National Leadership Exchange (NLE) for Chief Information Officers (CIO) Curriculum

National Leadership Exchange (NLE) for Chief Information Officers (CIO)
Curriculum
Request for Proposals
The National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC) is seeking proposals
from qualified vendors to design professional development workshops for the NACHC
Leadership Exchange for Chief Information Officers (NLE CIO). The selected vendor(s) will
work collaboratively with our staff to develop content that is interactive, practical, and
relevant for the community health center (CHC) audience.
We are looking for vendors with demonstrated expertise in adult learning, instructional
design, and the relevant health information technology topics. We encourage instructional
design vendors to submit proposals in partnership with subject matter experts and vice-
versa.
About NACHC
NACHC is a national organization supporting federally qualified health centers and
federally qualified health center look-alike organizations and expanding health care
services for the medically underserved and uninsured. Founded in 1971 NACHC advances
access to high-quality, community-driven health care through advocacy, education,
training and technical assistance, leadership development, and strategic partnerships that
strengthen health center performance and improve health outcomes in medically
underserved communities nationwide.
About the NLE CIO
The NLE CIO is a 6-month professional development program for leaders responsible for
information technology strategy and decision-making at CHCs. It is designed for
individuals new to the CIO or equivalent role, new to the CHC field, or those seeking an
information technology leadership education. The program will run on an annual basis for
30-60 learners in a cohort model.
The program includes leadership development and technical topic instruction. This RFP
focuses exclusively on the development of the technical topic instruction of the program.
Two technical topic sessions will be delivered at in-person events, and six technical topic
sessions will be delivered in a live, virtual format (topics specified below). Vendors may
submit proposals to create one or more sessions. No preference will be given to vendors
that submit for more than one session.
Project Objectives
The selected vendor(s) will:
(cid:120) Design engaging professional development workshops that address the stated
learning objectives (see below for session descriptions) for a CHC audience.

(cid:120) Ensure sessions are aligned with adult learning principles and evidence-based
instructional practices.
(cid:120) Create interactive learning experiences with an emphasis on practice-based
exercises.
(cid:120) Develop session materials that participants can use in their organizational work.
(cid:120) Develop facilitation instructions and instructor notes (in PowerPoint) that enable
different faculty members to deliver content in subsequent years.
(cid:120) Deliver workshop content for the 2026-2027 NLE CIO program.
Deliverables
(cid:120) All instructional aids and/or presentation visuals in editable source files (e.g.,
PowerPoint).
(cid:120) All learner materials in editable source files.
(cid:120) Sufficient facilitation instructions and instructor scripts in editable source files for
any subject matter expert to deliver learning content.
(cid:120) Live delivery of session content.
Workshop Descriptions
Vendors may submit proposals to create one or more sessions. No preference will be
given to vendors that submit for more than one session.
1. The CIO as a Strategic Leader (In-person format, 1 hour, November 14, 2026)
Addressing the following learning objectives:
(cid:120) Discuss the importance of Information Technology (IT) in a health center's overall
strategic planning.
(cid:120) Define the key components of an effective healthcare IT strategy and how it
supports organizational mission, clinical quality, operational performance, and
financial sustainability in health centers.
(cid:120) Assess approaches for developing and maintaining a multi-year IT roadmap that
balances innovation, risk management, infrastructure modernization, and budget
constraints.
2. Cybersecurity Incident Response (In-person format, November 15, 2026, 2-4 hours)
Addressing the following learning objectives, this must include an interactive tabletop
exercise:
(cid:120) Examine best practices for responding to cybersecurity incidents, including
ransomware attacks, data breaches, and operational disruptions.
(cid:120) Develop executive-level strategies for coordinating incident response efforts across
IT, compliance, legal, communications, operations, and clinical leadership teams.
(cid:120) Analyze the regulatory, legal, and reporting requirements associated with
cybersecurity incidents in healthcare environments, including HIPAA breach of
notification obligations.

3. Cybersecurity Overview (Live virtual via Zoom, December date TBD, 1.5 hours)
Addressing the following learning objectives:
(cid:120) Identify key components of a comprehensive cybersecurity program, including
governance, staff training, incident response, business continuity, and regulatory
compliance.
(cid:120) Assess emerging cybersecurity threats, vulnerabilities, and risks impacting health
care organizations and develop strategies to strengthen organizational resilience.
(cid:120) Explore strategies for working with the CEO on engaging the board on the health
center's approach to and investment in cybersecurity.
4. Data Governance, Compliance, and Risk Management (Live virtual via Zoom, January
date TBD, 1.5 hours)
Addressing the following learning objectives:
(cid:120) Identify key healthcare regulatory and compliance requirements related to
information technology, including HIPAA, Health Center Program Compliance, CMS
interoperability and reporting rules, cybersecurity, and other related
considerations.
(cid:120) Develop approaches for establishing policies, procedures, and oversight structures
that strengthen compliance including ongoing staff education.
(cid:120) Explore strategies for monitoring compliance performance, conducting audits, and
responding to regulatory changes and findings.
5. Population Health Data and Value-Based Care (Live virtual via Zoom, February date
TBD, 1.5 hours)
With three or more of the following learning objectives:
(cid:120) Examine the role of health information technology in enabling population health
strategies, including care coordination, risk stratification, and preventive care
delivery.
(cid:120) Evaluate data requirements for population health and value-based care programs,
including clinical claims, non-clinical factors impacting health, and quality
reporting data sources.
(cid:120) Analyze how interoperability, data integration, and analytics platforms support
actionable insights for high-risk patient identification and care gap closure.
(cid:120) Explore strategies for leveraging dashboards, predictive analytics, and reporting
tools to support value-based care performance and decision-making.
(cid:120) Identify key regulatory, payer, and quality program requirements (e.g., CMS
measures) that influence population health IT strategy.
6. AI and Machine Learning (ML) (Live virtual, March date TBD, 1.5 hours)
With three or more of the following learning objectives:

(cid:120) Examine current and emerging use cases of AI and ML in health centers, including
clinical decision support, population health management, revenue cycle
optimization ,and patient engagement.
(cid:120) Assess cybersecurity, privacy, and regulatory considerations related to the use of
AI/ML tools in healthcare environments.
(cid:120) Analyze data requirements for effective AI and ML implementation including data
quality, interoperability, governance, and integration with electronic health record
(EHR) systems.
(cid:120) Explore governance frameworks for responsible AI use, including oversight
structures, accountability, and ethical decision-making.
(cid:120) Discuss ways to partner with the CEO on board education and policy approval
related to AI.
7. IT Financial Management (Live virtual, April date TBD 1.5 hours)
Addressing the following learning objectives:
(cid:120) Define the core principles of healthcare IT financial management, including
budgeting, cost allocation, capital planning, and operational expenditure oversight.
(cid:120) Analyze total cost of ownership (TCO) for technology investments, including
hardware, software, licensing, staffing, maintenance, and lifecycle replacement
costs.
(cid:120) Explore methods for financial justification of IT projects, including return on
investment (ROI), cost-benefit analysis, and risk-adjusted decision-making.
8. Vendor Selection and Management (Live virtual, May date TBD, 1.5 hours)
Addressing the following learning objectives:
(cid:120) Identify organizational, operational, and clinical requirements that should guide IT
vendor and software selection decisions.
(cid:120) Develop strategies for engaging stakeholders across clinical, operational, financial,
and IT departments during the vendor and/or software selection process.
(cid:120) Examine best practices for conducting vendor assessments, including requests for
proposals (RFPs), FHIR compatibility, product demonstrations, reference checks,
and contract review.
(cid:120) Explore strategies for vendor management.
Timeline
(cid:120) RFP Issued: July 20, 2026
(cid:120) Proposal Submission Deadline: August 7, 2026
(cid:120) Vendor Selection: Rolling
(cid:120) Final Deliverables Due:
o Session 1: The CIO as a Strategic Leader: October 12, 2026
o Session 2: Cybersecurity Incident Response: October 12, 2026
o Session 3: Cybersecurity Overview: November 2, 2026

o Session 4: Data Governance, Compliance, and Risk Management:
December 4, 2026
o Session 5: Population Health Data and Value-Based Care: January 8, 2027
o Session 6: AI and Machine Learning: February 5, 2027
o Session 7: IT Financial Management: March 5, 2027
o Session 8: Vendor Selection and Management: April 2, 2027
Proposal Requirements
Vendors may submit proposals to create one or more sessions. No preference will be
given to vendors that submit for more than one session.
In your proposal, please include the following:
1. Vendor description (maximum 250 words).
2. The name(s) of the session(s) for which you are applying.
3. An outline of a session design including timing and descriptions of any hands-on
learning, activities, or post-session resources. This can be a past project from the
last 3 years or a hypothetical session design for one of the NLE CIO sessions. Pease
include sufficient descriptions to demonstrate application of learning design and
subject matter expertise.
4. A description of the vendor's experience with the specific technical subjects of the
sessions included in the proposal (maximum 500 words).
5. A description of the vendor's experience with learning design or adult instruction
(maximum 200 words).
6. A pricing proposal, including a detailed budget per session.
o Applicants must provide complete and reasonable rate information for
proposed personnel. Rates should reflect fully burdened costs and include
any applicable labor, fringe, overhead, administrative, and indirect
expenses.
o In general, NACHC uses the GSA Rate Simulator to guide applicable budget
assessments.
Proposal Evaluation
Proposals will be evaluated on:
Rating Factors Weight
Quality of session design outline 40%
Vendor's experience with specific technical subjects of relevant sessions 30%
Vendor's experience with learning design 15%
Cost and value 15%

Submission Instructions
Proposals must be submitted via an online submission form no later than August 7, 2026
at 12:00 am EDT. Please upload the proposal as a single PDF file. The submission form
includes three brief questions, including a question about daily and hourly pricing rates.
Submission Portal: NACHC's NLE CIO Request for Proposals
Questions
Questions regarding this RFP should be submitted by email to Megan Ward at
trainings@nachc.org.