Sources Sought (260109J).pdf

Utilization of Data Indicators in the End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD), Transplant, and Organ Procurement Organization (OPO) Programs

Sources Sought Notice

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Centers for Clinical Standards and Quality Clinical Standards Group (CCSQ)

This is a SMALL and LARGE BUSINESS SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is issuing this sources sought synopsis as a means of conducting market research to determine the availability and capability of qualified contractors who have the capacity to provide CMS with detailed data reports about End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) dialysis facilities, transplant programs, and Organ Procurement Organizations (OPOs) in formats that are useful to CMS, states, health care providers, and the public.

The following provides potential responders with an overview of the types of detailed data reports that will be required:

1. Data Reporting: These reports will include summaries of ESRD and OPO patient characteristics, dialysis facility characteristics and practice patterns, ESRD patient outcomes, OPO metrics and tier levels, and transplant program metrics. These reports will include comparative state, ESRD network, regional, and national statistics as appropriate.

2. Quality Oversight: These reports will be the basis for administering the quality, safety and oversight survey activities within the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

No Solicitation: This is NOT a solicitation for proposals, proposal abstracts, or quotations.

This notice does not commit CMS to award a contract in the future. The Government will not evaluate proposal responses or accept phone calls in response to this notice. The Government does not intend to award a contract on the basis of this notice or otherwise pay for any information solicited. Responses to the information requested will assist the Government in determining the appropriate acquisition method.

The purpose of this announcement is to provide potential sources the opportunity to submit information regarding their capabilities to perform work for the CMS.

All interested parties, including all categories of small businesses (small businesses, small, disadvantaged businesses, 8(a) firms, women-owned small businesses, veteran-owned small businesses, service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses, and

HUBZone small businesses) are invited to submit a response. The capability statement submitted by a vendor should demonstrate the firm’s ability, capability, and responsibility to perform the principal components of work listed below. The capability statement should also include past performance/experience regarding projects of similar scope, listing the project title, general description, the dollar value of the contract, and the name of the company, agency, or government entity for which the work was performed.

Organizations responding to this sources sought notice should keep in mind that only focused and pertinent information is requested. If significant subcontracting or teaming is anticipated in order to deliver technical capability, organizations should address the administrative and management structure of such arrangements. Submission of additional materials such as glossy brochures or videos is discouraged.

CAPABILITY STATEMENT INFORMATION

Foremost among the criteria necessary for this contract is the mandate that the contractor be nationally recognized for technical accuracy and integrity in the specialized field of producing ESRD comparative, risk-adjusted facility-level reports, transplant program-specific outcome metrics, and OPO metrics and tier levels. Please prepare a capability statement addressing your company’s knowledge, expertise and experience, within the last three (3) years, for each of the following requirements (1) through (3) listed below. The vendor shall provide enough information for CMS to make a determination as to the capability to perform the same or similar size and scope of work.

Capability statements shall be limited to 5 pages and fonts no smaller than 12 points.

1) Demonstrate your expertise and experience in collecting, evaluating and utilizing all ESRD data to develop and distribute risk-adjusted individual Dialysis Facility Reports (DFRs), state-specific reports, region-specific reports, and dialysis organization-specific reports. Demonstrate your experience and expertise in developing a rank-ordered, facility-specific Outcomes List. Demonstrate your experience and expertise in developing national data reports on 1) the frequency of dialysis use for acute kidney injury and 2) the prevalence of home dialysis in nursing homes. Discuss how this expertise and experience is relevant to the following Requirement Overview:

Requirement Overview: The contractor shall obtain data from all available sources, including the End-Stage Renal Disease Quality Reporting System (EQRS), claims forms, eligibility and enrollment forms, clinical data sources, death forms, Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN), the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients (SRTR), the Nursing Home Minimum Dataset (MDS), as well as the Internet Quality Improvement and Evaluation System (iQIES), and survey and certification forms. The contractor will utilize this data to create a series of reports, technical assistance and statistical analyses that will assist CMS, states, and other entities in monitoring the care in the ESRD facilities specific for each fiscal year and will include a rank-ordered Outcomes List of ESRD facilities for each state. The Outcomes List will be constructed from a composite of data elements that most validly and reliably identify facilities with potential noncompliance with health and safety standards.

2) Demonstrate your expertise and experience in providing statistical analyses, data reports and technical assistance regarding transplant programs meeting the CMS Conditions of Participation (CoPs) as well as their performance data. Discuss how this expertise and experience is relevant to the following Requirements Overview:

Requirement Overview: The contractor shall provide CMS with the technical data needed to oversee transplant programs' safety, quality, and performance. The contractor will obtain and analyze monthly OPTN and SRTR data to create 1) monthly Initial Transplant Reports, and 2) annual reports on transplant programs constructed from a composite of metrics that identifies facilities with potential performance issues. The reports will provide data and statistical analyses of transplant procedures, deaths, graft failures, organ acceptance rates, and OPTN data submission rates and notification of key changes within the transplant programs.

3) Demonstrate your expertise and experience in providing statistical analyses data reports and technical assistance regarding OPOs meeting the CMS Conditions for Coverage (CfCs) as well as their performance data. Discuss how this expertise and experience is relevant to the following Requirements Overview:

Requirements Overview: The contractor shall obtain data from all available sources, including the SRTR, OPTN, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and CMS. The contractor shall produce annual performance reports based on the two measures established in the Organ Procurement Organizations Conditions for Coverage (42 CFR Part 486 Subpart G). The reports will include a review of the donation rate and the transplantation rate for each OPO and their tier status; a tier map of OPOs in the U.S.; and an annual OPO public report including an updated users guide detailing the methodology used for generating the reports. The contractor will also produce additional reports that are required for informing policy decisions, and operation and implementation of the OPO program on an as-needed basis.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION REQUESTED:

Interested parties having the capabilities necessary to perform this requirement may submit capability statements in PDF format via email to Joshua Czerski (Joshua.Czerski@cms.hhs.gov) and Brian Humes (brian.humes@cms.hhs.gov).

https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-42/part-486/subpart-G

CAPABILITY STATEMENTS MUST DEMONSTRATE THE MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS

OUTLINED ABOVE. Please address each in order listed above under “Capability Statement Information.”

How to Respond to this Sources Sought Notice

If your organization has the capability and capacity to perform as a prime contractor, one or more of the services described in this notice, please respond to this notice and provide written responses to the following information. Please do not include any proprietary or otherwise sensitive information in the response, and do not submit a proposal. Proposals submitted in response to this notice will not be considered.

• Cover Page: Organization name, address, email addresses, Website, telephone number, DUNS, Tax ID and organization point of contact, phone and email address.

• Organization Size Status: Business size status and type (if applicable) with respect to NAICS code identified in this notice. Business size status must be validated via the System for Award Management (SAM) for the applicable NAICS 541720 Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities. All vendors must be registered in the SAM located at http://www.sam.gov.

• Geographic Coordination: Although no geographic restriction is anticipated, if responding organizations are located outside of the Baltimore area, indicate how the organization would coordinate with the CMS program office located in Baltimore, Maryland to provide the support services.

• Capabilities Descriptions: Separately and distinctly describe which of the required capabilities listed above that your organization possesses and indicate your organization’s role (prime contractor, first-tier subcontractor, and/or supplier) in related contracts. Please also provide the contract number, contract type, customer name, address and point of contact phone number and email address, contract value, thorough description of supplies and services included in the scope of that contract, an indication of how they differ from the required capabilities described in this notice, period of performance (for services) or delivery date (for products), and any other relevant information. Please include non-governmental contracts that are applicable.

• Do you have a Government approved accounting system? If so, please identify the agency that approved the system.

Deadlines: Responses must be submitted by 11:00 AM EST, Monday, June 9, 2025.

Capability statements will not be returned and will not be accepted after the due date.

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 may be published in Federal Business Opportunities. However, responses to this notice will not be considered adequate responses to a solicitation.

http://www.sam.gov/

• 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 concerning submission requirements may be directed to Joshua Czerski, Contract Specialist, via email at Joshua.Czerski@cms.hhs.gov.

On behalf of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, thank you for your interest in this project.

mailto:Joshua.Czerski@cms.hhs.gov