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Statement of Work

Comparative Effectiveness Review (CER) Data Linkage Project

I. BACKGROUND

State-based cancer registries are data systems that collect, manage, and analyze data about cancer cases and cancer deaths. In each state, medical facilities (including hospitals, physicians' offices, therapeutic radiation facilities, freestanding surgical centers, and pathology laboratories) report these data to a central cancer registry.

Established by Congress through the Cancer Registries Amendment Act in 1992, and administered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the National Program of Cancer Registries (NPCR) collects data on the occurrence of cancer; the type, extent, and location of the cancer; and the type of initial treatment.

Before NPCR was established, 10 states had no registry, and most states with registries lacked the resources and legislative support they needed to gather complete data. Today, NPCR supports central cancer registries in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Pacific Island Jurisdictions. These data represent 96% of the U.S. population. Together, NPCR and the National Cancer Institute's Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program collect data for the entire U.S. population.

Population-based cancer registries collect data on all cancer cases in a defined population. This includes data on the occurrence of cancer, primary site, histology, stage at diagnosis, first course of treatment, and vital status. Cancer data are reported to population-based cancer registries from a variety of medical facilities, including hospitals, physicians’ offices, radiation facilities, freestanding surgical centers, and pathology laboratories.

Originally, population-based cancer registries were primarily used to describe cancer patterns and trends. More recently, the role of registries has expanded to include the planning and evaluation of cancer control activities. Currently, information derived from cancer registries is critical for directing effective cancer prevention and control programs towards specific geographic areas or populations. These programs focus on preventing behaviors that increase risk for developing cancer (e.g., smoking) and on reducing environmental risk factors (e.g., occupational exposure to known carcinogens). Cancer registry information is also essential for identifying populations who would benefit from enhanced cancer screening efforts, and for developing and implementing long-term strategies for ensuring access to adequate diagnostic and treatment services. Local-level data motivate action at the community level and provide incentives for community involvement and ownership. Pooled data at the national, regional, and state levels enable federal and state public health professionals to establish, prioritize, and monitor national public health surveillance initiatives and track progress toward the national goals and objectives set forth in Healthy People 2010, the nation’s health promotion and disease prevention agenda.

II.

PROJECT OBJECTIVES

The objective of this project is to make available datasets containing specified demographic components at the census tract level to the Cancer Surveillance Branch (CSB), the state cancer registries selected for the CER activity, and the prime contractor for the CER project (ICF Macro). These datasets will be utilized by the registries to link with other data elements collected as a part of the CER Project.

III.

SCOPE OF WORK

Individually, and not as an agent of the Government, the vendor will provide all labor, materials, and supplies to provide the specified datasets and up to twenty user licenses for the specific datasets and services outlined below.

DATASET COMPONENTS & SERVICES

Nielsen Demographics

MRI Health Variables

MARS Health

Business-Facts Health

Urbanization Score

Up to 20 User Licenses

Production of Flat Files

Participation in Conference Calls

IV.

DETAILED DATA SPECIFICATIONS

1. One "flat file" record for each census tract in the U.S. for estimate year 2011.

2. Each record should have a census tract, county, and state identifier.

3. There would be a maximum of 20 user licenses (selected cancer registries, CSB, and ICF Macro as the contractor for the project).

4. Variables in the demographics, MARS, MRI, and NAICS health-related files. (There may be a separate flat file for each of these four categories of data.)

5. Urban/rural indicator for each census tract. Please let us know the definition for this indicator. (Numbers of rural and urban residents would be ideal but a simple urban or rural designation for the census tract would be acceptable.)

6. All variables should be the estimated number of people in the census tract who have the various characteristics, so that the numbers could be rolled up to higher levels of geography as needed, and so percentages could be computed by us using the total population as the denominator.

7. The NAICS data would be the counts of health professionals and health facilities where the business is located in the census tract.

V.

DELIVERABLES

VI.

GOVERNMENT FURNISHED MATERIALS

The government will provide any necessary CSB or NPCR-specific information required to perform the tasks and all plans or recommendations needed for review and comment.

VII.

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE

The period of performance for this procurement shall be 12 months following award of contract.

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