UPDATED_2016_ESRD_Networks_SS.docx

Sources Sought Notice

Agency/Office: DHHS, CMS, Center for Clinical Standards and Quality (CCSQ)

Project Title: 2016 End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) Networks

Classification Code: R -- Professional, administrative, and management support services

NAICS Code: 541618 Other Management Consulting Services (Small Business Size Standard is $15 Million)

Response Date: February 19, 2015 Contracting Office Address Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Office of Acquisition and Grants Management, 7500 Security Blvd. B3-30-03, Baltimore, MD, 21244-1850.

Description

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Center for Clinical Standards and Quality (CCSQ) is issuing this notice as a means of conducting market research to identify parties having an interest in and the capabilities to support the program entitled “ESRD Networks”.

The purpose of this notice is to obtain information regarding the availability and capability of all qualified large and small business sources, including 8(a), service-disabled veteran owned small business (SDVOSB), Small Disadvantaged Business (SDB), HUBZone small business, and women-owned small business (WOSB), to perform a potential requirement. Teaming arrangements are encouraged.

This is a Sources Sought notice. This is NOT a solicitation for proposals, proposal abstracts, or quotations. This is strictly market research to assist in determining the appropriate acquisition strategy to obtain contractor support services to perform the requirement as described in this notice. CMS may or may not issue a Request for Proposal (RFP).

NOTE: If and/or when CMS issues an RFP for this work, awardees will be required to be QIO-like entities. For more information on how to become a QIO-like entity see http://www.cms.gov/Medicare/Quality-Initiatives-Patient-Assessment-Instruments/QualityImprovementOrgs/HowtoBecomeaQIO.html

CMS WILL NOT ENTERTAIN QUESTIONS REGARDING THE RESULTS OF THIS MARKET RESEARCH.

Background

This Sources Sought Notice announces the project requirements expected for a future solicitation for ESRD Networks and the required capabilities sought by CMS. The ESRD-Networks will serve a critical role in supporting CMS quality improvement goals and aims that support the National Quality Strategy (NQS) and CMS Quality Strategy. ESRD Network requirements are set forth in Section 1881 of the Social Security Act and the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1986. The term “ESRD Networks” will be used to refer to entities selected by CMS to perform as a contractor for specific geographic service areas.

At present, the ESRD Network Program consists of 18 ESRD Networks and a National Coordinating Center (NCC) which acts as a coordinating organization to provide leadership and support for achievement of the common quality improvement goals of the ESRD Network Program (see attached map). Additional background information about the ESRD Network Program is posted on the CMS and ESRD NCC websites found here: www.CMS.gov, www.qualitynet.org, www.projectcrownweb.org, and www.esrdncc.org.

Purpose and Objectives The purpose of this requirement is to engage in a full and open competition of the current 18 ESRD Networks that support the ESRD Network Program and acquire ESRD Networks to carry out the requirements of Section 1881 of the Social Security Act and the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1986, as well as, perform the project requirements in support of the NQS and CMS Quality Strategy administered by the Office of Clinical Standards and Quality (OCSQ).

In the future, CMS may reduce the total number of ESRD Networks from 18 to 17 geographic service areas. An ESRD Network may be awarded more than one contract to perform work in more than one ESRD Network geographic service area. CMS expects to separately solicit for an NCC entity after selecting the future ESRD Network awardees.

The contract vehicle will be a fixed price contract with an initial base year plus four option years. The anticipated period of performance for the ESRD Networks is January 1, 2016 – December 31, 2020.

Project Requirements The technical requirements for an ESRD Network and the required capabilities sought by CMS are described below. The tasks described in this Sources Sought Notice and the work of the ESRD Networks contractors must be aligned with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) National Quality Strategy and the CMS Quality Strategy that encompasses the broad aims to achieve: Better Care and Lower Costs, Prevention and Population Health, Expanded Healthcare Coverage, and Enterprise Excellence.

ESRD Network must possess the capability to:

· Develop, design and implement quality improvement research strategies to assess characteristics, social support/environment, and aspects of the health care delivery system impacting persons living with ESRD.

· Develop, design, and deploy interventions that target persons living with ESRD, dialysis/transplant providers, other providers, and/ or stakeholders to meet the performance requirements of the contract.

· Include in the deployment of interventions the attributes of:

· Rapid Cycle Improvement;

· Customer Focus;

· Unconditional Teamwork;

· Boundarilessness;

· Innovation; and

· Sustainability

· Incorporate a focus on engagement with persons living with ESRD.

· Utilize and support the use, completeness and accuracy of data provided by and entered into Consolidated Renal Operations in a Web-enabled Network (CROWNWeb).

· Provide technical assistance and support to dialysis/transplant providers, other providers and/or stakeholders to ensure quality of care and access to care for persons living with ESRD.

ESRD Networks must be uniquely positioned to ensure full participation of the ESRD community in its geographic service area(s). ESRD Networks must possess the capability to operate an organization that develops and maintains:

· Relationships and engagement with persons living with ESRD to promote their engagement in dialysis care and to protect access to and quality of dialysis care, especially among vulnerable populations.

· Quality improvement interventions and technical assistance at the individual facility level to promote care coordination between different care settings, and patient independence and improve clinical outcomes.

· Standardized procedures for collecting data and addressing grievances.

· Communication strategies to convey information from CMS to facilities on HHS and CMS goals, strategies, policies, and procedures including ESRD Quality Incentive Program (QIP) reporting.

· Coordinated approaches to share information and best practices to promote care coordination for ESRD patients.

· Ongoing coordination with other ESRD Networks, other federal partners, state survey agencies, Quality Improvement Organizations, and state and local healthcare organizations.

· Engagement with the ESRD community should incorporate the following attributes:

· Rapid Cycle Improvement;

· Customer Focus;

· Unconditional Teamwork;

· Boundarilessness;

· Innovation; and

· Sustainability

In order to achieve the CMS’s broad aims, ESRD Networks will carry out activities in support of the domains and sub-domains identified below in Table 1.

Table 1: ESRD Network Anticipated Aims, Domains, and Sub-Domains

Involve Patients/Families in CMS Meetings

Support National Patient Engagement Learning and Action Network (LAN)

Promote Use of In-Center Hemodialysis Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (ICH CAHPS) and develop QIA

Focus on the Grievance Process

Address Patients at Risk for IVD/IVT and Failure to Place

Increase Immunization Rates

Reduce Rates of Blood Stream Infections

Reduce Rates of Sepsis

2. Home Dialysis Referral

3. Quality of Life

Develop QIAs for Dialysis Facilities with Challenges Meeting QIP Requirements.

Support for Facility Data Submission to CROWNWeb, NHSN, and/or Other CMS-Designated Data Collection System(s)

Other Important Considerations: Prospective ESRD Network contractors must demonstrate their ability to render services under the following operational constraints.

Organizational Structure – The ESRD Networks shall establish an organizational structure that supports its operations and meets all statutory requirements. The corporate structure must include at minimum a Network Council, Board of Directors, Medical Review Board, and Patient Advisory Committee. Network key personnel (Executive Director, Quality Improvement Director, Patient Services Director, and Data Manager) are required.

· The Network Council must meet the statutory requirements of §1881(c) of the Social Security Act.

· The Board of Directors must consist of ESRD stakeholders from the network’s service area, including at least two patient representatives as required by Section 1881(c)(1)(A)(i) of the Social Security. The patient members shall be representative of the diversity of the ESRD population in the service area.

· The Medical Review Board must meet the statutory requirements of §1881(c) of the Social Security Act and be composed of at least two patient representatives as well as representatives of the professional disciplines engaged in ESRD care. The professional representatives shall include one or more of each of the following: nephrologists, vascular and transplant surgeons, registered nurses with experience in the care of patients with kidney disease, dietitians, and social workers.

· The Patient Advisory Committee must be representative of the diversity of the ESRD population in the Network area and provide input into the development of informational and educational materials for patients and families/caregivers, and offer patient perspectives on the development of quality improvement initiates and the results of those initiatives.

Organizational Conflicts of Interest - Contractors must be free of organizational conflicts of interest, unbiased by ESRD stakeholder interests, and able to provide independent and impartial judgment necessary to perform analysis of stakeholder input and recommendations.

Communication Requirement – Contractors must possess the operational capability to support its service area with a user-friendly website, develop and disseminate informational materials, and maintain a telephone line answered by a staff person during normal working hours in support of the information dissemination activities and to support the grievance processes. ESRD Network websites must be Section 508 compliant and follow all CMS standards and guidelines, and provide links to other specified ESRD Program and federal websites.

Contractors’ Facility, Data Use, and Information Security – Contractors must possess office facilities to support the operational work described in the project requirements. CMS furnishes IT hardware and software, and provides contractor access to data through a secure IT environment. ESRD Network contractors must use CMS-furnished file/print servers, domain controllers, database servers, and workstations or laptops for each 0.5 or greater full-time-equivalent (FTE) employee. Use of contractor-acquired or furnished IT hardware and software is subject to CMS prior approval.

Contractors must utilize and safeguard data released under specific data use agreements and shall protect all Personally Identifiable Information (PII) and Protected Health Information (PHI) at its facility and during transport of information. CMS contractors must have well-articulated and documented information security practices and plans that are current with OMB and NIST requirements, and have a well-articulated and documented information security training and awareness programs for their personnel. ESRD-Networks are required to adhere to the confidentiality and disclosure requirements set forth in the most recent versions of the following:

· Section 1160 of the Social Security Act;

· 42 CFR Part 480

· QualityNet Security Policy which is available on the QualityNet.org website Capability statement:

CMS will evaluate market information submitted by prospective contractors to ascertain potential market capacity to provide services consistent in scope and scale with those described in this notice and otherwise anticipated. CMS is not seeking a response to the project requirements. Interested large and small businesses need only respond to the sources sought questions listed below.

Large and small business entities interested in this opportunity should provide a response that includes the following information for CMS internal use and consideration in preparing its acquisition plan. The capability statement response must clearly identify which company (lead or teaming partner) possesses the capability to address the requirements when answering the questions in this notice.

1. Demonstrate how your teaming arrangement, would employ sufficient staff to perform the project requirements described in the notice in each of the individual areas targeted by your ESRD Network.

2. Must have the capability to meet the Organizational Structure requirements including the identified key personnel outlined in the notice.

3. Must have technical and managerial capability to support the CMS ESRD Networks Aims and leverage existing relationships with program stakeholders (e.g.; providers, other federal partners, state survey agencies, Quality Improvement Organizations (QIOs), state and local healthcare associations).

4. Describe your team’s capability in the following areas that CMS considers required qualifications for the project.

a. Managing patient grievance processes

b. Working with providers to develop quality improvement interventions and strategies

c. Engaging with patients, families, and caregivers

d. Operating consumer support call lines, websites, and designing and disseminating outreach and communication materials

e. Experience working with Medicare claims and CMS data systems such Consolidated Renal Operation in a Web Enabled Network (CROWNWeb), National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN), Integrated Data Repository (IDR), the Dialysis Facility Compare (DFC) data and other clinical measures to target interventions and technical assistance

f. Please identify the geographic areas that your teaming arrangement would be capable of supporting for future planning.

Submission Instructions:

If your organization has the potential capacity to perform the services described herein, please provide the following information.

1. Organization information including name, point of contact, address, website address, telephone number, size, type of ownership, and Email address .

2. Based upon the NAICS code specified herein, indicate whether your firm is classified as a large business, small business, small disadvantaged business, 8(a) concern, women-owned small business, HUBZone small business, veteran-owned small business, service-disabled veteran-owned small business and whether the firm is U.S. or foreign owned as validated via the; Note: All Offerors must be registered in the Systems For Award Management at http://www.sam.gov.

3. Tailored capability statement addressing the particulars of this effort, with clear documentation supporting claims of organizational capability and staff qualifications and expertise. If subcontracting or teaming is anticipated in order to deliver technical capability, the documentation shall address the administrative, management, and communication structure of such arrangements in appropriate detail.

4. Please briefly discuss any potential conflicts that may preclude your company from performing any such work under this requirement.

Written responses shall be provided electronically, by 10:00 a.m. EST on Thursday, February 19, 2015. The subject line of the e-mail message shall read: “ESRD Network Capabilities” and shall be addressed to the attention of: Jeannine.Bohlen@cms.hhs.gov and Michael.Milanese@cms.hhs.gov.

CMS will not accept telephone, facsimile, courier, mail, or hand delivery methods of response.

The page limitation is 5 pages, single sided. Font size will not be smaller than 12 pt. The file size limitation for e-mail attachments is 3 megabytes. Further, access by CMS to information in any files attached to a response is the responsibility of the submitting party. CMS is not responsible for any failure to access information. Therefore, please ensure that files are easily accessible by CMS.

Respondents will not be notified of the results of this market research. Capability statements will not be returned, and will not be accepted after the due date for responses.

Disclaimer and Important Notes: 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. Information provided will be used to assess alternatives available for the potential requirement and may lead to the development of a solicitation. 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.

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).

THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL. THIS NOTICE CONSTITUTES THE ENTIRE SOURCES SOUGHT ANNOUNCEMENT AND IS THE ONLY INFORMATION PROVIDED BY CMS. REQUESTS FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION WILL NOT BE HONORED.