SOLICITATION NOTICE
R -- Assessment for Adherence Research
- Notice Date
- 7/30/2007
- Notice Type
- Solicitation Notice
- NAICS
- 541990
— All Other Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services
- Contracting Office
- Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, National Library of Medicine, 8600 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, MD, 20894, UNITED STATES
- ZIP Code
- 00000
- Solicitation Number
- 07-145SB
- Response Due
- 8/13/2007
- Archive Date
- 8/28/2007
- Description
- In accordance with FAR Part 13, Simplified Acquisition procedures, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) intends to procure the services of a contractor to work with the Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR) to assess the need for a trans-NIH research agenda for adherence research. It is expected that a single award will be made and the period of performance is expected not to exceed a period of 7 months from the date of award. The NAICS category is 541990. STATEMENT OF WORK Assessing the Need for a Trans-NIH Research Agenda for Adherence Research Scope 1. Objective At this time Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences (OBSSR) program staff plans to develop a funding opportunity announcement (FOA) to focus on adherence (for the purposes of this analysis this also includes compliance, concordance, persistence and maintenance) to preventive and medical regimens. In conjunction with that activity, OBSSR staff is in the early stages of moving forward with an adherence research network. Appropriate National Institutes of Health Institutes, Offices and Centers (IC) members will develop program goals for adherence research, such that the network can lead the field into more productive research that can be shown to improve adherence. To start we want to identify and evaluate the current status of adherence research at the NIH. In order to do that we need to: 1) Identify a cross-institute portfolio of behavioral research and other related activities in adherence; 2) Quantify the investment in this research; 3) Ascertain gaps in the existing research; 4) Identify outputs of the research; 5) Explore gaps in the research portfolio to help guide program staff in the decision making process for future, related activities such as conferences and research syntheses; and 6) Identify alternate resources and potential partners. 2. Context Providers generate more than three billion outpatient prescriptions annually1. Additionally, according to the National Health Interview Survey (HIS), they provide counseling during 42% of all office visits.2 However, according to a recent Cochrane Collaborative report, ?People who are prescribed self-administered medications typically take less than half the prescribed doses.?3 The report goes on to conclude, ?Current methods of improving adherence for chronic health problems are mostly complex and not very effective, so that the full benefits of treatment cannot be realized.? In FY2000, OBSSR, in partnership with twelve ICs, released an RFA on adherence to pharmacological therapy, RFA OD-00-006 http://obssr.od.nih.gov/Content/Research/Request_for_Applications_%28RFAs%29/AdherenceAwards.htm <http://obssr.od.nih.gov/Content/Research/Request_for_Applications_%28RFAs%29/AdherenceAwards.htm> . Six R01s were funded http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-OD-00-006.html <http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-OD-00-006.html>. Other ICs, including NHLBI, NIMH and NIDA have funded adherence research. However, IC programs have not undertaken an evaluation of program outcomes. 3. Key Question(s) Questions to be addressed with this data collection -What are the characteristics of the NIH portfolio of adherence research funded over the last fifteen years? - Can we comprehensively identify the results from the NIH research investment? Other Questions for exploration -Has NIH engaged in activities, other than funding research, with the explicit purpose of improved adherence? -What gaps exist within the research portfolio? -Are there other organizations actively working to improve adherence through research sponsorship? 4. Requirements A. General Requirements 1. Independently, and not as an agent of the Government, the Contractor shall furnish all necessary labor, materials, supplies, equipment, and services (except as otherwise specified herein) and perform the work set forth below. 2. The Contractor shall be monitored by the Project Officer based on the timely submission of deliverables. 3. The Contractor shall provide reports of progress on a monthly basis. The format and details for these reports will be agreed upon at the first meeting between program staff and the Project Officer 4. The following is a list of required tasks for this Task Order. The tasks are listed sequentially; however, several tasks will be done concurrently, and some tasks will be continued throughout the entire Task Order period. B. Technical Requirement The contractor, with input from program staff, will explore and identify the best data and methods to summarize and consolidate information on NIH?s investment in adherence research. Minimally the contractor will identify NIH funding opportunity announcements (FOAs), information on funded projects, publications and other outputs for research grants and contracts. The analysis will include FOAs published between 1992 and 2006. The FOAs of interest will be limited to those with at least one NIH IC listed as a sponsor, that focus in part, or as a whole, on the measurement and improvement in patient compliance, adherence, maintenance or persistence to therapies recommended by a healthcare provider. The contractor shall explore all NIH data sources (e.g.; CRISP, CGAF, QVR/IMPACT, Medline, NIH Guide to Grants and Contracts) to ascertain the best sources of the necessary data. Non-NIH data sources will also be explored. Once relevant sources have been identified, the contractor will obtain study abstracts and other information to develop an analysis and summary of NIH?s investment in adherence research. Task 1. Clarify Objectives, Issues, and Questions The contractor shall meet with appropriate program and evaluation staff to discuss the objectives of the contract and any related project issues. Specific topics to be discussed include: evaluation goals, strategies, purpose, specific data requirements, data elements, software, timelines, and deliverables. In conjunction with the PO, the contractor will explore how we might comprehensively identify the results from the NIH research investment. Task 2. Develop and Compile a Review of NIH FOAs relevant to Adherence At a minimum, the contractor shall use NIH resources such as the NIH Guide to Grants and Contracts to develop an annotated database of FOAs released by NIH between the years 1992-2006 relevant to Adherence. Tabular information with agreed upon data elements shall include date of release, a short summary (not to exceed five sentences) of the objectives, numbers of application and numbers of funded application. Other information of relevance may be included. Additionally, the contractor will identify and ascertain the existence and value of other data sources (e.g., National Technical Information Service) for evaluating adherence activities. Task 3. Develop a database of funded projects The contractor shall identify all grants and contracts funded under Task 2 linked to an FOA and enter these into a database. Data elements will include but not be limited to FOA, PI, Institution and a summary (not to exceed three sentences). In addition, the contractor will develop an algorithm that identifies investigator initiated adherence research (e.g.: R01s), not associated with any FOA. These will identified included in the database Task 4. Identify outputs from the identified funded projects The contractor will review the relevant literature, obtained through a variety of search strategies (including, but not limited to using NIH databases) for outputs such as journal articles and textbooks generated by NIH funds identified in Task 3. The contractor will maintain a file of published abstracts. The contractor will produce an annotated bibliography, with each publication linked to a grant/contract number. The database will use the standard Medline citation format for each individual article. The contractor and the PO will work to develop a format for this report. The contractor will categorize the nature of the studies. Potential categories include: conceptual, descriptive, or interventions (categorization strategies will be developed with program staff). This will likely be the first step in a more extensive program evaluation in which we expect to examine the impact of funded research. Data identified will be organized such that NIH?s resource investment in this field can be quantified. The final decision on data sources and the organization of the data will be determined as the study progresses in conjunction with the project officer. The data will be provided in text and web-based formats that is platform-independent. Task 5: Review of Preliminary Runs and Revision of Data Collection Strategy After preliminary runs of the data specified in Tasks 3 and 4 are performed by the Contractor, the Project Officer will review the data with the evaluation contractor staff and address data issues. If data critical to the analyses are found to be missing, contractor staff will assess the feasibility and practicality of utilizing alternate strategies to fill in the gaps. Task 6: Conclusions The contractor, will comprehensively review results to assess how these data may be used to inform future adherence research by NIH and inform an evaluation of the impact of such research Task 7: Submit Final Datasets An electronic copy of the final report (the structure of the final report will be agreed upon at the initial meeting), an executive summary, and the databases will be submitted to the Project Officer. C. Delivery Schedule: Work Products and Estimated Timeline It is estimated that this project shall be completed in 24 weeks. For purpose of this schedule, week 1 shall be considered to be the first week after the contract award date. Monthly reports, to be submitted electronically, will be due on the fifth business day of each month. Week Task 1 Award contract and hold kickoff meeting to review project management plan 2-3 Meet with program staff to develop conceptual framework for searches 4 Develop procedures and algorithm for searching NIH Databases. Conference Call. 5-9 Identify FOAs and funded research projects. Conference call. 10 Collect and analyze outputs. Conference call. 12-14 Develop paper and web-based resources for program staff 18 Complete all analyses 20-22 Submit and revise draft report and outputs 24 Submit final report and documentation An electronic copy of each deliverable shall be submitted to the Project Officer. D. Evaluation Criteria Technical factors are of paramount consideration in the award of the task order; however, cost is also important to the overall award decision. All evaluation factors other than cost, when combined, are significantly more important than cost. The Government can make tradeoffs among cost and technical factors in determining which Quoter offers the best value by awarding to other than the lowest cost Quoter or other than the highest technically rated Quoter. Quoters are advised that award will be made to that Quoter whose quote provides the best overall value to the Government. Technical Evaluation Criteria In determining which quote represents the best value and results in the lowest overall cost alternative (considering price, special features, administrative costs, etc.) to meet the Government?s needs, the Government shall evaluate quotes using the following technical evaluation criteria, which are listed in the order of relative importance with weights assigned for evaluation purposes: 1. Understanding the Requirements/Technical Approach (30 Points) The offeror shall provide a high quality, innovative, clear, detailed methodological approach to the development of the adherence research databases. The approach to all the tasks shall be adequately described and include a detailed timeline to get the information necessary to develop and implement the project. An extremely short (not more than a quarter page per database) sample report for each of the databases, obtained through a search of the NIH databases should be included and will be used to assess the understanding of the requirements. A detailed plan for including government input should be provided. Evidence of ability to accomplish work with a quick turn-around shall be provided via two letters of support for the offeror from previous contracts along with a resume of previously completed projects similar to the project currently proposed. 2. Personnel/Staff Qualifications (30 Points) Personnel will be rated on education and past experience performing similar kinds of projects. The organization must provide evidence of the availability of all proposed personnel/consultants/subcontractors to accomplish the required tasks. The offeror should have available substantial knowledge of the relevant literature (specifically, the literature on treatment adherence and evaluation of biomedical research). The offeror should have substantial experience in the diverse range of skills required for this project: evaluation design, methodology development, database development and synthesis, computer database administration, management of complex evaluation projects, experience with the management of NIH or other Federally-funded grant and contract programs, knowledge of NIH databases and other sources of information on research results and search strategies for obtaining and summarizing information from such data, knowledge and experience summarizing publications and research information. The offeror should have on staff personnel experienced in report writing, communications, and in meeting organization. 3. Organizational Capabilities, Experience and Commitment; Facilities and Resources (40 Points) The offeror should provide evidence of corporate capability to organize and manage resources and personnel effectively. The letters of support mentioned in criterion #1 should include support of the offeror's capability, experience, and commitment to a quality product provided in a timely fashion. Evidence of corporate experience and success should include evaluation design, methodology development, database development and synthesis, computer database administration, management of complex evaluation projects, experience with the management of NIH or other Federally-funded grant and contract programs, knowledge of NIH databases and other sources of information on research results and search strategies for obtaining and summarizing information from such data, knowledge and experience summarizing publications and research information. For any subcontractor(s) proposed, effectiveness and timeliness of management plan in specifying responsibilities allocated to each organization and how these entities shall interact. Adequate mechanisms should be in place to hire technically qualified staff on a quick turnaround basis, as needed, and to ensure that personnel assigned to a project are retained during the entire project. Evidence should be provided of adequate organizational headquarters, research offices and other infrastructure proposed for this project. Computer support, including appropriate, back-up capabilities and computers able to communicate with NIH systems in a seamless fashion are paramount to these activities as work will be done at the contractor?s headquarters. Facilities needed for the project shall be currently available or available at the time of contract award. 4. Offeror personnel have security clearances and access to NIH databases, such as IMPAC II, the Consolidated Grant Application Files, and other NIH databases. (Mandatory, but zero points) References 1. Kaiser Family Foundation. Fact Sheet: Prescription Drug Trends. http://www.kff.org. Accessed 6/13/2007. 2. Middleton KR, Hing E. National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey: 2004 Outpatient Department Summary. Advance data from vital and health statistics; no 373. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. 3. Haynes RB, Yao X, Degani A, Kripalani S, Garg A, McDonald HP. Interventions for enhancing medication adherence. October 19, 2005. All interested parties shall submit electronic responses to Sally Boakye at boakyes@mail.nih.gov. Responses must be received no later than 4:00 PM EDT on August 13, 2007 and shall not exceed 15 pages in length. Please reference combined synopsis/solicitation number 07-145/SB on all correspondence to this notice. Inquiries regarding this notice may be sent to Sally Boakye at boakyes@mail.nih.gov and must be received no later than 4PM EDT on August 6, 2007.
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