Hospital Quality Reporting System (HQR) Bridge Limited Source Justification
Awarded Limited / Sole Source Justification Posted
- Solicitation number
- OMAS-26-SBCIT1-F-CMS-0001
- Agency
- Not on record
- Set-aside
- No set-aside
Opportunity facts
- Contract number
- GS-35F-356DA-75FCMC26F0086 Federal contract award
- Awardee
- Bellese Technologies, LLC
- NAICS code
- 541512 Computer Systems Design Services
- Place of performance
- Owings Mills, Maryland 21117, United States
- Points of contact
Notice details come from SAM.gov. Updated .
About this opportunity
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has awarded a sole-source bridge contract to Bellese Technologies LLC for agile software development services to maintain and enhance the Hospital Quality Reporting system, awarded May 5, 2026 under GSA Multiple Award Schedule contract GS-35F-356DA on a hybrid Firm Fixed Price/Time and Materials basis.
The justification rests on the incumbent's seven years of system-specific expertise and operational criticality: the HQR system processes more than 43 million production files annually from over 10,000 facilities, underpins CMS's statutory obligation under Section 1886(d)(1)(b) and Section 1862(a)(1)(A) of the Social Security Act to issue accurate and timely Medicare payments and penalties to participating providers, and generates Hospital Star Ratings published on Medicare.gov across ten inpatient and outpatient quality reporting programs. Market research determined no other vendors possess the required system-specific knowledge within the bridge contract timeframe. CMS also cited personnel vetting requirements under CIO Directive 25-03, which average 1.5 to 2 months for new contractor staff, and the operational risk of service disruption given fixed public reporting deadlines and statutory payment obligations. The bridge contract was necessitated by sustained Government Accountability Office protests that prevented transition to the competitively awarded HQR Enhancement & Advancement Technologies successor contract.
Period of performance is 12 months with one 6-month option. Performance includes infrastructure migration from CCSQ Cloud to CMS Hybrid Cloud by calendar year 2027, FHIR-based API development for direct EHR data submission, and transition of support workflows from paper-based to digital case management. CMS commits to re-establishing full and open competition through HEAT re-solicitation and will not extend this bridge contract beyond its authorized term.
Notice text
CMS procures agile software development services to maintain and enhance the Hospital Quality Reporting (HQR) system. The HQR system maintainer is responsible for all operations and maintenance (O&M) of the HQR system, ensuring it remains current with evolving user experience requirements, data integration capabilities, and quality reporting program changes. The HQR system underpins CMS's statutory obligation to Section 1886(d)(1)(b) and Section 1862(a)(1)(A) of the Social Security Act that requires CMS to issue accurate and timely payments and penalties to Medicare-participating providers across ten (10) individual hospital quality reporting programs.
Awarded contract GS-35F-356DA to unknown vendor for unknown amount on 2026-05-05.
Files
| File | Type | Posted |
|---|---|---|
| HQR Bridge LSJ (4-28-26) (REDACTED).pdf |
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