HHS Renews SAS Contract

SAS will renew an enterprisewide contract with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to provide business intelligence and analytic software, services, and training for the department over the next three years.

The agreement extends the nearly 25-year collaboration between SAS and HHS to apply software to help protect the health of all Americans and provide important human services.

Vital technology for vital programs
The renewed contract will enable the department to continue to use SAS to support a multitude of crucial programs, such as the cancer Biomedical Informatics Grid (caBig) for cancer research and patient care, and BioSense for bioterrorism and emerging infectious disease surveillance.

SAS also provides the capabilities to review new drug applications, perform HIV/AIDS surveillance and reporting, and support the Medicare Modernization Act, including thwarting potential fraud and abuse in the new Part D prescription drug program.

The Office of the Secretary and almost all HHS operating divisions use SAS, including the National Institutes of Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Food and Drug Administration, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Indian Health Service, Health Resources and Services Administration, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, and the Administration for Children and Families.

"SAS is honored and committed to support the mission of HHS and help predict the future for better government," says Tom Mazich, vice president of SAS U.S. Government Operations. "Imagine being able to pull data from any system in your organization, perform advanced analyses, and then obtain and share performance information for decision making in seconds rather than hours, days or weeks.

"HHS is leading the way in showing how the strategic application of technology can help create a healthier and safer nation and positively touch the lives of countless Americans each day," says Mazich.

Empowering through BI
The renewed agreement gives HHS wide access to a variety of SAS business intelligence and analytics solutions, including SAS Enterprise BI Server and SAS Strategic Performance Management.

SAS’ business intelligence solutions will empower HHS executives and employees to collaborate across the department and within programs. By accessing the information they need through self-service reporting and customized, easy-to-use Web interfaces, HHS employees can make mission-critical decisions more efficiently and with greater confidence.

HHS and its programs can use SAS for performance management initiatives, such as monitoring key performance indicators and delivering measurable results to support accountability efforts through the President’s Management Agenda, while ensuring a wide range of organizational goals are achieved.

In addition, HHS employees will be able to take the information and turn it into forward-looking insight by applying the full spectrum of SAS analytics solutions for statistical data analysis, data mining, forecasting and other capabilities. Using SAS data mining technology, employees can uncover previously unknown patterns hidden in vast quantities of data, predict future trends and conduct studies, such as evaluating the safety of the anthrax vaccine.

Overall, the renewed contract follows a previous five-year enterprise license agreement. It includes services and training designed to help HHS implement SAS software to meet its goals.