SEER-Medicare Resource (SEER-Medicare Light) Files to Facilitate the Analyses of SEER-Medicare Data by Researchers

1.0 DESCRIPTION

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Cancer Institute (NCI), Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences (DCCPS), Surveillance Research Program (SRP) intends to procure, on a sole source basis, services to produce SEER-Medicare Light files from Outcomes Insights, Inc., 2801 Townsgate Road, Suite 330, Westlake Village, CA 91361-5854, United States.

The response close date of the notice for this requirement is in accordance with FAR 5.203(b). This acquisition will be processed under FAR Part 12 - Acquisition for Commercial Items and will be made pursuant to the authority in FAR Part 13.106-1(b)(1); and is exempt from the requirements of FAR Part 6. The North American Industry Classification System code is 541690 and the business size standard is $15M.

The period of performance shall be for one (1) 12-month period from the date of award.

The anticipated award shall be firm fixed price for severable services.

It has been determined there are no opportunities to acquire green products or services for this procurement.

2.0 BACKGROUND

One of the missions of the Surveillance Research Program (SRP) in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Cancer Institute (NCI), Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences (DCCPS), is to support the collection and aggregation of data to support cancer surveillance and research community. The Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) cancer registry data has been linked with Medicare claims (SEER-Medicare data) since the early 1990's (https://healthcaredelivery.cancer.gov/seermedicare/aboutdata/). Although the SEER-Medicare data has been used for different types of analyses, its use has been limited to researchers with advanced technical abilities. The SEER-Medicare data is an important resource and have great potential utility for a variety of analyses however, the files are complex and require a deep understanding and advanced technical abilities.

The term "SEER-Medicare data" refers to a series of files organized by type of provider (e.g. hospital, physician, and outpatient) that can be linked using unique individual-level identifiers for the included cancer cases and non-cancer controls. Each of these files contains information on different types of services (e.g., chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and surgery). The same information is recorded using different variables and sometimes different coding systems across the files. As a result, use of the SEER-Medicare files is complicated. There is a desire to create a much simpler version of the data for users who do not need, or who are not able to use, all the raw data available in the SEER-Medicare database.

The purpose of this project is to produce proof of concept "light" version of SEER-Medicare data that is easier to use and simpler for analyses. The files, instead of being organized by providers, will be organized by type or care or service (e.g., chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and surgery) and will have standardized codes and documentation. This will have the advantage of allowing researchers to address questions more quickly on the type of care service they are interested or other type of questions using standardized data. This will be very useful within the NCI to produce more quickly standard reports on utilization of cancer services.

This purchase order will build on a prior NCI collaboration in which NCI algorithms were developed for identification of diagnosis and procedures codes to extract systemic therapy utilization, cancer directed surgery and radiation therapy.

3.0 SCOPE

The Contractor shall use JIGSAW Study Builder software to provide SEER-Medicare Light files using SEER-Medicare female breast cancer data to provide a SEER-Medicare resource that is easier to be analyzed by researchers and organized by type of service. The original SEER-Medicare files are organized by billing provider and information on each type of service needs to be extracted from multiple files with variables and codes that change in each file. The Contractor shall extract the information on each service from multiple files and variables and organize it in one file using standardized variable, codes and documentation. The Contractor shall produce six (6) files that will contain information for female breast cancer patients.

4.0 CONTRACT REQUIREMENTS

The Contractor shall use NCI's most recent linkage of the SEER-Medicare data along with existing NCI algorithms to produce six (6) files and respective documentation for breast cancer patients satisfying the following inclusion and exclusion criteria:

Inclusion Criteria:
• Breast cancer case diagnosed in 2008 or later and age ≥66
• Continuous Part A, Part B, no HMO in the 12 months prior to diagnosis and continually after that
• Censor patients at the time of death, subsequent cancer, loss to follow-up, or end of data

Exclusion Criteria:
• Exclude cases diagnosed at autopsy or on death certificate
• Do not exclude cases with a prior history of cancer - flag them instead

4.1

The first file shall contain patients' demographic information, detailed cancer information including histology, behavior, stage, follow-up information and information on Medicare enrollment. The second file shall contain information on the systemic therapy service that a patient receives.

The Contractor shall provide documentation for each file which shall include the format for variables, the data source and variables, where appropriate. The files shall contain information on procedure codes, month/year (or time since diagnosis date), code type (e.g., ICD-9 or ICD-10, CPT, HCPCS), procedure code label, data file from which the procedure code was extracted (e.g., MEDPAR, NCH, Outpatient), variable name, type (e.g., chemotherapy, immunotherapy), indicator if prior to diagnosis or after, principal diagnosis (e.g. line diagnosis in NCH).

4.2

The third, fourth, and fifth files shall contain information on the main type of services a patient receives: radiation, surgery, and hospitalization.

The Contractor shall provide documentation for each file which shall include the format for variables, the data source and variables, where appropriate. The files shall contain information on procedure codes, month/year (or time since diagnosis date), code type (e.g., ICD-9 or ICD-10, CPT, HCPCS), procedure code label, data file from which the procedure code was extracted (e.g., MEDPAR, NCH, Outpatient), variable name, type (e.g., chemotherapy, immunotherapy), indicator if prior to diagnosis or after, principal diagnosis (e.g. line diagnosis in NCH).

4.3

The sixth file shall contain information on costs.

The Contractor shall provide documentation for each file which shall include the format for variables, the data source and variables, where appropriate. The files shall contain information on procedure codes, month/year (or time since diagnosis date), code type (e.g., ICD-9 or ICD-10, CPT, HCPCS), procedure code label, data file from which the procedure code was extracted (e.g., MEDPAR, NCH, Outpatient), variable name, type (e.g., chemotherapy, immunotherapy), indicator if prior to diagnosis or after, principal diagnosis (e.g. line diagnosis in NCH).

4.4

The Contractor shall report summarizing services utilization (systemic therapy, surgery, radiation, hospitalization and costs) by age, stage and year. The summary shall focus on frequencies (or means, as appropriate) of the cohort and shall include up to 10 tables or figures.

4.5

The Contractor shall collaborate with the NCI Project Officer through monthly conference calls to review variables and/or data specifications.

5.0 PLACE OF PERFORMANCE

All work shall be performed at the Contractor's facility.

6.0 REPORT(S)/DELIVERABLES

All deliverables shall be sent to the NCI Technical Point of Contact (POC) via e-mail in a Microsoft compatible format. The POC shall review the contents of the deliverables. If no comments or requests for revisions are provided within 30 days, the deliverables shall be considered acceptable.

7.0 UNIQUE QUALIFICATIONS OF THE CONTRACTOR

This contract builds on a previous contract for the creation and identification of diagnosis and procedures codes to measure chemotherapy utilization, cancer directed surgery and radiation. Under the previous contract, Outcomes Insights performed the extraction, transformation and loading (ETL) process of the SEER data into a common data model to be incorporated together with the Medicare claims using their proprietary JIGSAW study builder.
The JIGSAW software has been designed to automate the extensive data organization and cleaning process required to create analyzable data sets from electronic health data such as claims data. It can be used to select a cohort of individuals for a study from a complex set of health claims.
Outcomes Insights has the unique expertise, knowledge and experience in utilizing their JIGSAW software along with NCI algorithms for use in claims data. As the SEER-Medicare data has already been transformed and prepared to be analyzed using Outcomes Insights' JIGSAW Study Builder under a previous contract, any efforts to identify a different tool would pose additional costs to the Government, delays in the project, and risk the overall outcome of this project.

This notice is not a request for competitive quotations. However, if any interested party, especially a small business, believes it can meet the above requirement, it may submit a proposal or quote for the Government to consider. The response and any other information furnished must be in writing and must contain material in enough detail to allow NCI to determine if the party can perform the requirement. All responses and questions must be submitted via email to Adam Hernandez, Contract Specialist at adam.hernandez@nih.gov. Responses are due no later than 1:00 P.M. EST on Thursday, July 11, 2019 (07/11/2019). A determination by the Government not to compete this proposed requirement based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. Information received will be considered solely for determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement. To receive an award, Contractors must be registered and have valid certification in the System for Award Management (SAM) through SAM.gov, and have Representations and Certifications filled out.

Reference: 75N91019Q00094 on all correspondence.

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