On November 15, 2013, CMS released a presolicitation announcing future plans related to improving quality. CMS has plans to release a solicitation related to quality seeking new approaches that the agency should take. Currently, CMS is making efforts towards achieving the “National Quality Strategy” (NOS) and the CMS Quality Strategy along with other strategies, goals, recommendations, and priorities.
In the future solicitation, CMS will be looking for experts to specifically advise how to improve healthcare quality. When CMS releases the solicitation (QIN-QIO), contractors are expected to work on the strategic initiatives and projects that will achieve the CMS aim to achieve better healthcare, better health, and lower healthcare costs for Medicare beneficiaries.
Requirements in the solicitation will not limited to:
- Promoting effective prevention and treatment of chronic disease
- Improving healthcare for communities in ways that make care beneficiary centered, reliable, accessible, and safer
- Advancing efforts to lower costs of care through improving quality and efficiency
A pre-proposal conference is tentatively planned on or about December 9, 2013 in Baltimore at the CMS Central Office as well as via a webinar to discuss the overall changes to the QIO-QIO program. More details on this conference including the final data and time, and registration instructions will be available in the proposal solicitation notice. This pre-proposal conference will discuss CMS and their reconsideration of the overall QIO-QIO work as well as other QIO related work under the program.
CMS anticipates that certain contracts awarded under the future potential solicitation for the QIO program will be cost reimbursement type contracts. Businesses, both large and small who are interested in teaming or subcontracting on this work, should add their information to the interested vendors list on the FedBizOpps posting at www.fbo.gov published November 15, 2013.
For more information, contact Kimberly Belli Tatum, Contracting Officer at QINmailbox@cms.hhs.gov or phone (410) 867-7440.