SOLICITATION NOTICE
R -- Testing a Method to Develop a State Level Database for Health and Related Analyses
- Notice Date
- 8/5/2004
- Notice Type
- Solicitation Notice
- NAICS
- 541611
— Administrative Management and General Management Consulting Services
- Contracting Office
- Department of Health and Human Services, Program Support Center, Division of Acquisition Management, Parklawn Building Room 5-101 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, MD, 20857
- ZIP Code
- 20857
- Solicitation Number
- Reference-Number-04EASPE000830
- Response Due
- 8/19/2004
- Archive Date
- 9/1/2004
- Point of Contact
- Darren Jansen, Contract Specialist, Phone 301-443-1857, Fax 301-443-3238, - Margaret Kelly, Contracting Officer, Phone 301-443-4988, Fax 301-443-3849,
- E-Mail Address
-
djansen@psc.gov, mkelly@psc.gov
- Small Business Set-Aside
- Total Small Business
- Description
- SIMPLIFIED ACQUISITION PROCEDURES DATE: AUGUST 5, 2004 REQUISITION NO: 04EASPE000830 INTENDED SOURCE: QUANTRIA STRATEGIES, LLC PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE: DATE OF AWARD THROUGH SIX MONTHS PURPOSE: THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY, ASPE THROUGH THE PROGRAM SUPPORT CENTER, PLANS TO AWARD A SOLE SOURCE SIMPLIFIED ACQUISITION TO QUANTRIA STRATEGIES, LLC. CLOSING DATE IS AUGUST 19, 2004. THE SPECIFIC OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROCUREMENT IS: BACKGROUND: POLICYMAKERS OFTEN INSIST ON UNDERSTANDING THE IMPACTS OF VARIOUS POLICIES FOR RESIDENTS OF A PARTICULAR STATE OR EVEN LOCALITY; OFTEN THE QUESTIONS REFER TO THE IMPACTS ON A SUB-POPULATION WITHIN A STATE, E.G., THE ELDERLY OR THE POOR ELDERLY. THE ABILITY TO PERFORM SUCH ANALYSIS IS EXTREMELY LIMITED BECAUSE OF THE LACK OF LARGE STATE REPRESENTATIVE SAMPLES IN OUR NATIONAL SURVEYS. ONE CONSISTENT AND RELIABLE SOURCE OF STATE AND LOCAL LEVEL DATA IN THE CENSUS BUREAU'S DECENNIAL CENSUS MICRO-DATA FILES. WHILE THESE DATA PROVIDE LARGE STATE REPRESENTATIVE SAMPLES WHICH PERMIT STATE AND LOCAL LEVEL ANALYSES, THE SCOPE OF THE DATA COLLECTED IN THIS SURVEY IS EXTREMELY LIMITED. FOR EXAMPLE, THE DECENNIAL CENSUS DOES NOT INCLUDE THE DETAILED INCOME INFORMATION GATHERED AS PART OF THE CURRENT POPULATION SURVEY OR THE SURVEY OF INCOME AND PROGRAM PARTICIPATION NOR DOES IT COLLECT INFORMATION ON WHETHER OR NOT INDIVIDUALS HAVE HEALTH INSURANCE. PURPOSE: THIS PROJECT SHALL PROVIDE A PROOF OF CONCEPT - CONSTRUCTING A DATABASE TO PROVIDE STATE LEVEL ESTIMATES TO ADDRESS KEY POLICY QUESTIONS, PARTICULARLY AS THEY RELATE TO HEALTH INSURANCE REFORM. THE PROJECT SHALL PROVIDE AN OPPORTUNITY TO TEST THE MERITS OF STATICALLY COMBINING THE 2000 DECENNIAL CENSUS PUBLIC USE MICRO-DATA SAMPLE WITH DETAILED INCOME, HEALTH AND TAX INFORMATION AVAILABLE IN OTHER DATABASES SUCH AS THE STATISTICS OF INCOME, NATIONAL HEALTH INTERVIEW SURVEY AND THE CURRENT POPULATION SURVEY FOR UP TO THREE (3) STATES. TASK 1 - ORIENTATION MEETING WITHIN TWO(2) WEEKS OF THE CONTRACT AWARD, THE PROJECT DIRECTOR AND OTHER CONTRACTOR STAFF AS APPROPRIATE SHALL MEET WITH THE TASK ORDER MONITOR (PROJECT OFFICER) AND OTHER AGENCY REPRESENTATIVES TO CLARIFY STUDY OBJECTIVES, APPROACHES, REQUIREMENTS, AND PARAMETERS. DISCUSSION TOPICS SHALL INCLUDE, BUT SHALL NOT BE LIMITED TO, BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE OF THE PROJECT, PROGRAM DIMENSIONS OF INTEREST, QUESTIONS AND CONCERNS RELATED TO THE PROJECT, AND THE SELECTION OF TEST STATES. ONE WEEK FOLLOWING THE MEETING, THE CONTRACTOR SHALL SUBMIT A MEMORANDUM TO THE PROJECT OFFICE SUMMARIZING THE MEETING AND ANY CONCLUSIONS THAT RESULTED. TASK 2 - MONTHLY PROGRESS REPORTS AS NOTED IN THE CONTRACT UNDER WHICH THIS TASK ORDER IS AWARDED, THE CONTRACTOR SHALL PREPARE AND SUBMIT BRIEF MONTHLY PROGRESS REPORTS TO THE PROJECT OFFICER. THESE PROGRESS REPORTS SHALL INCLUDE: WORK PERFORMED, PROGRESS TOWARD MEETING THE OBJECTIVES OF THE TASK ORDER, SUMMARIES OF ANY DELIVERABLES SUBMITTED, DIFFICULTIES ENCOUNTERED DURING THE REPORTING PERIOD AND THOSE ANTICIPATED FOR THE NEXT REPORTING PERIOD, ACTIVITIES PROJECTED FOR THE NEXT REPORTING PERIOD, AND THE PROPORTION OF PROJECT MONEY SPENT EACH MONTH. TASK 3 - DEFINE DATA REQUIREMENTS THE CONTRACTOR SHALL WORK CLOSELY WITH THE PROJECT OFFICER AND OTHER AGENCY STAFF TO CONDUCT AN ASSESSMENT OF THE DATA REQUIREMENTS FOR ADDRESSING THE KEY PURPOSES OF THIS PROJECT. THE CONTRACTOR SHALL PROPOSE A LIST OF KEY VARIABLES (E.G. HEALTH STATUS, HEALTH INSURANCE COVERAGE, SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS, HOUSEHOLD/FAMILY SIZE) WHICH WILL BE DRAWN FROM RELEVANT DATABASES. IN ADDITION, THE CONTRACTOR SHALL PROPOSE A LIST OF DATABASES TO EXPLORE FOR SUPPLEMENTING THE PUMS DATABASE INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE CURRENT POPULATION SURVEY (CPS), NATIONAL HEALTH INTERVIEW SURVEY (NHIS), MEDICAL EXPENDITURE SURVEY (MEPS) AND ADMINISTRATIVE DATA, SUCH AS STATISTICS OF INCOME (SOI) AND THE MEDICARE AND MEDICAID DATABASES WITHIN 4 WEEKS OF CONTRACT AWARD. THE CONTRACTOR SHALL PROVIDE THEIR RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE PROJECT OFFICER IN THE FORM OF A BRIEF TECHNICAL MEMORANDUM FOR REVIEW, COMMENT, AND APPROVAL. THE PROJECT OFFICER WILL REVIEW THE DRAFT TECHNICAL MEMO AND PROVIDE COMMENTS TO THE CONTRACTOR. THE CONTRACTOR SHALL INCORPORATE THESE CHANGES INTO THE FINAL MEMO AT WEEK 8 OF CONTRACT AWARD. TASK 4 - DEVELOP CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK AND OPTIONS FOR ADDING DATA TO THE HOST DATABASE 4.1 - THE CONTRACTOR SHALL DEVELOP A CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK AND OPTIONS FOR SUPPLEMENTING THE PUMS DATABASE WITH KEY VARIABLES IDENTIFIED UNDER TASK 3. THE CONTRACTOR SHALL EXAMINE ALTERNATIVE METHODOLOGIES FOR DATA SUPPLEMENTING TO INCLUDE, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, BIVARIATE WEIGHTING, BLOCKING, CELL BASED MATCHING AND REGRESSION IMPUTATION METHODS. ULTIMATELY THESE METHODS MAY DEPEND UPON THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SUPPLEMENTAL DATABASE AND A VARIETY OF METHODS MAY BE EMPLOYED. PARTICULAR ATTENTION MUST BE PAID TO PRESERVING VARIANCE AS WELL AS AVERAGE. 4.2 - IN ADDITION, AS PART OF THIS TASK THE CONTRACTOR SHALL EXAMINE AND PRESENT VALIDATION METHODS THAT CAN BE EMPLOYED TO ASSESS THE VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY OF THE SUPPLEMENTED DATABASE. THE CONTRACTOR SHALL IDENTIFY EXTERNAL DATA BASES, PUBLISHED DATE, ETC. THAT CAN BE USED TO VALIDATE THE CORE DATABASE. 4.3 - THE CONTRACTOR SHALL SUBMIT A DRAFT MEMORANDUM TO THE PROJECT OFFICER FOR REVIEW AND COMMENT 6 WEEKS POST AWARD. THE FINAL MEMORANDUM WILL BE COMPLETED AND SUBMITTED 12 WEEKS AFTER CONTRACT AWARD AND REFLECT ANY DECISIONS ON METHODOLOGY AND VALIDATION MADE AT THE INTERIM BRIEFING UNDER TASK 5. TASK 5 - INTERIM PROGRESS BRIEFING WITHIN 10 WEEKS OF CONTRACT AWARD THE CONTRACTOR SHALL MAKE A PRESENTATION TO THE PROJECT OFFICER, GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS AND OTHER RELEVANT FEDERAL STAFF, IN WASHINGTON, D.C. LASTING APPROXIMATELY 90 MINUTES. THE FOCUS OF THE BRIEFING WILL BE TO UPDATE ON PROJECT PROGRESS AND TO DISCUSS THE CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK AND METHODOLOGICAL OPTIONS FOR ADDING DATA TO THE HOST DATABASE. AN OUTLINE OF THE PRESENTATION AND DRAFTS OF ANY MATERIALS TO BE DISPLAYED OR DISTRIBUTED DURING THE PRESENTATION SHALL BE PROVIDED TO THE PROJECT OFFICER, VIA EMAIL, FOR APPROVAL NO LATER THAN ONE WEEK PRIOR TO THE PRESENTATION. TASK 6 - CONSTRUCT AND TEST THE COMPREHENSIVE DATABASE 6.1 - THE CONTRACTOR SHALL DEVELOP THE CORE DATABASE TO PROVIDE THE TEST OF CONCEPT OF UP TO THREE (3) STATES SELECTED IN CONSULTATION WITH THE PROJECT OFFICER. THE CRITERIA FOR STATE SELECTION SHALL INCLUDE POPULATION (E.G., SMALL, MEDIUM, AND LARGE STATE) AND THE AVAILABILITY OF EXTERNAL DATA FOR TESTING THE METHODOLOGY. THE CORE DATABASE SHALL BE CONSTRUCTED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE DECISIONS FINALIZED THROUGH TASK 5. MODIFICATIONS TO THE AGREED UPON METHODS CAN BE MADE AS THE WORK ON THE CORE DATABASE CONSTRUCTION PROGRESSES; THESE MODIFICATIONS CAN BE MADE WITH THE CONCURRENCE OF THE PROJECT OFFICER. 6.2 - THE CONTRACTOR SHALL SECURE THE NECESSARY DATABASES TO BE USED AS PART OF THIS PROJECT AS IDENTIFIED IN TASK 3 - DATA REQUIREMENTS. THE CONTRACTOR SHALL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR MEETING ALL THE PRIVACY AND CONFIDENTIALITY REQUIREMENTS OF THE OWNERS OF THE DATA BASES (E.G. CMS ADMINISTRATIVE DATA). 6.3 - IN ADDITION, THE CONTRACTOR SHALL PERFORM THE PROOF OF CONCEPT TESTING UNDER THIS TASK. AT A MINIMUM THE CONTRACTOR SHALL BENCHMARK THE KEY VARIABLES IN THE CORE DATABASE TO EXISTING, EXTERNAL STATE LEVEL DATA USING DATABASES, PUBLISHED SUMMARY DATA AND TABULATIONS IDENTIFIED UNDER TASK 4 WITH PARTICULAR ATTENTION TO VARIABILITY AS WELL AS AVERAGES AND TOTALS. TASK 7 - FINAL MEMORANDUM 7.1 - THE CONTRACTOR SHALL PREPARE A DRAFT OUTLINE FOR THE FINAL MEMORANDUM. THE MEMORANDUM WILL DRAW FROM AND UPDATE MEMORANDUMS SUBMITTED UNDER TASKS 1,3, AND 4 PLUS THE WORK COMPLETED UNDER TASK 6. THE FINAL MEMORANDUM SHALL CONTAIN A SECTION WHICH WILL PROVIDE AN ASSESSMENT OF THE FEASIBILITY AND UTILITY OF THE CONSTRUCTED CORE DATABASE AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ANY IMPROVEMENTS TO THE METHODOLOGY. THE PROJECT OFFICER WILL REVIEW THE OUTLINE AND PROVIDE COMMENTS, AS NECESSARY. 7.2 - BY WEEK 23 OF CONTRACT AWARD, THE CONTRACTOR SHALL PREPARE A DRAFT FINAL MEMORANDUM, CONSISTENT WITH THE OUTLINE APPROVED UNDER SUB TASK 7.1. THE DRAFT MEMORANDUM WILL BE SUBMITTED TO THE PROJECT OFFICER FOR REVIEW AND COMMENT. 7.3 - THE CONTRACTOR SHALL INCORPORATE THE PROJECT OFFICER'S COMMENTS INTO A FINAL MEMORANDUM AND DELIVER TO THE PROJECT OFFICER BY WEEK 26 OF CONTRACT AWARD. TASK 8 - DATABASE AND DOCUMENTATION UPON COMPLETION OF THE PROJECT THE CONTRACTOR SHALL PROVIDE THE PROJECT OFFICER WITH THE COMPLETED DATABASE WITH DOCUMENTATION BY WEEK 26 OF CONTRACT AWARD.. TASK 9 - FINAL BRIEFING THE CONTRACTOR SHALL CONDUCT A BRIEFING FOR THE DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR HEALTH POLICY, THE ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR PLANNING AND EVALUATION, AND OTHER RELEVANT HHS STAFF, NO LATER THAN 24 WEEKS AFTER PROJECT AWARD. AT THE BRIEFING, THE CONTRACTOR SHALL PRESENT AN OVERVIEW OF THE RESULTS OF THE PROJECT. THE CONTRACTOR SHALL PREPARE AND SUBMIT ONE WEEK IN ADVANCE OF THE BRIEFING ANY NECESSARY BRIEFING MATERIALS. UPON REVISING THESE BRIEFING MATERIALS TO REFLECT ANY COMMENTS FROM THE PROJECT OFFICER, THE CONTRACTOR SHALL BRING COPIES OF THESE MATERIALS TO THE BRIEFING SUITABLE FOR HANDOUTS. THE CONTRACTOR SHALL INCORPORATE INPUT AND DECISIONS MADE A THE BRIEFING INTO THE FINAL REPORT REQUIRED UNDER THIS TASK. SOLE SOURCE DETERMINATION IS BASED UPON THE FOLLOWING: TESTING A METHOD TO DEVELOP A STATE LEVEL DATABASE FOR HEALTH AND RELATED ANALYSES QUANTRIA STRATEGIES, LLC IS A VERY SMALL BUSINESS AND IS UNIQUELY QUALIFIED TO COMPLETE THE WORK REQUIRED UNDER PROCUREMENT FOR THE OFFICE OF THE ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR PLANNING AND EVALUATION (OASPE). THIS PROCUREMENT WILL TEST A CONCEPT AND METHODOLOGY, DEVELOPED BY QUANTRIA, TO CONSTRUCT A DATABASE WHICH SUPPLEMENTS THE DATA AVAILABLE 2000 DECENNIAL CENSUS PUBLIC USE MICRO-DATA SAMPLE WITH DETAILED INFORMATION ON INCOME, HEALTH STATUS AND HEALTH INSURANCE FROM OTHER NATIONAL SURVEYS AND ADMINISTRATIVE DATABASES TO PROVIDE A TOOL FOR ASSESSING STATE LEVEL INFORMATION. THE METHODOLOGY, BIPARTITE WEIGHTED CONSTRAINED MATCHING, PERMITS HITTING CONTROL TOTALS WHILE AT THE SAME TIME ALLOWING FOR CORRELATION AMONGST KEY VARIABLES. THE RESULTING DATABASE WILL PROVIDE THE DEPARTMENT WITH A CRITICAL TOOL FOR ADDRESSING POLICY QUESTIONS RELATED TO HEALTH INSURANCE AND THE UNINSURED, BOTH ISSUES CENTRAL TO THE DEPARTMENT'S MISSION. ONE OF THE SECRETARY'S PRIORITIES IS DEVELOPING AND IMPLEMENTING STRATEGIES FOR REDUCING THE NUMBER OF INDIVIDUALS WITHOUT HEALTH INSURANCE. AS SUCH, OASPE IS CURRENTLY INVOLVED IN EXAMINING A WIDE RANGE OF ALTERNATIVE APPROACHES IN SUPPORT OF THIS PRIORITY. WITHOUT ADEQUATE ANALYSIS OF STATE LEVEL INFORMATION, OASPE WILL NOT BE IN A POSITION TO ADVISE THE SECRETARY ABOUT THE RELATIVE EFFICACY OF THESE OPTIONS IN REDUCING THE NUMBER OF UNINSURED. THEREFORE, THE NEED FOR THIS WORK IS IMMEDIATE. THE PRINCIPALS AT QUANTRIA STRATEGIES HAVE A LONG HISTORY OF SUCCESSFULLY CONSTRUCTING TIMELY AND WELL-DOCUMENTED COMPLEX DATABASES AND SIMULATION MODELS FOR CLIENTS SUCH AS THE CONGRESSIONAL RESEARCH SERVICE AND THE CONGRESSIONAL JOINT TAX COMMITTEE AND UNIQUELY QUALIFIED TO COMPLETE THIS EFFORT WITHIN THE TIME FRAME AND BUDGET AVAILABLE FOR THE PROJECT.. IN ADDITION, THE PRINCIPALS HAVE EXPERT KNOWLEDGE AND EXTENSIVE EXPERIENCE IN USING THE MANY DATABASES THAT MAY BE AN INTEGRAL PART OF THIS PROCUREMENT (E.G. THE STATISTIC OF INCOME, NATIONAL HEALTH INTERVIEW SURVEY, DECENNIAL CENSUS MICRO FILES, CURRENT POPULATION SURVEY). THE PRINCIPALS OF QUANTRIA HAVE EXTENSIVE EXPERIENCE IN DEVELOPING AND IMPLEMENTING AN ARRAY OF STATISTICAL DATA MATCHING AND IMPUTATION METHODS CRITICAL TO THE SUCCESSFUL AND TIMELY COMPLETION OF THIS PROCUREMENT INCLUDING THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE BIPARTITE WEIGHTED CONSTRAINED MATCHING METHOD. THE METHOD RELIES ON SPECIAL RANDOMIZED ALGORITHMS (SIMULATED ANNEALING) RATHER THAN USING THE USUAL NON-LINEAR PROGRAMMING METHODS. THE SOFTWARE IS PROPRIETARY, AND IT IS NOT SOMETHING THAT IS GENERALLY AVAILABLE. THEREFORE, FOR THE REASONS CITED ABOVE, WE ARE CONFIDENT QUANTRIA STRATEGIES, LLC WILL BE ABLE TO COMPLETE THE WORK UNDER THIS PROCUREMENT IN A RAPID, TIMELY FASHION, WHICH WILL BE CRITICAL FOR HELPING ASPE DEVELOP THE TOOLS TO EXAMINE POLICY OPTIONS AT THE STATE LEVEL. THE PROPOSED SIMPLIFIED ACQUISITION IS FOR SERVICES FOR WHICH THE GOVERNMENT INTENDS TO SOLICIT AND NEGOTIATE WITH ONLY ONE SOURCE (FAR 6.302-1). A DETERMINATION BY THE GOVERNMENT NOT TO COMPETE THIS PROPOSED SIMPLIFIED ACQUISITION BASED UPON RESPONSES TO THIS NOTICE IS SOLELY WITHIN THE DISCRETION OF THE GOVERNMENT. CONTRACTORS MAY FORWARD CAPABILITY STATEMENTS TO THE REFERENCED ADDRESS. INFORMATION RECEIVED WILL NORMALLY BE CONSIDERED SOLELY FOR THE PURPOSES OF DETERMINING WHETHER TO CONDUCT A COMPETITIVE PROCUREMENT. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT DARREN JANSEN, IN ROOM 5C-13, PARKLAWN BLDG., 5600 FISHERS LANE, ROCKVILLE, MD 20857 OR ON 301-443-1857.
- Record
- SN00637455-W 20040807/040805211916 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps.gov Link to This Notice
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