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Contract Opportunity

SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE

Agency/Office: HHS/HRSA/OAMP

Contracting Office Location: 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, MD 20857

Title: Update and Maintenance of Health Workforce Projection Models

NAICS Code: 541720

Response Due Date: 09:00 AM (ET), May 2, 2024

This is a SMALL BUSINESS SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE (hereafter referred to as “notice) issued for the purpose of planning and market research. This is NOT a solicitation for proposals, proposal abstracts, or quotations and this does not obligate the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to award a contract now or in the future.

The purpose of this notice is to obtain information regarding the availability and capability of qualified small businesses only (including 8(a), service-disabled-veteran-owned-small business (SDVOSB), Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZone) small business, small disadvantaged business (SDB), veteran-owned small business (VOSB), and women-owned small business (WOSB) to provide health workforce projections by health occupations and enhance health workforce projection models for HRSA, Bureau of Health Workforce’s (BHW) National Center for Health Workforce Analysis (NCHWA).

The HRSA, BHW, NCHWA is seeking to update health workforce projections by using the most recent data sources and best available current research in the field. NCHWA seeks to expand and improve its forecasting through literature review and outreach to stakeholders, updating the assumptions and the base data for the Health Workforce Simulation Model (HWSM), creating alternative scenarios to reflect differential assumptions. In addition, NCHWA seeks to explore smaller, more refined geographic levels, identify population groups that may potentially face workforce shortages, integrate multiple provider types, and reflect new health care delivery patterns.

This Sources Sought is seeking responses from small businesses only from the following source:

• All sources

No reimbursement will be made for any costs associated with providing information in response to this announcement and any follow-up information requests. Respondents will not be notified of the results of the capability assessment. All information submitted in response to this announcement must arrive on or before the closing date.

THIS IS STRICTLY MARKET RESEARCH. HRSA WILL NOT RESPOND TO QUESTIONS REGARDING THE RESULTS OF THIS MARKET RESEARCH. REQUESTS FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION WILL NOT BE PROVIDED.

Background

An important function of HRSA’s Bureau of Health Workforce (BHW) is to assess and report on the adequacy of the nation’s health workforce. The integrated model, Health Workforce Simulation Model (HWSM), was used to build supply and demand models for the nursing workforce, allied health and health care support occupations, dental health occupations, physician and non-physician providers of medical and surgical services, and behavioral health occupations. Alternative supply scenarios were developed to consider possible changes of new graduates and retirement patterns that is different to the current patterns. Multiple alternative demand scenarios were examined, changing assumptions related to population health, health care delivery patterns, unmet need, and barriers to accessing health services. The national-level model was expanded to produce projection at multiple geographic levels, including state-level projections and projections by rurality.

Project Requirements

The purpose of this requirement is to produce health workforce projections by health occupations and enhance health workforce projection models using Health Workforce Simulation Model

(HWSM) for HRSA, BHW’s National Center for Health Workforce Analysis (NCHWA). Technical documentation for HRSA’s HWSM can be found at: https://bhw.hrsa.gov/data-research/projecting-health-workforce-supply-demand/technical-documentation.

NCHWA is seeking to update health workforce projections by using the most recent data sources and best available current research in the field. NCHWA seeks to expand and improve its forecasting through literature review and outreach to stakeholders, updating the assumptions and the base data for the HWSM, creating alternative scenarios to reflect differential assumptions. In addition, NCHWA seeks to explore smaller, more refined geographic levels, identify population groups that may potentially face workforce shortages, integrate multiple provider types, and reflect new health care delivery patterns.

The Health Workforce Projection Models will be applied to one of the groups of health professions listed below. The health profession group could be cross-profession sector-specific with intention to examine the dynamics between the supply and demand of various healthcare occupations.

• Nursing - Registered Nurses, Licensed practical nurses (LPNs) and licensed vocational nurses (LVNs);


• Allied health along with other smaller professions - Chiropractors, Podiatrists, Dietitians & Nutritionists, Respiratory Therapists, Optometrists, Audiologists, Occupational Therapy Assistants, Physical Therapist Assistants, Pharmacy Aides, Community Health Workers, Nuclear Medicine Technicians, Radiologic Technicians, Diagnosing Medical Sonographers, Medical & Clinical Lab Technologists, Medical & Clinical Lab Technicians, Respiratory Therapy Technicians, Pharmacy Technicians, Opticians, and EMTs & Paramedics;


• Long-term care - physicians, nurses, licensed social workers, physical therapist, occupational therapist, nursing aides, personal care aides, and home health aides and nursing home administrators across setting such as nursing homes, residential care facilities and home & community based settings;


• Behavior health - Psychiatrists, Psychologists, Social Workers, Behavioral Health Nurse Practitioners, Behavioral Health Physician Assistants, Addiction Counselors, School Counselors, Mental Health Counselors, Marriage & Family Therapists, and Psychiatric Pharmacists;


• Women’s health - obstetricians/gynecologists (OB/GYNs), certified nurse midwives

(CNMs), and nurse practitioners (NPs) and physician assistants (PAs) practicing in women’s health;

• Oral health - dentists, dental hygienists, and dental assistants;


• Primary care - physicians, nurse practitioners (NPs) and physician assistants (PAs) across all primary care specialties, general internal medicine, family and general medicine, geriatrics and general pediatrics; and


• Subspecialties of internal medicine and surgical specialties.

Based on data availability, other professions, groups and sectors may be further identified for projection.

Capability Statements

In response to this notice, HRSA is seeking capability statements from small businesses who can demonstrate experience in the application of a microsimulation model in the projection of the supply of and demand for health workforce and health workforce analysis and research.

Capability statements are not proposals and do not address price/cost. Vendors are asked for information which proves that they have expertise and capacity to meet the requirements of this work. Respondents should provide enough information for HRSA to make an informed determination of their capability to perform the work. Provide a list of contract numbers that your organization has had (if applicable), your role on the contract (prime contractor or subcontractor) and the dollar value/percentage of the work performed. If you were a subcontractor on a particular contract, please clarify the work that you did on that contract. Respondents are requested to state their capabilities and expertise in clear and concise language.

A mere statement that the vendor has a required capability is not sufficient.

No marketing literature should be submitted in response to this notice. When responding to this notice, vendors must demonstrate their experience in health workforce analysis, microsimulation model, IT capability, report writing and the contractual management.

Vendors must provide specific and detailed examples of work that was performed that demonstrate required capabilities listed below and the attendant level of effort that was involved:

1. Applying a microsimulation model to project the supply of and demand for a variety of health workforce occupations.


2. Conducting health workforce analysis and research.


3. Engaging health workforce organizations regularly to determine issues facing their workforces and modify projections methodology accordingly.


4. Incorporating new and emerging datasets to improve the projections.


5. Conceptualizing and implementing alternative supply and demand scenarios to reflect how supply and demand would change if certain inputs were changed.


6. Possessing proven programming and IT capabilities needed to support model construction and maintenance as well as efficient data processing.


7. Constructing documentations, reports, and narratives related to health workforce projections that are accessible to all readers.


8. Managing the contractual reporting requirements.

Responses Requested

Please submit your responses by 09:00 AM (ET) on May 2, 2024 to Cynthia Dmitrijev at cdmitrijev@hrsa.gov in the following format:

• Microsoft Word (or PDF) document with page size 8.5 by 11 inches, with a minimum of 1” margins.


• Times New Roman, font size 12 with single spacing between lines.


• Submission shall not exceed seven (7) pages and no more than half a page per question. Cover page is not included in the total page count.

Respondents are requested to state their capabilities and expertise in clear and concise language.

Respondents are strongly encouraged to avoid use of excessive marketing and sales language.

Note: Language in any resultant solicitation will require all small businesses to recertify their size status at the submission of proposal. You are not required to respond to this Sources Sought notice if you cannot recertify your size as small.

Cover Page

Vendors shall include the following business information on the Cover Page:

1. Sources Sought Notice number, title, and date of issuance


2. Unique Entity ID


3. Company Name


4. Company Address


5. Company Point of Contact, Phone, and Email address


6. Validation of small business status under NAICS: 541720 - Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities (Size Standard: $28 million). Additional information on NAICS codes can be found at www.sba.gov.

Confidentiality

No 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).

Disclaimer and Important Notes

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. Information provided will be used to assess alternatives available for the potential requirement and may lead to the development of a solicitation. 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. Respondents will not be notified of the results of this market research. Capability statements will not be returned and will not be accepted after the due date for responses.

Teaming Arrangements

Firms seeking to respond to this notice as a team or to rely on subcontractors to perform any portion of the work must include the above-requested information and certifications for each entity on the proposed team or each proposed subcontractor. Responses must clearly indicate the nature of the teaming arrangement.

The contractor and any subcontractors must not have any relationships or arrangements through business operations or its employees that could be considered as possibly lessening the company’s objectivity concerning any aspect of the proposed tasks. If such relationships or arrangements exist, contractors or subcontractors shall be required, during the procurement process (if one occurs), to identify potential conflicts of interest and discuss how the conflicts will be addressed and mitigated.

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