HEROES Frequently Asked Questions

The HEROES program is casting a wide net for the types of organizations that are eligible to be Health Accelerators. Organization types can include but are not limited to: Academic medical centers and universities, hospital or provider systems, private equity, non-profit organizations, etc. Proposers are welcome to enter into agreements with multiple entities to apply as a coalition/umbrella organization. The only exclusion is that Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs and Government Entities) may not propose as a prime performer.

Only one organization can serve as a Health Accelerator (HA). This could be a single entity, or a consortium of organizations that have legally formed an overarching entity.

Additionally, a single HA will have separate agreements, independent of the ARPA-H award, with partner organizations that would establish the nature of their collaborative relationship(s). ARPA-H’s agreement and contractual relationship, however, will only be with the Health Accelerator. ARPA-H will only disburse earned reward payments to the prime awardee (Health Accelerator) of the Other Transaction Agreement.  

Yes – see the draft Program Solicitation, Section 3.1.2. Ultimately, non-U.S. entities may participate to the extent that such participants comply with any necessary nondisclosure agreements, security regulations, export control laws, and other governing statutes applicable under the circumstances. Non-US entities are encouraged to collaborate with domestic U.S. entities as ARPA-H may prioritize awards in accordance with 42 USC 290(c)(n)(1). 

Yes, a single institution may apply for two different health outcomes via separate submissions. See Section 1.9 (b) of the HEROES Program Solicitation.

No, please do not submit the same proposal to multiple ARPA-H solicitations. You can, however, submit to multiple active ARPA-H solicitations with unique technical approaches that address the goals and objectives as set forth in each solicitation.

Yes, small businesses and startups are welcome to apply. Please see section 3.1 of the Program Solicitation for more information.

Yes, organizations can partner with multiple potential Health Accelerators. As stated in 1.9(b), “Note that an HA can receive an award from ARPA-H for one outcome category and be an Outcome Buyer/investor for another HA working on a different health outcome category. Additionally, an HA can receive an award from ARPA-H for one outcome category and be an Outcome Buyer/investor for another HA implementing the same health outcome. However, a Health Accelerator cannot be both the HA and the Outcome Buyer for the same effort. Proposers interested in proposing to more than one outcome category MUST submit a separate Solution Summary and proposal for each outcome category/ geographic area pairing.

The PS States (Section 6.3.1), “All Proposers must be registered in SAM and have a valid UEI number at the time of proposal submission. You must maintain an active registration in SAM.gov with current information at all times during which you have an active federal award or idea under consideration by ARPA-H.” A SAM registration and UEI number are needed at proposal submission and once you have an active federal award. It is NOT needed at the Solution Summary stage.   

The statement “healthcare vendor density of 80% or greater” refers to the data vendor(s) the potential Health Accelerator will partner with to get to at least 80% coverage within its selected geography. 

There can be a PI and Co-Principal Investigator identified from the same institution. However, there should be one person identified as the individual who will be leading the proposed effort. 

Yes, the HHS salary cap applies to all proposals submitted to the HEROES Solicitation. Proposers should follow their institutional policy and procedures when proposing indirect cost rates.

Yes – as stated in the HEROES Program Solicitation, “Solution Summaries must be submitted in advance of a full proposal submission.” However, a proposal can be submitted regardless of the feedback provided to the Solution Summary. 

In accordance with the HEROES Solicitation, active SAM.gov registration is required at the time of proposal submission. The proposal must provide the SAM.gov UEI and corresponding information of the entity that will be the awardee. If a joint venture (separate legal entity) is the submitter, the SAM.gov registration must correspond to the legal entity submitting. If a consortium (not required to be a separate legal entity) is submitting, the consortium must name the lead agent/member (and provide corresponding SAM.gov UEI and corresponding information), at the time of proposal submission, that will be named as the lead agent/member in the Other Transaction agreement at award. 

The HEROES Program Solicitation to include the OT bundle (Attachment 2) containing the templates are posted to SAM.gov and are included on the HEROES program webpage. Please see the following links: SAM.gov.;  HEROES | ARPA-H 

ARPA-H is working to create a customized model Agreement for the HEROES program. It will be posted with the solicitation (via an amendment) and can be anticipated in the October timeframe. 

No, the milestones (to include the milestone descriptions) that are provided within the table in 1.8(c) of the HEROES solicitation will be directly incorporated into the resulting OT Agreement. ARPA-H is not looking for revisions/edits to these milestones or for Proposers to propose milestones in addition to the ones stated within 1.8 (c).  The Volume 2, Price template should detail the associated costs for the fixed component. These would be the costs associated with the deliverables stated within table in 1.8 (c) associated with documenting the HA’s intervention implementation strategies, to include the feasibility  of  scaling  sustainable  solutions  nationally, participating in ARPA-H convenings to share lessons learned from the solution implementation, and high-level regular reporting on outcome improvement. See the information contained within the Volume 2, Price template, under section II, Price Details (Fixed-Price component).  

Yes, you may submit a full proposal with a different partner or different geography due to a change in partnership organizations. Please ensure that the cover pages of the Technical and Management and the Price Volumes note the Solution Summary Title and ARPA-H Control Number which was assigned and noted in the ARPA-H Solution Summary feedback response. 

Volume 2, Price Template, for the fixed price component states that subawardees are to provide the same level of detail as requested of the prime proposer, to include providing a copy of the TDD. A separate cost spreadsheet should be provided by each subawardee using the fixed price component excel template. Please be reminded that the fixed price component is associated with attending HEROES programmatic meetings and reporting requirements as detailed within Section 1.8, Fixed Price Schedule of Milestones. Additionally, please note that the level of pricing details requested for subawardees is different for the proposer financed component, as stated in Volume 2, Price Template. Please see the directions provided within Section III, Price Details (proposer financed component) of the Volume 2, Price template. 

If a prime entity has proposed subawardees, the prime is responsible for ensuring the subawardee has a Unique Entity ID (UEI). The prime should not make a subaward to an entity unless the entity has provided its UEI to the prime. Subawardees are not required to complete full registration in SAM.gov to obtain a UEI. 

All Proposers are applying to be AHAs. ARPA-H will determine whether a proposer is an AHA or a PHA during the evaluation process. As stated in the HEROES Program Solicitation, “If deemed “selectable,” the designation between an AHA and a PHA will be associated with the strength of Outcome Buyer and financial resources secured, along with geographic diversity for the selected health outcome category.”  

Please note that the PID is not a required field for the Biographical Sketch Common Form as noted within the form (Common Form for Biographical Sketch).

If a Proposer chooses to provide citations, they should support the proposed concepts detailed in the technical and management volume. Citations should not exceed 2 pages.  

Proposers should identify all organizations that are critical to the successful implementation of the proposed intervention strategy.  

Yes, all proposers are submitting proposals to be an AHA, eligible for the reward component. All proposers should be submitting pricing details for both A and B as detailed in the Price Volume Template.  

No.

Yes, validation of all external data sources is required before a determination is made regarding the use of those data sources. As stated in Appendix A, “ARPA-H will validate the data provided by the Proposer for geographically relevant baseline calculation before a decision is made to approve the use of the external data for performance evaluation. This decision will be made prior to the program start date, during negotiations with the selected Proposer. If the Performer’s external data are validated and once agreements are signed, the summary data necessary to calculate reward payments and track progress will be ingested into the HEROES Toolkit. Throughout the program performance period, ARPA-H reserves the right to audit the results, and data quality will be an element discussed in the quarterly technical status reports.” 

No. Please see the Administration & National Policy Requirements Volume (Volume 3) provided within the OT Bundle for the list of disclosures relevant to the HEROES Solicitation.

ARPA-H is not stating that there can be no HSR. We are just stating, via Article 18, that no federal funds shall be used for HSR. An organization is allowed to pursue HSR, using its own resources. In this instance any rules associated with HSR would be dictated by the entity and the adherence to federal rules pertaining to HSR would not apply. Any proposed HSR should be clearly explained in the proposal submission and any needed changes to Article 18 of the OT can be explained via a comment bubble and revision markings, if/as needed. 

As noted in the Volume 1: Technical & Management Template, resumes are optional and NOT included in the Technical & Management Template (Volume 1) page count. Resumes, if provided, can be included within that volume or uploaded. Please note that each file box only allows one file. You can combine documents, or Zip files to ensure one type is submitted.  

Outcome buyers will supplement ARPA-H's $15M investment using a 2-1 match. Please note, the match is not a requirement, but a goal. Once ARPA-H funding is exhausted, further reward payments (targeted at a 2:1 match for ARPA-H funds or $30 million total) would be paid proportionally from contributions by other Outcome Buyers.   

Investors provide funding for the proposed technical solution proposed to ARPA-H. Health Accelerators need to finance the proposed cost of their technical solution. Health Accelerators will either self-fund or find at-risk investors to support the implementation of interventions that are designed to meet the health outcomes targets at a low enough cost to profit from the reward payments. Investor returns will be in accordance with the terms and conditions stipulated in the independent contracts (e.g., between a Health Accelerator and investor).  

The HEROES program has a 3-year performance period as will all resulting ARPA-H awarded agreements. There is no requirement that Outcome Buyer funding continues beyond the 3-year period. However, HEROES aims to create new markets for funding prevention. We anticipate Outcome Buyers will see value they are receiving from the Health Accelerator’s interventions and continue to purchase outcomes beyond the 3-year performance period. 

Unlike other value-based care programs or federal grants, ARPA-H is only interested in the outcomes. The level of coordination, integration, and collaboration between program participants and those implementing the program is at the discretion of the Health Accelerator. Health Accelerators, Outcome Buyers, and Investors will enter into contractual agreements that govern the flow of dollars. 

Health Catalysts do not need to have Outcome Buyers and Investors identified at the abstract stage. The requirements for abstract submission will be included in the final Solicitation. Abstracts are not being requested under the current draft Solicitation.  

Only one organization can serve as the Health Accelerator (e.g., there can only be one Prime performer who will enter into the Agreement with ARPA-H). This could be a single entity, or a consortium of organizations that have legally formed an overarching entity. As stated in the HEROES PS, solution summaries MUST be submitted in advance of a full proposal, and proposers can submit a proposal regardless of the Solution Summary feedback received. The manner in which the team is structured CAN change between the Solution Summary and proposal submission. 

If this happens, then the Solution Summary title and lead organization that submitted the Solution Summary must be included within the proposal submission cover sheet for the Technical and Management and Price volumes (see Attachment No 2, OT Bundle of the HEROES Solicitation). 

Please note the guidance included within Attachment No. 2, Volume 2: Price for both the ARPA-H fixed price component and the Proposer’s implementation costs associated with the proposed technical solution (financed by the Proposer). Proposers should be following their institutional policy and procedures when proposing direct labor costs (inclusive of indirect costs). Please note that ARPA-H is not seeking price details for outcome payments in Attachment No. 2, Volume 2: Price. Outcome payments are based on reaching the assigned outcome target. See section 1.7.1, “Reward Payments for Performance (AHAs Only)” for additional details. Performance will be assessed every 6 months.  

Yes, the ZIPs within the broader geographic area identified in the Solution Summary can change for the proposal submission. Please note that the total population size must meet the stated metrics for population size for the chosen Health Outcome (see Table 1: HEROES Program’s Prioritized Health Outcomes in the HEROES solicitation). As stated in the Solicitation, ARPA-H will seek to award proposals where “the proposed technical approach is diverse (geographically, among health outcomes chosen, and with populations served) and the proposed project aims to achieve equitable population-based transformation in healthcare delivery and health outcomes in a community where performance on health outcomes in the geographic area defined is worse than the national average.” ARPA-H will consider diversity in issuing its awards. 

The HEROES Program intent, and Rewards Payments, is to primarily pay for Performer’s delivery of defined outcomes. The HEROES Program rewards payments are not issued for the purposes of funding clinical, research trials or implementation costs. Proposers are expected to finance their implementation and activities independently or through capital raised from investors. Please note that the HEROES program will also have a fixed component piece associated with documenting the Performer’s (Health Accelerator’s) intervention implementation strategies. Payments for the fixed component will be made upon the successful completion of a milestone. Please refer to Section 1.8, Fixed Price Schedule of Milestones within the Program Solicitation. 

ARPA-H is responsible for the data reporting of the specific outcomes used for reward payment as part of the HEROES program. The data strategy, referenced in C. Technical Plan 6 pertains to any supplemental data the Proposer is interested in providing to augment those currently in the HEROES Toolkit and/or in place of the ARPA-H data for the performer-specific geography. The Proposer should provide the requested details, in the aforementioned Sections of the Technical and Management Plan if submitting their own data for validation and use for the chosen geography of interest instead of the ARPA-H outcome data within the HEROES Toolkit.

This will depend on how you are putting your team together.

ARPA-H does not regulate this process on the proposer side. However, every submission should be submitted by someone with the authority to do so. Usually, this involves the Office of Sponsored Research/Programs.  

See Amendment 5, specifically the Technical and Management Volume, Section H. Proposers should submit biographical sketches for anyone who is critical to the program’s implementation – these would be your “key personnel” to include a resume for the Technical Lead of the overall effort. Resumes are not included in the page limit for the Technical and Management Volume.   

Please see Section 1.9 (b) of the HEROES Program Solicitation.  

The final solicitation is anticipated to be posted in April 2024.  

The performance period is anticipated to commence in the 1st quarter of calendar year 2025. The period of performance will only commence once agreements between ARPA-H and Health Accelerators are executed (signed by both the Performer/Health Accelerator and the Government).  

It is anticipated that Solution Summary feedback will be provided within 30 days of submission. This timeline may shift based on the number of submissions received.  

There are no additional webinars by the HEROEs team leading up to proposal submission. If there are any questions that you may have, please submit them through the Solutions portal.  

We are not anticipating an impact at this time.

The Outcome Toolkit was released on April 22nd and can be found at the following link: https://heroes.arpa-h.gov.

These outcomes were chosen following discussions with major federal health authorities and rigorous reviews using a rubric that prioritized public health impact, diversity of ages and populations, presence of highly effective enabling technologies or practices that could be scaled to have impact quickly, well-accepted upstream metrics known to affect long-term outcomes, and availability of data at the population level. ARPA-H may consider adding additional outcomes in the future.  See HEROES Draft Program Solicitation for additional details pertaining to the four specific health outcomes of interest to the program. 

ARPA-H is agnostic to the interventions or methods Health Accelerators use to improve performance on their selected outcome. Health Accelerators should model their interventions based on evidence-based practices. Health Accelerators should select intervention activities and tactics that work best within their selected regions and populations.

Geographies should be selected at the Zip-3 or county level depending on the outcome of focus. 

Yes. Health Accelerators must choose geographically contiguous areas. Selected geographies can cross state borders. Each selected geography must meet the minimum populations target to qualify. This is explained in the HEROES Draft Program Solicitation Section 1.5.1 Table 1. 

ARPA-H will revise the technical document "Heart Attack and Stroke Risk Measure Definitions," which is available in the HEROES Outcome Toolkit, to clarify that the use of new medication or intensification of a statin is sufficient to lower the ASCVD risk score; ARPA-H will not require the actual lab value during the follow-up period.

Unfortunately, NEMSIS limits the reporting of data in the toolkit to the county level. 

Yes, however, please note that NEMSIS limits the reporting data in the toolkit to the county level.

If you can provide the aggregate rate of fatal and non-fatal opioid overdose at the city level, we will accept that in the Solution Summary. Please note, if selected as a Health Accelerator, you will be required to work with the relevant EMS providers to authorize the release of the data/rates at the city level throughout the program performance period, as noted in the HEROES Solicitation.

Yes, protocols and interventions can be deployed in any manner as determined by the Health Accelerator.

Correct, the aggregate 10-year risk score for people aged 40-70 in the selected geography would need to be reduced by 1% over the three-year performance period, not just the ones receiving specific interventions.

Currently, the Outcomes Toolkit contains data from the Veradigm Network EHR, formerly known as Allscripts, which integrates U.S. data for approximately 140 million patients in the last five years. We recognize the value the Epic EHR data would add and are exploring an opportunity to enhance the toolkit dataset.

Yes, protocols and interventions can be deployed in any manner as determined by the Health Accelerator.

The PDF export function is currently not available in the Outcome Toolkit. Thus, please attach the CSV output to your Solution Summary. Please note that per Amendment 2 to ARPA-H-SOL-24-01, only one document can be uploaded to https://solutions.arpa-h.gov/ when submitting a Solution Summary response. Proposers will have to combine documents for the submission. 

The definition of maternal morbidity used in the HEROES Program and the related ICD-10 codes to define it can be found in the About the Data section in the Outcome Toolkit. See link: https://heroes.arpa-h.gov/aboutdata 

Yes, the two are synonymous. However, for the HEROES SOC measure, certain mental health conditions are included in the definition of SOC/SMM. 

For the ARPA-H reward payments, ARPA-H will only issue a reward payment for successful outcomes. However, the solicitation states in 1.7.2 "At month 36, ARPA-H will conduct a "true-up" analysis to compare the AHA's performance over the full program term against the total target outcome reductions and issue any ARPA-H payments due. In other words, if an AHA underperformed in early periods and overperformed in later periods, but still achieved the targeted three-year average improvement thresholds, the AHA will receive full payment. No over-payments made during the program will be returned to ARPA-H as part of the true-up analysis." 

Health Accelerators may negotiate with Outcome Buyers to identify other outcomes (e.g. primary and secondary outcomes) to determine payments in accordance with the terms and conditions of the HA/Outcome Buyer negotiated agreements. 

The HEROES program is interested in technological advancements and any sustainable innovations that lead to reductions in the targeted health outcomes of the program.  

The referenced $2M is an initial zero-equity investment payment to facilitate operational implementation. This will automatically be paid in month six, if selected to be an AHA (see Section 1.7.1). Please also refer to the pricing details requested for the proposal submission (for the fixed and financed components) stipulated in Attachment No. 2, Volume 2, Price template. It is anticipated that if federally negotiated rates exist, that those rates are utilized in the development of the fully burdened rates.  

The target reduction of 20% refers to the rate/percentage reduction in the SOC rate. Thus, if the current rate is 30%, a 20% rate/percentage reduction would decrease it by 6%, resulting in a rate of 24%. 

As detailed in the Program Solicitation, HEROES is soliciting proposals on all four health outcomes. Though HEROES is still soliciting on all four outcomes, as detailed in section 2.0 (a), “This Program Solicitation (PS) may result in multiple awards of Other Transaction (OT) Agreements. However, ARPA-H reserves the right to select all, some, one, or none of the proposals received in response to this solicitation for negotiation. ARPA-H also reserves the right to NOT make awards in all four health outcomes categories. The number of awards selected, and in which health outcome categories, will depend on the quality of the proposals received and the availability of funds.” 

We recognize that adding new patients after the Program’s start may impact overall risk scores. We will be accounting for this in the methodology for risk calculation. New patients will be tracked and will only be included in the risk score calculation at the point when all required data elements are available to calculate a second risk score to account for any changes in risk based on interventions that may have been started after the initial risk score calculation. The details of the methodology can be found in the measure definition document in HEROES Toolkit under the About the Data section, ARPA-H HEROES Toolkit.   

 The EMS must be called and they then evaluate the person physically, and then they document in their EMS record that an opioid overdose was present.  

The HEROES Program will be using the AHA/ACC risk calculator to calculate performance payments. The exact methodology for calculating risk scores can be found here ARPA-H HEROES Toolkit. However, Health Accelerators/Performers are permitted to negotiate the use of other metrics for payment from their Outcome Buyers (e.g. the Agreements between Performer/Outcome Buyer which are external to the ARPA-H’s Agreement with Performers). Broadly speaking, however, it is likely that interventions targeted at improving the AHA/ACC risk calculated score will also improve the PREVENT score.

As detailed in the Tech and Management Template, “Details on established partnerships with organizations benefiting from fundamental health improvements (e.g., health insurance payers, employers, and philanthropic organizations, collectively referred to as Outcome Buyers).” Please also see the Price Volume template, specifically Section VI, “Outcome Buyer Capital.” The format of the letter of support can be determined by the Proposer, and the Proposer should provide as much detail as available at the time of submission.  

Yes. Table 4 is incorrect. The corrected table 4 can be found in question 14 of the updated Questions and Answers document (dated February 22, 2024) found in the attachments/links section of the SAM.gov posting: https://sam.gov/opp/6d12f3cb5f894cd58a8459640e99ee85/view
 

ARPA-H will revise the technical document entitled Heart Attack and Stroke Risk Measure Definitions, which is available in the HEROES Toolkit to clarify that it will take the floor value and not the ceiling value for follow-up in capturing changes in a patient’s risk profile. That is, the analysis will favor the ability to capture positive changes. 

The examples in the technical document "Heart Attack and Stroke Risk Measure Definitions," which is available in the HEROES Outcome Toolkit, are intended for illustrative purposes and assume a program start date of January 2025. The determination of performance results for payment will be based on the actual start of the HEROES program, currently projected for April 2025, as stated in the HEROES solicitation. Also, beginning in mid-2024, monthly data submissions from our data vendors will be ingested into the Outcome Toolkit. This will allow us the flexibility to calculate 6-month performance according to the actual program performance period.

Details on calculating the ASCVD 10-year risk score can be found in the technical measure document, which is available for download through the Outcome Toolkit. It can be found here: https://heroes.arpa-h.gov/aboutdata

Currently, the Outcome Toolkit does not allow the user to determine the actual SOC rate for a state or region. This will become available in a subsequent version of the Outcome Toolkit. Similarly, the number of cases is not available at this point. The HEROES team webpage and/or the Q&A will likely signal when the updated version of the Outcome Toolkit is expected.

Currently, the Outcome Toolkit does not allow the user to determine the actual SOC rate for a state or region. This will become available in a subsequent version of the toolkit. 

Literature reviews were conducted, and the ARPA-H HEROES team spoke with SMEs to determine the appropriate targets for the outcomes. 

These targets are the current expectations for all performers focusing on maternal health. 

As stated in section 1.7.1. of the solicitation: At the end of each six-month period, the performance of AHAs will be evaluated, and reward payments will be issued proportionally based on health outcomes that have been achieved. At the conclusion of the first (and only the first) six-month period, each AHA will receive an initial zero-equity investment payment of $2M to facilitate operational implementation and the success of each AHA’s program. This means that the payout minimum for the first six-month payout period has a floor of $2M and a ceiling of $3.75M. In other words, even if the AHA does not meet the expected rate reduction in the outcome category at the end of the first six-month period, it will still receive a reward payment of $2M. 

The SOC calculation codes can be found in the SOC Measure Definition document, which is available in the HEROES Toolkit. Link here: https://heroes.arpa-h.gov/aboutdata 

The data sources can be found here: https://heroes.arpa-h.gov/aboutdata in the SOC Measure Definition document. Please note, we are in the process of adding new data sources, which will enhance the data coverage.

The minimum population size is the requirement for the population as a whole in a geographic region, not just people aged 40-70. For geographies, multiple ZIP3s can be selected as long as they are contiguous with each other. 

For reward payments from ARPA-H, the outcome will be the rate of severe obstetric complications (SOCs). However, Health Accelerators may negotiate with their Outcome Buyers to identify other outcomes to determine payments from that funding stream. 

ARPA-H recognizes that the Outcome Toolkit does not include 100% of the data in each ZIP3. We are working to increase the capture rate represented in the Toolkit. However, each selected Health Accelerator will be expected to augment the available data with regional data so that it is complete or near complete (e.g., 80% coverage) at the start of the program from which performance will be evaluated. 

While we will be tracking deaths for maternal health, they will not be included in the calculation of the severe obstetric complication rate. 

No, you are not required to serve those communities. In the Toolkit, you can deselect the communities in the adjoining states. If residents in outside geographies receive care in your state, the requirement depends on the selected outcome. For Opioid Overdose and Alcohol-related Health Harms, data collection and reporting are based on the “Incident ZIP Code”, where the event occurred. For these two outcomes, you would be required to include all incidents in your reporting. For SOC and ASCVD, the records are attributed based on where the individuals reside, and, thus, you would not be required to include them in your reporting. 

Section 1.8 provides the schedule of fixed support milestones and associated deliverables for payment purposes. Each proposer may list additional tasks associated with the fixed support component within the Task Description Document (TDD) that a Proposers deems appropriate to achieve the milestones. 

Please see Section 1.9.1, Virtual and Onsite Educational Session Requirements of the HEROES Program Solicitation. This is the anticipated HEROES travel/meeting requirements.  

Yes, references to milestones in Section C of Volume 1, Technical & Management Volume are milestones associated with technical progress on the critical path (e.g., the project’s critical activities/events within the project’s timeline). The milestones stated within Section 1.8 of the HEROES Program Solicitation are milestones for payment purposes. 

The fixed-price component is meant to cover the travel for the periodic meetings with the ARPA-H HEROES team, while part B) travel as referenced in this question is related to the execution of the proposed solution. Depending on the purpose of travel, it can be either under A or B. It is up to the proposer to decide who will attend the meetings with the HEROES program team.

The HEROES Program will be using the Longitudinal ASCVD Risk Assessment Tool, which was derived from the American College of Cardiology and American Heart Association ASCVD Risk Estimator. The measure definition document can be found here: ARPA-H HEROES Toolkit/About The Data. 

The baseline period will be determined once we know the exact program start date. The baseline will be calculated using the most recent two years of data available prior to the program start date. AHAs will start tracking their ongoing performance on the program start date. 

We will soon finalize a contract to provide augment our existing Veradigm dataset with data from Epic (“Cosmos”) for the ASCVD risk scores. We anticipate the consolidated population risk scores to be available in 1Q 2025 as part of the HEROES outcome toolkit. 

The ZIP3s in the Toolkit are derived using the 2020 Census.   

You can find the listing of zip codes and their corresponding counties here: https://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/rel2020/zcta520/tab20_zcta520_county20_natl.txt.  

To determine a ZIP3, use the first three numbers of a given five-digit zip code. 

While the PREVENT calculator has been recently introduced as a risk screening tool for ASCVD, it requires a larger set of data for calculation, is not yet in wide use clinically, and is still derived from datasets that under-represent Asian and Latino populations, among other potential limitations. Further, the Pooled Cohort Equation (PCE) was validated as a population wide approach to reduce first time ASCVD events and mortality in the CMS Million Hearts CV Risk Reduction Model. For those reasons, the HEROES program currently uses the PCE.  

 For performer teams, it should be noted that the same strategies to lower population wide risk even if PREVENT scores are used would show benefit with the PCE as well, so the clinical approach should not be markedly different. 

Please make sure you select Other Transaction as the contract type. Overall, it does not matter where you submit the documents as long as the information requested in the HEROES Solicitation is provided; the file boxes are not customized for each ARPA-H program. Please note that each file box only allows for ONE file. However, zip files are permitted. The file size limit is 100MB.  

ARPA-H will use the HEROES Outcome Toolkit to track improvements in the health outcome metrics selected by the AHAs relative to the adjusted baseline and national averages. If the improvement meets the criteria for payment, ARPA-H shall release funds. See section 1.7.1, “Reward Payments for Performance (AHAs Only)” for additional details. Performance will be assessed every 6 months.  

The control group is based on the baseline for the national trend for the outcome. The national trend will be adjusted using covariates such as income, ethnicity, and age. Please note, the final covariate are subject to change. 

Data to assess performance will be updated as close to real-time as possible. For Opioid Overdose and Alcohol-Related Health Harms), data are available as early as two weeks, based on the geography. For Maternal Health, the lag is approximately 90 days, whereas, for Heart Attack and Stroke risk, the lag is approximately one month. 

ARPA-H will issue any reward payments earned directly to the prime performer. The division of the reward payment among team members, to include potential subawardees is up to the discretion of the prime performer. The allocation of the reward payment earned will likely be captured in the terms and conditions of the agreements prime performers will put in place with subawardees, which ARPA-H is not privy to. It is ARPA-H's expectation that any such reward payment would be allocated based each entity's scope of work.   

As stated in the HEROES Program Solicitation, “Health Accelerators will either self-fund or find at-risk investors to support implementation of interventions that are designed to meet the health outcome targets at a low enough cost to enable profiting from reward payments.” Health Accelerators will need to raise capital (if needed) to support the activities outlined in the Solution Summary and Proposal. Section 5a of the Solution Summary Template requests the estimate of the costs to execute the proposed technical approach, referred to as the financed component. This is the total cost of your research effort, which ARPA-H is NOT funding.  

Section 4 of the Solution Summary speaks to the level of detail requested pertaining to Outcome Buyers.  

If selected as an ARPA-H Funded Health Accelerator (AHA), you will be eligible for reward payments. However, ARPA-H’s investment to reward outcome improvements is capped at $15M. Also see section 1.8, Fixed Price Schedule of Milestones, for additional details.  

Yes. However, please note that the remaining ARPA-H reward pool ($13M) is NOT guaranteed.   

If this approach is assumed, please make sure this is clearly noted in the Volume 2, Price, Section IV, At Risk Investor Costs. The Price Summary, Research Proposer Financed excel template should also represent the costs associated with the total projected effort. For example, if a proposed effort has projected costs of $10M the Price Summary, Research Proposer Financed excel template should total $10M. 

The fixed price component (Section II of Volume 2, Price Template) refers to the annual $200K (or up to $600K total) associated with the fixed payable milestones, as stated in Section 1.8, Fixed Price Schedule of Milestones of the HEROES Program Solicitation. That is not related (that is, those funds would be in addition) to the one-time $2M payment that would be disbursed at the 6-month mark. It does not refer to the $2M payment or startup funds. The proposer financed portion (Section III of Volume 2, Price Template) refers to the total estimated costs associated with implementing the Proposer’s intervention; this is the portion associated with the start-up funds and at-risk capital a Proposer may have raised or have on hand internally to finance the proposed effort. See the narrative provided within Section III, Price Details (Proposer financed component) of Volume 2, Price Template for rationale behind the level of detail being requested.  The ARPA-H rewards payments (of up to $15M) is not affiliated with the budget templates as they are strictly rewards payments. 

No, in-kind support will not count towards the 2:1 match as the 2:1 match is specifically about matching funds that align with ARPA-H in rewarding the improvement on health outcomes. Additionally, proposers need to secure internal financing and/or at-risk investors to provide funding to finance the entirety of the proposed innovation approach/strategy. 

The ARPA-H rewards pool ceiling is $15 million, and this amount was calculated by ARPA-H as being appropriate for the target metrics that have been specified for the outcomes in the selection minimum population sizes. The $15 million is not guaranteed, and there is no advantage for a proposer to request an ARPA-H rewards pool ceiling less than $15 million. The aspiration is for a Proposer to secure as much matching funding as possible, with a recommended target of a 2:1 Outcome Buyer to ARPA-H funds match. Please also review Section 2.1(e), Acquisition Strategy, and Section 5.1, Evaluation Criteria for award for additional information regarding proposal evaluations. 

No, ARPA-H will only issue rewards payments directly to the AHA who ARPA-H will be awarding the Other Transaction Agreement to. The AHA has discretion as to how to distribute the reward payments after receiving the funds.  

There exists a number of programs in the Value-Based Care space. ARPA-H views these programs as complementary to the HEROES program. Participation in these programs does not preclude participation in HEROES.  

Proposers’ Days were held in Washington, DC, February 13-14. See HEROES Proposer's Day Special Notice.

Yes, the slides and video recordings are posted to the HEROES webpage. 

Yes, they are posted on the HEROES website at the following link: https://arpa-h.gov/research-and-funding/programs/heroes.

All recordings can be found on our website at https://arpa-h.gov/research-and-funding/programs/heroes.

Yes! Given the structure, goals, and objectives of the HEROES program, networking and teaming is critical. Thus, ARPA-H is hosting a HEROES Teaming webpage where prospective HEROES stakeholders (Performers/Health Accelerators, Outcome Buyers, Investors) can share their profiles and learn more about other interested parties.  

More information can be found by reaching out to the contacts on the HEROES Program Teaming Page (https://arpa-h.gov/research-and-funding/programs/heroes/teaming) There you will see contacts for outreach opportunities.

Yes. Those interested in teaming assistance can reach out to the ARPA-H Investor Catalyst Hub for guidance with matchmaking. The link to get connected is here: HEROES Teaming Profiles | ARPA-H 

Correct, since HEROES is not asking for pricing per month in either the Fixed or Proposer financed spreadsheets, then the amounts in the “expenditure by month” tab would not be linked. These amounts would be hard entered. Please see the note included within the “expenditure by month tab” which gets to this point.  

Please note that all tabs within the spreadsheets should be completed for both the Fixed and Proposer financed spreadsheets. 

This depends on the agreement type that the performer signs with a hospital. A subawardee is a part of the performer team, must meet compliance requirements and accepts flow downs from the Other Transaction Agreement between ARPA-H and the prime performer, and is carrying out research-related tasks. A vendor provides goods or services, does not have a formal subcontract agreement binding them to the prime performer, and is not conducting any research-related tasks.

Entities interested in participating in the HEROES program (as a Health Accelerator, Outcome Buyer, or at-risk investor) are strongly encouraged submit a non-binding Letters of Interest (LOI) as detailed on the HEROES program website. The purpose of the LOI is to gauge interest and to develop a community of potential entities interested in being a part of the HEROES program. Submission of a LOI is not required to submit an abstract and/or proposal. Submission of the LOI helps the Government gauge the level of interest around each of the four Health Outcomes which ultimately will help inform the decision regarding the two outcomes to be included within the final Solicitation. The LOI submission period is open through February 29, 2024.  

See Amendment 2 to ARPA-H-SOL-24-01, in particular the Solution Summary Template, Attachment No. 1. A letter of support template has not been provided with the HEROES Program Solicitation. It is recommended that proposers provide as much information as you think is salient to the overall proposed solution and your ability to execute. 

The Letters of Support should be included as part of the Tech and Management Template. See the Tech and Management and Price templates for the level of detail requested in the proposal submission (see Sections IV, V, and VI of the price volume and Section C (6)(C ) of the Tech and Management Volume)? There are no page limits provided with respect to letters of support. Please note that each file box within the Solutions Portal site only allows for ONE file. However, zip files are permitted. 

The Solution Summary template has a section asking Proposers to list the names and level of engagement they have had with Outcome Buyers, if any. More details on the template can be found at the following link: https://sam.gov/opp/36210114e49548c6b768905eb3589935/view (Attachment 1). 

The Solution Summary shall not exceed 8 pages. More information is given at the following link: https://sam.gov/opp/36210114e49548c6b768905eb3589935/view, specifically the Attachment 1 Solution Summary Template.

All Templates are listed here: https://sam.gov/opp/514a45fd37864d348198ccef7d1667b5/view. All links for templates can also be found on the HEROES Website by clicking on "HEROES Solicitation." https://arpa-h.gov/research-and-funding/programs/heroes

No. The citations should be provided as a separate document and are not included in the page count. See Amendment 1 to the HEROES PS (ARPA-H-SOL-24-01). 

No. See Attachment 1for the Solution Summary Template. Attachment 2 (OT Bundle) applies to the proposal submission.   

Provide the level of detail requested in Section 5(a) of the Solution Summary template in the Basis of Estimate row of the Solution Summary cover page.

The Solution Summary template does not specify margin size; it just specifies page count and font size. The margin guidelines provided within the Technical and Management volume (in Attachment 2, OT Bundle) can be utilized.  

Yes

No, per the Solution Summary Template, driver diagrams will be included in the page limit as they are part of the description of the solution. Please note that driver diagrams are suggested, not mandated.  

(a) Estimated duration corresponds to the period of performance of the HEROES program which is 3 years (b) total funds requested should align to the total basis of estimate on the cover page of the Solution Summary template document, which tracks back to amount requested in 5a in the solution summary template. (c) and (d) are not relevant for the HEROES Program and are not required fields within the Solutions portal.  

Please see Attachment 2, OT Bundle, provided with the HEROES program solicitation (see Amendment 02 to ARPA-H-SOL-24-01). All templates have been shared on SAM.gov and there is a link to the SAM posting on the HEROES program webpage.