Evidence-based Practice Centers V (EPC V)

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality established this Master IDIQ for Evidence-based Practice Centers V on December 1, 2014, with a shared ceiling of $49 million and a final ordering date of November 30, 2019. Ordering under this vehicle is closed and has been since late 2019. The vehicle succeeded Evidence-based Practice Centers IV and was itself succeeded by Evidence-based Practice Centers VI, which awarded on December 1, 2019.

The vehicle contracted systematic evidence reviews, technology assessments, and technical briefs to inform clinical decision-making by clinicians, patients, policymakers, and payers. Task orders funded research on clinical interventions, screening strategies, and health care delivery models across a broad range of medical topics including chronic pain management, mental health treatments, preventive services, vaccine safety, pregnancy-related conditions, and chronic disease management. The vehicle heavily supported the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force with annual systematic evidence review cycles.

Activity peaked early under the vehicle. In 2015, AHRQ awarded 44 task orders; activity declined to 10 orders in 2017, then rebounded to 36 orders in 2019 as the vehicle approached closure. The vehicle issued 137 task orders total between February 2015 and November 2019, with combined potential value of $79.8 million. Of that, $74.7 million (94 percent) has been obligated.

Competition was concentrated among academic research institutions. Oregon Health & Science University led by order count with 23 awards totaling $14.1 million in potential value, followed by Brown University (17 orders, $9.5 million) and Research Triangle Institute (16 orders, $13.5 million). Kaiser Foundation Hospitals held the largest combined potential value at $17.6 million across 10 orders. The top five primes by potential value held 75 percent of combined vehicle value. All 137 task orders funded AHRQ programs with no customer concentration across multiple agencies.

The vehicle used no set-asides; all awards were unrestricted. Task orders ranged from $29,583 to $3.16 million in potential value, with firm fixed price prevailing as the pricing structure. Mega-orders supporting systematic evidence reviews for the USPSTF in 2017, 2018, and 2019 each exceeded $2.7 million. Orders typically ran 12 to 36 months from award to completion.

The purpose of the proposed acquisition is to identify Evidence-based Practice Centers (EPCs) which are the cornerstone of the Effective Health Care Program (EHC). The ultimate goal of EPC work is to present the state of the science on a given topic in a manner that can be directly applied to decisions made by users of health care information. These users include clinicians, patients, policy-makers, and payers, and may be individuals or their related organizations. Specifically, evidence reports and technology assessments have been used as a scientific foundation for development and implementation of clinical practice guidelines, clinical pathways, review criteria, performance measures, and other clinical quality improvements tools, individual treatment decisions, coverage or reimbursement policies, and to develop research agendas.