RFP.doc

PART I - THE SCHEDULE

Request for Proposal No. AHRQ-09-10006

SECTION A - SOLICITATION FORM

Date Issued:

January 21, 2009

Date Questions Due: February 4, 2009 12:00 PM ET

Date PI Form Due: February 9, 2009 12:00 PM ET

Date Proposals Due: March 10, 2009 12:00 PM ET You are invited to submit a proposal to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) for Request for Proposal (RFP) No. AHRQ-09-10006, entitled “Data Management and Computer Programming Support”. Your proposal must be developed and submitted in accordance with the requirements and instructions of this RFP.

The Government anticipates awarding one (1) contract from this one solicitation. A cost reimbursement performance-based contract is contemplated for a period of one year with 4 one-year option periods. Please see Section L.10 Technical Proposal Instructions for further information. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code that best describes the requirement is 541511.

Offerors shall submit the following:

A.

Technical Proposal (See Section L.10) (Original, 9 copies, 1 electronic copy)

B.

Past Performance Information (See Section L.11) (Original and 3 copies)

C.

Small Disadvantaged Business Participation Plan (See Section L.12) (Original and 2 copies)

D.

Business Proposal (See Section L.13) (Original and 3 copies, 1 electronic copy) Your technical proposal must be concisely written and should be limited to 100 typewritten pages (double-spaced, single sided), exclusive of personnel qualifications (i.e., resume, etc., see Section L.10 for additional details). Your appendices are limited to 100 pages (single sided) including all resumes, bibliographies, exhibits and attachments. This limitation is for administrative purposes only and exceeding the limitation shall not, of itself, be considered a basis for rejection of your proposal.

For this particular acquisition, the 2009 AHRQ recommended goal (as a percentage of total contract value for the base period) is 19% for Small Businesses, which shall include at least 5.5% (as a percentage of total planned subcontract dollars for the base period) for Small Disadvantaged Businesses, at least 5% (as a percentage of total planned subcontract dollars total planned subcontract dollars for the base period) for Women-Owned Small Businesses, and at least 3% (as a percentage of total planned subcontract dollars for the base period) for HUBZone Small Businesses and at least 3% (as a percentage of total planned subcontract dollars for the base period) for Service Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses. These goals represent AHRQ’s expectations of the minimum level for subcontracting with small business at the prime contract level. Any goal stated less than the AHRQ recommended goal shall be justified and is subject to negotiation.

Your proposal must provide the full name of your company, the address, including county, Tax Identification Number (TIN), DUN and Bradstreet No., and if different, the address to which payment should be mailed.

YOUR ATTENTION IS CALLED TO THE LATE PROPOSAL PROVISIONS PROVIDED IN SECTION L.3 OF THIS RFP. YOUR ATTENTION IS ALSO DIRECTED TO THE TECHNICAL PROPOSAL INSTRUCTIONS PROVIDED IN SECTION L.10 OF THE SOLICITATION.

If you intend to submit a proposal in response to this solicitation, please inform the Contracting Officer of your intent by completing the Proposal Intent Response Form (attached) and submit the form no later than February 9, 2009. Please fax it to 301-427-1740, Attention: Jessica Alderton, Contracting Officer or email to jessica.alderton@ahrq.hhs.gov.

Questions regarding this solicitation shall be received in this office no later than February 4, 2009. (See Section L.7). All questions shall be submitted electronically by e-mail to Jessica Alderton, Contracting Officer at the following email address: jessica.alderton @ahrq.hhs.gov . The subject line should be marked “Proposal Questions RFP No. AHRQ-09-10006.”

Answers to questions will be provided in the form of an Amendment to this solicitation and will be posted on AHRQ’s web page: www.ahrq.gov under “Funding Opportunities,” “Contracts” and the Federal Business Opportunities web page: www.fedbizopps.gov. It is your responsibility to monitor the web sites where the RFP will be posted to learn about any amendments to the solicitation.

Discussions with any other individual outside the Division of Contracts Management, may result in rejection of the potential offeror’s proposal.

The proposal shall be signed by an authorized official to bind your organization and must be received in our Contracts Office no later than 12 noon, ET, on March 10, 2009. Your proposal must be mailed to the following address:

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality

Division of Contracts Management

540 Gaither Road

Rockville, Maryland 20850 Hand carried proposals may be dropped off at the above location. However, please allow ample time as proposals cannot be accepted until they have gone through security. We will not be held responsible for any delays that may be incurred getting your proposal through security.

NOTE:

The U.S. Postal Service’s “Express Mail” does not deliver to our Rockville, Maryland address. Packages delivered via this service will be held at a local post office for pick-up. The Government will not be responsible for picking up any mail at a local post office. If a proposal is not received at the place, date, and time specified herein, it will be considered a “late proposal.”

The RFP does not commit the Government to pay any cost for the preparation and submission of a proposal. It is also brought to your attention that the Contracting Officer is the only individual who can legally commit the Government to the expenditure of public funds in connection with the proposed acquisition.

In accordance with Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) 2001-16, all contractors must be registered in the central contractor registration (CCR) database in order to conduct business with the government [See Section I - FAR clause 52.204-7 Central Contractor Registration (OCT 2003), Alternate 1 (Oct 2003)] . As stated in paragraph (h) of this clause, additional information can be obtained at http://www.ccr.gov or by calling 1-888-227-2423.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PART I

Pages Section A

Solicitation

1-2

Table of Contents

Section B

Supplies or Services & Prices/Costs

4-6 Section C

Description/Specification/Work Statement

7-47 Section D

Packaging and Marking

Section E

Inspection and Acceptance

Section F

Deliveries or Performance

49-52 Section G

Contract Administration Data

53-55 Section H

Special Contract Requirements

56-76

PART II

Section I

Contract Clauses

77-81

PART III

Section J

List of Attachments

PART IV

Section K

Representations and Instructions

83-90 Section L

Instructions, Conditions & Notices to Offerors

91-115 Section M

Evaluation Factors for Award

116-120 Attachments Past Performance Questionnaire and Contractor Performance Form

121-126 Proposal Intent Form

Breakdown of Proposed Estimated Cost and Labor Hours

128-129

SECTION B-SUPPLIES OR SERVICES AND PRICES/COSTS

B.1

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SUPPLIES OR SERVICES

“Data Management and Computer Programming Support”. See Section C for a complete description.

B.2.

SEQ CHAPTER \h \r 1ESTIMATED COST AND FIXED FEE a.

The estimated cost of this one year contract is $ (TO BE COMPLETED UPON AWARD) b.

The fixed fee for this contract is $ (TO BE COMPLETED UPON AWARD). The fixed fee shall be paid in installments based on the percentage of completion of work, as determined by the Contracting Officer, and subject to the withholding provisions of the Clauses ALLOWABLE COST AND PAYMENT and FIXED FEE incorporated herein.

c.

The Government’s obligation, represented by the sum of the estimated cost plus fixed fee, is $ (TO BE COMPLETED UPON AWARD). The following is the total estimated cost plus fixed fee broken down by year:

Cost

Fixed Fee Total

Year 1 (6/1/09-5/31/10)

(TO BE COMPLETED UPON AWARD)

d.

Total funds currently available for payment and allotted to this contract are $(TO BE COMPLETED UPON AWARD), of which $(TO BE COMPLETED UPON AWARD) represents the estimated costs, and $(TO BE COMPLETED UPON AWARD) represents the fixed fee.

e.

It is estimated that the amount currently allotted will cover performance of the contract through (TO BE COMPLETED UPON AWARD).

f.

The Contracting Officer may allot additional funds to the contract without the concurrence of the Contractor. For further provisions on funding, see the Limitation of Funds and the Allowable Cost and Payment (and Fixed Fee) clauses incorporated into the contract.

B.3

OPTION PERIODS

In the event that the option period is exercised, the total estimated cost, fixed fee and award fee will be increased by the following amounts: (TO BE NEGOTIATED)

Cost Fixed

Fee Maximum

Award Fee Total Estimated Cost Plus All Fees

Option Year 1 06/1/10 – 05/31/11

Option Year 2

06/1/11 – 05/31/12

Option Year 3

06/1/12 – 05/31/13

Option Year 4

06/1/13 – 05/31/14

B.4

PROVISIONS APPLICABLE TO DIRECT COSTS

a.

Items Unallowable Unless Otherwise Provided Notwithstanding the clauses, ALLOWABLE COST AND PAYMENT, and FIXED FEE, incorporated into this contract, unless authorized in writing by the Contracting Officer, the costs of the following items or activities shall be unallowable as direct costs:

(1) Acquisition, by purchase or lease, of any interest in real property;

(2) Rearrangement or alteration of facilities;

(3) Purchase or lease of any item of general purpose-office furniture or office equipment regardless of dollar value. (General purpose equipment is defined as any items of personal property which are usable for purposes other than research, such as office equipment and furnishings, pocket calculators, etc.);

(4) Accountable Government property (defined as both real and personal property with an acquisition cost of $1,000 or more, with a life expectancy of more than two years) and "sensitive items" (defined and listed in the Contractor's Guide for Control of Government Property, 1990, regardless of acquisition value;

(5) Travel to attend general scientific meetings;

(6) Foreign Travel;

(7) Any costs incurred prior to the contract's effective date;

(8) Rental of meeting rooms not otherwise expressly paid for by the contract;

(9) Any formal subcontract arrangements not otherwise expressly provided for in the contract

(10) Consultant fees in excess of $1000/day

(11) Information Technology hardware or software; and

(12) Food and Beverages.

b. This contract is subject to the provisions of Public Law (P.L.) 99-234 which amends the Office of Federal Procurement Policy Act to provide that contractor costs for travel, including lodging, other subsistence, and incidental expenses, shall be allowable only to the extent that they do not exceed the amount allowed for Federal employees. The Contractor, therefore, shall invoice and be reimbursed for all travel costs in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) 31.205-46.

SECTION C - DESCRIPTION/ SPECIFICATION/ WORK STATEMENT

SEQ CHAPTER \h \r 1 Independently and not as an agent of the Government, the Contractor shall furnish all the necessary services, qualified personnel, material, equipment, and facilities, not otherwise provided by the Government as needed to perform the Statement of Work below:

A. SEQ CHAPTER \h \r 11 Background Information A.1.1 The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) conducts research and provides information on a number of critical issues related to national healthcare research and quality which are of particular interest to government agencies, legislative bodies, health policy makers and other health professionals concerned with health care utilization, patient outcomes, quality, patient safety, expenditures, insurance coverage and components of primary care. The research is primarily based on the annual Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS), its predecessor decennial surveys, and the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP). Other research topics include health care quality and patient-based outcomes. Data for these analyses are based on a variety of survey data, administrative and medical records, clinical trials data, pharmaceuticals and prescription drug data, as well as patient-based outcomes and health-related quality-of-life (HRQL) assessment data sets including, but not limited to, the Consumer Assessment of Health Plans Survey (CAHPS), the Medicare and Medicaid administrative, assessment and survey data (e.g., Health Outcomes Survey, Nursing Home Minimum Data Set (MDS), Medicare QIO (formerly known as PRO) data, and the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey (MCBS)), other federal and state government health system and related data (e.g., VA, DoD and HRSA health system data, CDC surveys such as NHIS, NHANES, BRFSS, SLAITS), and commercially available health data (e.g., MEDSTAT Marketscan and NCQA Quality Compass).

AHRQ also has a congressional mandate to produce annual reports to the nation on health care quality and disparities in health care. The first reports were released in fall of 2003. Both of these reports use many of the same databases above to produce their analyses but may utilize 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.

Additionally, AHRQ is responsible for implementing the Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act. In this role, AHRQ has operational responsibilities for implementing and maintaining the PSO program, and for developing the Network of Patient Safety Databases (NPSD). The NPSD will produce analysis reports for the NHQR and NHDR as well as a report to Congress on effective strategies for reducing medical errors and increasing patient safety.

A.1.2

MEPS

The MEPS project, which is housed in the Center for Financing, Access, and Cost Trends (CFACT), provides the Executive Branch, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Congress with up-to-date national estimates of use and expenditures for health care services and health insurance coverage. MEPS data have also been used extensively to estimate the costs of various health care reform proposals and as the basis for numerous peer-reviewed articles in the fields of health economics, sociology, demography, and health services research.

MEPS comprises three component surveys: the Household Component (HC), the Medical Provider Component (MPC), and the Insurance Component (IC). The HC is the core survey. It is an overlapping panel survey of households. The goal of the HC is to provide nationally representative estimates of health care use, expenditures, sources of payment, and insurance coverage for the U.S. civilian noninstitutionalized population. The MPC is a follow-back survey of providers seen by HC families. The IC is a survey of employment establishments. A small portion of the IC comprises jobs held by HC families. This portion was collected in 1996 through 1999 and again in 2001. It has not been collected since 2001. The largest portion of the IC is an annual independent survey of private-sector employers and state/local governments that provides national, state, and MSA-level estimates of employer-based health insurance coverage and costs. Together these surveys yield comprehensive data that provide national estimates of the level and distribution of health care use and expenditures, support health services research, and can be used to assess health care policy implications.

MEPS is the third in a series of national probability surveys conducted by AHRQ and its predecessor agency the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (AHCPR). The National Medical Care Expenditure Survey (NMCES) was conducted in 1977; the National Medical Expenditure Survey (NMES) in 1987. Beginning in 1996, the MEPS survey has been collected annually with design enhancements and efficiencies that provide a more current data resource to capture the changing dynamics of the health care delivery and insurance system.

The MEPS-HC design features include linkage with the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), from which the sampling frame for the MEPS HC is drawn, and longitudinal data collection for core survey components. The MEPS-HC selects a sample of NHIS respondents and collects five rounds of data on their health care utilization, charges, payments, health insurance coverage, health status, access to care, health conditions, demographic characteristics, income and employment.

All MEPS data are collected under the authority of the Public Health Service Act. The MEPS HC and MPC data are edited and published in accordance with the confidentiality provisions of this act and the Privacy Act. NCHS provides consultation and technical assistance. The MEPS IC data are edited and published in accordance with the confidentiality provisions of Section 9 of Title 13, U.S.C. (the Census Bureau statute). For additional information about MEPS including sample design, sample size, and questionnaires see the MEPS Web site at: http://www.meps.ahrq.gov/.

A.1.3 MEPS Data Files

Since 1996, the annual MEPS HC operational database consists of approximately 200 files organized in a hierarchical structure, and comprises files at many different levels of observation (e.g., medical event, health condition, job) containing information related to the demographic characteristics, health and medical care utilization and expenditures of sampled individuals. Currently, data from 1996-2006 on MEPS is being analyzed. In addition, the database contains files for each round or phase of data collection, and final composite yearly files. Approximately 20 to 25 new files are created each year by the data collection contractor. There are also parallel household survey databases with similar sets of files for the 1987 National Medical Expenditure Survey (NMES) and the 1977 National Medical Care Expenditure Survey (NMCES). These data are often used in conjunction with MEPS data for studies of changes in health insurance coverage and health care utilization and spending over time, as well as other types of comparisons as the need arises. Finally, there are secondary and other additional data to supplement the main MEPS data, including Medicare claims and eligibility files, and the Area Resource File (ARF).

The 1996 MEPS Nursing Home Component (NHC) contains 70 different files containing data for a sample of nursing homes and residents within those nursing homes. There are files for the sampled nursing home, files for the transfer nursing homes, and files with information specific to each unit within the nursing home. For each person there are files covering location throughout the survey year; institutional use and expenditure files for each bill, for each NH, for each round of data collection; files for other medical provider use (e.g. physician use); files of monthly prescribed medicine use; files containing information on potential and actual care givers; and numerous person level files. Similar data are utilized from the 1987 National Medical Expenditure Survey, Institutional Population Component (another 90 files). The MEPS NHC was last conducted for 1996; no future collections are planned.

The Medical Provider Component (MPC) files consist of several files containing data from hospitals (including hospital inpatient, hospital outpatient and emergency room data), separately billing doctors (doctors whose fees are not included in the hospital facility bill), office-based physicians, home healthcare agencies, institutional care providers, and pharmacies. Health maintenance organizations (HMOs) are also included in the MPC files and can be hospital or office-based providers. Home healthcare files include data for care received from medical and non-medical care providers. Each MPC file contains several data elements for each medical event for each person-provider pair, and can include such information as dates of visits or purchases, diagnoses and procedure codes, charges for each type of service, and sources and amounts of payment. Unique data elements, however, can be specific to a certain file. The years of MPC data currently span from 1996-2006. The 2006 MPC database contains information from approximately 5,100 hospitals, 10,500 office-based physicians, 200 HMOs, 500 home health agencies, 63 institutional care providers, and 6000 pharmacies.

The household component of the IC database consists of an establishment level, a plan level and a person-level file. Each record in these three files has a 17-character control number which can link the individual records to each other. Variables from the person-level data for linkage to the MEPS HC are included. Additionally, there are files containing remarks from all questionnaires, information on out-of-scope, out-of-business, and complete nonresponse cases, household person cases not included in the MEPS IC sample and Federal Government data keyed from abstracted booklets. The household portion of the MEPS IC database contains information for establishments identified by persons responding to the MEPS HC. The last year that the household portion of the MEPS IC survey was conducted for was 2001.

Additional MEPS files include sampling weights for each component of the survey, geographic identifiers, and secondary data files, such as the Area Resource File, along with the linkages that allow these files to be linked to the core MEPS files. Secondary databases are often used as a source for benchmarking national estimates made with the MEPS data. Benchmarking tasks have involved, for example, use of the Current Population Survey (CPS), the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), the National Nursing Home Survey (NNHS), The National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NAMCS), the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey (MCBS), and the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP).

Finally, because of the 2 year overlapping panel design of the MEPS, the data can be used in a longitudinal manner to track individual respondents over 2 years, or pooled to increase sample size. The MEPS has been operational in every year since 1996, and the contractor will be responsible for working with all MEPS data from all years, including all data from MEPS predecessor surveys (NMES and NMCES) and associated secondary data files.

A.1.4

HCUP

The Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) is a Federal-State-industry partnership in health care data, which is housed in the Center for Delivery, Organization and Markets (CDOM). HCUP’s objectives are to (1) obtain inpatient and outpatient data from statewide information sources, (2) design and develop multi-state, longitudinal health care databases for health services research and health policy analysis, and (3) make these data available to a broad set of public and private users. These uniform data make possible studies of health care delivery and outcomes at the national, regional, state and local community levels across time. Studies include comparisons of health care delivery across communities, the effects of markets on hospitals and the care they provide, variations in medical practice, the effectiveness of medical technology and treatments, and the use of services by special populations.

HCUP includes numerous databases for health services research, and currently includes 20 years of data for 1988-2007. Data collection continues, and forward years of data are expected. HCUP databases contain patient-level information for inpatient and outpatient encounters in a uniform format which protect patient and physician privacy. The Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS) includes inpatient data on approximately 8 million discharges per year from a national sample of about 1,000 hospitals. The NIS contains clinical and resource use variables typically found on discharge abstracts, with safeguards to protect the privacy of individual patients, physicians and hospitals. The NIS includes weights to produce national and regional estimates for participating states. The NIS also includes hospital identifiers which link to the American Hospital Association’s Survey of Hospitals, and county identifiers which link to the Area Resource File. The NIS excludes data elements that could directly or indirectly identify individuals.

The State Inpatient Database (SID) covers inpatient care in community hospitals in nearly 40 states that represent ~90% of all U.S. hospital discharges. SID data include all inpatient stays in all community hospitals for all payers. The SID contains patient-level clinical and resource use information included in a typical discharge abstract and can be linked to the American Hospital Association Annual Survey, to the Area Resource File, and to the Medicare Cost Reports. These data are useful for analyses that can only be conducted with a complete census of hospitals and their discharges, such as studies of hospital market area, access to care, small area variations, and the effects of competition on hospital outcomes and behavior.

The State Outpatient Data currently includes ambulatory surgery data from 27 states, and Emergency Department data from 26 states. These data sources are also expected to continue to grow. Ambulatory surgery data include all ambulatory surgery stays from hospital-based and free-standing surgery centers in the participating states. The patient-level data is similar to that in the SID database, and similarly can be linked to the American Hospital Association Annual Survey, and to the Area Resource File. These data provide for studies that focus on the ambulatory surgery, and the effects of clinical, demographic, physician, facility, and payer characteristics on same-day surgery practice patterns. Emergency department data include all encounters in the emergency rooms for all community hospitals in the participating states. The patient-level data is similar to that of the SID, and can be linked to the AHA and ARF. These data provide for studies that focus on the deliver of care in hospitals’ emergency departments.

All of the HCUP data are available in ASCII or SAS format. They are maintained on the secure server at AHRQ and contractor sites.

A.1.5 HCUP Data Files

The physical format of the HCUP data files has changed across the multiple years of data. Prior to the 1998 data year, the NIS was contained on a 6 CD set in ASCII format. A number of files were arranged across the 6 CDs. Three Core files include all clinical and demographic data elements for each observation. Diagnoses and procedures are organized as two normalized files. There are also two, non-overlapping 10% subsample core files, a hospital weights files for producing national and regional estimates, and electronic documentation. Beginning with the 1998 data year and forward, the NIS is organized onto two CDs. The first CD contains the full inpatient core file for 100% of the observations, two 10% non-overlapping subsamples and the hospital weights file. The second CD includes complete electronic documentation. In the most current years of the NIS, all detailed documentation is maintained on-line at HCUP-US, and the 10% subsamples are no longer included.

The SID and outpatient databases’ file structure has also changed over the life of the project. Prior to the 1998 data year, each data year was split into multiple files: 1) a core file which contained the more common data elements; 2) the state-specific or supplemental files, which included data elements more unique to a given state; 3) the AHA linkage files; and 4) the data development files, which include the most sensitive data elements, such as full dates and zip codes. Beginning with the 1998 data year, the files are arranged in to Core data elements, which include all data elements for all observations, a charges file, which includes all data related to charges, and an AHA crosswalk and linkage file. The Data Development Files are maintained on separate, pass-word protected CDs, and contain the most sensitive information such as unencrypted dates of birth, dates of admission, discharge and procedure dates, and patient and physician identifiers.

A.1.6 Web Support

AHRQ has developed and maintains a Web site for the MEPS at http://www.meps.ahrq.gov/. The Web site is used to provide researchers and consumers access to information about MEPS and to disseminate MEPS micro data, tabular data, and descriptive methods and findings reports in a timely manner. The MEPS Web site consists of several static as well as dynamic sections which are continuous updated by the contractor.

AHRQ has also developed and maintains a Web site which provides access to health statistics and information on hospital inpatient and emergency department utilization at http://www.hcupnet.ahrq.gov/. The Web site allows users to query HCUP data tables and produce statistics in real time on utilization and costs of care in the hospital and emergency department at the state, regional and national level. Output can be generated into tables or graphs. This Web site is anticipated to continue to add data base tables and years of data.

All MEPS publications are posted on the Web site in PDF and/or HTML formats with at least one published format being fully compliant with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act. Similarly, publications using HCUP data are posted in both PDF and HTML format on the AHRQ Web site at http://www.ahrq.gov/data/hcup/.

AHRQ has plans to index, categorize, store and Web-enable all agency reports, publications, data and other content in its Web sites ( including the MEPS and HCUP Web sites) using an Oracle data base system. The Oracle Web-enabled data base system will facilitate interactive and dynamic data search and reporting, non-redundant data storage and help ensure secure operations and maintenance. Also, XML tagging of AHRQ’s Web site content is planned in the future to facilitate efficient data search and retrieval.

AHRQ has developed and maintains an online statistical computing system (MEPSnet/HC) which allows users to generate estimates in real time and MEPSnet/IC which allows users to search for table data and displays the data in a graph for all available years. In addition, many of the MEPS HC tables can be customized online by the data user. These systems require routine maintenance and updates by the contractor. Enhancements to these systems which would facilitate easier access and usability and bring them in compliance with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act are desired.

AHRQ provides data from the HC and IC in tabular format on the Web site. Currently there are 3,500 IC tables, the data for which are provided by the Census Bureau in SAS format. Approximately 400 new IC tables are produced each year. Conversion from SAS files to tables in HTML and pdf formats is required prior to posting on the Web site. Currently there are 600 HC tables on the Web site, many of them are customizable by the data user. These tables are required to be produced using data from MEPS data files. Approximately 80 new HC tables are produced each year.

Quality control activities are a required and critical component in maintaining the MEPS Web site. Individual pages, links and databases must be carefully reviewed in an ongoing fashion. Errors found must be corrected within four hours of discovery, unless directed otherwise by the AHRQ MEPS Web manager. AHRQ uses IBM Rational Policy Tester to certify that all Web content is free of misspellings, broken links, and broken anchors. In addition, all content is required to be compliant with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act.

All supported AHRQ Web sites are required to be monitored from 7am to 12 midnight every day - both weekdays and weekends. In the event that a Web site goes down during this time frame but outside of normal business hours, on-call staff will be available to address the issue.

A.1.7 Public Use Data File Production

A critical element of work performed under this contract will involve tasks related to the production of public use files. Under this task there will be two distinct types of work: (1) Finalizing files received from data collection contractors for public use and (2) Preparing supplemental data files for public release.

MEPS core public use data files are primarily prepared and constructed by the MEPS data collection contractor. Following the file construction, the contractor will be required to perform general quality control work on the data files, and be responsible for completing the necessary paperwork to send MEPS products to NTIS and the Archives. There will be numerous web site data releases with code books and documentation. Also, the contractor will be responsible for maintaining the MEPS files in a common, secure data base network environment to ensure efficient, cost-effective operations of the AHRQ Data Center and secure access of MEPS data by staff and remote users.

HCUP core public use data files are primarily prepared and constructed by the HCUP data contractor. Following the file construction from the HCUP database, the contractor will be required to perform general QC work on the data files. The contractor will also need to have the capability to perform file manipulations on large administrative files for the purpose of supporting analytic tasks by AHRQ staff. The contractor will be responsible for maintaining the HCUP files in a common, secure database to support efficient, cost-effective storage, search, access and secure reporting of HCUP data by AHRQ staff.

For the MEPS, supplemental data files designed to be used in concert with the core data files will be constructed by the contractor. This will involve editing and imputation of missing data. Selected data from operational databases will need to be reformatted, edited and/or imputed to make data suitable for analysis. Each editing task involves a related set of variables and results in the production of internal files, variables which can be released for public use and documentation for all internal and external versions of files and variables.

A.1.8 Analytic File Construction

Another essential element of the work to be performed concerns the creation of analytic files, and other tasks related to data analysis and dissemination. Typically, each analytic task results in at least one publication, either by the agency or in a professional journal, or both. Many analytic tasks are also used to prepare presentations for professional meetings, such as the annual meetings of Academy Health or the American Public Health Association.

While much of the data processing resources are utilized by CFACT and CDOM, other Agency centers require analytic programming support as well, particularly for the two congressionally mandated annual reports on health care quality and health care disparities. The Agency supports research activities on issues related to patient outcomes, health care quality, health care disparities and primary care as well as expenditures and utilization. Data sources for research on patient outcomes, health care quality, patient safety, and primary care may include administrative data, such as claims or encounter data, medical records, prescription drugs data, patient assessments or survey data, as well as data gathered under clinical trials. Examples of potential data sets include the Health Outcomes Survey, Consumer Assessment of Health Plans Survey (CAHPS), NCQA Quality Compass with Health Employer Data Information Set (HEDIS) data, Nursing Home Minimum Data Set (MDS), Medicare Home Health Outcome and Assessment Information Set (OASIS), Medicare and Medicaid administrative records from either fee-for-service or managed care, Medicare QIO (formerly know as PRO) data, the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey (MCBS), Medicare PMED data, and other commercially available data sets such as MEDSTAT Marketscan, Blue Cross and Blue Shield, and the Clinical Conditions Data set and others which may become available in the future. Other federal and state government health system and related data (e.g., VA, DoD and HRSA health system data, Census Bureau data, CDC surveys such as NHIS, NHANES, BRFSS, SLAITS) are also expected to be used for analyses. While CAHPS datasets may come directly from grantees who are conducting the research, the National CAHPS Benchmarking Database (NCBD) is also assembling CAHPS data sets in a standard format from all CAHPS users who wish to participate.

One data set for which the contractor will provide analytical programming support is the MEPS Insurance Component (IC) data. MEPS-IC data are only available at the Census Bureau’s Center for Economic Studies located at the Census Bureau headquarters in Suitland, Maryland. These data are Census Bureau and IRS confidential which will require the programmer to obtain Special Sworn Status at the Census Bureau and perform the programming tasks on site at the Census Bureau. Analytical tasks using these data are primarily in response to requests from federal and state government agencies so they often require a quick turnaround.

Most analytic tasks generally last from 3-12 months duration. Data processing support for these tasks typically includes the creation of new files and variables designed for a specific analytic purpose, and often involve the use of in-house and secondary data, as well as MEPS and HCUP data. In addition to the production of specific analytic files, which are often used in subsequent analysis, analytic tasks based on most of these data always involve the use of sophisticated statistical and/or econometric techniques and require careful documentation of each step in the process. The contractor will be responsible for developing and maintaining a set of internal master variable files to allow analyst easy access to all previously constructed analytic variables. All analytic file construction activities need to be documented.

A.1.9 Processing Environment

At present, much of the computer work for AHRQ data processing activities is performed on personal computers (PCs). AHRQ has migrated all data that pose a risk to the confidentiality of respondents (e.g. names, addresses, etc.) to a secure, network server-based Data Center processing environment. Consequently, most AHRQ researchers have two PCs: one dedicated to processing tasks on the secure LAN that involve sensitive data, and another for processing tasks on the non-secure LAN that typically involve public use data. The standard hardware for research staff consists of two Pentium-based computers in a WINDOWS XP environment. Analysis of data is typically done with SAS or STATA, but processing may also be conducted using a variety of statistical software packages including SUDAAN and LIMDEP. The researchers also require expertise in handling relational databases such as ACCESS, spreadsheets and presentation software (e.g. EXCEL, Power Point). The contractor will assist in analytic work performed on PCs and network Data Center servers by constructing analytic files, and provide consultation services on PC-based data management, econometric, and statistical software.

Additionally, the contractor shall provide mainframe support for AHRQ research activities upon request. Over the last 5 year, we have had data processing tasks done at the NIH Center for Information Technology (CIT) and the CMS Data Center (HDC). CIT and HDC offer a variety of data processing services and a number of different software packages, language compilers, terminal emulation and file transfer facilities for PCs, online services, custom printing, and data security protection. Also, the contractor shall provide data processing support to interface and transfer data files from CIT and HDC mainframes to the AHRQ network Data Center server environment. Further, the contractor shall perform all processing and activities needed to maintain data security, integrity and easy accessibility of data files to support user’s local and remote data processing and statistical analysis needs.

A.1.10 Customized Software

Another element of data processing for AHRQ has involved the development of customized software designed to facilitate the execution of complex tasks for which no standardized or “canned” programming exists. These tasks have included weighted sequential hot-decks for missing value imputations, including a variety of customized statistical checks on the imputed data, and generating public use file code books from the internal data sets used as sources for such files. The current contractor has created a set of SAS macros to automate these tasks, which will be made available to the new contractor. Development of new SAS macros may be required.

The contractor shall perform all software and data file needs assessment, programming, quality assurance, system documentation and associated data processing tasks using high-quality standards and methods. The contractor is highly encouraged to adhere to the highest levels of software life cycle development and engineering as possible as defined by the industry standard Carnegie Mellon Software Engineering Institute (SEI) Capability Maturity Model (CMM). The contractor shall indicate what SEI/CMM certification level, if any, it has obtained.

A.1.11 Data Center Support

The contractor will be required to provide on site support for the AHRQ Data Center, including: the development of policy and procedure manuals, inventory control systems, training, technical support, data migration, data security, and other related functions pertaining to the support and operations of the data center and secure LAN environment. The contractor’s on site staff should be familiar with the data sets and applications used by AHRQ staff and be able to interface with AHRQ systems administrators to trouble shoot problems which may arise with application software.

A.1.12 Quality Assurance

It is critical to ensure that all AHRQ data products including all data files, publications, online data tools and Web sites are of high technical quality through a systematic and thorough quality control review process. The contractor will be required to document and implement a quality control process for each data processing activity performed under this contract. These quality control procedures must be approved by AHRQ.

The contractor will be required to propose any software workflow, document management, and other collaboration tools and products to support efficient operations of functions, processes and tasks performed under this contract. Also, the contractor shall propose any system administration and other Web server and database monitoring, tuning and administration software to support efficient and high quality operations of the data processing, Web site and Data Center tasks under this contract. In addition, the contractor shall propose the specifications for any other software, hardware and network components needed to support efficient data processing for this contract. These proposals should ensure the highest reasonable level of quality data processing operations, service and minimum downtime.

A.2

Contract Purpose

The purpose of this contract is to provide for timely and efficient database management, computer programming–including statistical and econometric analysis, nationally representative sample selections, microsimulation modeling, and complex survey design estimates and analytical statistics from large administrative databases–computer-related consulting and technical assistance, Web support, public use file production, and analysis activities for the Agency. The contractor will primarily assist AHRQ research activities by installing, editing, documenting, and maintaining data bases for staff and, where appropriate, outside researchers; developing analytic files from those databases, and maintaining and updating documentation of those files; developing, executing and documenting computer programs based on staff specifications; design, install, and maintain AHRQ Web sites as directed; providing consultation services to staff on security arrangements for confidential data; and informing staff of economic and statistical programs available for the analysis of national survey data and large multi-user health care databases.

Much of the data management and computer programming support services to be provided by this contract will be based on the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) and the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP). The services may also be based on a variety of survey data, administrative and medical records, clinical trials data, pharmaceuticals and prescription drug data, as well as patient-based outcomes and health-related quality-of-life (HRQL) assessment data sets including, but not limited to, the Consumer Assessment of Health Plans Survey (CAHPS), the Medicare and Medicaid administrative, assessment and survey data (e.g., Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey (MCBS), Home Health Compare, Nursing Home Compare, and Hospital Cost data, other federal and state government health system and related data (e.g., Census Bureau Current Population Survey (CPS), NIH and HRSA health system data (SEER, ARF), CDC surveys such as NHIS, NHANES), and commercially available health data (e.g., Medi-span Master Drug Data Base (MDDB), MarketScan Database and HMO InterStudy Database), and new Medicare PMED files when they become available.

The contractor shall also support the annual production of the National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Reports. This work will include analysis of MEPS, MCBS, and CMS data each year; management of all the summary tables that are used to produce the Reports; annual updating of Report appendices and web tools; and other activities to support the Reports as needed.

A.3

Work Statement – Base and Option Years 1-4 A.3.1 The contractor shall furnish the necessary personnel, materials, services, and facilities, and otherwise do everything necessary for or incident to the performance of the work described below.

The contractor shall perform the following tasks for each Center designated:

A.3.2 Center for Financing, Access, and Cost Trends A.3.2.1 Design, institute and maintain a comprehensive and efficient system of database management, file development, system security and documentation.

A.3.2.1.1 Install MEPS, NMES, NMCES and secondary data files. This includes being able to manage data in a variety of formats, comparing data received with its documentation to check for obvious inconsistencies, and performing logical and other edits designed by the contractor to verify the integrity of the data on installed files. This task will also include creating SAS files from data in other formats, creating and documenting links between MEPS, NMES, NMCES and secondary files, and creating and maintaining a secure environment for processing SAS and other related files and software on the AHRQ network Data Center servers.

A.3.2.1.2 Provide continuous onsite technical support and serve as the contact point and interface to the AHRQ LAN administrator for the Data Center. This task requires that an experienced technical support individual work with the AHRQ designated LAN administrator and be provided for the Data Center. This person will maintain the Data Center systems in accordance with AHRQ policy and procedures and will serve as the gatekeeper for confidential data maintained onsite.

A.3.2.1.3 Execute transfers of data to and from the AHRQ network Data Center servers, the contractor secure PC-based environment, and other locations for AHRQ researchers, and where appropriate for outside users, including transfers between AHRQ network Data Center servers, other mainframes and CD-ROMs or personal computers.

A.3.2.1.4 Provide programming support required to identify and select the annual nationally representative sample for the MEPS from the previous years’ National Health Interview Survey (NHIS). A key feature of the MEPS sample design is that each year’s sample is a subsample of households who participated in the previous year’s NHIS conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In most years, the MEPS annual sample is selected from among responding households in two of the four eligible NHIS panels fielded during calendar quarters 1-3 of the previous year. The sample selection is generally carried out in two waves – 1) from NHIS Quarters 1 and 2 and then 2) from Quarter 3. This task shall include strict adherence to AHRQ’s data confidentiality requirements and consultations with CFACT staff on programming approaches consistent with specified MEPS sampling specifications. Tasks will include: 1) Formatting of NHIS data files for use in the MEPS sample selection, 2) Quality control of files to ensure complete NHIS half sample, 3) Quality control review of variables necessary for sample selection, 4) Identification of sample domains, 5) Implementation of MEPS sampling specifications, and 6) Preparation of data file to be transmitted to the data collection contractor.

A.3.2.1.5 Maintain, edit, update, and document files in the MEPS database in accordance with the system delineated in 1.3. This task will include designing, testing, and running programs to edit raw data including resolving logical inconsistencies and performing imputations using weighted sequential hot-decks and other available methods to account for missing data; developing a programming approach that can be used for creating appropriate sample weights and variance estimates in an efficient manner; and performing quality control checks on final versions of the files. These checks will entail at a minimum producing population weighted frequencies of selected variables, and benchmarking the results against other sources of similar information. The contractor shall provide sufficient backup staff for mission critical highly complex data editing tasks.

A.3.2.1.6 Create and document new variables and edited versions of existing variables, including updating files when appropriate and…