Attachment_J.7-Question_Submission.xlsx
XLSX spreadsheet 23 KB Posted
- Attached to
- End-Stage Renal Disease Quality Incentive Program (ESRD QIP) Data Validity and Reliability Federal contract opportunity
- Solicitation number
- 191668
About this file
Attachment J.7 - Question Submission
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Other files for this federal contract opportunity
| File | Type | Posted |
|---|---|---|
| 191668_Cover_Letter.pdf | ||
| 191668_ESRD_QIP_RFP.docx | DOCX document | |
| SF33.pdf | ||
| 191668_SF33.pdf | ||
| Attachment_J.1_-_Statement_of_Work.docx | DOCX document | |
| 191668_ESRD_QIP_RFP.docx | DOCX document | |
| 191668_Cover_Letter.pdf | ||
| Attachment_J.8_Responsibility_Determination.docx | DOCX document | |
| Attachment_J.1_-_Statement_of_Work.pdf | ||
| Attachment_J.7_-_Question_Submission_Format.xlsx | XLSX spreadsheet | |
| 191668_Cover_Letter.pdf | ||
| Attachment_J.6_Ktr_Bus_Ethics_COI_and_Compliance_Prog_Req.docx | DOCX document | |
| Attachment_J.5_Ktr_Personal_COI_Financial_Disclosure_Template.docx | DOCX document | |
| Attachment_J.3_Consent_to_Subcontract.docx | DOCX document | |
| 191668_SF33_and_RFP.pdf | ||
| Attachment_J.2_-_Schedule_of_Deliverables.pdf | ||
| Attachment_J.4_565_Report_of_Accountable_Property.pdf |
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Sheet2
| Type of Referenced Contract File (Select one type from drop down) | Section or Tab Name in Attachment | Page number | Offeror Question | CMS Response | Type of Referenced Contract File (Select one type from drop down) |
| Attachment J.1 - SOW | Task 3 | 15 | The SOW states that "The contractor shall support the completion of Supporting Statements A and B of our annual Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) package that accompanies our CY ESRD PPS proposed and final rule submissions (SOD, item 27). Both supporting statements describe the purpose, scope and benefits of collecting information. It also includes a copy of the actual tools that will be used to collect data. All data collection tools must be approved before they can be used to request any information from the public. Final OMB approval numbers must be placed on all data collection materials." Will CMS please clarify the reference to "Copy of actual tools"? Are these tools a methodology or actual tool? | The tools referenced include any forms or templates that will be sent to providers for data collection purposes. | Attachment J.3 - Consent to Subcontract |
| Business Proposal | Section E | 97 | It appears as though the Business Proposal Instructions went from Section D - Subcontracts to Section F: Business Proposal Spreadsheet. Will CMS please clarify if there is supposed to be a Section E? | Corrected in the RFP | Attachment J.5 and J.6 - OCI |
| business Proposal | Section D - Subcontracts | 96 | A subcontract agreement is not available at time of proposal submission (particularly the FAR flow down), is it sufficient to replace the SubK agreement with the Teaming Agreement? | Yes. | Attachment J.7 - VPAT |
| Attachment J.1 - SOW | Task 1D #5 | 11 | Will CMS please clarify if the requirement listed under #5 is required or permissible under a firm fixed price contract? | SOW has been updated. | Miscellaneous |
| Miscellaneous | Section L.8 RFP | 91 | Will CMS please confirm that the offeror may submit their technical proposal volume as PDF? | Yes, the technical proposal may be in PDF. | Cover Letter |
| Attachment J.1 - SOW | I. Background | 1 | According to CY 2019 ESRD PPS Final Rule, the CROWNWeb validation study (this contract) becomes a permanent program beginning in PY 2021. Will the contractor validate data submitted to CROWNWeb by sampling 10 records from 300 randomly selected facilities, or will the number of records and/or facilities increase over time? | At this time, CMS does not anticipate an increase in the number of records for the CROWNWeb Validation study. | Business Proposal |
| Attachment J.1 - SOW | II. Requirements, Task 1G | 12 | Per CROWN Memo # 19-1124-GN, CCSQ is planning a significant reduction of Government Furnished Equipment (GFE) and circuits by March 2020. Does CMS intend the contractor receive transitioned GFE from the incumbent, procure new GFE for this effort, and procure Contractor Furnished Equipment (CFE) for this effort? |
| If the contractor needs to procure GFE, will CMS please provide the price list of equipment that is ERB approved? | We do not believe that government furnished equipment will be necessary to complete the tasks required in the SOW. | ||||
| Attachment J.1 - SOW | II. Requirements, Task 1G | ||||
| II. Requirements, D. Government Property | 12 | Will the Contractor need to have a government circuit installed at its location? If so, does the contractor pay for this service, and what are the related costs? | No. The Contractor will not need to have a government circuit installed at its location. | ||
| Attachment J.1 - SOW | II. Requirements, Task 1G | 12 | Will the Contractor connect to HCQIS resources through VDI or VPN? | The Contractor will connect to HCQIS via VDE. | |
| Attachment J.1 - SOW | II. Requirements, Task 2 | 14 | Will the Government please provide an annual estimate on the costs of records collection that are reimbursable to the facilities? | The annual cost is estimated | |
| Attachment J.1 - SOW | II. Requirements, Task 2 | 14 | Does the Data Dictionary already exist and the Contractor would be responsible for maintenance, or would the Data Dictionary need to be created as a new artifact? | Data dictionary already exists; however, the Contractor would be responsible for updating and maintaining the Dictionaary each year. SOW has been updated accordingly | |
| Attachment J.1 - SOW | II. Requirements, Task 2 | 15 | Does the Interface Control Document (ICD) already exist and the Contractor would be responsible for maintenance, or would the ICD need to be created as a new artifact? | ICD already exists; however, the Contractor would be responsible for updating e and maintaining each year | |
| Attachment J.1 - SOW | II. Requirements, Task 3 | 15 | For PY2019, are facilities currently mailing copies of medical records to the contractor, or is the contractor receiving the medical records through faxes and/or the HCQIS Axway secure file exchange? | For PY 2019, the majority of medical records were submitted via Secure File Exchange. Approximately 8% of records are submitted via fax or mail. | |
| Attachment J.1 - SOW | II. Requirements, Task 5 | 17 | The draft of the Final Report is due 45 days prior to the end of the period of performance. Will the Government please clarify if the report is due 45 days prior to each contract year period of performance? | Yes, the draft final report is an annual deliverable due 45 days prior to the end of each period of performance. | |
| Attachment J.1 - SOW | II. Requirements, Task 5 | 17 | The revised Final Report is due 20 days prior to the end of the period of performance. Will the Government please clarify if the report is due 20 days prior to each contract year period of performance? | Yes, the final report is an annual deliverable due 20 days prior to the end of each period of performance. | |
| Attachment J.1 - SOW | II. Requirements, Task 5 | 17 | Facility-Specific results will be shared with the facilities within the last 30 days of the period of performance. Will the Government please clarify if the delivery of the results to facilities is due within 30 days prior to each contract year period of performance? | Yes, each year facilities specific results must be shared with facilities that participated in the validation studies within 30 days prior to each contract year period of performance. | |
| Attachment J.1 - SOW | II. Requirements, Task 5 | 17 | Briefings to CMS management/stakeholders will be delivered within the last 30 days of the period of performance. Will the Government please clarify if the briefings will occur within 30 days prior to each contract year period of performance? | Yes, each year the Contractor will be required to brief CMS leadershipship within 30 days prior to each contract year period of performance. | |
| RFP Section H.12 Costs for Conferences, Meeting, Related Travel and Food | 50 | Does the Government require or desire the Contractor attend the annual CMS Quality Conference? Are there any in-person meetings that the Contractor should consider attending and factor in those travel costs? | The Contractor may be asked to attend the annual CMS Quality Conference to present validation study findings. | ||
| RFP Section L.10 Technical Proposal Instructions (Volume I) | 92 | Under Bullet #4 of the Technical Understanding and Approach section, Offerors should describe how Technical Expert Panels (TEPs) will be used in support of validation of data entered as required by this SOW. Will the Government please clarify the use of TEPs since this requirement was not indicated in the SOW? | This has been removed and RFP has been updated | ||
| RFP Section L.10 Technical Proposal Instructions (Volume I) | 92 | Under Bullet #5 of the Technical Understanding and Approach section, Offerors should describe the strategy for maintaining the quality of data and a timeline of activities. Will the Government please clarify the the perspective of data quality and the related timeline of activities since this requirement was not indicated in the SOW? |
| Does this relate to data entry of medical records data that will then be compared to CROWNWeb and NHSN extracts? | Yes. The Contractor should describe how they will ensure that accurate data is entered and a timeline of activities to support the required tasks identified in the SOW. | ||||
| task 1-7 | 19-Sep | Thirty days is especially short time frame for some of the deliverable tasks. Does the schedule of deliverables start with the transition in period or start with the base period? | There will be 1 month transition period and 11 month base period. Thirty days deliverables start from the base year | ||
| Attachment J.1 - SOW | Task 5 | 19 | The SOW states that, “The Contractor shall administer reasonable reimbursements to the providers of costs associated with photocopying and mailing medical records to the Contractor as approved by CMS.” |
| Question: Please describe what is meant by “reasonable” expenses. | Reasonable costs include FedEx shipping and photocopying costs. | |||
| Attachment J.1 - SOW | Task 5 | 19 | The SOW states that, “The Contractor shall administer reasonable reimbursements to the providers of costs associated with photocopying and mailing medical records to the Contractor as approved by CMS.” |
| Question: Would only those facilities submitting records in hard copy be eligible for reimbursement? | Facilities that submit hard copies of records via mail or fax will be eligible to receive reasonable reimbursements. | |||
| Attachment J.1 - SOW | Task 5 | 17 | The third bullet point refers to facility reports - “The intent of these reports are to provide not only a “report card” to the facility but to guide them in training staff on data entry.” |
| Question: Is it CMS’ intention that the successful offeror will develop training for facilities? | No. We hope that the reports will provide facilities with information that will help them provide training and support to their staff. | ||
| Attachment J.1 - SOW | Task 5 | The third bullet point refers to facility reports - “The intent of these reports are to provide not only a “report card” to the facility but to guide them in training staff on data entry.” |
| Question: If the successful offeror is to develop training, what does CMS envision to be included in this training? | The Contractor will not be required to develop training. | |||
| Attachment J.1 - SOW | task 2 | 14 | The second bullet states that, “At a minimum, the methodology must clearly describe: How targeted sampling will be used…” |
The finalized QIP rule states that facilities will be randomly sampled for both the CROWNWeb data and NHSN data validations but also references targeting facilities based on risk of under reporting.
| Question: How will these facilities be identified? | The Contractor will be required to work with CMS and other stakeholders to establish a sampling methodology that targets facilities at risk of underreporting. The at-risk facilities will be identified using a variety of information from various data sources. | ||
| Attachment J.1 - SOW | Task 2 | The second bullet states that, “At a minimum, the methodology must clearly describe: How targeted sampling will be used…” |
The finalized QIP rule states that facilities will be randomly sampled for both the CROWNWeb data and NHSN data validations but also references targeting facilities based on risk of under reporting.
Question: Is any other targeting required?
| No. Targeted sampling will be based on facilities at risk of under reporting. | |||
| Attachment J.1 - SOW | Task 2 | 14 | The second bullet states that, “At a minimum, the methodology must clearly describe: How targeted sampling will be used…” |
The finalized QIP rule states that facilities will be randomly sampled for both the CROWNWeb data and NHSN data validations but also references targeting facilities based on risk of under reporting.
| Question: Will targeted sampling be limited to the NHSN data validation? | Yes. Targeted sampling is limited to the NHSN data validation. | ||||
| Attachment J.1 - SOW | Task 2 | 14 | Question: What are the 8. number of data elements to be validated? | The data elements are consistent with the data needed to calculate ESRD QIP measures that rely on CROWNWeb or NHSN. | |
| Attachment J.1 - SOW | Task 1D | 11 | The SOW states, “At a minimum, such reports shall cover the following items: 5. The status of the budget (actual cost vs. projected, percentage of cost expended)…” |
| Question: As this will be a fixed price contract, please confirm that actual cost vs. project cost, percentage of cost expended, etc., do not need to be included in the monthly report. | SOW has been updated. | |||
| Attachment J.1 - SOW | Task 2 | 13 & 14 | The SOW states that “the Contractor shall finalize the project methodology two weeks after the project Kick-off meeting.” On page 14 it states “within 30 days of contract award, the Contractor shall prepare…2. Validation Methodology Plan.” |
| Question: Please confirm the due date for the Methodology and Sampling Plan. | SOW has been corrected to reflect within 30 days of contract award. | |||
| Attachment J.1 - SOW | Task 2 | 13 & 14 | Under deliverables, lines 14, 15, and 16 refer to a procurement plan. “We do not anticipate any procurement items associated with the contract.” |
| Question: Is it CMS’s expectation that the successful offeror will still need to submit the Procurement Plan? | No | ||
| Attachment J.2 - SOD | Item 20 | Item 20 “Methodology and Sampling Plan for: |
a. CROWNWeb validation methodology
b. Validating Reliability of CMS-Form 2746 Data (National Implementation)
c. Validating Reliability of CMS-Form 2728 Data (National Implementation).”
| Question: Is it CMS’ intention that CMS-Forms 2746 and 2728 will be a separate validation from the CROWNWeb data or will they be included in the validated data elements? | The CMS-Forms 2746 and 2728 will be included in the validated data elements for the CROWNWeb Validation Study. | |||
| Miscellaneous | Section 5. Past Performance under L.10 Technical Proposal Instructions (Volume I) | 94 | Under point b) Instructions, the past performance summaries are to be provided from the Offeror and significant subcontractors. |
| Question: Is it acceptable to the Government, if the significant subcontractor submits their past performance summary information in a sealed package directly to the Government? | Yes. | ||||
| Business Proposal | Section D. Subcontracts under L.11 Business Proposal Instructions (Volume II) | 96 | Question: Can the Government confirm if the business proposal narrative submission requirements should comprise of each or significant subcontractors? | If subcontractor (s) is/are performing under the contract, please include requested information. | |
| Volume II Section F of RFP | our team has noted that cost and pricing data appear to be requested. The solicitation states that this is a firm fixed price (FFP) contract. Typically on a firm fixed price contract only the price is provided. Can CMS please clarify that the resultant contract will be FFP, and if so, why cost and pricing data is being requested? | Yes the contract will be FFP and we are requesting this information at the time of proposals for review |
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