HL7-CMS virtual tutorial SOW_20210820-final.docx

July 29, 2021 Statement of Work CMS Basic Virtual Tutorial and Training for HL7 FHIR Standards

1. PURPOSE:

The purpose of this Statement of Work (SOW) is to have a contractor (Health Level Seven International (HL7)) provide specific technical training to CMS staff on a virtual basis. The tutorials and education sessions will cover HL7 FHIR Implementation Guides (IGs) and Reference Implementations to support the policy and API development being conducted at CMS, including development of ongoing guidance to support industry use of the FHIR based APIs required or suggested for use in its May 2020 Interoperability and Patient Access final rule and the Interoperability and Prior Authorization proposed rule published December 18, 2020. In addition, several CMS groups are building FHIR APIs and using HL7 Implementation Guides in their work, and the use of this standard is increasingly relevant to how CMS will conduct both its data exchange activities, as well as craft its regulatory policies. It will be important for the workforce to have a good understanding of the standard, its vocabulary and its use in order to effectively use it in its work. The educational and training programs requested by the Health Informatics and Interoperability Group (HIIG) will be virtual tutorials for employees in the CMS Office of Burden Reduction & Health Informatics (OBRHI), as well as for other CMS employees across the agency, and for other federal employees with whom CMS interacts on FHIR related projects. Throughout the Period of Performance of September 1, 2021 through August 31, 2022, tutorials scheduled by HIIG will consist of 4 training sessions on a quarterly basis for 3 days (estimated 5-hour duration each). Modifications to the structure of the sessions will be made as necessary for each audience. Additional 10 virtual sessions of 1-hour duration each will be scheduled by HIIG and structured for the intended audience.

BACKGROUND:

HL7® is an international, not-for-profit, American National Standards Institute (ANSI) accredited standards development organization which develops and maintains standards for clinical information exchanged and used in Electronic Health Systems. These standards have been adopted for use by many federal agencies, including the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC), Agency for Health Research and Quality (AHRQ), the Centers for Disease Control (CD), Department of Defense (DoD), the Social Security Administration, Veterans Affairs, and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, among others. The HL7® FHIR® standard is one of many standards developed and maintained by HL7®. Expertise for developing the IGs, providing training, supporting testing environments and educational programs rests with HL7®.

The Health Informatics and Interoperability Group (HIIG) requires support from HL7® through training that will enable a deeper understanding of FHIR basics, FHIR landscape, FHIR IG’s and vocabulary, all to better understand their use and purpose to support interoperability. The use of the HL7® Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resource (FHIR) technical standard was finalized in both the CMS and Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) rules in 2020, and will continue to be referenced in future rules. Services being requested are core virtual sessions for employees to learn about the FHIR basics and FHIR landscape (ONC FAST, DaVinci, other FHIR Accelerators, and the role of FHIR implementations guides in payer, patient and provider work flows, and all related data exchanges.

SCOPE:

HIIG has finalized adoption of the HL7® FHIR standard and certain IGs in its Interoperability and Patient Access final rule, and has proposed to adopt other ones in a recent proposed rule. CMS is dependent on HL7® for creation and functionality of these IGs, as well as for educating stakeholders on their use, and supporting testing between organizations to demonstrate the successful use of the guides in real world scenarios. The individuals who will be attending the virtual tutorial and training sessions are CMS employees that have a diverse range of knowledge of basic FHIR IGs and the FHIR landscape. Additional education is required to ensure greater understanding of the standards and its capabilities for data exchange and broader use.

4. ROLES & RESPONSIBILITIES:

HL7® is providing the expertise, materials, and services in connection with this Agreement as an independent contractor. HL7® and any third parties it contracts with are responsible for taxes on amounts they receive in connection with the contract. Specific tasks for which HL7® is responsible are:

· Coordination of the event, communication, speakers, virtual meeting tool, registration and activities including:

· Create and maintain the agenda for each training session

· Conduct the training

· Determine training platform and set up for each session

· Provide training material to trainees that explains and support information shared during the program

· Conduct evaluations following the training

Period of Performance:

Date of award through September 1, 2021-August 31, 2022

5. CONTACTS:

Contracting Officers Representative (COR) Tecola Smith CMS Contracting Office Representative 410-786-3010

Training contact:

Lorraine Doo Health Informatics and Interoperability Group 443-615-1309

6. PRIVACY ACT:

This Agreement has been reviewed for Privacy Act implications. All parties agree to maintain compliance with the provisions of the Privacy Act of 1974 and applicable systems security requirements.

INFORMATION SECURITY: The Federal Information Security Act (FISMA) requires all federal agencies to protect the confidentiality, integrity and availability of federal information and information systems from unauthorized access disclosure, duplication, modification, diversion, destruction, loss, misuse or theft whether accidental or intentional. The security controls to provide the protections shall be risk-based and business-driven with implementation achieved through a defense-in depth structure. Access to all information shall be limited on a least privilege and a need to-know basis. Guidance on implementing the requirements of FISMA can be found in:

· The Office of Management and Budget (0MB) Circular No. A-130, revised. "Management of Federal Information Resources" ; Appendix III, " Security of Federal Information Systems" (http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/circulars ), CMS Information Security and Privacy Contract Requirements CMS includes an Information Security clause/provision to safeguard information and information systems that support the operations and assets of the agency, including those provided or managed by contractors (including subcontractors) on behalf of the agency. Click here for more information: http://www.cms.gov/Research-Statistics-Data-and-Systems/CMS-Information-Technology/InformationSecurity/Information-Security-Library.html

7. SECTION 508 Information and Community Technology Under the revised 508 compliance requirements, when providing hosting services for electronic content provided by the agency, the offeror shall not implement the hosting services in a manner that reduces the existing level of conformance of the electronic content with applicable Revised 508 Standards. Throughout the life of the contract, the agency reserves the right to perform testing on a vendor or contractor's hosted solution to verify conformance with this requirement.

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