Request for Proposals
Solicitation No. AHRQ-07-10037
Proposals Due: July 10, 2007, Noon (EST)
Contracting Office: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Contracts Management, 540 Gaither Road, Rockville, MD 20850; Gayle McClelland, Contracting Officer
The presolicitation synopsis for this requirement was published in the FedBizOpps (http://www.fedbizopps.gov) on May 1, 2007, under the title, "Resource Center for Primary Care Practice Based Research Networks." The solicitation issue date is May 17, 2007.
The Request for Proposals (RFP) is available for download (Select to access Downloading Information) and at the Federal Business Opportunities Web page: http://www.fedbizopps.gov. It is the offeror's responsibility to monitor the Web sites where the RFP will be posted to learn about any amendments to the solicitation.
It is the offeror's responsibility to monitor the Web sites where the RFP will be posted to learn about any amendments to the solicitation.
It is anticipated that 1 contract award will be made under this solicitation for a 3-year period of performance with two 1-year options.
Summary
The December 1999, legislation reauthorizing the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) directed the agency to employ research strategies and mechanisms that link research directly with clinical practice in geographically diverse locations throughout the country, including the use of "provider-based research networks.especially (in) primary care." In addition, the agency was authorized to address issues of disparities in the quality, outcomes, cost and access to health care for various segments of the U.S. population, through the implementation of research strategies and mechanisms that specifically include primary care practice-based research networks (PBRNs).
In response to these directives, AHRQ has provided support for primary care PBRN research efforts through the funding of seven cycles of PBRN-specific planning, exploratory and small research grants. In each of these solicitations, a PBRN has been defined as a group of ambulatory practices devoted principally to the primary care of patients, affiliated with each other in order to investigate questions related to community-based practice. Over fifty networks of primary care practices of family physicians, general internists, pediatricians, and advanced practice nurses, located in nearly all states in the U.S., have received grant funding since the first solicitation in 2000.
In 2002, AHRQ awarded a competitive contract to Indiana University that supported the establishment of a PBRN Resource Center. The decision to support a Resource Center was influenced by the recognition that many PBRNs had significant needs for technical, administrative and research methods expertise that could not be met with the limited grant resources available to AHRQ.
The original objectives of this contract were:
- To link PBRNs funded by AHRQ to each other and to relevant agency staff.
- To perform an assessment of the capabilities and needs of each funded network and provide technical/consultative assistance to the network, as appropriate, to facilitate its growth and maturation.
- To develop a pool of individuals or research programs that were willing and able to provide expertise and research tools to PBRNs facing specific challenges.
- To serve as a repository for electronic, PBRN-specific information on research and quality-improvement efforts of networks across the country.
- To facilitate communication and sharing of ideas between the networks.
- To assist AHRQ in planning conferences involving representatives of PBRNs.
After the initial contract period, the specific requirements for the optional years of the contract were expanded and refined to include:
- The development and maintenance of a national registry of PBRNs that meet certain basic criteria defined by AHRQ.
- The development and maintenance of a PBRN extranet site available to registered networks that serves as an electronic repository of PBRN-related information and provides a secure, accessible mechanism networks can use to collect data over the internet.
- The development and maintenance of a public Web site that provides general information about PBRNs in the U.S.
- The organization and facilitation of a regular series of peer-learning sessions on a variety of PBRN-related issues or challenges identified by the registered networks, led by the Resource Center, and conducted by conference call and/or Web cast.
- The provision of expertise to assist specific networks in submitting applications to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for clearance to conduct AHRQ-funded research requiring OMB approval.
The five-year PBRN Resource Center contract to Indiana University terminates in September 2007. However, AHRQ has identified the need to continue certain services to PBRNs across the U.S., currently being provided by the Resource Center, in an effort to sustain network growth and development. The purpose of this contract is to secure those required services.
Downloading Information
Shift-click from this Web page: Your browser may support downloading the RFP and reference documents from this Web page. To download them from this Web page, click on the following links with the right mouse button and select "Save Link As" (Firefox™, Netscape®) or "Save Target As" (Internet Explorer®):
- Resource Center for Primary Care Practice Based Research Networks (PC PBRNs): Request for Proposals (Word® File, 460 KB).
- Amendment 1: Questions and Answers (Word® File, 43 KB).
- Amendment 2: Proposal due date extended to July 10, 2007 (PDF File, 52 KB; PDF Help).
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Top of Page
Current as of June 2007
Internet Citation:
Resource Center for Primary Care Practice Based Research Networks (PC PBRNs): Request for Proposals. June 2007. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD. http://www.ahrq.gov/fund/contarchive/rfp0710037.htm
540 Gaither Road Rockville, MD 20850 