e-CQM_RFP.docx

Contents

End Stage Renal Disease Network

CMS-2012-CONTRACTOR-DQC

Firm Fixed Price (FFP) Renewal

Electronic Clinical Quality Measures Standards and Support Contract RFP-CMS-2015-151078

SECTION B – SUPPLIES OR SERVICES AND PRICES/COSTS

B.1 DESCRIPTION OF SERVICES

There are two significant purposes for this contract. The primary purpose of this contract is to achieve updates for standards and evolution of these standards for eCQM reporting as well as harmonization and alignment for the electronic clinical quality improvement (eCQI) ecosystem related efforts for both eCQM and CDS. This will be accomplished through the expertise of the Contractor as well as collaborating with industry experts. Some of this harmonization will occur with the support of the S&I Framework, and some will occur in other communities (e.g., Health Level 7 Working Groups) with the Contractor leading and performing this task.

The other main purpose of this contract is to continue to support CMS’s efforts to provide an online, single location eCQI Resource Center. This includes information, education, and program web links related to eCQM topics, programs and reporting and submission information. This work was initiated by a federal Contractor in an existing contract, but will be transitioned to and continued through this new contract.

B.2 TYPE OF CONTRACT

The Government contemplates award of a Cost-Plus-Fixed Fee (CPFF).

B.3 ESTIMATED COST-PLUS-FIXED FEE (CPFF)

The Contractor shall be paid on a monthly basis upon its submission of complete and acceptable voucher/invoices. The fixed fee portion of the effort shall be divided equally between each of the 12 months of the base year.

A. Base Period, TBD The total estimated cost of this contract is $TBD. The fixed fee is $TBD. The total estimated cost plus fixed fee of this contract is $TBD.

The Contractor shall be paid the fixed fee in accordance with the following schedule:

Payment of withholding (15% or $100,000 whichever is less) to be made in the final invoice, upon completion of close-out audit.

If the Government elects to exercise its options (refer to Section I, FAR 52-217-9) option periods shall be funded by modification(s) to this contract signed by the Contracting Officer.

A. Option I, TBD

The parties hereto agree that upon issuance of a modification exercising Option I, the following consideration shall be made to the contract schedule.

The total estimated cost of this option is $TBD. The total fixed fee of this option is $TBD. The total cost plus fixed fee of this option is $TBD.

The Contractor shall be paid the fixed fee in accordance with the following schedule:

Payment of withholding (15% or $100,000 whichever is less) to be made in the final invoice, upon completion of close-out audit.

B. Option II, TBD

The parties hereto agree that upon issuance of a modification exercising Option II, the following consideration shall be made to the contract schedule.

The total estimated cost of this option is $TBD. The total fixed fee of this option is $TBD. The total cost plus fixed fee of this option is $TBD.

The Contractor shall be paid the fixed fee in accordance with the following schedule:

Payment of withholding (15% or $100,000 whichever is less) to be made in the final invoice, upon completion of close-out audit.

C. Option III, TBD

The parties hereto agree that upon issuance of a modification exercising Option III, the following consideration shall be made to the contract schedule.

The total estimated cost of this option is $TBD. The total fixed fee of this option is $TBD. The total cost plus fixed fee of this option is $TBD.

The Contractor shall be paid the fixed fee in accordance with the following schedule:

Payment of withholding (15% or $100,000 whichever is less) to be made in the final invoice, upon completion of close-out audit.

D. Option IV, TBD The parties hereto agree that upon issuance of a modification exercising Option IV, the following consideration shall be made to the contract schedule.

The total estimated cost of this option is $TBD. The total fixed fee of this option is $TBD. The total cost plus fixed fee of this option is $TBD.

The Contractor shall be paid the fixed fee in accordance with the following schedule:

Payment of withholding (15% or $100,000 whichever is less) to be made in the final invoice, upon completion of close-out audit.

B.4 WITHHOLDING OF CONTRACT PAYMENTS

Notwithstanding any other payment provisions of this contract, failure of the Contractor to submit required reports when due or failure to perform or deliver required work, supplies, or services, will result in the withholding of payments under this contract unless such failure arises out of causes beyond the control, and without the fault or negligence of the Contractor as defined by the clause entitled "Excusable Delays" or "Default", as applicable. The Government shall promptly notify the Contractor of its intention to withhold payment of any invoice or voucher submitted.

B.5 WITHHOLDING OF FEE

In accordance with FAR 52.216-8, entitled "FIXED FEE:"

a) The Government shall pay the Contractor for performing this contract the fixed fee specified in the Schedule.

b) Payment of the fixed fee shall be made as specified in the Schedule, provided that after payment of 85% of the fixed fee, the Contracting Officer may withhold further payment of fee until a reserve is set aside in an amount that the Contracting Officer considers necessary to protect the Government's interest. This reserve shall not exceed 15% of the total fixed fee or $100,000, whichever is less.

SECTION C – STATEMENT OF WORK/SERVICES

I. Background The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act, Title XIII of Division A and Title IV of Division B of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) (Pub. L. 111–5) was enacted on February 17, 2009 to improve health care quality, safety, and efficiency through the promotion of health information technology (HIT) and electronic health information exchange. The HITECH Act also amended several sections of the Social Security Act and in doing so established the availability of incentive payments to eligible professionals and eligible hospitals to promote the adoption and meaningful use of interoperable HIT. Title IV, Division B of the HITECH Act established incentive payments under the Medicare and Medicaid programs for certain professionals and hospitals that meaningfully use Certified Electronic Health Record (EHR) Technology. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is charged with developing the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Program and determining the clinical quality measures (CQMs) for reporting that meet one of the criteria for meaningful use.

Clinical quality measurement is an essential tool supporting the transition from fee-for-service payment to reimbursement for care based on quality such as bundled payments and value-based purchasing. Other CMS payment programs that utilize electronic reporting of clinical quality measures and associated standards as part of their requirements include the Inpatient Quality Reporting program (IQR), the Physician Quality Reporting System (PQRS), and the Comprehensive Primary Care Initiative (CPCI). Driven in large part by the Medicare and Medicaid Electronic Health Record Incentive Program (EHR Incentive Program), clinical quality measurement is rapidly shifting from manually intensive chart-abstracted and claims-based measures to electronic clinical quality measures (eCQMs) that can be computed automatically from EHR data. Measurement of quality in this manner has evolved concurrently with a parallel set of initiatives in which clinical decision support (CDS) EHR functionality provides the clinical guidance, based on the same semantic foundation, which is to enable scalable clinical quality improvement This results in improved performance on eCQMs. CMS requires an agile, scalable and cost-effective approach for developing and distributing eCQMs and CDS interventions that will facilitate improved quality of care and produce accurate and reliable measurement across provider/hospital organizations and EHR platforms.

Over the last several years, CMS has expended resources on domain models and tools necessary to support movement towards development of eCQMs for automated computation from EHRs, and CDS interventions to facilitate improvements in care quality. This set of models and tools is referred to below as the electronic clinical quality improvement (eCQI) ecosystem and includes:

1. The Quality Data Model (QDM), that defines an eCQM’ s data elements

1. The CMS Measures Management System Blueprint that specifies the clinical quality measure development process and use of eCQM specifications and standards

1. Standards related to eCQI use, including the Health Quality Measure Format (HQMF) for publication of eCQM specifications and the Quality Reporting Document Architecture (QRDA) for transmitting clinical quality data standards related to quality improvement such as Health-eDecisions (HeD) and Virtual Medical Record (vMR), leveraged for CDS interventions

1. Measure Authoring Tool (MAT) for electronic specification of eCQMs

1. National Library of Medicine (NLM) Value Set Authority Center (VSAC) for development and hosting of value sets that form the semantic basis of both eCQI components

1. The open source popHealth tool supporting computation of eCQMs by providers

1. The open source Cypress tool supporting certification and pre-certification testing of eCQM computation by EHRs

The Standards and Interoperability Framework (S&I Framework) represents one investment and approach adopted by the Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) for Health Information Technology to fulfill its charge of prescribing health Information Technology (IT) standards and specifications to support national health outcomes and healthcare priorities. The S&I Framework is an open forum and collaborative community, with participation from key stakeholders in the public sector and private industry, specifically charted to develop tools, services, and guidance to facilitate the functional exchange of health information.

Furthermore, this project supports the administration of the Quality Improvement Organizations (QIO) Program. The Social Security Act, as set forth in Part B of Title XI - Section 1862(g), established the Utilization and Quality Control Peer Review Organization Program, now known as the Quality Improvement Organizations Program. The statutory mission of the QIO Program is to improve the effectiveness, efficiency, economy, and quality of services delivered to Medicare beneficiaries. This project will support the use and ongoing standards evolution for the capture and transmission of eCQMs for use in CMS’ quality reporting programs for eligible professionals and hospitals.

Moreover, the work under this contract aligns with the work and mission under Sections 3001, Hospital Value-Based Purchasing (HVBP) program, and 3002, Improvements to the Physician Quality Reporting System, of the Health Care Reform Act H.R. 3590, Subtitle (a) Extension. Health care provider adoption and use of Electronic Health Records (EHRs) creates new opportunities to improve the quality of care for Americans by utilizing this rich source of clinical information. Electronic data capture and real-time access to clinical patient data will promote the communication of care between health care providers to ensure care coordination and provide patients with the information they need to participate actively in their own care.

A. Purpose

There are two significant purposes for this contract. The primary purpose of this contract is to achieve updates for standards and evolution of these standards for eCQM reporting as well as harmonization and alignment for the electronic clinical quality improvement (eCQI) ecosystem related efforts for both eCQM and CDS. This will be accomplished through the expertise of the Contractor as well as collaborating with industry experts. Some of this harmonization will occur with the support of the S&I Framework, and some will occur in other communities (e.g., Health Level 7 Working Groups) with the Contractor leading and performing this task.

The other main purpose of this contract is to continue to support CMS’s efforts to provide an online, single location eCQI Resource Center. This includes information, education, and program web links related to eCQM topics, programs and reporting and submission information. This work was initiated by a federal Contractor in an existing contract, but will be transitioned to and continued through this new contract.

B. Technical Considerations

The Contractor will be responsible for the new planning and coordination of the Resource Center as listed in Task 5. They will be responsible for any new technical build to enhance or correct any errors. The Contractor should review the transition plan from the previous Contractor and adapt, where appropriate, specific phenomena, techniques, and methodologies of previous related build work.

II. Requirements

General Requirements

The Contractor and any applicable subcontractors must work collaboratively or as directed, with all other federal Contractors supporting business functions related to eCQM and CDS development and implementation.

As part of the harmonization process within CMS, the Contractor shall understand the Lean methodology, including single piece flow (SPF) system in conjunction with scrum/agile and apply these principles and practices when appropriate and agreed upon by the Contractor and COR. Single piece flow refers to the Lean concept of moving one work piece at a time through the development cycle rather than process an entire batch of a deliverable or document before moving it to the next operation. Scrum/agile refers to a Lean methodology that is an iterative and incremental development framework for managing software projects and product or application development.

All work performed under this contract is subject to inspection and final acceptance by the Contracting Officer (CO) or the duly authorized representative of the Government. The Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) is the authorized representative of the Government and is responsible for inspection and acceptance of all items to be delivered under this contract. The COR shall provide technical guidance to the Contractor on the effort and will monitor and evaluate performance of the work.

Independently, and not as an agent of the Government, the Contractor shall furnish all the necessary services, qualified personnel, material, equipment and facilities not otherwise provided by the Government, as needed to perform the requirements of this Scope of Work.

A. Requirements/Tasks to be Performed

Task 1: Task Management Task 2: Quality Data Model Maintenance and Management Task 3: Update, evaluate and harmonize standards for eCQMs and CDS Task 4: Communication, Coordination and Collaboration with Stakeholders Task 5: Resource Center Planning and Coordination

Task 1: Task Management

1. A – Kick-Off Meeting

The Contractor shall hold an in-person kick-off meeting. The kick-off meeting shall include at a minimum the following information:

· Present a brief overview of contract administration and reporting expectations.

Review Contractor understanding of the work to be accomplished under this contract to ensure that all parties have a common understanding of the work to be performed, defined timeline, and respective responsibilities and obligations of the parties to that end.

Develop, along with the COR, a shared a vision, goals, and objectives of this project.

Confirm other general contract expectations and milestones including sending meeting appointments, arranging webinars or conference call lines.

· The Contractor shall be responsible for providing meeting agendas, minutes, sending appointments and handling logistics for webinars and conference calls for meetings listed in project plan and deliverables for all activities.

1. B – Project Management Plan (PMP)

At the kick-off meeting, the Contractor shall work with CMS personnel to develop a project plan.

· Develop a project management plan (PMP) for this contract, to include the following:

· The major project milestones and the detail items necessary for success

· A plan to track and manage the work for harmonizing ALL standards that support eCQM and CDS

· The interdependencies among and between detail items as required to be successful

· The resources necessary and the primary person responsible for the completion of each task

· Identify the resources CMS needs to provide for the work described in this contract

· The target completion date for each task item and each milestone

· Develop a transparent method to track risks and issues for the project that includes but is not limited to a formal risk register, mitigation plans, and documentation on risks.

· The project dashboard will be updated to stay current and relevant to the tasks of this contract. Changes to the dashboard are those that will shift the work plan by more than two (2) business days and delivered and presented after the COR’s approve the change and at a minimum every two weeks.

Facilitate the integration of project plans and timelines across other programs where critical dependencies exist or alignment is necessary

1. C – Weekly Contract Management Call

The Contractor shall be responsible to: develop logistics, facilitate, participate, and create agendas and minutes for a weekly contract management call with the COR, during which time there will be reviews of the tasks, deliverables, risks and issues The Contractor shall be prepared to participate in ad hoc calls with CMS COR to address issues that arise outside of the weekly Contract Management Calls, approximately weekly.

1. D- Monthly Project Status Updates

The Contractor shall be responsible to develop logistics, facilitate, participate, and develop meeting documents for a monthly contract management call with the COR, during which time there will be reviews of the tasks, deliverables, risks, and budget.

1. E-Final Annual Report

The Contractor shall be responsible to create a final annual report of activities and accomplishments, including deliverables that were completed within each contract year.

Task 1 Deliverables 1Ai-Kick off meeting materials: logistics, agenda, meeting documents, meeting summary/minutes 1Aii-Kick-off overview document with vision, goals, objectives, administration, reporting expectations, deliverables, and milestones 1Bi- PMP: draft 1Bii- PMP: final 1Biii- PMP: updated version bi-weekly to reflect project changes 1Ci. Facilitate, be responsible for logistics and prepare documents for weekly status calls that include agenda, project dashboard, and risk log with mitigation strategy 1Cii-Ad hoc calls: participate in calls with CMS COR and other participants as required 1D. Facilitate, be responsible for logistics and prepare documents for monthly status calls and report with project executives that include budget review, monthly accomplishments, major milestones 1E-Final Annual Report with copies of deliverables

Task 2: QDM Maintenance and Management

The Contractor shall maintain and enhance the existing QDM to stay current and relevant with changes in standards. This task begins with the transition from the incumbent Contractor, which may last one to two months. It should be noted that the QDM is expected to require regular updates and revisions or be replaced by a new data model to keep pace with evolving standards and technologies; as such, enhancements or changes shall be proposed and obtain approval from a designated approving committee such as the Measure Authoring Tool Control Change Board (MCCB) and CMS. Once approved, the changes shall be published by the Contractor in accordance with the CMS approved process. Subsequent iterations of QDM in support of eCQI development for CMS program shall be performed to be aligned with eCQM development and industry standards. The Contractor shall also be responsible for maintenance and management of the QDM if it evolves into a new standard but still serves as the base building block for clinical quality measures’ reporting.

2A: Maintenance & Management of the QDM

The QDM defines the data elements and operators within an eCQM. The subsequent tasks will be included but not limited to the task of the maintenance of the QDM. The Contractor shall be responsible for:

· Current status of the QDM including collaboration with other CMS components’ subject matter experts (SMEs) or their Contractors to ensure alignment with and proper expression of:

· HQMF, the current publication format of eCQMs

· MAT for electronic specification of eCQMs

· Other evolving eCQM or CDS standards as required

· QRDA for transmitting clinical quality data for computation (category 1) and for transmitting quality computation results (category 3)

· CDS that will support or harmonize with a standardized data model for decision support such as vMR

· New and evolving standards which may replace HQMF and QRDA

· Coordinate with measure development and CDS community to drive requirements, and vet proposed solutions.

· Conduct the monthly meetings with broader measure community including, but not limited to, the QDM User Group, and as needed with Health Level Seven (HL7) working groups and the S&I Framework initiatives for feedback to gather data regarding the current use of QDM, review project trajectory and understand broad priorities, issues and problems.

2B: QDM Testing

· Conduct ad hoc meetings, approximately quarterly but not to exceed eight annually, to review end user testing of new and improved QDM features and functions, which includes but is not limited to stakeholder and end user involvement in the specification and development process as appropriate.

· Conduct additional testing of new QDM features to augment end user testing as necessary.

2C: QDM Stakeholder Communication & Collaboration

· Conduct ongoing collaboration with NLM and other entities that are responsible for developing value sets and value set harmonization, which may be impacted by QDM updates.

· Conduct ongoing participation in the Structured Data Capture (SDC) Initiative to align with and aid in the standards for and alignment with common data elements for eCQI.

· Conduct ongoing tracking and analysis of QDM data element types and frequencies in eCQMs and CDS artifacts.

· Lead publication and education to stakeholders about QDM changes and updates. The Contractor will identify and work collaboratively with existing websites to host the QDM. This website will be public facing and be the central point of communication with QDM User Group community. The Contractor will submit a plan on how the QDM website will be maintained to ensure information is always current and relevant.

Task 2 Deliverables 2A-Facilitate, create meeting agenda, minutes, logistics for monthly QDM User Group meetings.

2Bi- Facilitate, be responsible for logistics, and capture minutes/findings in meetings with stakeholders to review testing of QDM.

2Bii-Create report of testing activities and results.

2Ci- Create and maintain tracking document of QDM data element types and issues in eCQM and CDS artifacts.

2Cii- Publish QDM changes to QDM website.

2Ciii- Submit plan for maintenance of QDM website.

2Civ- Create stakeholder communication plan for the QDM updates.

2Cv- Communicate QDM edits to stakeholders.

Task 3: Update, Evaluate and Harmonize Standards for eCQMs and CDS

Key goals of this task are to develop improved standards for eCQMs while harmonizing and aligning quality measurement standards and CDS expression standards. Achieving this goal will require standardization efforts, some of which are underway. The Contractor shall participate and monitor standards development and harmonization that can occur through a number of channels including, but not limited to:

· HL7 Working Group efforts

· Standards and Interoperability Framework project

· Stakeholder meetings/discussions with CMS, CMS Contractors, and other stakeholders.

Standards development and harmonization efforts that are important for the success of this contract include:

· Standardize data model standards that support quality measures and CDS, which may include vMR, QDM and other standards that are emerging or relevant to the health IT (related to Task 2)

· Standardize Extensible Markup Language (XML) serialization of quality measures and CDS, which includes HQMF release 2 and beyond, HeD and other standards that are emerging or relevant to health IT

· Standardize the logical expression model that is easily scalable and meets the needs of both quality measures and CDS development

· Re-ballot QRDA Category I and III

Task 3A: HQMF & HeD Standards The Contractor will serve as the lead, perform tasks for revisions of these eCQI standards and coordinate with other CMS Contractors and stakeholders to advance harmonization activities. The Contractor shall perform the following tasks:

· Participate in eCQI meetings with stakeholders to discuss HQMF and HeD standards and evolution of these standards

· Develop and maintain updated standards for HQMF

· Support development of standards for HeD

· Complete the HL7 ballot process, requirements, and standards publications

· Develop and maintain artifacts such as project scope statements and implementation guides proposed for new standards and updated versions.

· Maintain other artifacts, guides, white papers and documentation as needed to support the other standards and guides as identified by the Contractor with approval from the COR.

Task 3B: vMR & CDS Specific Standards The Contractor will serve as the lead; perform tasks for revisions of these CDS standards including vMR Logical Model, templates, XML specification, Implementation Guide, and CDS Knowledge Artifact Implementation Guide. The Contractor shall also coordinate with other CMS Contractors and stakeholders to advance harmonization activities. The Contractor shall perform the following tasks:

· Support harmonization of vMR and CDS standards

· Support development for the following, including but not limited to the:

· Quality Improvement Domain Analysis Model

· Quality Improvement Logical Model

· Quality Improvement Expression Language Functional requirements

· Quality Improvement Expression Language

· Quality Improvement Conceptual Metadata

· Quality Improvement Logical Metadata

· Support other Federal Partners under the constraints of this contract, such as but not limited to ONC, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), and Centers for Disease Control (CDC), who are engaged in CDS standards work to ensure harmonization of work efforts. Specifically, for AHRQ, lead and support work for CDS which includes but is not limited to:

· Harmonize standards for electronic implementation of clinical quality measurement and CDS,

· Coordinate harmonization efforts among stakeholders,

· Provide technical assistance to developers and implementers of clinical quality measures and CDS

· Complete the HL7 ballot process, requirements, and standards publications

· Provide support, communication, and collaboration to other CMS Contractors for use of these standards and management of tasks related to this work

· Develop and maintain artifacts such as project scope statements and implementation guides proposed for new standards and updated versions.

· Perform an environmental scan of patient-centered outcomes research (PCOR) suitable for CDS development

· Pilot use of PCOR CDS artifacts in clinical settings

Task 3C: QRDA Category-I & III Standards

The Contractor will serve as the lead, perform tasks for revisions and evolution of the QRDA standards and coordinate with other CMS Contractors to advance harmonization activities. The Contractor shall monitor the needs of eCQM reporting and submit requests to HL7 for updates and or additions to existing standards to support the electronic reporting of CQMs. The Contractor shall:

· Complete the HL7 ballot process, requirements, and standards publications for existing standards as well as new standards that CMS would adopt for eCQM reporting, as directed by CMS/COR.

· Provide support and collaboration to other CMS Contractors for use of these standards.

· Support updates to QRDA Category-I & III to align with new versions of QDM & HQMF.

· Develop and maintain artifacts such as project scope statements and implementation guides proposed for new standards and updated versions.

Task 3D: Stakeholder Communication, Collaboration, & Response to Standards Issues

· Align with HL7 workgroups to facilitate the balloting process.

· Prioritize S&I Phases and S&I Artifacts/Outputs in order to advise CMS for decision-making.

· Conduct ongoing participation in the SDC initiative to align with and aid in the standards for and alignment with common data elements for eCQI.

· Plan for and continue publication and education to stakeholders about standards changes and updates. The Contractor, upon recognizing the need, or as directed by the COR, shall develop informational documents for CMS, EHR vendors and individuals on how to utilize these new or updated standards as they relate to eCQM reporting or the eCQI ecosystem.

· Establish stakeholder work group to obtain input and provide feedback for PCOR CDS work

Task 3E: Standards Testing Support

· The Contractor shall support CMS Contractors in their testing activities, through document review and participating in discussions with the Contractors, as requested by the COR.

· The Contractor shall create testing documents as requested by CMS, which may include but not be limited to test cases, schematrons, test scripts, and other documents necessary to support validation of transmission specifications, as requested by the COR.

Task 3 Deliverables 3Ai- Facilitate, create meeting agenda, minutes, logistics for meetings leading the updates for HQMF & HeD related standards meetings 3Aii-Create required HL7 artifacts for the updating of HQMF & evolution of HeD 3Bi- Facilitate, create meeting agenda, minutes, logistics for meetings leading the updates for vMR & CDS related standards meetings 3Bii-Create required HL7 artifacts for the evolution of vMR & CDS 3Biii-Perform an environmental scan of PCOR suitable for CDS development 3Biv- Provide report on pilot of PCOR CDS artifacts in clinical settings 3Ci- Facilitate, create meeting agenda, minutes, logistics for meetings leading the updates for QRDA related standards meetings 3Cii-Create required HL7 artifacts for the updating of QRDA 3Di-Provide updated tracking document of stakeholder meetings attended with minutes to track discussions of standards recommended edits and new standards evolution 3Dii- Create stakeholder communication plan for the standards updates.

3Diii- Communicate standards edits to stakeholders.

3Div-Create stakeholder work group for PCOR CDS tasks input 3Ei-Create testing reports, if required and agreed upon by the COR.

3Eii-Deliver testing documents such as test cases and schematrons as agreed upon by the COR.

Task 4: Provide Communications, Coordination and Collaboration with Stakeholders

The goal of this task is to provide coordination and collaboration for eCQI work with other Federal partners, CMS Contractors and stakeholder workgroups, as well training on the standards work accomplished by the Contractor’s work done through this contract. This task shall include the following:

Task 4A: Standards Education

· The Contractor shall develop content and provide webinar training for CMS employees, CMS Contractors, vendors and stakeholders that include how to implement the new versions of updated standards as they are related to eCQMs reporting. Additional training topics will be determined by CMS.

Task 4B: National Conference & Meetings

· Attend national conferences and meetings related to eCQI as directed by CMS and the COR including:

· Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS)

· Quarterly HL7 Working Group

· Lean activities and Kaizen(s) hosted by CMS/ONC

· All conferences and meetings will be approved by CMS and the COR. Briefing papers on these conferences will be presented to COR and stakeholders.

Task 4C: Manage the eCQM related JIRA projects for the following: HeD, QDM, and QRDA. This task consists of both triage and responding to the issues. The Contractor will:

· As SME for CQM and CDS standards, provide service level agreement (SLA) response to the inquirer within 48 business hours that the issue has been received and is being addressed. Close all tickets within 14 business days or escalate to appropriate workgroup(s) for further discussion, while also providing that notification to the inquirer.

· Follow, and update as agreed upon, escalation path with governance group

· Track rate of meeting service level agreement responses by project and organization

· Provide report of SLA tracking monthly to COR and related workgroups

· Follow up and escalate JIRA tickets that are beyond their SLA

· Re-assign as appropriate

· Escalate issues according to agreed-upon escalation path

Task 4D: Provide support for JIRA process improvement, documentation, and training

· Update or develop, with approval and participation of the eCQM Governance Group, SLA for issue resolution based on issue type and project for the other eCQM development, certification, and standards-related projects in JIRA as needed

· Develop escalation paths with governance group and agency leads

· Create dashboards for tracking issue resolution

· Collect feedback and intermittently review the process, suggest improvements, submit changes to the JIRA developer team, and test new process improvements

· Create documentation and provide training on how to use JIRA for both external and internal users as needed after each iteration of process improvements to JIRA workflow

Task 4 Deliverables 4A-Provide standards webinar training for stakeholders monthly but not to exceed twice monthly 4B-Provide briefing papers via webinar on conferences attended to COR and stakeholders, that may include other CMS staff or CMS Contractors.

4Ci- Respond to JIRA issues by providing documentation in the JIRA project.

4Cii-Review tracking reports in JIRA about SLA and provide results to COR.

4Di-Create process for JIRA project responses, workflows, and service level agreement updates as required.

4Dii-Provide JIRA training about updates of workflow to stakeholders.

Task 5: The Resource Center

The Contractor shall continue to develop and evolve the framework for the Resource Center, which will be a public-facing, single source of information, as well as an interactive tool, for the eCQI Ecosystem of standards and tools. The Resource Center is needed to provide a centralized location for the QDM and other critical resources for eCQM and CDS development, unify the eCQI community and connect related activities, and streamline the time and effort to find guidance and provide feedback for all users.

The Resource Center shall include but is not limited to the following:

· Background Information on eCQI

· Project purpose, history, goals, etc.

· High level information on eCQI topics

· Documentation

· Initial focus on QDM documentation, but will expand over time

· Page-based content instead of large Portable Document Format (PDF) files for improved ease of use and update

· Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

· Meetings and Calendar

· Past and upcoming eCQI-related meeting information

· Links to related documentation

· External Links

· Standards and standards bodies

· Related projects

· Contact Information

· Mailing list and archives

· Site and tool feedback

· Help desk

· Role-based access to allow both internal and external content

· Integration with JIRA issue tracking

· Interactive Tools

· Host eCQI related tools

· Augment existing processes such as QDM change requests, measure review, etc.

· Searchable repositories of eCQI information if required

· Open Source Project Information

· Should provide access and information relating to any open source projects CMS projects

Task 5A: Resource Center Update & Maintenance

· The Contractor shall assume tasks listed in the Resource Center transition plan from the current Contractor and continue Resource Center technology build tasks required to implement and maintain the Resource Center. The Contractor shall continually evaluate the need for updating the site and provide recommendations and documentation for approval by the COR and governing site body.

· The Contractor shall manage the site to be functional, with minimal unscheduled downtime, while scheduling downtime for upgrades, new releases, and/or maintenance activities, as agreed upon by the COR and governing site body.

· The Contractor shall create a Transition Plan for the Resource Center to include but not be limited to complete records of build and maintenance activities, code repository, upgrade recommendations and backlog activities.

Task 5B: Training and Communication

· Provide training webinars for the upgrades and use of the site at least quarterly but not to exceed eight per year.

· Maintain website content, which includes but is not limited to adding new material, updating material to maintain currency and relevance of information, and provide support to users.

· Provide and be responsible for overall communication to Resource Center end users about upgrades, new releases, and other information as agreed upon by the COR and governing site body. Communication may include, but not be limited to, fact sheets, frequently asked questions (FAQs), and help desk scripts.

· Monitor, track and respond to inquiries and issues raised about the Resource Center through, but not limited to, the following: JIRA, site blogs or communication, and help desks.

Deliverables Task 5 5Ai-Review and implement Resource Center’s previous Contractor’s transition plan 5Aii- Create recommendations for upgrades to Resource Center 5Aiii-Create plan for upgrades and maintenance of site 5Aiv- Complete site upgrades and maintenance as required 5Av- Create report of post-upgrade/maintenance activities 5Avi-Create transition plan for upgrades/maintenance of Resource Center 5Bi-Create and conduct Resource Center training webinars, up to eight (8) per year 5Bii- Create Resource Center documents for content maintenance and updating 5Biii- Perform and document site maintenance and upgrades 5Biv-Create communication emails and documents about site releases and new functionality, such as, but not limited to, fact sheets, FAQs, and help desk scripts 5Bv-Create and maintain issue tracker

C.4. HCQIS IT Hardware/Software Procurement Unless otherwise directed by CMS, the Contractor shall adhere to the most current version of the policies and procedures outlined and posted on any of the CMS or HealthCare Quality Information Systems (HCQIS) websites (e.g. QIONET, QualityNet). These include, but are not limited to, the QualityNet System Security Policy and the QualityNet Incident Response Procedures. Please note that name changes can/will occur so specifics can be provided upon contract award. The Contractor shall comply with all present and future statutes as well as federal, Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and CMS regulations and program instructions relating to providing a secure computer operations environment. Additional policies, procedures, updates in documents may be released, requiring the Contractor to comply.

The Contractor shall not develop software products for use by other Contractors, partners, etc. without written prior approval from CMS. In addition, no funds from this contract shall be used for data collection activities not specified in this contract without prior approval from the COR and in accordance with other CMS administrative guidance. The Contractor shall maintain all necessary documentation as identified by CMS.

C.4.A. Hardware/Software The Contractor shall provide the funding to support the IT needs to meet the contract requirements. This includes but not limited to a file/print server, a domain controller, a database server, network/telecomm equipment, workstations and/or laptop for each employee. The servers, workstations, and laptops shall be equipped with a standard operating system and a software suite following the approved CMS Federal Desktop Core Configuration (FDCC) standard, which is also referred to as the United States Government Configuration Baseline (USGCB). All HW/SW required will be procured via the HCQIS Remedy Purchase System/Engineering Review Board process, which is used to help track and maintain all GFE. The amount of hardware & software provided will be dependent on the agreement between CMS and the Contractor based on the work identified. Any additional resources required, including, but not limited to, printers, faxes, etc. The Contractor will be responsible for funding the procurement of the equipment. The Contractor must receive approval from their CMS COR prior to submitting a purchase request via the HCQIS procurement process, currently identified as the Remedy Purchase Request/Engineering Review Board (ERB) to be procured. No additional hardware peripherals or non-approved software may be connected or installed to any Government Furnished Equipment (GFE) or on the QualityNet infrastructure without prior written approval by CMS. If there are items that the Contractor would like to use in support of their network contract, a request will have to be submitted thru their CMS COR to begin the approval process.

The Contractor shall update Remedy inventory for all procured GFE and maintain the necessary documentation such as HHS-565 and HHS-22’s located in the Remedy Purchase System to ensure proper asset management and tracking of all GFE.

C.4.B.1 Transition of equipment In the event that CMS requires transition services from an incumbent Contractor to a successor Contractor, the incumbent will be responsible for funding the cost of transfers, which includes, but not limited to, the packing, shipping and so forth of any Government Furnished Equipment (GFE).

The Contractor is responsible for adhering to the CMS HHS-565 and HHS-22 processes (including any associated deliverables) which focuses on asset management and transition of equipment (transfers, disposals, donations, etc.).

1. At the end of a contract period, the Contractor must follow the QualityNet Contractor Transition Procedures to Shutdown and Startup Operations process to ensure that proper transition of all GFE is done in timely manner.

D. Report Requirements

This section defines report format requirements and other data requirements for the reports and deliverables listed in the Schedule of Deliverables. The Contractor shall format draft and final reports to include the following elements:

The Contractor shall submit one Electronic Version in MS-Word Format of a draft and final report to the Contracting Officer’s Representative, and include the following various elements:

Cover to Contain:

Main Body to Contain:

Breakdown of project into functional subjects Discussion of each functional subject. (Include for each subject a detailed narrative or analysis of the work performed or of the completed phases of study.

E. Government Property (If Applicable)

III. Quality Assurance

Quality assurance by CMS may include inspection of deliverables; review and approval of interim or draft reports; progress meetings; and/or review and approval of progress at prescribed points before authorization to continue to be given to the Contractor. Contract evaluation criteria and monitoring are described below.

A. Performance Evaluation Criteria As specified by CMS, assessment of the Contractor’s performance in this contract will be used as past performance information for future award considerations. Elements that may be included in this performance assessment include:

· Completion of specific tasks (deliverables) required in the contract;

· Financials;

· Appropriateness of the Contractor’s staffing, including both number of staff as well as their skill sets;

· Performance in meeting the needs of the quality of activities to improve performance;

· Participation in other improvement activities;

· Efforts to address issues/barriers identified; and

· Achievement of specified levels of performance (e.g., timeliness, quality, usability, effectiveness, scientific merit).

The Contracting Officer’s Representative will conduct performance assessment.

B. Contract Monitoring The COR will conduct periodic monitoring of the Contractor’s progress towards completion of the eCQMs’ Standards and support contract responsibilities.