Scientific, Programming, and Analytical Support for the SEER-CAHPS Data Resource

Active

Contract Opportunity

This is NOT a solicitation. This is a Request for Information (RFI) and is for information and planning purposes only and shall not be construed as a solicitation or as an obligation on the part of the National Cancer Institute (NCI). The purpose of this RFI is to identify qualified business concerns, that are interested in and capable of performing the work described herein, as well as obtain market information for planning purposes, including whether a small business set-aside is possible. The NCI does not intend to award a contract based on responses received nor otherwise pay for the preparation of any information submitted.

Responses to the information requested will assist the Government in determining market capability outside of the GSA Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) 541990: All Other Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services (Non-IT). Information gathered from this RFI will inform the acquisition method, such as Government-wide Acquisition Contract (GWAC) or Open Market.

The suggested North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code is 541990 (All Other Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services) with a size standard of $19.5 million, and the Product Service Code (PSC) will be B529 (Special Studies/Analysis – Scientific Data) or R499 (Support – Professional: Other).

THERE IS NO SOLICITATION AVAILABLE AT THIS TIME. However, should such a requirement materialize, no basis for claims against NCI shall arise as a result of a response to this Request for Information, or the NCI’s use of such information furnished in response to this notice. All proprietary information should be marked as such. Responses to this notice shall be submitted via email to the Contract Specialist, Lena Lee at lena.lee@nih.gov no later than 3:00 P.M. EST on June 23, 2025. All information furnished must be in writing and must contain enough detail to allow the NCI to determine the entity’s ability to meet the requirements described herein. The response should not exceed 10 single-sided pages including all attachments, charts, etc. (single space, 12-point font minimum) that clearly responds to the below questions. Please reference number RFI-75N91025Q00039 on all correspondence.

Submission Instructions: Please provide the following information in the body of your company’s email response by the response due date of 6/23/2025 by 3:00 PM EST:

1. Company Name


2. Point of Contact (POC) (including telephone and email address)


3. Socio-economic status (8(a), SDVOSB, VOSB, Woman-Owned, Other… etc.).


4. Information on any currently held government contracts to include:

• Contract Number


• Contracting Agency (GSA, SEWP,etc.)


• If you hold a current GSA schedule contract, specify which SINs are best suited for providing the services/items specified in the SOW.

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 to allow the Government to determine the organization’s capability. 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 synopsis and solicitation may be published on GSA’s eBuy or SAM.gov. However, responses to this notice will not be considered an adequate response to a solicitation(s).

BACKGROUND ON SEER-CAHPS:

The SEER-CAHPS data resource links the National Cancer Institute’s (NCI) Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) cancer registry data with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Medicare Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS®) patient experience surveys and Medicare claims. This unique, publicly accessible data resource offers investigators an opportunity to examine outcomes and care delivery research questions for Medicare beneficiaries with cancer and compare them with those without a diagnosis of cancer, if relevant.

The SEER program includes contracts with cancer registries that require them to report uniform data on all incident cancer cases in their defined geographic areas. The program covers about 48% of the U.S. population. In order to improve NCI’s understanding of the relationships between patient experiences with care, health care utilization, health care costs, and health-related quality of life for older cancer patients and survivors, the NCI has been enhancing SEER data with data from the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), including the Medicare Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS) surveys and Medicare claims. Medicare CAHPS surveys collect data from Medicare beneficiaries on the aspects of patient experiences of their care (see https://www.cms.gov/data-research/research/consumer-assessment-healthcare-providers-systems for information on Medicare CAHPS surveys).

GENERAL TASKS/CAPABILITIES:

To support ongoing efforts for the SEER-CAHPS initiative through scientific, programming, and analytic support for external use of the data resource, NCI-directed SEER-CAHPS studies, publications, and presentations, and support of the data resource. Along with dissemination support of guidance and training materials on methodological considerations and updates in the linkage. The SEER-CAHPS linkage is updated on a biennial basis, and NCI is scheduled to complete the next linkage in FY2025.

Provide scientific expertise, technical assistance, programming, and analytical assistance to support extramural investigators using the publicly accessible SEER-CAHPS data resource.

1. Provide summary statistics and evaluate the quality of the data;


2. Provide supporting documentation for analytic files (enhancing data dictionary, data user guide, other documentation explaining the data files);


3. Respond to requests from researchers regarding questions about file construction, data content, or use of SEER data; conform to all privacy and confidentiality regulations regarding the data, as required of CMS and NIH/NCI (expected volume to be an average of 3 inquiries per month);


4. In consultation with NIH/NCI, review external data use applications and draft manuscripts to ensure research feasibility and compliance with confidentiality policies.


5. Prepare guidance documents and training videos to assist users of the SEER-CAHPS data;


6. Utilize scientific expertise to perform tasks to enhance the data source, including guidance on using and translating ICD-9 and ICD-10 codes and handling claims data;


7. Agree to abide by the terms of the licenses/agreements for cancer registry data that NIH/NCI has procured which will be matched with the CAHPS survey data and then de-identified for subsequent research investigation by extramural investigators.

Provide scientific expertise, technical assistance, programming and analytical support for NCI-directed studies and presentations that demonstrate the use of the SEER-CAHPS data resource.

1. Provide a list of potential research topics that will be discussed with and prioritized by NCI to determine the two NCI-directed analytical studies and presentations that will be supported by the SEER-CAHPS data resource. These studies and presentations shall involve the SEER data, the Medicare CAHPS survey and the Medicare claims data. Serve as the lead for these studies and provide scientific expertise in collaboration with the NCI team;


2. Provide a feasibility report to determine the feasibility of using SEER-CAHPS data for each of the NCI-directed analytical studies. Provide a draft report on the significance of the research topic and rationale for the research questions, attributes and quality of the variables, sample sizes, years of available data for variables (if appropriate), and types of appropriate statistical models to use with these data. Analyze the data for the two studies according to the approved report. Analyzing the data shall include constructing new variable or composite scales, programming of analytical files for analysis, statistical assistance on power analyses, univariate and multivariate analyses, graphical representations of analyzed data.


3. Prepare manuscripts, presentations, and posters of NCI-directed analytic studies in collaboration with NCI SEER-CAHPS staff. All manuscripts and presentations shall adhere to NCI processes for review of internal projects.

Create file containing constructed variables derived from claims and enrollment data.

In collaboration with the NCI team, propose a list of potential constructed variables in the SEER-CAHPS data resource that NCI will then prioritize and select variables to be created. Then develop up to fifteen constructed variables including conducting the relevant analyses, programming the analytic files and preparing a report and guidance documentation for external users of the data. Examples of constructed variables include number of aggregate hospital days of care and outpatient visits.

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