Request for Information
Partnership with NAHDO to Support Member Needs
Purpose
This Request for Information is intended to inform NAHDO’s development of a Request for Proposals (RFP) for partners to support the APCD Council, and potentially other NAHDO programs. The goal of the RFP will be to identify one or more partners to support member-driven NAHDO’s mission for the next few years.
What is the APCD Council?
The APCD Council is a program of NAHDO that has been operating as a partnership with the Institute of Health Policy and Practice at the University of New Hampshire (IHPP) since 2010. It represents all of NAHDO’s APCD-related work.
There are four core activities that have been historically associated with APCD Council:
- Peer Learning – Creating opportunities for participants to learn from each other’s experience and providing an environment for information sharing through a robust set of learning network activities
- Standardization and Best Practices – Developing and promoting standardization and the adoption of best practices among APCDs
- Continuous Improvement – Facilitating innovation in the collection, analysis, and dissemination of healthcare claims data
- Advocacy and Development – Providing technical assistance and advocacy and promoting the growth and value of APCDs generally
Target Audience for This RFI
We are interested in getting feedback and input from both individuals and organizations that are involved with or have expertise in APCDs or other administrative data. Individuals who can contract directly with NAHDO are encouraged to respond. Organizations could include existing or potential APCD programs, academic institutions, private sector organizations, or others that wish to support NAHDO’s mission, especially as it applies to supporting the collection, analysis and dissemination of healthcare data.
Introduction and Background
In large part due to our APCD Council program, NAHDO is the nation’s premier organization providing subject matter expertise and supportive programming related to APCDs.
For the past fourteen years, IHPP has supported NAHDO by providing thought leadership, subject matter expertise, and logistical support to the APCD Council program. In particular, we recognize their leadership and guidance in the development and maintenance of the APCD Common Data Layout.
Given some imminent changes at IHPP, NAHDO will need and have an opportunity to explore new partnerships supporting the APCD Council as early as this coming fall. We are also interested in options that could strengthen our support for the collection of hospital discharge data. Specific tasks and supports are included in the attached Draft Scope of Work.
Flexible Structural Options
We are open to considering innovative ideas and proposals for organizational structures that would assist NAHDO in supporting our members by providing the services listed in the proposed Scope of Work and possibly others.
For example, if a particular institution has a team of people with specialized skills and expertise working together in collecting or analyzing health data, they may wish to partner with us as a team.
Alternatively, we would be interested in hearing from individuals who may be subject matter experts in APCD work and wish to dedicate some fraction of their time to support NAHDO’s efforts in the area.
Specific Questions
We are interested in your responses to any or all of the following questions:
- Would you or your organization be interested in responding to an RFP to provide some or all of the services in the attached scope of work? What is your area of expertise or experience that you think we would be more interested in? If you are not directly interested in responding, what individuals or organizations should we consider inviting to respond?
- If we decided to split this opportunity to allow for two or more individuals or partners going forward, which services or tasks would you or your organization be best suited to support, and which would be best left for another qualified person or entity?
- For a response involving multiple people, how many different individuals would be involved, and what levels or current job titles would you anticipate being most appropriate to provide the various types of support requested?
- What biases or conflicts of interest should NAHDO be concerned about if you were to respond to an RFP for these services? What documentation or assurances could we ask for in an RFP to ease concerns about conflicts of interest and ensure that the relationship proceeds unbiasedly?
- How could you use this opportunity to build more expertise internally or with your team when it comes to APCD operations and development?
- What additional services would you or your organization be interested in providing beyond what is listed here?
- Are there any practical limits on terms or conditions that would be required to come to an agreement? What level of consistency in terms of time required would work best for you? Would you be ok with workflows and service demand fluctuating throughout the year? How many years would the contract need to cover to be workable?
- How would you or your organization prefer to handle intellectual property ownership created under this arrangement? Are you willing to assign creative ownership to NAHDO?
How to Respond
Please send your response, including answers to any or all of the questions and any additional comments or insights by email to info@nahdo.org. Include your name and contact information in your response and indicate if you would like to be notified when the RFP is released. Also note if you have any special requests regarding the confidentiality of your response.
For full consideration, your responses must be received by July 15, 2024.
Draft Scope of Work
The following represents services that IHPP is currently providing to NAHDO. We are interested in organizations that can provide the following support for our APCD Council program as well as potentially other services to support our mission.
Part 1. Thought Leadership (Subject Matter Expertise) - The partnership will need to provide NAHDO with access to one or more people who are deeply familiar with policy and operations related to health data organizations, especially APCDs and hospital discharge databases.
This person (or persons) should have:
- An established knowledge of health data organization operations
- Experience and expertise in health data policy
- A demonstrated willingness to stay current on the latest developments in health data
They may be asked to provide services in the following areas, including example activities.
- Support NAHDO’s peer learning and collaborating activities (64-72 hours per year)
- Actively participate in the NAHDO Conference and Events Steering Committee
- Help plan topics and discussion items for the APCD Learning Network, APCD CEO Roundtable, Hot Topics Webinars, and other regularly scheduled meetings and events
- Be a discussion leader, presenter, or facilitator on NAHDO webinars or online meetings
- Support NAHDO’s efforts in standardization and development of best practices (72-120 hours per year)
- Provide assistance in managing the APCD-CDL™ maintenance process
- Help develop tools and resources to support the widespread adoption of the APCD-CDL™ and the NCP Data Layout™
- Help NAHDO keep current on innovation and improvement (24-32 hours per year)
- Identify or summarize ideas or topics to be highlighted in NAHDO’s monthly newsletter or other forms of communication
- Provide issue summaries for the board on questions of policy and best practices for health data organizations
- Support state efforts to develop or improve data programs, especially APCDs (48-72 hours per year)
- Provide support to states and other organizations exploring APCD development or those in the initial stages of development (pre-funding).
- Support may include:
- Providing oral or written testimony
- Providing access to supporting material
- Reviewing draft materials (legislation, RFIs, RFPs, etc.) and providing feedback
- Identifying and providing connections with NAHDO members who have experience in APCD development
- Provide support for federal engagement and advocacy (24-64 hours per year)
- Engage with federal agencies on issues of interest to NAHDO members, including:
- SAMHSA - 42 CFR Part 2 protected data
- OPM - access to federal employee data
- HHS - funding opportunities, national data priorities, and programming
- DOL - Implementing SAPCDAC recommendations and collecting data from ERISA-exempt plans
- Help write responses to federal notices of proposed rulemaking, requests for information, draft legislation, or similar opportunities.
- Researching and advising on specific issues of interest to NAHDO members (24-40 hours per year)
- Research support for questions from NAHDO members relating to best practices among APCDs and similar programs
- Develop or edit written guidance or white papers summarizing the current state of knowledge on particular topics of interest
- Administrative and support activities (48-80 hours per year)
- Participate in regularly scheduled leadership meetings with NAHDO staff
- Support NAHDO’s sustainability activities, including membership and sponsorship recruiting
Part 2. Logistical Support - The partnership will need to provide access to individuals, such as graduate students or support staff, who can provide the following services on an as needed basis. These individuals do not need to be experts in health data but should have at least a passing interest in health data organizations.
- Provide technical or logistical support for NAHDO in-person meetings, as needed
- Track state activities relating to APCD implementation or changes and provide information to update the APCD Council website, including:
- Requests for Proposals
- Key publications
- Proposed innovations or updates
- Provide research assistance to NAHDO staff or the person in part 1, especially as it relates to researching specific questions about state status and activities or in developing white papers or guidance
- Help edit, format, and publish papers and documents