DRAFT_Statement_of_Work.docx

Project Title: Healthcare Data Analytics and Statistical Products

Attachment #1: STATEMENT OF WORK

Background

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) supports health services research initiatives that seek to improve the quality of health care in America. AHRQ’s mission is to produce evidence to make health care safer, higher quality, more accessible, equitable, and affordable.

AHRQ works to fulfill its mission by conducting research and provides information on a number of critical issues related to healthcare and quality which are of particular interest to government agencies, legislative bodies, health policy makers and other health professionals. The research is primarily based on the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) and the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP).

MEPS is the only national data source measuring how Americans use and pay for medical care, health insurance, and out-of-pocket spending. Annual surveys of individuals and families, as well as their health care providers, provide data on health status, the use of medical services, charges, insurance coverage, and satisfaction with care.

HCUP is the Nation's most comprehensive source of hospital care data, including information on in-patient stays, ambulatory surgery and services visits, and emergency department encounters. HCUP enables researchers, insurers, policymakers and others to study health care delivery and patient outcomes over time, and at the national, regional, State, and community levels.

In addition, AHRQ produces the National Healthcare Quality and Disparity Report (NHQDR) annually to inform the nation on healthcare quality and disparities in health care. The first report was released in fall of 2003. This report uses the MEPS and HCUP databases to produce their analyses but also utilizes other databases (e.g., the Commonwealth Fund Health Care Quality Survey) in an effort to provide as comprehensive a picture as possible on these issues to policymakers. The National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Report presents trends for measures related to access to care, affordable care, care coordination, effective treatment, healthy living, patient safety, and person-centered care. The report presents, in chart form, the latest available findings on quality of and access to healthcare, as well as disparities related to race and ethnicity, income, and other social determinants of health. Additionally, the NHQDR website links users to the AHRQ website for downloadable copies of the most current annual Report and to the archived Reports. The website Resource section has over 50 links to other related websites for resources and information on healthcare quality and disparities and data sources. The website also includes 3 data analytic tools for understanding healthcare quality and disparities at the national and state level.

A.1 Work Statement

The Contractor shall furnish the necessary personnel, materials, services, and facilities, necessary to perform the work described below.

The Contractor shall perform the following tasks:

A.1.1 Administrative requirements A.1.1.1 Detailed Documentation The Contractor shall provide a Data File Development Report that contains detailed documentation of all data files and work performed related to data editing and analysis. This task shall include cataloguing data files and software, complete with descriptions of their contents and histories, and maintain a back-up system for all data base files. The Contractor shall use a software configuration management tool and data base and file documentation library, approved by AHRQ.

A.1.1.2 Project Management The Contractor shall create a draft and final (upon COR approval) annual Project Management Plan with delivery 30 and 60 days, respectively, after the effective date of the contract or option exercise. The Project Management Plan shall detail the deliverables and delivery dates as stated in the contract along with other contract activities and milestones. The Project Management Plan shall be updated annually.

The Project Management Plan shall include procedures for ensuring all of the following: adequate availability of staff, including methods for recruiting new personnel as needed; efficient use of computer and programmer resources on each task and using efficient methods of debugging programs; perform tasks in an agreed upon timeline; and maintain consistency and comparability of data used across tasks--including use of the most current versions of variables and files by all programmers on all tasks. The plan shall also include a section on procedures for ensuring the data security and confidentiality.

The Project Management Plan shall include a section on the budgeting, monitoring, and documentation of all applicable contract activities and costs by task grouped as stated in the statement of work. The plan shall provide for the initiation of optional tasks only upon the approval of the COR and exercise of the optional task via contract modification. Optional tasks are discussed in section A.1.7 below.

A.1.1.3 Software Management Prepare an annual AHRQ Software Maintenance Plan which provides for the budgeting, monitoring, and documentation of all applicable contract activities and costs related to software management within the following areas:

1) Release (web products) Management, problem resolution and tracking;

2) Hardware/Server monitoring;

3) Oracle Database - Application and source code;

4) Documentation including the Software Configuration and Maintenance Guide;

5) Quality Management;

6) Quality Assurance review; and

7) Configuration Management.

Provide monthly updates to the Software Maintenance Plan.

A.1.1.4 Reporting The Contractor shall copy the COR on communication with AHRQ analysts unless otherwise advised. The Contractor shall prepare monthly progress and summary cost reports for work performed during the prior month. The monthly reports shall be delivered to the COR in electronic format by the 20th of each month. The progress report should include all approved tasks with the task description, task number, budget and Contractor task manager & programmers, AHRQ Analyst as well as a summary of activities during the month including milestones reached; any specific problems encountered and solutions found; any additional information which has a significant impact on ongoing or planned activities or costs. This should also include the planned activities for the next month. Any changes in the task description should be appended in the task description each month.

The format and delivery mechanism for all monthly, final and other progress reports and contract deliverables shall be as specified in the contract. All documentation prepared and delivered for this contract shall be maintained in a file catalog, current throughout the contract life-cycle and shall be accessible to the government for review at any time during the life of the contract.

At the completion of the contract the Contractor shall provide a draft, for review and approval by the COR, and final project report.

A.1.1.5 Meetings Upon award of the contract the Contractor shall hold a kick off meeting with the COR and other AHRQ staff at the AHRQ location in Rockville, MD or through a conference call. The Contractor shall submit an agenda, and any materials to be used for discussion, at least two days in advance of the kick off meeting. The Contractor shall prepare and distribute minutes within 2 days of the meeting. The minutes shall include the contract number, project director, a list of attendees, a description of the issues discusses, action items, assignments and due dates.

During the project the Contractor shall hold monthly meetings with the COR and other AHRQ staff, as needed at AHRQ location in Rockville, MD, or through conference call during which the project will be discussed. The Contractor shall submit an agenda, and any materials to be used for discussion, at least two days in advance of meetings. The focus of these meetings will be to discuss on going tasks, budget and staff. These meetings present an opportunity to discuss plans, progress, problems, and any other topics which may arise during the course of individual tasks. The Contractor shall prepare and distribute minutes of all monthly meetings, and any other decision making meeting with AHRQ within 2 days of the meetings. The minutes shall include the contract number, project director, a list of attendees, a description of the issues discusses, action items, assignments and due dates.

A.1.1.6 Quality Assurance The Contractor shall document and implement a quality control process for data activities performed under this contract. Such documentation shall be reflected in the Project Management Plan. The Contractor shall ensure that all data products including all data files, publications, online data tools, Web sites and software are working as expected through a systematic and thorough quality control review process. All web based products are subject to Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794d) rules.

A.1.1.7 Data Security The Contractor shall provide for the secure and confidential storage of all electronic files as specified by AHRQ. To that end the Contractor shall provide a draft Data Security Plan, for review and approval by the COR, and upon approval a final Data Security Plan.

In addition, the Contractor shall provide for the secure and confidential transmission of data between users at the Contractor’s worksite and between the Contractor and the AHRQ network. The Contractor shall establish and maintain a secure encrypted data transmission capability so that confidential data and documents can be shared between AHRQ and the Contractor. The Data Security Plan and actual implementation of data security shall conform to all current government regulations for the use and storage of confidential data. A list of applicable United States (U.S.) laws, Office of Management and Budget (OMB) requirements, HHS policies, standards and guidance, and Federal Government Computer Security guidelines may be found in Section H, Special Contract Requirements. The data system will contain indirectly Personally Identifiable Information will have a Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) 199 level of “Moderate” security designation.

The Contractor shall abide by all requirements of the Privacy Act of 1974 and FAR Clause 48 CFR 352.239.72. Pursuant to those requirements, the Contractor shall create and publish a System of Records Notice (SORN) in the Federal Register when required and shall publish an updated SORN following a major change to the system, as directed by OMB Memorandum (M) 03-22, OMB Guidance for Implementing the Privacy Provisions of the E-Government Act of 2002, or subsequent replacement guidance. Currently a SORN exists for this project: 09-35-002. The Application and System Development Requirements are found at the following link: https://www.ahrq.gov/sites/default/files/wysiwyg/research/publications/pubcomguide/pcguide2apa.pdf.

As mandated by the Federal Information Security Modernization Act of 2014 (FISMA of 2014) and AHRQ Information Security and Privacy requirements, the system must go through AHRQ’s formal initial Assessment and Authorization (A&A) process and obtain a formal approval to operate (ATO) prior to production data being loaded onto the system. After an ATO is received, the Contractor shall comply with AHRQ’s continuous monitoring program that mandates monthly and quarterly submissions from external Contractors. Details about requirements are referenced in the Security and Privacy Requirements in Section H. All costs for the A&A and continuous monitoring requirements shall be borne by the Contractor.

If a cloud hosted component is chosen as a part of the proposed solution, the cloud service provider must be an authorized Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) vendor. A list of authorized FedRAMP cloud service providers can be referenced at fedramp.gov. Note that AHRQ system security requirements, including an abbreviated A&A process, must still be followed for all cloud hosted AHRQ systems.

A.1.1.8 Development and Implementation of Transition Plan

The Contractor shall develop and implement a transition plan for transferring all applicable data, documentation and activities to this contract.

The Contractor shall develop a draft and final transition plan subject to COR review and approval. The plan shall identify all activities, data files, software, and documentation that must be transferred in its entirety. The plan shall include the transferring of data files, software, and documentation as well as security arrangements for ensuring the confidentiality of data and adequate staffing of ongoing tasks. The plan shall also include details on the following:

· The assignment of specific staff to each task that is to be transferred,

· The physical transfer and storage of data files, and all relevant documentation,

· The implementation of file cataloging and maintenance,

· The implementation of appropriate accounting and security measures.

The Contractor shall make arrangements to transmit materials from the incumbent Contractor, the AHRQ Data Center, or any other sources as needed to assure the shortest turnaround time possible consistent with cost effectiveness.

At closeout the Contractor shall turn over all files, computer programs, tabulations, documentation and other items within ninety (90) days of request made by COR in such form (electronic and paper) that the project may be continued by a successor.

A.1.2 Database Requirements A.1.2.1 Maintaining AHRQ Databases

The Contractor shall maintain, store, catalogue, document, edit, and update files for AHRQ (MEPS and HCUP) databases.

The Contractor shall provide services for designing, testing, and running programs to edit raw data including matching, resolving logical inconsistencies and performing imputations, matching algorithms, and other available methods to account for missing data; creating appropriate sample weights and variance estimates in an efficient manner; and performing quality control checks on final versions of the files. These checks shall entail producing population weighted frequencies of selected variables, and benchmarking the results against other sources of similar information. The data editing tasks shall include creating and documenting new variables and edited versions of existing variables, including updating files when appropriate and documenting updates, maintaining histories of variables created or edited, and keeping track of the latest versions of variables that have been revised.

The Contractor shall be responsible for the following MEPS tasks:

1. Annually create MEPS prescribed medicines file by logically editing and imputing household- and pharmacy-reported information about prescription drugs, and then linking the two sources. The methodology is described in the following report: https://meps.ahrq.gov/mepsweb/data_stats/Pub_ProdResults_Details.jsp?pt=Methodology+Report&opt=2&id=1132

2. Annually editing and top-coding variables derived from reported household-reported income data, and imputing missing data, as described in the documentation for the MEPS Full Year Consolidated Data File: https://meps.ahrq.gov/data_stats/download_data/pufs/h181/h181doc.shtml#IncomeTax

3. Annually editing and imputing household-reported out-of-pocket premiums for private health insurance using methods summarized in documentation for the MEPS Person-Round-Plan File: https://meps.ahrq.gov/data_stats/download_data/pufs/h179/h179doc.shtml#OutofPocket343

4. Annually editing and imputing household-reported assets using imputation.

5. Annually create a file that links the MEPS sample to their respective identifiers in the National Health Interview Survey. The file is described here: https://meps.ahrq.gov/data_stats/download_data/pufs/meps_nhislink/meps15_nhislink.pdf

A.1.2.2 Statistical Data Analysis and Programming

The Contractor shall provide programming and statistical analysis services using MEPS and HCUP data. The Contractor shall work with econometric and statistical techniques used with a variety of large data sources including national surveys, discharge and claims databases. On average, there are 30 analytical tasks that need programming during any given month requiring seven programmers working full-time. The Contractor shall design, program, test and run statistical analyses using software programs such as SAS, STATA, SUDAAN, and R.

The Contractor shall be responsible for the following tasks:

1. Developing analytic files and plans- often employing complex algorithms for combining information across a variety of variables and multiple datasets stored at different levels;

2. Applying imputation techniques for missing data;

3. Development of statistical and econometric models including longitudinal analyses;

4. Conducting literature reviews and synthesis;

5. Conducting statistical analyses for statistical briefs and chartbooks (MEPS-HC, MEPS-IC, and HCUP);

6. Developing and testing data collection methodologies;

7. Developing survey design plans -Instrument design work shall include focus group and cognitive research efforts;

8. Conducting analysis for microsimulation modeling projects using data from MEPS, NHIS, CPS, MCBS and with detailed insurance coverage information;

9. Conducting state level analysis to produce simulated public program eligibility – the task entails editing wage hours, and weeks of work data, merging in data from NHIS, categorizing often complex family relationships, editing immigration status using data from NHIS and CPS, and applying complex eligibility algorithms;

10. Constructing and updating unique hierarchical databases by statistically matching data from the MEPS-HC, MEPS-IC and other employee and employer databases

11. Conducting analysis with MEPS-IC will require a programmer with Census Bureau Special Sworn Status (AHRQ will facilitate). To obtain Special Sworn Status the Contractor must pass a moderate risk background check, including fingerprinting. Additionally, the Contractor must complete annual confidentiality trainings on Data Stewardship and the use and protection of Title 26 data for the Census Bureau.

12. Sampling and related analysis:

The Contractor shall provide programming services required to identify and select the MEPS sample. The tasks shall include: 1) Formatting and quality control of NHIS data files for use in the MEPS sample selection, 2) Quality control review of variables necessary for sample selection, 3) Identification of sample domains, 4) Implementation of MEPS sampling specifications, 5) Preparation of data files to be transmitted to the MEPS-HC Contractor, and 6) Destruction of older NHIS data files in accordance with the AHRQ-NCHS IAA.

13. Benchmarking AHRQ Databases to external data sources.

14. Documentation of statistical data analysis and programing as related to the above tasks.

Above tasks will require the Contractor to access internal datasets as well as other federal and state government healthcare data e.g., Medicare Provider Enrollment, Chain, and Ownership System (PECOS); Medicare Data on Provider Practice and Specialty (MD-PPAS); Medicare and Medicaid Claims and Enrollment Data; Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Plan Finder data and Marketplace public use files; HRSA healthcare data and Census Bureau data; CDC surveys such as NHIS, NHANES, NMACS and BRFSS may also be required for analyses. Additionally, the Agency may provide commercially available data sets such as MEDSTAT, Marketscan, and clinically-enhanced administrative databases for analytical purposes.

A.1.2.3 MEPS Public Use Data Files (PUF)

The Contractor shall create four public-use files annually (samples provided at the links below) from MEPS data along with required documentation about the variables and file contents as well as the codebook. The Contractor shall also prepare the SAS, SPSS and STATA programming statements (TXT file type) for posting. For web posting, all documents will be in html and PDF formats that are 508 compliant.

Annual PUF files are as follows:

The prescribed medicines file: https://meps.ahrq.gov/mepsweb/data_stats/download_data_files_detail.jsp?cboPufNumber=HC-178A The Contractor shall be responsible for the following tasks:

· Pre-match editing, linking, and imputation of Pharmacy Component data

· Pre-match editing and imputation of Household Component data (charge and payment records and non-charge and payment records)

· Matching of Pharmacy Component and Household Component data

· Editing Sources of Payment data for consistency

· Developing data for public release

· Performing quality control and benchmarking of final edited prescribed medicines

· Linking Multum data to prescribed medicines.

MEPS longitudinal file: https://meps.ahrq.gov/mepsweb/data_stats/download_data_files_detail.jsp?cboPufNumber=HC-183 The Contractor shall construct a public-use file for longitudinal data which contains all variables in the corresponding two years of consolidated files. For example, HC-183 represents all variables in 2014 full-year consolidated file and 2015 full-year consolidated file The Contractor shall create all files used for PUF release: Documentation file, Codebook files (PDF version and HTML version), SAS programming statements file, SPSS programming statements file, Stata programming statements file, ASCII data file, SAS transport data file.

The Contractor shall coordinate the release of the PUF to the MEPS Web site.

MEPS 1996-201X Pooled Linkage Variance Estimation File: https://meps.ahrq.gov/mepsweb/data_stats/download_data_files_detail.jsp?cboPufNumber=HC-036 and MEPS 1996-201X Replicates for Variance Estimation File: https://meps.ahrq.gov/mepsweb/data_stats/download_data_files_detail.jsp?cboPufNumber=HC-036BRR

The Contractor shall create a new pooled linkage variance estimation file annually in order to provide a common variance structure for the years covering 1996 to the most current data year available.

The Contractor shall create a new replicates for variance estimation file annually for the years covering 1996 to the most current data year available.

A.1.2.4 MEPS Web publications

The Contractor shall write programs using analyst provided specifications and perform statistical analysis on selected MEPS variables needed for a Statistical brief. There will be five such requests annually. MEPS Statistical Briefs are online statistical reports that contain a set of estimates accompanied by limited text (two pages) of descriptive statistical analyses accompanied by graphics (five figures or tables). The Contractor shall perform technical editing, copyediting, and finalizing figures as well as supporting adherence of Section 508 compliance and updating the style guide as necessary. Documentation of required programming for the completion of the tasks shall be provided.

See the following example:

Characteristics of Practices Used as Usual Source of Care Providers during 2015, by Age— Results from the MEPS Medical Organizations Survey Statistical Brief 509 https://meps.ahrq.gov/data_files/publications/st509/stat509.pdf

The Contractor shall write programs using analyst provided specifications and perform statistical analysis on selected MEPS variables needed for one Research Findings Report annually. MEPS Research Findings Reports are online statistical reports that contain a set of estimates accompanied by text (five pages) of descriptive statistical analyses accompanied by graphics (ten figures or tables). The Contractor shall perform technical editing, copyediting, and finalizing figures as well as supporting adherence of Section 508 compliance and updating the style guide as necessary. Documentation of required programming for the completion of the tasks shall be provided.

See the following example:

The Uninsured in America, 2013-2015: Estimates for Non-Elderly Adults Uninsured throughout Each Calendar Year, by Selected Population Sub-groups and State Medicaid Expansion Status

Research Findings 35 https://meps.ahrq.gov/data_files/publications/rf35/rf35.pdf

A.1.3 AHRQ Data Center Tasks and Services The Contractor shall provide onsite support for the AHRQ Data Center including the development of and updates to policy and procedure manuals, inventory control, training, technical support, data migration, and other functions that pertain to the support and operations of the Data Center and secure local area network data environment. It shall also include programming for short-term special requests and descriptive statistical publications. A monthly report of Data Center activities shall be provided.

The Contractor shall provide continuous onsite technical services for MEPS and HCUP data; and serve as the contact point for AHRQ Data Center from 9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on days the Federal Government is open.

The Contractor shall be responsible for receiving and reviewing applications regarding accessing confidential data and answering any questions from prospective data center users. On average, every year there are 40 applications submitted for AHRQ data requests from AHRQ data center. Additionally, the Contractor shall be responsible for monitoring and providing assistance to approximately a combined 200 onsite and remote (Census Research Data Centers) data users.

The Contractor shall provide assistance regarding MEPS data to AHRQ Data Center users in-person or remotely, as needed. This shall include remaining available throughout the Data Center users’ entire stay at the AHRQ Data Center. The AHRQ Data Center is located at 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, MD 20857.

The Contractor shall also provide technical support for developing analytical files using confidential data; merge data brought by the outside users; and consult with staff and/or outside users on security arrangements for the use of the data within the AHRQ data center.

The Contractor shall provide HCUP data librarian and analytic services to on-site and remote AHRQ staff. The Contractor shall provide on-site file and data transfer services, monitor and serve as gatekeeper for HCUP data access accounts and confidential data maintained in the secure LAN, maintain a log of data files, and ensure arrangements made with third parties to access datasets or analytic files are accomplished in accordance with AHRQ data use guidelines.

The Contractor shall serve as the gatekeeper for confidential data maintained onsite in the AHRQ Data Center. This includes MEPS data, HCUP data, CMS research files and a number of other files used for research in conjunction with MEPS and HCUP data. The Contractor shall maintain a log of data files and prepare weekly data center project reports.

The Contractor shall monitor PC and LAN use and storage and coordinate equipment upgrades and license renewals with AHRQ Secure LAN administrator.

The Contractor shall install MEPS and HCUP and secondary data files, execute data transfers to and from the AHRQ network to other MEPS and/or HCUP Contractors and users.

The Contractor shall provide two levels of “virtual seats” (basic and enhanced) in a secure data environment for analytic processing and storage using HCUP secure data. The basic virtual seat will provide a means for an AHRQ-approved outside researcher to gain access to HCUP data on the secure LAN and to develop analytic files and run statistical programming analyses using software such as (but not limited to) SAS, STATA, and SUDAAN. The Contractor shall provide four basic virtual seats at any one time. The enhanced virtual seat will provide access to data on the secure LAN as described for the basic virtual seat and with expanded processing and data storage capacity sufficient to accommodate running ten analyses in parallel, and the capacity to use additional statistical software such as R, Shiny R, Stat Transfer, and Python; the Contractor shall provide five enhanced virtual seats at any one time.

A.1.4 Website Management, Web Tools and Publications A.1.4.1 Website Management The Contractor shall maintain and manage MEPS and HCUPnet websites which shall include development, testing, and production sites. The Contractor shall configure these sites such that any deployment to the production website that contains errors can be immediately reverted to a stable instance, until such errors can be corrected. Both MEPS and HCUPnet are to be hosted by the Contractor on a secure server.

In addition to the above, the Contractor shall be responsible for the following tasks:

The Contractor shall prepare and post 20 MEPS Public Use Files annually on the MEPS website (four shall be created (as specified in the section A.1.2.3) before posting and the remaining 16 will be posted. https://meps.ahrq.gov/mepsweb/data_stats/download_data_files.jsp

The Contractor shall provide general support for MEPS PUFs. The work shall include the following.

· Maintain the PUF data release schedule on the AHRQ MEPS Web site.

· Perform data management activities for PUFs residing on the project network drive.

· Investigate data issues affecting PUF files and provide programming support to resolve these.

· Review PUF materials sent to AHRQ from the MEPS Data Collection Contractor, check the correctness of the PUF postings to the MEPS Web site, and create HTML versions of the PUF codebooks.

· Check the accuracy of data created by SPSS and Stata programs posted (as user notes) to the MEPS Web site for reading PUF data.

· Provide editorial support for PUF activities.

· Investigate web-based publishing issues that affect the PUFs.

A.1.4.2 Web Tools

The Contractor shall provide technical editing, graphical services and quality control services to facilitate timely and accurate data products for posting on designated websites. The Contractor shall perform quality control activities on Individual pages, links and databases on an ongoing fashion. Any errors found shall be corrected within four hours of discovery.

The Contractor shall monitor AHRQ websites 24/7 every day. The Contractor shall notify AHRQ as soon as an unexpected website outage is encountered. This notification shall include proposed solutions and a timeline for implementation.

All web documents shall be in compliance with Section 508 accessibility standards. The Contractor shall post all web publications in html and PDF formats.

The Contractor shall maintain the following AHRQ online statistical computing tools:

a. HCUPnet (https://hcupnet.ahrq.gov/): The Contractor shall maintain the HCUPnet tool through monthly updates which shall include uploading of new data, website editing, and any needed corrections identified in the prior month. Additionally, the Contractor shall provide services for implementing data and HCUPnet website upgrades and enhancements, 2 enhancements per year (examples include the addition of new variables or new diagnosis and procedure classification schemes to selection menus; and the addition of color-coded map sets at the national, state, and county levels).

b. MEPSnet/HC (https://meps.ahrq.gov/mepsweb/data_stats/MEPSnetHC/startup): The Contractor shall update annually with new data.

c. MEPSnet/IC (https://meps.ahrq.gov/mepsweb/data_stats/MEPSnetIC/startup) The Contractor shall maintain and update the MEPS-IC Tables on the MEPS website within a pre-approved timeframe after receiving them from Census. Updates are made twice per year. The data will be updated in July when the private-sector data is released and in Dec/Jan when the public-sector data is released.

The Contractor shall maintain and update the MEPS-HC ‘summary tables’ web application (https://meps.ahrq.gov/mepstrends/home/index.html). Tasks shall include:

d. Maintaining the summary tables on a server with the necessary security guidelines for federal web tools.

e. Maintain a development environment accessible to AHRQ staff to facilitate updates. This environment shall include access to multiple browsers, including Chrome and Firefox, for testing. It shall also include a version control tool such as BitBucket or GitHub, a text editor application with code syntax highlighting (e.g. Sublime), the WAVE browser plug-in and a color contrast analyzer.

f. Maintain, run basic QC operations and make minor edits to MEPS-HC tables.

g. Update the ‘summary tables’ website two times each year with updated versions provided by AHRQ.

A.1.4.3 Web Publications

The Contractor shall provide services for MEPS online Publications. This task shall include the following:

a. Provide editorial and web-friendly graphical services (i.e., Web-safe colors and small file sizes for fast loading times) for web posting.

1. There will be ten statistical briefs annually. Five shall be programmed by the Contractor, as specified in section A.1.2.4; and five programmed by AHRQ staff). See the following example:

https://meps.ahrq.gov/mepsweb/data_stats/Pub_ProdResults_Details.jsp?pt=Statistical+Brief&opt=2&id=1228 MEPS Statistical Briefs are online statistical reports that contain a set of estimates accompanied by limited text (two pages) of descriptive statistical analyses accompanied by graphics (five figures or tables). The Contractor shall be responsible for technical editing, copyediting, and finalizing figures as well as supporting adherence of Section 508 compliance and updating the style guide as necessary.

2. There will be two research Findings annually. One shall be programmed by the Contractor, as specified in section A.1.2.4; and one programmed by AHRQ staff).

See the following example: https://meps.ahrq.gov/mepsweb/data_stats/Pub_ProdResults_Details.jsp?pt=Research+Findings&opt=2&id=1222 MEPS Research Findings Reports are online statistical reports that contain a set of estimates accompanied by text (five pages) of descriptive statistical analyses accompanied by graphics (ten figures or tables). The Contractor shall be responsible for technical editing, copyediting, and finalizing figures as well as supporting adherence of Section 508 compliance and updating the style guide as necessary.

3. There will be one Insurance Component Chartbook annually.

See the following example: MEPS Insurance Component Chartbook 2016 Chartbook 21 https://meps.ahrq.gov/data_files/publications/cb21/cb21a.pdf The Insurance Component Chartbook is an online statistical report that contains a series of estimates accompanied by text (approximately 100 pages) of descriptive statistical analyses accompanied by tables (again, approximately 100). The Contractor shall be responsible for technical editing, copyediting, and finalizing tables as well as supporting adherence of Section 508 compliance and updating the style guide as necessary.

4. There will be one methods report annually.

See the following example: Sample Design of the 2017 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey Insurance Component Methodology Report 31 https://meps.ahrq.gov/data_files/publications/mr31/mr31.pdf

A Methods Report is an online report that contains a detailed discussion of key methodological features of the MEPS surveys (Household Component, Medical Provider Component, and Insurance Component). Content consists of approximately ten pages of text and tables each. The Contractor shall be responsible for technical editing, copyediting, and finalizing tables as well as supporting adherence of Section 508 compliance and updating the style guide as necessary.

5. There will be two working papers annually.

See the following example:

Comparing MEPS Use and Expenditure Estimates for the Privately Insured to Truven MarketScan® and OptumLabs™ Claims Data, 2008-2013 Working Paper 17001 https://meps.ahrq.gov/data_files/publications/workingpapers/wp_17001.pdf

A Working Paper is an online research paper that contains a detailed discussion of a specific analytical topic related to the MEPS (Household Component, Medical Provider Component, and Insurance Component). Content consists of approximately 25 pages of text and ten tables. The Contractor shall be responsible for technical editing, copyediting, and finalizing tables as well as supporting adherence of Section 508 compliance and updating the style guide as necessary.

A.1.5 Workshops, Conferences and Booth exhibits A.1.5.1 Workshops The Contractor shall access to the AHRQ Conference Management Application in order to monitor online registration. During the registration process, the Contractor staff shall communicate with the people who submitted registrations with any questions and answer any general logistics questions from those registered. The Contractor shall also manage onsite registration tasks associated with MEPS and HCUP workshops.

Annually, there shall be two MEPS workshops and two HCUP workshops (four per year) at the AHRQ headquarters, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, MD 20857. Each of these workshops is a full day workshop (9 am to 5 pm). The Contractor shall provide two onsite technical experts for MEPS workshops to assist attendees with creating analytic files and answering any programming questions for the duration of these two workshops. Onsite technical experts are not required for HCUP workshops.

A.1.5.2 Conferences, Booths and Exhibits The Contractor shall provide staff (one person) to help answer technical questions for HCUP exhibits and promotional booths at professional conferences and meetings. The Contractor shall be at the conference booth for two days of the exhibit. There will be two such conferences per year, both of which will involve out-of-town travel.

A.1.6 Technical Support and Production for National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Reports

A.1.6.1 Technical Support for QDR Online Tools The Contractor shall host a secure server and be responsible for overall maintenance and annual updates for National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Report (NHQDR) website: https://nhqrnet.ahrq.gov.

The Contractor shall be responsible for the development, testing, and production sites for NHQDR website and its components as enumerated below. The Contractor shall configure these sites such that any deployment to the production website that contains errors can be reverted to a stable instance with 4 hours, until such errors can be corrected.

Tasks shall include:

1. The Contractor shall maintain the Oracle database which is the basis of the data used for the NHQDR Website tools --National Benchmarks, State Snapshots and Data Query Tool, and the IQDnet tool.

a. Includes reading the Excel tables into SAS, editing the labels, linking each data point to 14 IDs, output 14 SAS datasets, and loading the datasets into the Oracle database.

b. Formatting and uploading over 2000 data tables for 400 measures from about 40 data sources into the website’s Oracle database each year.

c. Performing quality assurance on annual data tables to ensure accuracy against Meta-analytic table and source data.

2. The Contractor shall maintain functionality of the NHQDR online tools on the websites.

a. Refresh data for the National Benchmarks, State Snapshots, Date Query, IQDnet tools from the Oracle database.

3. The Contractor shall perform configuration management, quality audits and server/database backups.

4. The Contractor shall perform and monitor Quality Control and User Acceptance Testing.

5. The Contractor shall support and maintain the IQDnet, NHQDR web site and associated databases.

6. The Contractor shall provide support for documentation necessary for Certification and Accreditation (C&A), and plan for system authority to operate (ATO).

7. The Contractor shall participate in C&A of the system that houses the site.

8. The Contractor shall remediate application-specific issues identified during the C&A and documented in the resultant Plan of Actions and Milestones (POAM.)

A.1.6.2 Support for National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Reports Production The Contractor shall be responsible for providing analytical support for National Healthcare Quality and Disparities (NHQDR) Reports production. The Contractor shall conduct statistical analyses using NHQDR methods approved by AHRQ and HHS Interagency Work Group subject matter experts and maintain all related documentation. The data source descriptions, measures specifications, and detailed analytic methods are all available and accessible from the NHQDR website. The Methods document can be accessed here: https://www.ahrq.gov/sites/default/files/wysiwyg/research/findings/nhqrdr/nhqdr16/2016qdrintromethods.pdf The National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Report can be accessed here: https://www.ahrq.gov/research/findings/nhqrdr/index.html The Contractor shall be responsible for:

1. The Contractor shall generate an annual NHQDR measure set from analytic data tables and build a meta-table with summary statistics, making statistical comparisons of source data from annual analytic datasets using SAS, Excel, and other software applications. AHRQ will provide an Excel template for the meta-table summary statistics, accompanying measure specifications, data source descriptions, all QDR Methods documents including, measure specs and the Oracle database. All tasks shall include updating data for calculations annually from source data.

2. The Contractor shall conduct statistical analyses on trends in healthcare quality and disparities for approximately 250 measures for the annual Report (Excel Meta-analyses table template will be provided). The Contractor shall determine statistical significance of annual percentage change; and identify trends that are changing most rapidly and slowly.

3. The Contractor shall conduct statistical analyses on each population category[footnoteRef:1] to determine disparities gaps in the delivery of healthcare for approximately 250 measures for the annual Report (Excel Meta-analyses table template will be provided); and calculate comparisons of estimates for each group using absolute and relative difference. [1: Population categories in the NHQDR include: 6 racial/ethnic groups, 4 urban/rural groups, 3 activity limitation groups, 2sex groups, 4-6 age groups, 3-4 insurance status groups,4 income groups]

4. The Contractor shall calculate national achievable benchmarks for approximately 120 measures for the National Benchmarks tool (Excel table template will be provided); conduct statistical analyses to compare each state’s estimate to the national achievable benchmark (see current Methods document below): determine the average annual percent change for time to benchmark; and identify measures that are significantly different from benchmark values, close to benchmark values and not significantly different from benchmark values per NHQDR methods (see current Methods document below).

5. The Contractor shall produce tables containing summary statistics, create alternative text for ADA section 508 compliance, and provide lead writing and analytic support for selected chapters or sections of the annual Report.

6. The Contractor shall provide support and the maintenance of the Oracle database, the basis of the data used for the NHQDR online tools: National Benchmarks; State Snapshots; Data Query Tool, and the IQDnet tool. The task shall include reading Excel tables into SAS, editing the labels, linking each data point to 14 IDs, outputting 14 SAS datasets, and loading the datasets into the Oracle server. Additionally the task shall include formatting and uploading over 2000 data tables for 400 measures from approximately 40 data sources into the website’s Oracle database each year; updating trend tables, generating appropriate footnotes, applying QDR standardized formatting and federal publication standards and quality control for the 2000 plus data tables and performing quality assurance on annual data tables to ensure accuracy against source data.

7. The Contractor shall maintain the measure set list of over 400 healthcare quality and disparities measures by updating the measure identification numbering system, documenting changes including new measures, retired measures, and measure changes. The Contractor shall develop a table of appendices for the NHQDR annual report and annually update the Data Query Tool. The task shall include maintaining the Measures Specification documents (see current Measure Specifications document below) for each measure and link to the data table, data source description documents for each data source, benchmark analysis files that utilizes QDR methods for comparative analysis and trends analysis, and the NHQDR Report Methods documents (see current Methods document below).

NHQDR Introduction and Methods document (PDF): https://www.ahrq.gov/sites/default/files/wysiwyg/research/findings/nhqrdr/2017qdr-intro-methods.pdf Data source description (PDF): https://nhqrnet.ahrq.gov/inhqrdr/qdr_specs/2017datasources.pdf Measure Specifications (PDF): https://www.ahrq.gov/research/findings/nhqrdr/nhqdr17/index.html

125 TB back-up capacity

A.1.7 Optional Tasks Up to two (2) times during the base period and up to two (2) times during each option period, the Government may require the following:

1. Additional programming, data processing and data analysis needed for new research projects for MEPS, HCUP, or NHQR/NHDR. This task shall include consulting with the COR on programming approaches consistent with analytic goals and data processing efficiency.

The tasks may involve extensive data analysis in the construction of analytical variables from Centers within AHRQ. Tasks may include imputation techniques, longitudinal, time dependent analysis along with the development of often complex algorithms for combining information across family members, years, rounds, provider encounters, jobs, insurance sources, clinical or administrative data, as well as complex structured data files. The development of new public use files may also be requested. Most of the programming work for this task will be done using SAS, STATA and R.

2. Additional work on website and web tool design for MEPS, HCUP and/or the NHQR/NHDR. This may include web development, web tool design, deployment and enhancement and/or the development of graphical representations of data.

Specific requirements will be added to this section via modification in accordance with the procedures in Section B.

B.4 OPTION TASKS

a. This Labor Hours Portion establishes optional tasks in accordance with Statement of Work Section A.1.7. Refer to Section H.11 for additional procedures associated with options.

b. The Contractor shall bill for direct labor hours in accordance with the fixed hourly rates set forth below.

PERIOD CEILING PRICE*

* The Ceiling Prices listed above are per-year amounts.

Sr. Programmer

Jr. Programmer

Analyst

Administrative Support

Senior Programmers 3 or more years of experience with regular programming in SAS, STATA, and SUDAAN using health related survey data (including analysis of health care quality, patient outcomes, access and continuity/coordination of care, utilization, and expenditures), or comparable formal education in a health-related field or social science; and experience in using the required database or in the type of work that the task entails.

Junior Programmers 1 or more years of experience with regular programming in SAS, STATA, and SUDAAN using health related survey data (including analysis of health care quality, patient outcomes, access and continuity/coordination of care, utilization, and expenditures), or comparable formal education in a health-related field or social science; and experience in using the required database or in the type of work that the task entails.

Analyst Experience with regular programming in SAS, STATA, and SUDAAN using health related survey data (including analysis of health care quality, patient outcomes, access and continuity/coordination of care, utilization, and expenditures), or comparable formal education in a health-related field or social science; and experience in using the required database or in the type of work that the task entails. Experience with supervising a team of staff (programming staff or other). The Analyst will also have experience in working with the client to define task requirements, budget, schedule, and all the details necessary to proceed with the work.

Administrative Support Experience in providing support to the analytic and programming staff in terms of copy editing, preparing memos and documentation, creating back-up copies of data files and other administrative support.

c. The optional tasks shall be subject to the following procedures:

1. Up to two (2) times per year, the Government may issue the Contractor a modification request containing a statement of work for an option task. These tasks shall be accomplished on a labor-hour basis.

2. The Contractor shall review the statement of work for the option task and submit a proposal for the labor hours associated with accomplishing the…