The Continuation of the Medicare Patient Safety Monitoring System (MPSMS)

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is soliciting proposals for a contract for analysis of hospital medical records to idenitfy adverse events related to healthcare-associated injury or harm.  THIS SOLICITATION IS ONLY OPEN TO QUALITY IMPROVEMENT ORGANIZATIONS (QIOs) awarded through CMS.  Because of the nature of the Scope of Work this contact must be awarded to a QIO in order to process and analyze the data required for the operation of the MPSMS.   The solicitation and any documents relating to this requirement will only be available by downloading from the Internet through www.fedbizopps.gov or through the AHRQ website at www.ahrq.hhs.gov.  Interested Offerors are responsible for monitoring these sites for the release of the solicitation and any subsequent amendments.  It is anticipated that the solicitation will be available for downloading on or about 15 days after publication of this synopsis.

MPSMS is a primary source of data for the AHRQ's annual National Healthcare Quality Report (NHQR) and the National Healthcare Disparities Report (NHDR) mandated by Congress. Data from this system will support AHRQ's patient safety portfolio. It will provide key measures to the HHS Healthcare Associated Infection (HAI) prevention initiatives and National Action Plan, and be used to better understand the underlying rates of the CMS Hospital Acquired Conditions. 

The overall goal of the Medicare Patient Safety Monitoring system (MPSMS) is to produce rates of hospital associated adverse events from medical records and clinical data. The focus of the system is on adverse events occurring during hospitalization primarily using abstracted medical records. These rates are produced at the national level for all measured adverse events. In addition, rates for adverse events of sufficient frequency will be produced at a State level.  By providing AHRQ and other federal agencies with an understanding of the frequency and epidemiology of health care associated injury or harm in the inpatient population, the system is used to guide and prioritize development and implementation of patient safety interventions and safe practices.  In addition, AHRQ has been authorized by statute to develop common definitions and reporting formats (Common Formats) covering the domains of quality and safety for use by Patient Safety Organizations (PSOs) and other interested parties.  This contract will begin the process of aligning MPSMS with AHRQ's Common Formats. This alignment will involve collaboration and consultation with AHRQ's Patient Safety Work Group and the National Quality Forum Common Formats Expert Panel.

The purpose of this contract is to allow of the continued operation of the MPSMS which involves analyzing claims to identify adverse events related to health care associated injury or harm. It will also allow AHRQ to continue monitoring and surveillance of health care associated injury or harm rates at a national level. The contractor will support the operation of MPSMS which will require the analysis of abstracted medical records furnished by the Clinical Data Abstraction Center to the MPSMS contractor.


AHRQ anticipates awarding one cost plus fixed fee award under this solicitation for a period of one base year and two, one-year options.  Proposals will be evaluated inclusive of the options.  The Government is under no obligation to excercise the options either at award or at a later date.