About the Health FFRDC

As a Federally Funded Research and Development Center (FFRDC), the Alliance To Modernize Healthcare a.k.a. "Health FFRDC" provides unique access to unbiased strategic insights, analyses, and best practices to accelerate and optimize business transformation.   Formally established under Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 35.017, FFRDCs meet special, long-term research and development needs integral to the mission of the sponsoring agency.  FFRDCs operate in the public interest, free from conflicts of interest, and are managed and/or administered by not-for-profit organizations, universities, or industrial firms as separate operating units.

What is CMS' Health FFRDC?

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) as primary, along with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), sponsors the Alliance as the 1st health-related FFRDC.  The Alliance FFRDC is appropriate for supporting complex and critical health-related programs and initiatives of national importance. The Alliance stakeholders have access to the healthcare expertise and research of the FFRDC for business, technical, and policy needs, to perform work that can’t be done as effectively in-house or by commercial sources, or when the work requires special access to sensitive information.

The "A" in Alliance

There is a collaborative partnership from nonprofits, academia, and industry that are dedicated to the Health FFRDC.   This collaboration provides specialized expertise, health capabilities, and innovative solutions to transform delivery of the nation’s healthcare services. Government organizations and other entities have ready access to this network of partners that also include other leading healthcare organizations.

The "Operator" for the Health FFRDC

CMS, through a competitive bidding process, selected a qualified FFRDC “Operator,” to lead the Health FFRDC, working in partnership with CMS and HHS.  As a trusted, not-for-profit adviser, the Health FFRDC Operator has access, beyond what is allowed in normal contractual relationships, to government and supplier data, including sensitive and proprietary data, and to employees and government facilities and equipment that support health missions. The Health FFRDC Operator was selected because they are capable and fully equipped to apply a combination of large-scale enterprise systems engineering and specialized health subject matter expertise to achieve the strategic objectives of CMS, HHS, and other government organizations charged with health-related missions. The Health FFRDC Operator is uniquely qualified and experienced to objectively analyze long-term health system problems, address complex technical questions, and generate creative and cost-effective solutions in strategic areas such as quality of care, new payment models, and healthcare system transformation.

The current Health FFRDC Operator is The MITRE Corporation (2012 - 2023)

Who may use the Health FFRDC?

All HHS Staff and Operating Divisions are sponsors of the Health FFRDC and can initiate a request for services at any time.  While the Health FFRDC is focused on supporting achievement of the mission of CMS and HHS, they may also accept work from non-sponsoring agencies (i.e. other than CMS and HHS sponsors) including other Federal agencies, state and municipal governments, and public charities, when such work is determined by the executive sponsor (CMS Deputy COO) to be acceptable and in the best interest of the Federal Government and consistent with the FFRDC mission, purpose and core statement.  All organizations seeking the Health FFRDC support are referred to as the Requiring Office (RO). The Health FFRDC Program Office (PO) coordinates with ROs to review requests for support and also oversees the appropriate use of the Health FFRDC.

As the primary sponsor of the Health FFRDC, CMS provides the overall governance and oversight to ensure the contract is used for its intended purpose.  If you are interested in obtaining information about the Health FFRDC services, please contact the PO at: HealthFFRDC@CMS.HHS.GOV.