MACRA Quality Improvement Direct Technical Assistance

Added: Jul 21, 2016 9:58 am

The purpose of this amendment three (3) is to:

1. Provide answers to questions from the pre-proposal conference and the Request for Proposal (RFP) document(s);

2. To revise the Period of Performance in the SF-33, and revise Sections B, C, J, L, & M of the RFP document;

3. Provide updated J.1, J.3, and J.11 attachments; and

4. Revise the proposal due date.

The deadline for questions has passed, CMS is not entertaining additional inquires at this time.  All correspondence shall be communicated through the MQIDTA@cms.hhs.gov mailbox.

Added: Jul 07, 2016 1:04 pm This Amendment is for informational purposes only to add the recording, slides, and the list of attendees from the pre-proposal conference. It does not change the content of the Request for Proposal (RFP) document(s). The information provided in the RFP continues to supersede the information provided in the pre-proposal recording or slides.

The deadline for questions has passed, CMS is not entertaining additional inquires at this time. All correspondence shall be communicated through the MQIDTA@cms.hhs.gov mailbox.

Added: Jun 20, 2016 1:09 pm Attaching RFP/Solicitiation

Added: Apr 13, 2016 3:35 pm Modified: May 09, 2016 11:35 amTrack Changes

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) intends to solicit and award multiple contracts to qualified contractors for Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) Quality Improvement Direct Technical Assistance (MQIDTA). Direct technical assistance through this program will target eligible clinicians in individual or small group practices of 15 or fewer, focusing on those practicing in historically under resourced areas including rural areas, health professional shortage areas (HPSA), and medically underserved areas (MUA). The purpose of this contract is to provide a flexible and agile approach to customized direct technical assistance and support services tailored to provider needs to ensure success for participating Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) eligible clinicians in easing the transition of Medicare payments from a fee-for-service system to one based on performance and patient outcomes. MS expects to cover all eligible clinicians meeting the target population requirements that need assistance across the country with awards targeting geographically defined areas across the country and encourage partnerships with appropriate entities (such as quality improvement organizations, regional extension centers (as described in section 3012 (c) of the Public Health Service Act), regional health collaboratives and others). The contractor must identify, assess, and enroll clinicians into the program, assist with the implementation of a quality improvement program, provide a flexible and agile approach to customized direct technical assistance tailored to provider needs in order to heighten customer satisfaction. Technical Assistance is defined as provider outreach and education, practice readiness, practice facilitation, health information technology (HIT) optimization, practice workflow redesign, change management, strategic planning, assisting clinicians in fully transitioning to Alternative Payment Models (APM), and enabling partnerships. Through additional contract support, outcomes based measures of customized direct technical assistance will be identified, collected and reported to HHS leadership on a frequent and ongoing basis.

It is anticipated that there will be a wide range of requirements which will require the participation of key stakeholders and partners.

The MQIDTA solicitation, once issued, will comply with all applicable statute and regulations associated with the criteria contractors must meet in order to win MIQDTA contract awards.

In accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 5.203, CMS hereby notifies industry of its intent solicit for this requirement under full and open competition under NAICS code 541618 (Other Management Consulting Services) with a size standard of $15 million.

A pre-proposal conference is tentatively planned on or about May 15, 2016 that will include information about this new requirement. CMS anticipates that this conference will take place via webinar only. More details about this conference, including the final date and time, and registration instructions, will be made available in the proposal solicitation notice.

Important: CMS anticipates that certain contracts awarded under potential solicitations for the MQIDTA Program will be cost-reimbursement type contracts. Therefore, in accordance with FAR 16.301-3, Offerors must have an accounting system that has been deemed adequate for determining applicable costs prior to contract award. Further, in accordance with FAR 42.302(a)(12), contractor's accounting systems should remain adequate during the entire period of contract performance. (This applies to cost-reimbursement contracts.) This requirement flows down to any proposed subcontractor for cost-reimbursement services.

This announcement is not a request for proposal (RFP). The solicitation package will be available at least 15 calendar days after this notice. The solicitation will be available on the Federal Business Opportunities (www.fbo.gov) website. Contract awards are anticipated by November 2016. It will be the responsibility of the contractors to frequently check www.fbo.gov where the solicitation is to be posted for any amendments, changes to the RFP issue and closing date. Questions related to this synopsis should be referred to Irina Perl at Irina.Perl@cms.hhs.gov and Jonathan Chattler at Jonathan.Chattler@cms.hhs.gov. CMS will establish an e-mailbox for the MQIDTA effort that all contractors will be directed to use for future communications.

All contractual and technical questions must be submitted in writing (via e-mail). Telephone questions will not be accepted. The Government is not obligated or committed to award any contract as a result of this notice. Hard copies or CD ROMs will not be available. Telephone and fax requests will not be honored.

May 9, 2016 update:

CMS is postponing the pre-proposal conference that was anticipated on or about May 15, 2016. A pre-proposal conference is anticipated to be held approximately two (2) weeks after the solicitation is posted. CMS still anticipates that this conference will take place via webinar only. More details about this conference, including the final date and time, and registration instructions, will be made available in the proposal solicitation notice.

Added: Apr 13, 2016 3:35 pm The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) intends to solicit and award multiple contracts to qualified contractors for Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) Quality Improvement Direct Technical Assistance (MQIDTA). Direct technical assistance through this program will target eligible clinicians in individual or small group practices of 15 or fewer, focusing on those practicing in historically under resourced areas including rural areas, health professional shortage areas (HPSA), and medically underserved areas (MUA). The purpose of this contract is to provide a flexible and agile approach to customized direct technical assistance and support services tailored to provider needs to ensure success for participating Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) eligible clinicians in easing the transition of Medicare payments from a fee-for-service system to one based on performance and patient outcomes. MS expects to cover all eligible clinicians meeting the target population requirements that need assistance across the country with awards targeting geographically defined areas across the country and encourage partnerships with appropriate entities (such as quality improvement organizations, regional extension centers (as described in section 3012 (c) of the Public Health Service Act), regional health collaboratives and others). The contractor must identify, assess, and enroll clinicians into the program, assist with the implementation of a quality improvement program, provide a flexible and agile approach to customized direct technical assistance tailored to provider needs in order to heighten customer satisfaction. Technical Assistance is defined as provider outreach and education, practice readiness, practice facilitation, health information technology (HIT) optimization, practice workflow redesign, change management, strategic planning, assisting clinicians in fully transitioning to Alternative Payment Models (APM), and enabling partnerships. Through additional contract support, outcomes based measures of customized direct technical assistance will be identified, collected and reported to HHS leadership on a frequent and ongoing basis.

It is anticipated that there will be a wide range of requirements which will require the participation of key stakeholders and partners.

The MQIDTA solicitation, once issued, will comply with all applicable statute and regulations associated with the criteria contractors must meet in order to win MIQDTA contract awards.

In accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 5.203, CMS hereby notifies industry of its intent solicit for this requirement under full and open competition under NAICS code 541618 (Other Management Consulting Services) with a size standard of $15 million.

A pre-proposal conference is tentatively planned on or about May 15, 2016 that will include information about this new requirement. CMS anticipates that this conference will take place via webinar only. More details about this conference, including the final date and time, and registration instructions, will be made available in the proposal solicitation notice.

Important: CMS anticipates that certain contracts awarded under potential solicitations for the MQIDTA Program will be cost-reimbursement type contracts. Therefore, in accordance with FAR 16.301-3, Offerors must have an accounting system that has been deemed adequate for determining applicable costs prior to contract award. Further, in accordance with FAR 42.302(a)(12), contractor's accounting systems should remain adequate during the entire period of contract performance. (This applies to cost-reimbursement contracts.) This requirement flows down to any proposed subcontractor for cost-reimbursement services.

This announcement is not a request for proposal (RFP). The solicitation package will be available at least 15 calendar days after this notice. The solicitation will be available on the Federal Business Opportunities (www.fbo.gov) website. Contract awards are anticipated by November 2016. It will be the responsibility of the contractors to frequently check www.fbo.gov where the solicitation is to be posted for any amendments, changes to the RFP issue and closing date. Questions related to this synopsis should be referred to Irina Perl at Irina.Perl@cms.hhs.gov and Jonathan Chattler at Jonathan.Chattler@cms.hhs.gov. CMS will establish an e-mailbox for the MQIDTA effort that all contractors will be directed to use for future communications.

All contractual and technical questions must be submitted in writing (via e-mail). Telephone questions will not be accepted. The Government is not obligated or committed to award any contract as a result of this notice. Hard copies or CD ROMs will not be available. Telephone and fax requests will not be honored.