Implementation of Diagnostic Safety Resources

Introduction:This is a Small Business Sources Sought notice (SBSS). This is NOT a solicitation for proposals, proposal abstracts, or quotations. The purpose of this notice is to obtain information regarding: (1) the availability and capability of qualified small business sources; (2) whether they are small business; HUBZone small businesses; service-disabled, veteran-owned small businesses; 8(a) small businesses; veteran-owned small businesses; woman-owned small businesses; or small disadvantaged businesses; and (3) their size classification relative to the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for the proposed acquisition. Your responses to the information requested will assist the Government in determining the appropriate acquisition method, including whether a set-aside is possible. An organization that is not considered a small business under the applicable NAICS code should not submit a response to this notice.Project Description and RequirementsAHRQ’s

MissionAHRQ’s mission is “to produce evidence to make healthcare safer, higher quality, more accessible, equitable and affordable, and to work with HHS and other partners to make sure that the evidence is understood and used.” The research funded, conducted, and disseminated by AHRQ provides information that helps people make better decisions about health care.AHRQ’s Patient Safety ProgramAHRQ’s Patient Safety Program focuses on improving the safety of healthcare delivery and preventing, mitigating, and decreasing the number of medical errors, patient safety risks and hazards, and quality gaps associated with healthcare that harm patients. Over the years, AHRQ has developed many difference resources to help healthcare organizations engage in patient safety improvement activities. AHRQ has tools/guides that are for different healthcare settings and on different topics, such as promoting the safe use of medications, measuring patient safety culture, improving teamwork and communication, preventing falls and pressure ulcers and engaging patients and families in their care, to name a few. AHRQ’s Diagnostic Safety Tools/GuidesSince the 2015 release of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) report entitled Improving Diagnosis in Healthcare, funding research to improve diagnostic safety and quality has been an Agency priority. In 2019, AHRQ supported a contract to develop 4 different resources to improve diagnostic safety and quality (Calibrate Dx: A Resource To Improve Diagnostic Decisions, Measure Dx: A Resource To Identify, Analyze, and Learn From Diagnostic Safety Events, the Toolkit for Engaging Patients to Improve Diagnostic Safety, and TeamSTEPPS for Diagnosis Improvement). At the time that the contract was written there were very few resources with the specific goal of improving diagnostic quality and safety. After the resources were developed, they were pilot tested for feasibility, and then revised based on the pilot. These pilot tests were small – only working with 10-20 organizations to implement each tool. AHRQ is now interested in implementing 3 of the 4 resources (CalibrateDx, Measure Dx, and the Toolkit for Engaging Patients to Improve Diagnostic Safety) more broadly and testing the impact of their use on relevant process and outcome measures, gathering more user experiences with the resources, and understanding issues associated with sustainability. Under this task order the contractor shall implement the following resources in 60 practice sites per resource:Calibrate Dx: A Resource To Improve Diagnostic DecisionsMeasure Dx: A Resource To Identify, Analyze, and Learn From Diagnostic Safety EventsToolkit for Engaging Patients To Improve Diagnostic SafetyEach resource shall have its own cohort of implementation sites. There will be 3 cohorts (one per resource); and each implementation phase will last 12 months for each cohort, spread 6 months apart, (beginning at month 12, 18 and 24 of the project). The project will commence in three phases. Phase 1 – PlanningIn phase 1 the contractor shall plan for the implementation by developing and submitting a testing plan. The purpose of the testing plan is to determine the impact of resource use on process and outcome measures. It will include details on process and outcome measures to be collected for each resource, how the Contractor will evaluate the impact of resource use on selected measures as well as participant’s experience with the feasibility, usefulness, and utility of diagnostic safety resources as well as how the data will be collected, stored, analyzed and reported.Under this phase the contractor shall also prepare OMB package, that is required under the Paperwork Reduction Act, for testing.The contractor shall also develop and submit a recruitment plan, which describes the methods utilized for recruiting participants in healthcare systems, hospitals and/or individual ambulatory practices to implement one of the resources. The contractor shall develop and submit an implementation plan, which will demonstrate how the contractor will teach the resource content to practice sites; what materials will be used for training; the learning objectives; how to determine if the learning objectives are met; and how technical assistance and other support will be provided to answer questions as sites implement the resources.The contractor shall develop and submit training materials for each resource to teach the resource content to practice sites. Once the OMB package has been approved, the contractor shall recruit healthcare organizations (healthcare systems, hospitals and large primary care practices) so there are 60 recruited practices per resource.Phase 2 – Implementation and TestingIn phase 2 the contractor shall work with recruited sites to implement the chosen resource. During this phase the contractor shall conduct the training/education on the resources, provide technical assistance, and work with participating practice sites to collect agreed upon process and outcome measures. Implementation is defined as incorporating the use of the resource into a practice site’s workflow. Testing is defined as evaluating the impact of using the resource on process and outcome measures.Phase 3 – Implementation and Testing and Sustainment and Data AnalysisIn phase 3 the contractor shall work with practice sites to sustain the changes implemented once the implementation period ends, including submitting a sustainability plan which discusses how the contractor will work with practice sites to ensure that practice changes as a result of resource implementation are maintained during the final phase of the contract. During this phase the contractor shall also develop and submit a data analysis/testing report that analyzes process and outcome measures and qualitative data to determine impact of resource implementation, and barriers and facilitators to implementation, and implications of the results for recommended changes (if any) to the training materials. The contractor shall then use the report findings to revise the training materials.Throughout the period of performance, the contractor shall oversee project administration including holding a kickoff call, regularly scheduled project calls, submitting monthly reports, a final report and a final presentation to AHRQ leadership.Anticipated Period of PerformanceThe period of performance is 48 months. This is a non-severable contract.Capability Information SoughtCapabilities necessary to fulfill this requirement include:Staff expertise in the field of patient safety and diagnostic safety,Experience working on large scale implementation projectsExperience with and ability to recruit 180 healthcare organization practices in a limited period of time to work on quality improvement/patient safety improvement projectsExperience training healthcare organizations on how to implement quality improvement or patient safety improvement resourcesExperience developing training materials and teaching the content to busy healthcare professionalsExperience working with healthcare organizations to implement new practices, including providing technical assistance as challenges ariseAbility to work with healthcare organizations to collect process and outcome measures, including experience with submitting OMB packagesExperience analyzing quality improvement or patient safety improvement data and preparing reports with resultsThe capability statement response to this Small Business Sources Sought notice should include the following information:Staff expertise, including their availability, experience, and formal and other training;Current in-house capability and capacity to perform the work;Corporate experience and information on prior projects of similar size and complexity;List any Government wide contracting vehicle for which the respondent has a contract (example, GSA schedule, etc).Information Submission InstructionsInterested qualified small business organizations should submit a tailored capability statement for this requirement.The cover page must include the following:UEI numberOrganization nameOrganization addressSize and type of business (e.g., 8(a), HUBZone, etc.) pursuant to NAICS code 541720.Technical point(s) of contact, including names, titles, addresses, telephone, and e-mail addresses.All Capability Statements sent in response to this SMALL BUSINESS SOURCES SOUGHT notice must be submitted electronically (via e-mail) to Tara Bertolini, Contract Specialist, Tara.Bertolini@ahrq.hhs.gov in MS Word, or Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF), no later than 10:00AM EST on May 05, 2023. Responses should not exceed 15 single-sided pages (including the cover page, all attachments, resumes, charts, etc.) presented in single-space and using a 12-point font size minimum, that clearly details the ability to perform the aspects of the notice described above.Disclaimer and Important NotesThis 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 to allow the Government to determine the organization’s qualifications to perform the work. 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. After a review of the responses received, a pre-solicitation synopsis and solicitation may be published in SAM.gov. However, responses to this notice will not be considered adequate responses to a solicitation.ConfidentialityNo 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).