CCSQ39320150247REVSOW.pdf

Clinical Long Term Care Policy and Training Consultant Statement of Work (SOW)

Purpose and Requirements Overview

This acquisition seeks consultation and evaluation services to CMS by obtaining the services and expertise of an individual with a combination of proven experience working with nursing home guidelines, regulations and the State agency (SA) survey process from a CMS survey and certification perspective.

A. Background

Under section 1891(b) of the Social Security Act (the Act), the Secretary has the responsibility to assure the Medicare requirements for participation (RFPs) and their enforcement are adequate to protect the health and safety of all individuals in nursing homes. Section 1864 of the Act grants

SAs the authority to perform surveys of nursing homes to determine initial and on going compliance. A revised survey process and SA guidance/survey protocols will be under development. Subsequently, revisions to surveyor training materials and the SOM will need to be completed.

On July 13, 2015, Reform of Requirements for Long Term Care Facilities was filed in the

Federal Register and will be published on July 16, 2015 for a sixty day comment period. This is the first comprehensive overhaul of the long term care requirements in over twenty years. The requirements will have far reaching effects not only to the long term care population but over five thousand currently trained surveyors that conduct over 65,000 surveys per year. Current surveyors as well as new surveyors will need to be trained and competency tested on these new long term care regulations. A massive rework of surveyor training materials will need to occur in order to ensure the health and safety of the nation’s long term care residents.

The contractor will assist CCSQ with revisions to the SA nursing home survey and certification process to make our policies more effective, efficient, and outcome oriented.

B. Purpose

The purpose of this acquisition is to secure the advice and services of a recognized and respected expert with current experience in the field of nursing home survey and certification processes, as well as development of policy and implementation plans that support a person centered approach to residents in nursing homes. This individual will provide technical guidance and products for efficient and effective national surveyor training in classroom and online distance training forums. In addition, this individual will provide technical consultation, revise interpretive guidelines, conduct analysis of present policy, assist in the development of new policy, and participate in teleconferences and meetings in Baltimore.

The contractor will be required to:

Review, analyze and provide written comments on documents related to surveyor guidelines and survey and certification of the nation's nursing homes.

Have a working knowledge of the State Operations Manual to assist with revisions requiring a quick turnaround time.

Have a thorough understanding of the SOM interpretive guidance and the survey process.

Have a thorough understanding of the nursing home Requirements for Participation and the knowledge and expertise to revise interpretive guidance and assist in the development and implementation of a new nursing home survey process.

Provide technical consultation on the effect of current policies and implementation of new guidelines and survey process.

Provide technical assistance and consultation on refining the survey protocols and making them more adaptable and efficient for implementation by the SA and regional office surveyors.

Have a comprehensive understanding of the CMS nursing home surveyor training experience.

Develop competency-based approach and materials for training LTC surveyors.

Have a comprehensive understanding of surveyor training requirements to assist with developing broader surveyor training programs.

Provide technical assistance and consultation on training needs of LTC nurse surveyors and non-nurse surveyors.

All respondents to this effort must provide current credentials and are subject to State and

Federal background check investigation.

The contractor will provide the following high-level professional consultative services to CMS and demonstrate expertise in project management, meeting facilitation and information gathering and dissemination skills. The Deliverables table presents a summary of all deliverables addressed in this contract.

Contract Administration The contractor shall provide the resources necessary to perform the tasks of the contract. No diversion from this SOW shall be made by the selected candidate without the prior written consent of the Contracting Officer (CO) and Contracting Officer Representative (COR) or designee.

Task 1: Status Reporting On a monthly basis, as directed by the COR, the contractor and the COR will meet via conference call to discuss current and planned activities. The contractor will provide a monthly status report via e-mail by the 10 th of each month detailing the work completed during the prior month, planned and in progress work, and issues encountered.

Deliverable: Monthly status report.

Task 2: Review, analyze and/or revise documents related to the nursing home survey processes

The contractor will review, analyze and/or revise and provide written recommendations on the procedures for the national nursing home survey processes. The contractor will also provide written documents to support survey and certification policy, including materials that can be included in the State Operations Manual (SOM), including Appendix P and PP; develop questions and answers related to nursing home surveyor training and provider certification issues; develop, review and/or provide written comment on draft worksheets, interpretive guidelines and/or forms for use in the survey process; and review and/or develop ad hoc documents as necessary to support the effective and efficient operations of survey and certification activities.

The contractor, as directed by the COR, shall provide consultative and collaboration services to the DNH regarding SNF/NF policy issues via telephone, video conferences, in-person meetings, reports, and email. The contractor will, as directed by the COR, review stakeholder inquiries and advise DNH on their possible effect on interpretive guidance and policy. The contractor shall submit a report to the COR or designee of all stakeholder meetings attended outlining meeting conclusions, the possible affects to DNH polices and if applicable suggest policy change actions.

Deliverable: Report of stakeholder meetings, reports and emails including meeting conclusions, issues analysis, and potential impact to policy and suggested options and answers to inquiries from various stakeholders.

Task 3: Development of Revisions to Regulatory Interpretive Guidelines, State Operations

Manual, Surveyor Training Materials, and Other Related Nursing Home Policies and

Materials

Periodically to conform to current standards of practice, DNH initiates tag and interpretive guidance revisions to the State Operations Manual (SOM). As directed by the COR, the contractor will be an advisor to the Division’s tag editing and development team and subsequent devolvement of surveyor, State Survey Agency, and training material by providing opinions regarding nursing home policies. Additionally, the contractor, as directed by the COR, will review and update training materials on these changes as directed by the COR.

As directed by the COR, the contractor will be an advisor to the Division’s surveyor training team this includes analysis, design, development, implementation, evaluation and revision of training products for new and existing LTC surveyors, clinical and non-clinical. Analysis may include conducting a needs assessment and job task analysis, conducting focus group sessions to determine the best method of delivery for new surveyors as well as those surveyors that are experienced. Content should be developed for nurse surveyors and non-nurse surveyors. The contractor will develop competency based surveyor training materials to support the effective use of training resources. Additionally, the contractor, as directed by the COR, may be required to assist in the surveyor training events.

Deliverable: Analysis report and/or editorial markup of potential guidance on F Tags, Interpretive Guidance, SOM and other policy material. Write, edit and review surveyor training materials and policies and procedures.

Task 4: Summary Report

The contractor shall provide a final report summarizing the work performed and deliverables created under this SOW. The contractor shall submit a final period of performance report 15 days prior to the cessation of this contract which includes but is not be limited to:

Identification of all deliverables;

Challenges and barriers to producing SOW deliverables and implemented solutions;

Suggestions for future nursing home regulation, competency based surveyor training and policy activities.

Deliverable: Final Report

Meetings and Travel

The contractor is required to be accessible to the COR/designee by telephone and to participate

(in person and telephonically) in CMS meetings as directed by the COR. The contractor may be required to travel up to 5 times per contract period. Travel includes, but is not limited to, meetings convened at CMS headquarters in Baltimore, Maryland, CMS external stakeholder and partner meetings, and as requested by the COR. Travel cost (local and non-local to the selected candidate) must be funded through the contract. No additional funding will be requested by the contractor.

Place of Performance

The contractor is not required to reside in the greater Baltimore, Maryland metropolitan area;

however, the contractor is required be telephonically available as directed by the COR.

Period of Performance

The period of performance is 12 months from the date of contract award.

Requirements All work performed under this contract shall be performed under the general guidance and monitoring of the CMS COR and or/designee. All purchase order deliverables are subject to

CMS approval. Deliverables which do not meet the requirements and specifications of the

COR/designee will be not be accepted. The contractor is responsible for deliverable re-submission. Repeated non-acceptable deliverables is a breach of agreement.

Qualifications

DNH requires the contractor to have extensive and recent experience with the CMS offices; have extensive and current knowledge of the long term care survey and enforcement processes for skilled nursing facilities (SNF) and nursing facilities (NF). The contractor must be knowledgeable about current DNH initiatives, such as improved dementia care. The contractor must be fluent in the use of the current MS Office Suite and other software as required.

Additionally, the selected candidate shall have demonstrated successful project management skills which include emergent time lines. Finally, the DNH routinely receives requests for information from internal and external customers such as Congress, other governmental agencies, provider groups, attorneys, lobbyists, and the public. The contractor must demonstrate excellent articulation skills to assist DNH in answering these requests.

Government Furnished Property and Information

Independently, and not as an agent of the Government, the selected candidate will furnish the necessary services, qualified personnel, material, equipment, and facilities, not otherwise provided by the Government, as needed to perform the requirements of this SOW. There is no

Government Furnished Property (GFP) provided for this contract. The selected candidate will supply their own copy of Microsoft Office suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint), Adobe Professional, and have access to a telephone and an e-mail account.

Government Furnished Information (GFI) will be provided in conjunction with required performance under this SOW as determined by CMS. The selected candidate shall become familiar with CMS-provided background materials and shall identify any additional information required from CMS within ten business days of the award of this contract. All documents and materials pertaining to the nursing policy are confidential, unless otherwise specified by the

COR/designee. As such, any party granted access to the confidential materials must have prior written approval from the CMS contracting officer and the granted access party must sign a non-disclosure statement. The signed approved original non-disclosure statement must be on file with the CMS Office of Acquisition and Grants Management and the CMS DNH prior to the review of materials. All materials created subsequent to this SOW are and remain the property of

CMS.

Acceptance Criteria

The selected candidate will deliver all products to the COR/designee, or other designees as directed by the COR/designee, in a timely fashion to meet the needs of the Division as outlined in this contract – this may include quick turn-around situations where emergent issues are under a tight deadline. Electronic transmission will be the primary deliverable delivery mechanism.

This SOW requires the selected candidate as directed by the COR/designee to be present for consultation with DNH staff and designees as necessary to complete work assigned.

The COR/designee will notify the selected candidate of deliverable acceptance and provide written comments within ten business days of receipt of a deliverable. Within ten business days of the receipt of the COR/designee’s written comments, the selected candidate will resubmit the deliverable to the COR/designee.

SECTION 508 - Accessibility of Electronic and Information Technology

(a) This task order is subject to Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C.

794d) as amended by the workforce Investment Act of 1998 (P.L. 105-220). Specifically, subsection 508(a)(1) requires that when the Federal Government procures Electronic and

Information Technology (EIT), the EIT must allow Federal employees and individuals of the public with disabilities comparable access to and use of information and data that is provided to Federal employees and individuals of the public without disabilities.

(b) The EIT accessibility standards at 36 CFR Part 1194 were developed by the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board ("Access Board") and apply to contracts and task/delivery orders, awarded under indefinite quantity contracts on or after June 25, 2001.

(c) Each Electronic and Information Technology (EIT) product or service furnished under this contract shall comply with the Electronic and Information Technology Accessibility

Standards (36 CFR 1194), as specified in the contract, as a minimum. If the Contracting

Officer determines any furnished product or service is not in compliance with the contract, the

Contracting Officer will promptly inform the Contractor in writing. The Contractor shall, without charge to the Government, repair or replace the non-compliant products or services within the period of time to be specified by the Government in writing. If such repair or replacement is not completed within the time specified, the Government shall have the following recourses:

1. Cancellation of the contract, delivery or task order, purchase or line item without termination liabilities; or

2. In the case of custom Electronic and Information Technology (EIT) being developed by a contractor for the Government, the Government shall have the right to have any necessary changes made or repairs performed by itself or by another firm for the noncompliant EIT, with the contractor liable for reimbursement to the

Government for any expenses incurred thereby.

(d) The contractor must ensure that all EIT products that are less than fully compliant with the accessibility standards are provided pursuant to extensive market research and are the most current compliant products or services available to satisfy the contract requirements.

(e) For every EIT product or service accepted under this contact by the Government that does not comply with 36 CFR 1194, the contractor shall, at the discretion of the

Government, make every effort to replace or upgrade it with a compliant equivalent product or service, if commercially available and cost neutral, on either a contract specified refresh cycle for the product or service, or on a contract effective option/renewal date; whichever shall occur first.

Section 508 Compliance for Communications

The contractor shall comply with the standards, policies, and procedures below. In the event of conflicts between the referenced documents and this SOW, the SOW shall take precedence.

Rehabilitation Act, Section 508 Accessibility Standards

1. 29 U.S.C. 794d (Rehabilitation Act as amended)

2. 36 CFR 1194 (508 Standards)

3. http://www.access-board.gov/guidelines-and-standards/communications-and-it/about-the-section-508-standards/section-508-standards (508 Standards)

4. FAR 39.2 (Section 508)

5. CMS/HHS Standards, policies and procedures (Section 508)

In addition, all contract deliverables are subject to these 508 standards as applicable.

Regardless of format, all Web content or communications materials produced, including text, audio or video - must conform to applicable Section 508 standards to allow federal employees and members of the public with disabilities to access information that is comparable to information provided to persons without disabilities. All contractors

(including subcontractors) or consultants responsible for preparing or posting content must comply with applicable Section 508 accessibility standards, and where applicable, those set forth in the referenced policy or standards documents above. Remediation of any materials that do not comply with the applicable provisions of 36 CFR Part 1194 as set forth in the

SOW shall be the responsibility of the contractor or consultant.

The following Section 508 provisions apply to the content or communications material identified in this SOW:

36 CFR Part 1194.21 a - l

36 CFR Part 1194.22 a - p

36 CFR Part 1194.31 a - f

36 CFR Part 1194.41 a – c

The contractor shall provide a completed Section 508 Product Assessment Template and the contractor shall state exactly how proposed EIT deliverable(s) meet or does not meet the applicable standards.

The following Section 508 provisions apply for software development material identified in this SOW:

For software development, the Contractor/Developer/Vendor shall comply with the standards, policies, and procedures below:

Rehabilitation Act, Section 508, Accessibility Standards

(1) 29 U.S.C. 794d (Rehabilitation Act as amended) http://www.access-board.gov/guidelines-and-standards/communications-and-it/about-%20%20%20the-section-508-standards/section-508-standards http://www.access-board.gov/guidelines-and-standards/communications-and-it/about-%20%20%20the-section-508-standards/section-508-standards

(2) 36 CFR 1194 (508 Standards)

36 CFR Part 1194.21 (a – l)

36 CFR Part 1194.31 (a – f)

36 CFR Part 1194.41 (a – c)

(3) http://www.access-board.gov/guidelines-and-standards/communications-and-it/about-the-section-508-standards/section-508-standards (508 Standards)

(4) FAR 39.2 (Section 508)

(5) CMS/HHS Standards, policies and procedures (Section 508)

a. Information Technology – General Information

(http://www.cms.hhs.gov/InfoTechGenInfo/)

For web-based applications, the Contractor shall comply with the standards, policies, and procedures below:

Rehabilitation Act, Section 508, Accessibility Standards

(1) 29 U.S.C. 794d (Rehabilitation Act as amended)

(2) 36 CFR 1194 (508 Standards)

36 CFR Part 1194.22 (a – p)

36 CFR Part 1194.41 (a – c)

(3) http://www.access-board.gov/guidelines-and-standards/communications-and-it/about-the-section-508-standards/section-508-standards (508 Standards)

(4) FAR 39.2 (Section 508)

(5) CMS/HHS Standards, policies and procedures (Section 508)

a. Information Technology – General Information

(http://www.cms.hhs.gov/InfoTechGenInfo/)

Point of Contact

COR: Kim Roche

Telephone Number: 410-786-3524

Email Address: Kim.roche@cms.hhs.gov

7500 Security Blvd

Baltimore, MD 21244

Mail Stop: C2-21-16 http://www.access-board.gov/guidelines-and-standards/communications-and-it/about-the-section-508-standards/section-508-standards http://www.access-board.gov/guidelines-and-standards/communications-and-it/about-the-section-508-standards/section-508-standards http://www.cms.hhs.gov/InfoTechGenInfo/ http://www.access-board.gov/guidelines-and-standards/communications-and-it/about-the-section-508-standards/section-508-standards http://www.access-board.gov/guidelines-and-standards/communications-and-it/about-the-section-508-standards/section-508-standards http://www.cms.hhs.gov/InfoTechGenInfo/ mailto:Kim.roche@cms.hhs.gov

Schedule of Deliverables

Task Task

Number Deliverable

Schedule

Status Reporting 1 Status/progress meetings Monthly

Status Reporting 1 Monthly status report By the 10 th day of each month

Consultation and

Collaboration Services

Report of stakeholder meetings, reports, and emails including meeting conclusions, issues analysis, and potential impact to policy and suggested options.

Approx. weekly and as directed by the COR

Development of

Revisions to Regulatory

Interpretive Guidelines, State Operations

Manual, Surveyor

Training Materials, and

Other Related Nursing

Home Policies and

Materials

Analysis report and/or editorial markup of potential guidance on F

Tags, Interpretative

Guidance, SOM and other policy material

Approx. weekly and as directed by the COR

Development of

Revisions to Regulatory

Interpretive Guidelines, State Operations

Manual, Surveyor

Training Materials, and

Other Related Nursing

Home Policies and

Materials

Write, edit, and review surveyor training materials and policies and procedures

Approx. monthly and as directed by the COR

Development of

Revisions to Regulatory

Interpretive Guidelines, State Operations

Manual, Surveyor

Training Materials, and

Other Related Nursing

Home Policies and

Materials

Written competency-based and/or edited training materials

Approx. bi-monthly and as directed by the COR

Summary Report 4 Final Report

Fifteen days prior to cessation of contract period of performance.