Heather Kirk November 21, 2022 0 Comments

Members of the OrangeSlices AI team attended Friday’s opportunity and initiatives discussion event featuring federal small business specialists and advocates that support CDC, HHS, NIH and CMS.   

If you don’t go to this recurring and increasingly popular event hosted by Shelley McGuire, you are missing out. It is always a fun and well-run event filled with valuable updates and connections added every time. (Track her events here)  

In the interests of sharing what we heard, for those who were unable to attend, included below are a few insights related to changes planned for a key HHS acquisitions shop, as well as some timely updates on several key opportunities at CMS and NIH, to include a pair of multiple-award Agile Development and IT Strategy BPA’s set to be competed very soon. 

Opportunity Updates* 

*Please note that this is the way OS AI heard it. If you are pursuing any of these opportunities, we encourage you to validate this information. We all know how quickly things can change. If anyone heard something different from what we provided, please message us at support@orangeslices.ai and we will make any changes necessary.  

  • NIH NHLBI Agile Development, Data science, and Strategy services (ADS) BPA – This multiple-award BPA, which is not currently expected to be a small business set-aside action, is expected out in January. It appears they want to award to both large and small businesses.  
  • CMS CCSQ Service Center – You can tell your family to set you a plate at the Thanksgiving Day table as this is not expected to be released until late November or Early December. Sabrina Thompson is the CO.  
  • CMS Geographic Practice Cost Indices opportunity (230676) – The latest word is that this is expected to be released early next year.  
  • NIH NHLBI IT Strategy, Management, and Advisory Services BPA – This 8(a) competitive multiple-award BPA is expected to be out as early as December 22nd on GSA MAS. The CO is Kelli Malkin. Well, there goes your holiday plans … but it will make it easier for government. Sigh.  
  • GSA Practice Expense (230384) – The estimated solicitation release date is also currently expected out as early as late December.  
  • CMS WCRC – This is hoping for an early December release as 8(a) competitive using SAM.gov. 
  • CMS CMCS Website Development – The first phase of this multi-phase procurement process is expected out in late November / Early December.  
  • CMS ECIS – This is still expected out in January and there were no significant updates. This is not expected to be a set-aside action for small business, but there may be some good news for small business as subcontracting goals are expected to be significant and it will be applied to award dollars.  
  • CMS Eligibility Appeals IT Support – As previously reported, the IT portion of the Eligibility Appeals contract is expected to be pulled out and competed separately. While not confirmed or official yet, there is some hope/belief that this will be competed as a small business set-aside action on GSA MAS. Aaron Blackshire is the CO. This should go out in January or early 2023 – expect an update at Shelley’s December Happy Hour event. As for the Eligibility Appeals Operations recompete (Maximus is the incumbent), it is still in review. Ben Stidham is CO for this part.    

A few other general updates that drew at the attention of our team 

  • At CMS and NIH, expect to see a continued emphasis on breaking out portion of contracts, wherever possible, to make them small, while also making it a Prime eval factor and not a subfactor (when and where it makes sense), when a contract is not a set aside action.  
  • HHS is more closely monitoring large business to make sure they are doing what they said they would do, while holding them accountable if they do not. 
  • HHS PSC is now OAMS and the focus for this organization is in the process of changing. OAMS is not expected to be a fee-for-service organization going forward, and they will be transitioning some of the contracts they are supporting back to the funding agency. OAMS is expected to manage contracts in support of the needs of the Secretary’s office.    
  • HHS ACL and OIG have their own contracts shops now. 
  • There is an increased focus on driving more HUBZone, women-owned and SDVO opportunities, especially on NAICS codes where these categories are underrepresented.  

Also shared at the event: 

The CMS and HHS community was well represented this month with several firms named to the initial cohort of Elev8 GovCon honorees.  

This comes as no surprise as HHS is one of the most forward-looking and innovative communities in the Federal sector today. Do note that Nominations are Now Open for the final round of 2023 honorees.  Nominations close December 1st with all 2023 honorees to be announced in January of 2023. More Details Here.  

Additional Data 

Included here are just a few of the HHS-oriented items posted to OrangeSlices AI over the past few months:

About OrangeSlices AI  

Developed by a team of government and industry contracting subject matter experts, the OrangeSlices AI data driven platform is a publicly available searchable listing of the top information technology and consulting services contractors doing business with the Federal government today. Driven by a robust and comprehensive set of authoritative and trusted data sources, the OS.ai tool is intended to help government and industry leaders find the right partner to help deliver on the important missions of the Federal government. Learn more about how you can engage with OS AI here.   

 

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