AHRQ QUALITY INDICATORS PROGRAM 2011-2016
Added: Jan 13, 2011 4:41 pm
AHRQ Quality Indicators Program 2011-2016Description: 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) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is conducting a market survey to seek potential sources from qualified businesses including 8(a), small disadvantaged, HUBZone, veteran-owned small business and service disabled veteran-owned small business firms under North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code 541712 which have the capability to provide ongoing technical support services to the Support for AHRQ Quality Indicator (QI) Program 2011-2016.AHRQ is the lead Federal agency charged with improving the quality, safety, effectiveness, and efficiency of health care. AHRQ has developed an array of health care decision making and research tools that can be used by various audiences such as program managers, purchasers, consumers, researchers, government agencies and others. One of these tools, the AHRQ Quality Indicators (QIs), is widely used for national, state-level and hospital-level public reporting and tracking, highlighting potential quality concerns, and identifying areas that need further study and investigation by a number of stakeholders.The AHRQ QIs are a set of approximately 100 quality measures, based on hospital discharge data, organized into four modules-Prevention, Inpatient, Patient Safety, and Pediatrics, each of which measures quality associated with the delivery of care that occurs in either an outpatient or an inpatient setting. The AHRQ QIs are based upon a few guiding principles which make them unique:•The QIs were developed using readily available administrative data;The QIs use a transparent methodology;The QIs are risk adjusted and use a readily available, familiar methodology;The QIs are constantly refined based on user input;The QIs are updated and maintained by a trusted source; andThe QIs documentation and program software reside in the public domain.The AHRQ QI modules are:Prevention Quality Indictors (PQIs) or ambulatory care sensitive conditions that identify adult hospital admissions that evidence suggests could have been avoided, at least in part, through high-quality outpatient care. Inpatient Quality Indicators (IQIs) reflect quality of care for adults inside hospitals and include: Inpatient mortality for medical conditions; inpatient mortality for surgical procedures; utilization of procedures for which there are questions of overuse, underuse, or misuse; and volume of procedures for which there is evidence that a higher volume of procedures maybe associated with lower mortality.Patient Safety Indicators (PSIs) also reflect quality of care for adults inside hospitals, but focus on potentially avoidable complications and iatrogenic events. Pediatric Quality Indicators (PDIs) both reflect quality of care for children below the age of 18 and neonates inside hospitals and identify potentially avoidable hospitalizations among children. The AHRQ QI are currently being used in hospital level public reporting programs in more than 20 states, will be included on the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Hospital Compare website in 2011, have been included in the methodology used for U.S. News World Reports ranking of the top 100 hospitals in the U.S., included in the National Healthcare Quality Report, and are used by numerous hospitals and hospital systems in their quality improvement programs. The AHRQ QIs are also anticipated to help facilitate some activities called for under the Affordable Care Act.The AHRQ QI project is unique in that it provides publicly available measure specifications, technical documentation and software tools that calculate the AHRQ QI measures. This software (provided in both SAS and Windows) legally resides in the public domain and is available as a free download from the AHRQ QI website. It allows users to calculate QI measure results based on their own administrative data set using a standard desktop computer.Detailed descriptions of the project can be found at: www.qualityindicators.ahrq.hhs.gov.Objectives:AHRQ desires to ensure the continuity, timeliness, and accuracy of the core tasks of the AHRQ Quality Indicator program through 2016. AHRQ anticipates awarding a contract to a qualified business/organization to provide ongoing and comprehensive support and maintenance to the AHRQ QI program 2011-2016. The potential awardee will support AHRQ in achieving the following objectives:Maintain and publicly disseminate transparent, timely, accurate, and scientifically robust quality measures and software products;Increase the usefulness of the AHRQ QIs and its associated tools; andFacilitate the use of AHRQ QIs for use in quality improvement, public reporting and pay for performance initiatives.Project Requirements:The project will require a contractor to manage and coordinate staff in support of a broad range of measurement, software support and technical dissemination activities. Activities to be performed include, but are not limited to:Annually updating to the measure specifications, technical documentation and software code of the AHRQ QI measures and tools to reflect the latest changes in clinical coding systems and statistical methodology;Disseminating standardized, transparent quality measures;Disseminating software tools which facilitate consistent and accurate calculation of measuresProviding technical expertise to facilitate the use of the AHRQ QIs and tools by an expanded and diverse set of public and private users;Support of the QI website and related activities;The capability statement should demonstrate the organization's ability to achieve the above stated objectives. Sources must have an understanding of and experience in:Maintaining and managing multiple, complex activities concurrently at the highest level of professional and scientific quality;Managing subcontracts and consultants;Developing systems for monitoring and maintaining secure and efficient computing environment (including programmer resources);Managing the AHRQ QI web site;Writing user-friendly, technically accurate reports and documentation;Producing electronic documentation;Providing technical support and training in the use of the AHRQ QI measures and tools to users;Using large administrative encounter-level datasets to update and test AHRQ QI measures;Clinical coding systems such as CPT/HCPCS coding, ICD-9 and ICD-10 coding;Applying the AHRQ Clinical Classification Software (CCS);Applying diagnosis related groups grouper software (CMS DRG and AHRQ Comorbidity Software);Applying severity adjustment software (APR DRGs);Supporting the National Quality Forum consensus development and maintenance process;Conducting complex SAS programming in support of risk adjustment modeling, composite weighting and other statistical analysis;Developing, testing and maintaining complex software in SAS and Windows;Source must possess, or be able to obtain (in-house or through subcontracting/consulting arrangements) the staff and other resources needed to expeditiously carry out the different types of activities listed above.Anticipated Period of Performance:The anticipated Period of Performance (PoP) will be from September, 2011 through August, 2016 with one base year and four (4) one year option periods.Capability statements:Interested, qualified small business organizations should submit a tailored capability statement for this requirement, not to exceed 10 single sided pages (including all attachments, resumes, charts, etc.), presented in double-space format 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.Statements should also include an indication of current certified small business status; this indication should be clearly marked on the first page of your capability statement, as well the eligible small business concern's name, point of contact, address and DUNs number.Information Submission Instructions:All capability statements sent in response to this SMALL BUSINESS SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE must be submitted electronically (via email) to Randy.Allison@ahrq.hhs.gov in Microsoft Word (MS) OR Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF), by Wednesday, 26 January 2010 at 12:00pm Noon, EST. All responses must be received by the specified due date and time 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 or pay for the information provided in the 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 it's response is complete and sufficiently detailed to allow the Government to determine the organizations 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).
AHRQ1110008 Department of Health and Human Services Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
1/13/11, 4:41 PM