Response to Questions RFQ 16885-FBO.pdf

RESPONSES TO QUESTIONS

Competitive RFQ OS16885 “Training for State Attorney Generals-HIPAA”

1. Is the intended audience for training developed state attorney general staff and enforcement officials or is it broader, including covered entities, business associates and consumers (as required by ARRA, Division A, Title XIII)?

Response: From the statement of work, page 5: The curriculum shall be developed for professionals involved in a variety of disciplines, including federal and state law enforcement and investigations and covered entity policy development and regulatory compliance. …..

The Contractor shall develop a course strategy document covering the design, development, delivery, and/or revision of a variety of self-instructional (SI) (e.g., audio or video), webcast or other computer-based, satellite and classroom courses consistent with the curriculum.

This contract does not serve to fulfill OCR’s ARRA mandate to provide education on health information privacy (Sec. 13403) to individuals. Staff involved in policy development and regulatory compliance from covered entities are included in the statement of work (see above). Such staff of business associates may also access the training.

2. If one of the intended audiences is consumers, does training material need to be developed in multiple languages? If so, what languages?

Response: Not applicable. No consumers are targeted

3. Is the audience for the online modules the same as the classroom participants that are being trained Response d in the face-to-face sessions?

Response: Yes

4. Is the contractor responsible for videotaping the referenced classroom training scheduled to begin June 2010?

Response: No, the site staff will handle videotaping.

5. Is it the goal of OCR to develop different classroom, Web based, etc. training that targets different educational levels/roles (e.g., training for state AG staff versus Medicaid beneficiaries)? What roles will require intermediate and advanced training?

Response: From page 5, task 3: short and long term training requirements for HIPAA privacy and security compliance and enforcement professionals at the beginning, intermediate and advanced levels. The curriculum shall be developed for professionals involved in a variety of disciplines, including federal and state law enforcement and investigations and covered entity policy development and regulatory compliance.

6. Is the contractor required to provide a Learning Management System (LMS) which can track the course participants results of training done in classroom, online, or other self instructed modules.

Response: No, however, OCR may look to dovetail this deliverable into the existing HHS LMS at a later time.

7. Does HHS have a LMS which can be used to support this task, if so what is the name?

Response: Yes, but that is not in the scope of this effort.

8. For online training, is the requirement to develop only a self contained online course and other self instructional materials, that is i.e., No additional registration or reporting capability (LMS) is required in the online training tools.

That is correct, the requirement is to develop only a self contained online course and other self instructional materials.

9. Is the intent for the contractor to implement a LMS that can be expanded to include additional OCR training requirements (e.g., consumer training, covered entity training, etc.)

Response: No or is the training requirement restricted to development of a self contained eLearning course and other training materials?

Response: Yes, a self contained eLearning course and other training materials

10. Following development of the Web based training tools, will OCR host and manage access to those tools or is that the on-going responsibility of the contractor?

Response: OCR will host and manage

11. Is the target audience state attorney general staff and supporting federal/state law enforcement officials or is the intent to also include training for OCR staff regarding the requirements, appeal process, etc. articulated in the HIPAA interim final enforcement rule?

Response: All groups, as well as other compliance and enforcement professionals.

12. Is the training intended to focus on the non-technical aspects of HIPAA/ARRA/HITECH (e.g., overview, requirements, enforcement responsibilities and processes, audit requirements, etc.) or will the training need to include modules that address technical requirements (e.g., EHR/EMR certification requirements, detailed coursework regarding HIPAA security rule technical safeguards, etc.)?

Response: EHR/EMR certification is not part of the HIPAA Privacy or Security Rules and need not be covered. In depth, “advanced” coursework on technical safeguards is not required.

13. The on-going maintenance requirement is optional. Is one of the requirements of the contractor to provide the necessary maintenance tools as part of the general contract that would provide OCR with the necessary maintenance tools (COTS or custom developed) if OCR elects to complete the necessary on-going maintenance and content updates to any training and training tools developed?

Response: Contractor should be available to make content changes after completion of the contract. Task 10, maintenance, does not refer to content updates and instead refers to more technical challenges. The SOW does not require the contractor to provide maintenance tools for OCR use, but we may be interested in such a proposal.

14. Does OCR expect the contractor to develop templates to distribute as part of the training (e.g., template authorization forms, consent forms, notices of privacy practices, business associate contracts, policies and procedures, etc.)?

Response: No

15. Is limited contractor travel expenses for airline and accommodations, etc. allowable under this contract?

Response: Yes.

16. Are there reporting requirements that need to be built into the computer based learning modules (e.g., completion of the module, test performance, etc.)?

Response: Yes, OCR needs to track the effectiveness of the training.

17. Should the contractor include software licenses in the quote or simply the information on where and how to obtain the software used to develop the online modules?

Response: Please include any required software licenses in quote and then transition those licenses to the Government.

18. Pages 2 – 4. There does not appear to be a section for CLIN 0002 for Enhancements. On form 1449 continuation pages, do you want us to add the labor and ODCs for CLIN 0002 to the totals under section B for Option Year One or list them separately under a new section E?

Response: Yes

19. Several references, such as Form 1449, box 20 states the contract type is time and materials and/or labor hours and page 2, the first paragraph states “the Contractor shall be paid in accordance with the fixed loaded hourly rates shown below for the specified categories of labor based on the number of actual hours incurred in the performance of the work specified plus other direct costs at cost.” Other references, such as pages 6 – 13 indicate all tasks are included under CLIN 0001 Fixed Price.

Please confirm that Contractors will be paid on a Firm-Fixed Price basis for deliverables under CLIN 001, 0003, 0004, and 0005 and not based on actual hours worked.

Response: Yes. See Statement of Work, page 19.

Did you intend for the Maintenance or Enhancements to be Time and Materials?

Response: See page 19. Maintenance is FFP; enhancements - Time and Materials.

20. Under Section 2 Purpose, it states that this training is to educate staff from the offices of the state AG. Thereafter, it just refers to state AG’s as the audience. Are there others besides AG’s that require training?

Response: See Task 3, page 5: for HIPAA privacy and security compliance and enforcement professionals at the beginning, intermediate and advanced levels. The curriculum shall be developed for professionals involved in a variety of disciplines, including federal and state law enforcement and investigations and covered entity policy development and regulatory compliance.

21. Page 6, Task 1. How many staff do you anticipate will attend the opening meeting?

Response: Five (5)

22. Page 7, Task 3, Paragraph one. The RFQ states “The Contractor,…, shall design and develop a comprehensive curriculum, which at a minimum addresses the topics listed in Task 4, that addresses and meets the short and long term training requirements for HIPAA privacy and security compliance and enforcement professionals at the beginning, intermediate, and advanced, levels.” How many courses do you expect to be in the curriculum (please provide a range)?

4 to 8

Do you expect all the courses to be developed in the base year of the contract?

Response: Yes

23. Page 8, Task 4. Paragraph one. The RFQ states “For computer based courses, the contractor shall address the appropriate use of products that are accessible via a nationwide telecommunications mechanism such as the Internet.” Do you want the target audience to access the courseware via compact disk (CD) or Internet browser, or both?

Response: Browser

24. Page 8, Task 4. The Government states that they will provide video tape of classroom sessions for use in the WBT/CBT. Is use of classroom video tape a requirement?

Response: No, it is not a requirement.

25. Page 8, Task 4, Paragraph one. The RFQ states “The Contractor shall develop a course strategy document covering the design, development, delivery, and/or revision of a variety of self-instructional (SI) (e.g., audio or video, webcast, or other computer-based, satellite and classroom courses consistent with the curriculum developed under Task 3.” For webcast delivery, do you want it live or prerecorded? Does HHS have an established webcast delivery mechanism such as Adobe Connect, Live Meeting, or other technology?

Response: Any webcast developed will be recorded and not live. HHS will handle the delivery of the webcast.

26. Page 9, Task 4. Will the content provided be sufficient to complete the courseware? Or can we (must we) seek additional source content? If so does that source content need to be approved by HHS?

Response: Contractor may need to seek additional source content, which would need to be developed in conjunction with and approved by OCR.

27. Page 9, Task 4. Who will be developing the process/procedures for States to collaborate/coordinate with HHS? Will the Contractor be expected to interface with this group or will the COTR provide information from this group?

Response: OCR will coordinate with the States and the COTR will provide information so contractor may perform registration and related tasks in Task 7.

28. Page 12, Task 7. Although the contractor is not to attend the training sessions, is the

Contractor required to provide remote administrative support during the training sessions?

Response: No.

29. Page 10, Task 5. Paragraph One. The RFQ states “Web based products will have the capability to test the user on their understanding of the material.”

Where will the CBT/WBT be hosted?

Response: HHS will host the WBT, but no determination has been made as if this deliverable will be part of the HHS LMS Does HHS have a learning Management System that the target audience can access from outside the HHS intranet?

Response: Yes, but no determination has been made as if this deliverable will be part of the HHS

LMS

If yes, what is the platform (e.g., Plateau, Saba, other). Response: Saba Does the LMS have a tool/module for testing or do we have to build one? Response: Yes Will HHS technical representatives be available for support in implementing the

CBT/WBT? Response: YES Can HHS support Flash or streaming video? Response: Yes

30. Page 10, Task 5. Paragraph One.

Will the HHS lab that is used for the beta testing have available all of the operating systems requested in Task 5? Yes

Can the Contractor use the HHS lab as an environment in which to test the CBT/WBT courseware?

Response: WBT should be OS independent.

31. Page 11, Task 5. The RFQ states the training must “Track and record learner performance” and “provides an end-of-training assessment tool” Is the learner performance only to be reported to the learner to gauge progress or is the learner progress to be recorded and reported in aggregate via queries to the LMS?

Response: Only to learner.

Does the LMS have the capability to support tracking learner assessments?

Response: The HHS LMS will not be used in the initial launch of the courseware

32. Page 11, Task 5. The RFQ states “Uses commercially available, off the shelf software and would permit HHS to make content changes as needed after delivery; any license or other information needed to make such content changes would convey with delivery.” Does HHS have an approved training development products, such as Lectora, Captivate, Articulate, Dreamweaver or Flash?

Response: No

33. Page 11, Task 6. The RFQ states “Such efforts may also include the reproduction of video/audio tapes related to courses and/or copies of televised broadcasts or webcasts.”

Will these be digital recordings?

Response: Yes.

34. Page 11, Task 6. Do you have an approved list of graphic software?

Response: No

35. Page 12, Task 7.

In what city is the South Carolina government training facility?

Response: Columbia, SC

36. Page 12, Task 7, Student Registration. Does HHS want to Contractor to secure blocks of rooms at hotels in close proximity to the training facility or will each participant be expected to make their own arrangements?

Response: Contractor is not responsible for these arrangements

37. Page 17. In the Estimated Level of Effort by Labor Category section, Task 9 is labeled

Training Maintenance and Task 10 is labeled Computer-Based Training Enhancements while page 13 lists Task 9 as Enhancements and Page 14 lists Task 10 as Maintenance.

What is the correct title of Task 9? What is the correct title of Task 10?

Response: OCR’s copy of the SOW does not show any inconsistency. Task 9 is enhancements, task 10 is maintenance

38. Page 14, Task 9 states the period of performance for the task is 24 months and page 18, item 7 Period of Performance states that all option periods are for 12 months. What is the period of performance for Task 9?

Response: Task 9 is maximum 24 months

39. Page 17. Are the estimated hours for Task 9 for 12 or 24 months?

Response: Task 9 is maximum 24 months.

40. This solicitation was released shortly before a significant federal and national holiday, with a due date shortly thereafter. Many respondents will be unable to coordinate with key subject matter experts and staff in order to provide a robust, timely response. Would OCR be interested and willing in extending the deadline, in order to receive bids from the broadest range of qualified interested applicants possible?

Response: The Government concurs with the request and grants a five (5) business day extension of the offer due date. Page 1 of 75, SF-1449 Block No. 8 Offer Due Date is changed to

DECEMBER 17, 2009 3:00 P.M. EST.

41. Would you please confirm that separate technical, business and compliance volumes may be submitted in the same email.

Response: Yes, separate technical, business and compliance volumes may be submitted in the same email.