Request for Proposals: Annual Evaluation Key-Informant Interview Consultant

Organizational Background
HPIO is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization with the purpose of providing state
policymakers with the independent information and analysis they need to create sound
health policy. HPIO’s mission is to serve as a catalyst for health policy leadership and
transformation that advances the health of Ohioans through non-partisan research,
analysis, education and dialogue. The annual operating budget of HPIO is approximately
$1.3 million.

Created in 2003 as a nonpartisan organization, HPIO works in partnership with diverse
groups of stakeholders to forecast health trends, analyze key health issues, and
communicate current research to policymakers, state agencies and other decision-makers.
HPIO’s funding comes from a number of foundations, namely: Health Foundation of
Greater Cincinnati, Mt. Sinai Health Care Foundation, The Cleveland Foundation, The
George Gund Foundation, Saint Luke’s Foundation of Cleveland, HealthPath Foundation
of Ohio, Sisters of Charity Foundation of Canton, Sisters of Charity Foundation of
Cleveland, United Way of Greater Cincinnati, United Way of Central Ohio and
CareSource Foundation. Additional funding comes from private entities that sponsor key
projects, events and forums.
Project Purpose
Following the development of a three-year strategic plan in 2011, HPIO developed a
logic model and evaluation plan. The evaluation plan includes an annual online
stakeholder survey that will be sent to all HPIO contacts, and key informant interviews to
be conducted with a more targeted group of stakeholdersundefinedprimarily state public
policymakers (legislators and executive branch leadership). 

HPIO is hiring a consultant
to assist with developing the key informant interview script and to conduct the interviews
and write a report describing the results.
HPIO’s long-term desired outcome is that Ohio public policymakers make informed
decisions that advance the health of Ohioans. While HPIO interacts with many different
stakeholder groups to reach this goal, state-level public policymakers and those who
influence them are ultimately the primary audience for HPIO’s products. Given that it
would be difficult to obtain responses from these high-level stakeholders via an online
survey, and because open-ended comments would be useful, we have identified 15 to 30-
minute semi-structured key informant interviews as the preferred method for this portion
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of the evaluation. These interviews could be done by phone or in person, depending on
the preference of the informant.

The key informant interviews must address the following desired outcomes:
.. Awareness of HPIO and HPIO’s purpose and activities
.. Perception of HPIO’s reputation
.. Extent to which HPIO is influential and/or the stakeholder can report specific
examples of HPIO leadership or influence on policymaking
.. Relevance and innovation of topics addressed by HPIO
.. Perceived quality and objectivity of HPIO information and products
.. Extent to which HPIO provides information that is relevant to their policy decisions
.. HPIO’s role in increasing awareness of effective and promising practices, strategies,
and policies
HPIO’s Role and Consultant Tasks
HPIO will provide the consultant with background information, including the 2011-2013
HPIO Strategic Plan, logic model, evaluation metrics, and draft Stakeholder Survey.
HPIO’s internal evaluator will provide feedback on development of the interview guide.
HPIO will provide the consultant with a list of approximately 30 key informants. The
consultant will be responsible for contacting the key informants, setting up the interviews,
conducting the interviews, capturing responses, and writing the report.
The consultant will complete interviews with 18 to 25 key informants, depending on their
availability. We anticipate that the interviews will take from 15 to 30 minutes each.

Specific Timeframes and Deliverables
Project start date: October 1, 2012
Final deliverable due date: December 14, 2012
Deliverables
1. Final key informant interview script (semi-structured)
2. Detailed report describing results of key informant interviews with 18 to 25 highlevel
health policy stakeholders (including description of methods, key themes,
progress on desired outcomes, conclusions)
3. Executive summary describing key findings
Budget
HPIO is accepting all proposals for this work, preferably not to exceed $8,500. Proposals
will be evaluated, in part, on their cost effectiveness.
Qualifications and Experience
The consultant will have experience conducting key informant interviews and will be
able to provide an example of a high quality report they have prepared in the past
describing the results of key informant interviews. Ideally, the consultant will have some
familiarity with public policy, particularly state-level public policy, and state
policymakers.
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Proposal Requirements
Proposals should include the following sections:
1. Work plan
2. Description of relevant skills and previous experience with key-informant interviews
and public policy-related projects
3. Attachments: Resume and writing sample (key informant interview report)
Given the relatively small scope of this project, we anticipate that proposals will be brief
and will likely not exceed 5 pages.

Submission Deadline
Proposals must be received by email attachment no later that 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday
September 5, 2012. A decision will be made by September 21, 2012 and work should
commence during the week of October 1, 2012.

Point of Contact
Please direct all inquiries and responses to Amy Bush Stevens, Research, Evaluation, and
Policy Analyst, Health Policy Institute of Ohio at astevens@hpio.net.