PSC Raises Concerns with Creation of CMS FFRDC

A key pillar of the Obama administration’s ongoing acquisition reform effort is boosting competition for opportunities to support the government’s missions. Yet, a decidedly non-competitive trend is emerging among federal agencies. Increasingly, agencies are forgoing altogether the normal procurement process to instead make sole-source awards to non-profits entities known as Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs).

The latest example comes from the Health and Human Services Department, which plans to establish a new FFRDC for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) that will be available to the entire department. In an April 12 letter, PSC objected to the CMS plan outlined in a March 17 Federal Business Opportunities (FBO) notice because their proposal does not appear to meet the basic requirements for establishing such an entity.

Simply put, CMS failed to identify any research or development needs or justify why the FFRDC should be permitted to perform work across HHS. Under the Federal Acquisition Regulation, there are 10 requirements agencies must satisfy before establishing an FFRDC, including ensuring that “existing alternative sources for satisfying agency requirements cannot effectively meet the special research or development needs” of the agency. More significantly, the FAR requires that the “basic purpose and mission of the FFRDC is stated clearly enough to enable differentiation between work which should be performed by the FFRDC and that which should be performed by non-FFRDCs.”

In our view, the notice does neither. CMS takes a different view.

In an April 13 letter to PSC, CMS wrote that although CMS leaders are “aware of the specific regulations regarding the establishment of an FFRDC,” CMS “does not have a requirement of detailing our market research or decision making processes” because “revealing this information may compromise the procurement process.” How publicly justifying procurement decisions would do so is not explained, but CMS assured PSC that all the appropriate processes were followed. Given the lack of transparency into their processes, we’ll just have to take their word for it. But that won’t stop us from raising our objections to the CMS initiative.

Modernizing America’s Child Welfare Data Collection System

Keeping track of the services received by the more than 500,000 children in America’s child welfare system is a daunting task. So too is the state-by-state assessment and evaluation process--the Child and Family Services Reviews (CFSRs)--which is conducted by the Children’s Bureau of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Until recently, the data collection system had been paper-based, which made data analysis tedious, time-consuming, and difficult.

Under a contract with the Children’s Bureau, JBS International, Inc., an award-winning, women-owned business based in Bethesda, Maryland, converted the outmoded paper-based system to an automated, state-of-the-art data management system. The new automated system enables HHS reviewers working on site in each state to collect and upload raw review data instantly to a central server. Further, the system presents the data in user-friendly formats and generates automated reports that the Children’s Bureau uses to analyze the results.

For this work, JBS received an award from HHS’s Assistant Secretary, who noted the process that JBS developed “greatly improved the accuracy, consistency, and usefulness of the review information in all states.”

The new system greatly enhances the federal government’s ability to help states improve the safety, permanency, and well-being of children and families in their child welfare programs. Analysis of the results provides an opportunity for states to improve the future outcomes of the children in their care and the services available to them and their families.

“Knowing that our work is improving the delivery of vital services to children in need is personally and professionally gratifying,” said Jerri Shaw, President of JBS. “As a company with expertise in social and health policy programs and the application of information technology, designing this system for the Children’s Bureau was a perfect fit.”

JBS’s new comprehensive information and learning system is Web-based and provides a single source for information on reviews and e-training as well as updates, tutorials, video, and information on the history and context of the CFSR process. The new web portal also enables participants to learn about and practice using the data management system before participating in a review. The password-protected portal was developed in collaboration with the Children’s Bureau and JBS’s child welfare, training, and curriculum professionals; information technology staff; and content editors.

Reducing the Gap between Cancer Research and Treatment

A breakthrough project is creating a community of experts and organizations to share critical information on cancer research which many believe has the potential to help transform cancer into a chronic, manageable disease within a decade. The project was funded by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and is managed by Booz Allen Hamilton, a leader in healthcare consulting for the federal government.

The effort—called the cancer Biomedical Informatics Grid, or caBIG—is a virtual infrastructure that connects data, research tools, standards, scientists, and organizations to form "a World Wide Web of research" that is accelerating all aspects of cancer prevention, detection, and care by reducing technical and collaborative barriers.