How to bid on Data COUNTS™ technology for Health and Human Services

What the agency is buying and why it matters

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is seeking information on technologies for its Data COUNTS program. This program aims to extract approved data from healthcare partners’ electronic medical records and other systems. The goal is to preserve data provenance, permissions, and source fields.

The NIH's Real-World Data initiative will use this program to provide high-quality, standardized data to the research community. This is a Request for Information (RFI), not a solicitation for proposals or a contract opportunity. The government will not award a contract based on this RFI or pay for the information provided. Responses will be treated as information only.

Key dates and what happens at the deadline

Responses to this RFI are due by September 22, 2026, at 3:00 PM Eastern Time. All responses must be submitted by email to [email protected] by this deadline. This is an RFI, so no contract will be awarded at this time.

Who this opportunity suits

This RFI is suitable for technology firms with expertise in healthcare data extraction, data quality, de-identification, privacy-preserving record linkage, and secure data transmission. Firms should have capabilities in developing and deploying systems that can operate on-site at healthcare partner locations.

Relevant categories include health information technology, data management solutions, and cybersecurity for healthcare data. The NIH is interested in technologies that can handle deep queries from EMR systems, maintain immutable provenance chains, and support both full and incremental data updates.

How to respond

To respond to this RFI, you need to prepare your information and email it to [email protected] by the deadline. The RFI asks for details on technologies that enable specific features, such as a durable, Healthcare Partner Leave Behind Technology, deep query capabilities, data quality checks, de-identification, and privacy-preserving record linkage.

You should also describe how your solution preserves source provenance metadata, applies eligibility rules, generates full and incremental extracts, maintains workflow integrity and processing audits, and meets security posture requirements including HIPAA Security Rule compliance, security audit logging, and defense-in-depth encryption.

Practical tips for preparing a competitive response

When preparing your response, clearly address each technical requirement outlined in the RFI. Provide specific examples of how your technology or capability meets these needs. Focus on the availability and features of your solutions.

Even though this is an RFI, a well-structured and detailed response can help the agency understand your capabilities. Ensure your submission is concise, easy to read, and directly answers the questions posed by the NIH. Highlight any unique aspects of your technology that align with the Data COUNTS program's objectives.