CMS Content Training Sources Sought 260172J.pdf

Sources Sought Notice: 260172J Contact Center Training and Content (CTC) Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services

1. Introduction This is a SMALL BUSINESS SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE. This is NOT a solicitation for proposals, proposal abstracts, or quotations. The purpose of this notice is to obtain information regarding the availability and capability of qualified small businesses (e.g. service-disabled veteran owned small business, HUBZone small business, small disadvantaged business, veteran owned small business, and women-owned small business), capable of providing training and scripted content to customer service representatives (CSRs) at the Medicare and Marketplace Contact Centers. The purpose of developing these materials/content is to aid the CSRs when responding to inquiries in a manner that is complete, accurate and consistent to ensure quality interactions occur with beneficiaries and consumers, their families and caregivers across multiple access channels (e.g.

telephone, written correspondence, web chat, etc.). CMS requires that information being provided to the contact centers is accurate, understandable, in plain language and consistent across all channels of communication.

The information from this market research will assist the Government in determining the appropriate acquisition method, including whether a set-aside is possible. An organization that is not considered small business under the applicable NAICS code (i.e., 541611) should not submit a response to this notice.

2. Background The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is the largest purchaser of health insurance in the United States and works to ensure high-quality health care at a reasonable price for Americans. CMS is responsible for accurate, timely, relevant, understandable, and easily accessible information that helps individuals evaluate health plans and nursing home options and make decisions on their individual health care needs.

CMS operates a toll-free, nation-wide, 24x7 Contact Center Operations (CCO) with multiple physical sites to provide customer service and address inquiries from Medicare beneficiaries, including inquiries about Medicare Parts A, B, Durable Medical Equipment (DME), Regional Home Health, Medicare Advantage (Part C) and Part D. In addition, with the advent of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the CCO also responds to customer calls and inquiries regarding the ACA, Federal Marketplace health choices or other Federal programs and Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) initiatives.

CMS relies on the contact centers to provide accurate, timely, relevant, understandable, and easily accessible information to help individuals manage their healthcare, including understanding their benefits, evaluating health plan options, and selecting and enrolling in plans.

3. Training and Content Overview The purpose of this contract is to develop training and e-Learning products designed to increase the Medicare and Marketplace knowledge of the CSRs and support them in providing world class service to our beneficiaries and consumers. It is important that the potential training and content contractor understand the complexity of the Medicare and Marketplace programs and the scope of the information that CSRs provide in response to inquiries. The contractor must be capable of developing both classroom training materials and eLearning solutions for self-paced modules to support the multiple contact centers that are staffed with an estimated 10,000 CSRs nationwide.

Additionally, the contractor must have the ability to proactively review Medicare and Marketplace policy and new Government provided information to develop and verify the accuracy of scripts, frequently asked questions (FAQs) and other content across all contact center communication channels (telephone, written correspondence, web chat, etc.). It is also important that the contractor possesses an in-depth understanding of the functionality of Next Generation Desktop (NGD), which is the primary application used by the CSRs during all customer interactions. CMS requires that information being provided is accurate, understandable, and consistent across all channels of communication.

The work volumes for training and content have increased with the maturity of this contract. Currently there are approximately 1,000 training products supporting multiple lines of business (General Medicare, Marketplace New Hire, Claims, etc.). This contract also ensures all products are maintained, updated or archived (New Hire Training, Claims Training, e-Learning Modules, Job Aids, Process Manuals, Infographics, etc.) In addition, approximately 100 new pieces of training are in development each year. The content team has over 3,900 products (Phone Scripts, CSR User Alerts, Blast Alerts, Quick Letters, Reference Materials etc.) that are maintained, updated and developed per year. The content count includes both English and Spanish versions.

All these products are stored, deployed, and tracked through CMS provided Universal Content Management (UCM) and Learning Management (LMS) systems.

For more detailed information about the Marketplace or Medicare programs, please refer to the www.cms.gov, www.healthcare.gov, or www.medicare.gov websites, or the Medicare and You Handbook (updated annually in the Fall) at http://www.medicare.gov/Publications/Pubs/pdf/10050.pdf.

4. Requirements Overview Medicare and the Health Insurance Marketplace are critical nationwide programs that are politically sensitive and highly visible. The contact centers serve as one of the primary outreach channels for over 300 million people and therefore requires high performance standards. As a result, this contract delivers critical support to the contact centers by providing training and scripted content to CSRs so they can effectively respond to inquiries.

The majority of this work will be conducted at the contractor’s facility. Key personnel may be needed for meetings with little planning for travel. In the event impromptu meetings are determined necessary, the contractor shall ensure key personnel are able to meet within one (1) hour of any such meeting notification. The following requirements are meant to provide potential responders with an overview of the types of support that would be required, namely planning, development and delivery of various content, classroom training and e-learning products intended to enhance the knowledge of CSRs. Note that although this is an extensive list, it is not meant to be all inclusive.

1. The contractor must understand the complexity of the various programs and the scope of the information that CSRs provide in response to inquiries in order to develop new content, maintain, update and archive training materials, and offer e-Learning solutions for self-paced modules to support the multiple operation centers that are staffed with an estimated 10,000 CSRs nationwide.

2. An in-depth knowledge of the NGD (CSR Desktop) system, including operations, administration, and functionality.

3. Facilitate content, training, and e-Learning services to help craft an overall strategy for improving the customer experience across multiple communication channels (e.g. email, phone, web chat) and support CSRs in providing world class service to CMS consumers.

4. Develop e-Learning programs available with diverse training hours and channels to accommodate a 24/7 operational environment.

5. Create a responsive and knowledgeable training and content development team that shares information across functional areas and incorporates new program initiatives and other emerging/specialized needs.

6. Provide recommendations for continuous improvements and innovations within the training delivery industry and contact center environment.

7. Monitor and respond timely to CSR feedback related to training and content materials, as well as general CSR and customer sentiment about Medicare and Marketplace programs.

8. Proactively review current and new Medicare and Marketplace program policies and other provided information to develop and verify the accuracy of scripts, frequently asked questions (FAQs) and other content across all CSR communication channels (telephone, written correspondence, web chat, etc.) in English and Spanish.

9. Implement, measure and follow processes and best practices for continuous improvement of training and content materials.

10. Provide widely available training resources and content that enables the CSR to respond to customer inquiries with high quality, timely, accurate information that is easy to read and understand; and ensure training curricula supports the various processes and lines of business within the contact centers.

11. Training and content products produced for all communication channels must be Section 508 compliant.

12. Create and accurately evaluate customer satisfaction by compiling and analyzing the results of the CMS-developed and OMB-approved Customer Satisfaction Survey. The survey is administered by the interactive voice response (IVR) and captures callers’ responses to questions at the end of their call with the CMS Contact Center.

13. Develop monthly survey reports with metrics that report customer satisfaction by contact center location, CSR tenure, Average Handle Time (AHT), script hits, transfers, line of business, and identification and trending of high and low call scorers.

5. Capability Statement Information Please provide a statement not to exceed fifteen (15) pages outlining your experience providing relevant training and content services. Please address your knowledge of and experience with each of the following points (1) through (6). Reference, where applicable, specific items from the

Requirements Overview section while providing content and training development support services. Capability statements must demonstrate the minimum requirements outlined below:

1. Demonstrate your expertise and experience providing content development, script writing, and training programs in support of a health care related or politically driven program.

2. Demonstrate your expertise and experience in designing, developing and deploying training, content solutions, and process improvements.

3. Demonstrate your expertise and experience in developing a program for training and certifying customer service agents in subject matter expertise to support inquiries that will be received across various access channels (phone, mail, and web chat) as well in the functionality of various desktop tools and scripts.

4. Demonstrate your expertise and experience in developing training and content programs utilizing data from reporting, process monitoring, call monitoring, and industry best practices. Specifically, provide information on how you measure, track, monitor, improve and ensure the quality, accuracy, consistency, and timeliness of products developed and deployed.

5. Demonstrate your experience and expertise in developing and delivering training materials designed to provide a flexible training schedule, reduce in-class training time and leverages new technology.

6. Demonstrate your expertise and experience in creating and deploying critical information to customer service agents within a 6-hour window.

6. Additional Information Requested Interested parties having the capabilities necessary to perform this requirement may submit capability statements in PDF format via email to Shane Ryberg (shane.ryberg@cms.hhs.gov).

CAPABILITY STATEMENTS MUST DEMONSTRATE THE MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS OUTLINED

ABOVE.

Capability statements shall be limited to 15 pages and utilize font no smaller than 12 point.

Capability statements shall also include the following:

Business Information

a. SAM Unique Entity ID (UEI) Number

b. Tax ID

c. Company Name

d. Company Address

e. Company Point of Contact, Phone and Email Address

f. Current GSA Contracts and Schedules or Other Relevant Government Wide

Acquisition Contract (GWAC)

g. Statement about whether or not you have a Government approved accounting system. If you have an approved accounting system, provide the certification in which the accounting system was deemed adequate (e.g. the name of the audit agency and audit number). You may submit this information as an attachment that will not count towards the overall page limit.

mailto:shane.ryberg@cms.hhs.gov

h. Business Size Status (e.g., small business, 8(a), woman owned, veteran owned, etc.) as validated via the System for Award Management (SAM) for the applicable NAICS code (i.e. 541611). All vendors must be registered in the SAM located at http://www.sam.gov.

i. Reference Points of Contact, Phone and Email Address (e.g. individuals who can verify the capabilities demonstrated identified in the responses.)

The capability statement shall designate any/all teaming arrangements and the work proposed to be performed by each team member. Specifically, the capability statement must address how much effort would be performed by any proposed team member. Note that CMS will accept subcontractors that are similarly situated entities to meet the limitation of subcontracting clause.

7. Disclaimers, Due Dates and Questions Obligations: This notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay for the information provided in response. The Government reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate. Any organization responding to this notice should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed to allow the government to determine the organization’s qualifications to perform the work. Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted. After a review of the responses received, a pre-solicitation synopsis and solicitation may be published in Federal Business Opportunities. However, responses to this notice will not be considered adequate responses to a solicitation.

Confidentiality: No proprietary, classified, confidential, or sensitive information should be included in your response. The Government reserves the right to use any non-proprietary technical information in any resultant solicitation(s).

Conflicts of Interest: It is essential that the vendor be free of all appearance of or actual conflicts of interest. Specifically, the vendor must not have any relationships or arrangements through its business operations or its employees that could be considered as possibly lessening the company’s objectivity concerning any aspect of the campaign. If such relationships or arrangements exist, vendors shall be required, during the procurement process, to identify potential conflicts of interest and discuss how the conflicts will be addressed and mitigated.

Questions: Questions concerning submission requirements may be directed to Shane Ryberg, Contract Specialist, shane.ryberg@cms.hhs.gov or (410) 786-8302. CMS will not entertain questions related to contracting strategy.

Due Date: Responses must be submitted by March 5, 2026, at 12:00 p.m. EST, Capability statements will not be returned and will not be accepted after the due date.

http://www.sam.gov/ mailto:shane.ryberg@cms.hhs.gov