SPECIAL NOTICE
R -- Request for Information (RFI) - Healthcare Data Analytics and Statistical Products - Attachment #2 - HHS-AHRQ-RFI-18-10001 - Attachment #1 - HHS-AHRQ-RFI-18-10001
- Notice Date
- 5/3/2018
- Notice Type
- Special Notice
- NAICS
- 541990
— All Other Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services
- Contracting Office
- Department of Health and Human Services, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Contracts Management, 5600 Fishers Lane, Mailstop: 06N34B, Rockville, Maryland, 20857, United States
- ZIP Code
- 20857
- Solicitation Number
- HHS-AHRQ-RFI-18-10001
- Archive Date
- 6/8/2018
- Point of Contact
- Megan L Osele, Phone: 3014271460, Erin B. Mills, Phone: 3014271169
- E-Mail Address
-
megan.murphy@ahrq.hhs.gov, Erin.Mills@ahrq.hhs.gov
(megan.murphy@ahrq.hhs.gov, Erin.Mills@ahrq.hhs.gov)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- HHS-AHRQ-RFI-18-10001 Attachment #1 - Background Information HHS-AHRQ-RFI-18-10001 Attachment #2 - Background of Websites This is a Request for Information (RFI) for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) to gain knowledge of innovative ways to meet the needs of the Agency to obtain data analytic services supporting its major data collections and other programs. This is not a request for proposal and does not commit the Government to issue a solicitation, make an award or pay any costs associated with responding to this notice. All responses shall remain with the Government and will not be returned. Purpose: The purpose of this RFI is to obtain information and conduct market research to inform AHRQ's potential release of one or more solicitations to acquire data services to support various AHRQ programs including Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS), Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP), Quality Reports and Patient Safety Organizations. These data services include maintaining an inventory of data files (several hundred each year), providing program support for a number of analytic tasks, developing and maintaining several websites and analytic web tools and providing program support for several key AHRQ activities. Background and Reference Materials: Two documents are attached in order to aid the community in understanding the contract background and current web system. 1. Background related to overall contract tasks as detailed in last solicitation. 2. Background related to websites under this contract - None of the AHRQ web sites under this contract use any Content Management tools. All applications are at a Secure Data Center which is a SAS 70 certified data center in which physical access to the hardware is limited only to a select number of administrators and is secured through a number of physical access controls including biometric hand scanners, 24/7 guards, pin access codes, private cage access codes and man traps. The facility contains N+1 redundancy for power and standby generators, cooling and environmental systems, and a pre-stage fire-suppression system. The facility provides a number of services, including power, cooling, flood control, fire detection and suppression, and other controls. The attached table lists the technologies used to design and develop the websites as well as the number of pages and average website hits. Please note that the data processing and analytic programming work may involve Personally Identifiable Information (PII) and other confidential data that cannot be released to the public. The Federal Information Security Modernization Act (FISMA) of 2014 will be required on any future action. (CSPs). Moreover, when evaluating cloud service providers (CSPs), only FedRAMP certified CSPs shall be considered. The data science effort utilizes data types that elevate the overall Federal Information Processing standard (FIPS) - 199 security categorization to Moderate. Questions: 1. The contractor would need access to the AHRQ databases used for this requirement. How workable is it for the data to be maintained only at AHRQ with remote access provided for contractor staff via a secure VPN and/or cloud-based service? 2. AHRQ develops and maintains many databases and files derivative from those databases. What is considered the state of the art for indexing such files? 3. This project includes the development/enhancement of a number of web-based data query tools (HCUPnet, MEPSnet, tables, QDR, etc.). Each of these has been developed independently. AHRQ is considering using a uniform look, feel and function for online data tools and data visualization. AHRQ would also like to provide consumers of our data the ability to connect easily with research tools such as, but not limited to, R, Tableau, Python, etc. We would also strongly prefer commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) products. What information would vendors need to provide an accurate bid on such a project? What are the advantages and/or disadvantages from industry's perspective of having the data management and analysis combined with the development of these data query tools? 4. This project includes not only analytical work but also the development and maintenance of websites to disseminate AHRQ's data. From Industry's perspective, what are the advantages and/or disadvantages of having these web activities included in the same contract as the database management and analysis? 5. In the past, AHRQ has tightly coupled its database work and development of web-based data tools. What are logical handoff points from the industry's perspective? 6. AHRQ has historically required the use of SAS for data processing. What are the other products which may be more cost-effective but still able to handle complex data processing for large files? Can non-SAS platforms (open source platforms) perform SQL and very big data manipulations? What are the advantages and disadvantages of using multiple programming packages/tools from industry's perspective? 7. AHRQ has a large research staff, as well as outside users, that regularly perform high-intensity scientific computing on the databases it maintains using the statistical software packages STATA/MP, R and, to a lesser extent, others. What is the capacity for cloud computing environments to support a large number of concurrent users performing intensive statistical analyses on large databases using the STATA/MP and R packages? What are potential roadblocks? Disclaimer and Important Notes: Please note that this is a Request for Information (RFI) only. This RFI is issued solely for information and planning purposes; it does not constitute a Request for Proposal (RFP) or promise to issue an RFP. This notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay for the information provided in response. The Government reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate. Any organization responding to this notice should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed. Information provided will be used to assess tradeoffs and alternatives available for the potential requirement and may lead to the development of a solicitation. Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted. The Government may or may not choose to contact individual responders. Such communications would only serve to further clarify written responses. All submissions become the property of the Federal Government and will not be returned. Not responding to this RFI does not preclude participation in any future RFP/solicitation. The information provided in this RFI is subject to change and is not binding on the Government. Any solicitation resulting from the analysis of information obtained will be announced to the public in Federal Business Opportunities (www.FBO.gov) in accordance with the FAR Part 5. However, responses to this notice will not be considered adequate responses to a solicitation. Response Due Date: Please send your responses in a single Microsoft Word document, double spaced, Times New Roman font size 12, 1 inch margins, APA format, with answers to all 7 questions. Please respond NO LATER THAN 12 noon EST via email on Thursday May 24, 2018 to Megan Osele (megan.osele@ahrq.hhs.gov) and Scott Henderson (scott.henderson@ahrq.hhs.gov). Confidentiality: No proprietary, classified, confidential or sensitive information should be included in your response. The Government reserves the right to use any non-proprietary technical information in any resultant solicitation(s).
- Web Link
-
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(https://www.fbo.gov/spg/HHS/AHRQ/DCM/HHS-AHRQ-RFI-18-10001/listing.html)
- Record
- SN04909674-W 20180505/180503230733-d5c20a3ac0ac725379788973d8aa7578 (fbodaily.com)
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