative and technical support, labor, subcontractors, and transportation (except as otherwise provided) and shall plan, schedule, coordinate, and assure effective completion of all services described herein. The contractor shall document its work, including design of models, impacts of various model simulations, and recommendations to CMS, in report form. These reports shall also include recommendations on data required to improve the accuracy of PE rvus under the recommended approach. The contractor shall provide CMS with all programs used to test the various model simulations. These programs shall be provided in the SAS programming language, including documentation, in such form that can be run on CMS computers. The contractor shall also prepare, in collaboration with CMS staff, research articles for publication.