R -- ASSESSING THE IMPACT OF LANGUAGE BARRIERS & INTERPRETER SERVICES ON COST & QUALITY OF HEALTH CARE

Notice Date

August 9, 2001

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

01T072608

Response Due

August 24, 2001

Point of Contact

Nora Tyson, Contract Specialist, Phone 301-443-5229, Fax 301-443-3238, Email ntyson@psc.gov -- Joe Pirrone, Contracting Officer, Phone 301-443-4852, Fax 301-443-3238, Email jpirrone@psc.gov

Description

The Office of Public Health and Sciences (OPHS), Office of Minority Health (OMH)through the Program Support Center, General Acquisition Branch, plans to award a 15 month sole source award to Boston Medical Center, 91 East Concord Street, Boston, Ma. 02117 using simplified acquisition procedures. The anticipated date of award is September 01, 2001. The purpose of this contract is to conduct a study, as part of an urgently needed effort to build the science, related to the impact of providing?and not providing?language assistance services to limited-English proficient (LEP) populations in the context of health care delivery. Utilizing data from (an) ongoing or recently completed study/studies examining the impact of providing?not providing -- interpreter services for LEP patients on medical errors/patient safety and other aspects of quality of health care, this study will examine the costs and benefits of providing such services, including the direct costs of interpreter services/savings from providing/not providing such services, and the costs and benefits resulting from medical errors and enhanced patient safety and/or other aspects of health care quality. The project will include an examination of data from actual clinical encounters between physicians-patients, design/development of a tool or instrument that can readily identify the nature and extent of medical errors due to language barriers (for LEP populations), initial creation of a model to estimate the impact of these errors on cost and quality of care, and comparisons of error frequency, cost and benefits, impacts, and outcomes between varying levels of interpreter services (no interpreters, untrained interpreters, and medically trained interpreters). The urgency for conducting such studies is a result of concerns being raised by a number of health care provider groups and health plans, specific to the cost of providing interpreter services to LEP health plan members/patients. These concerns were expressed in response to an HHS policy guidance issued to assist health and social service providers in complying with requirements under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act to ensure that LEP populations can access critical health and social services. The guidance outlined the legal responsibilities of providers who assist people with limited English proficiency and receive federal financial assistance from HHS, and provided a flexible roadmap to assist those providers in their efforts to meet the language needs of the nation's increasingly diverse population. The proposed simplified acquisition is for services for which the Government intends to solicit and negotiate with only one source under authority of far 6.302. Interested persons may identify their interest by responding to the requirement within 10 days after the date of publication of this notice. 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. Information received will normally be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement. For a copy of the complete solicitation or for further information, please contact Nora Tyson in Rm. 5C-03, Parklawn Building, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, Md. 20857 or on 301-443-8826.

Web Link

Visit this URL for the latest information about this (http://www.eps.gov/spg/HHS/PSC/DAM/01T072608/listing.html)

Record

Loren Data Corp. 20010813/RSOL025.HTM (D-221 SN50U4R3)