SOLICITATION NOTICE
R -- Notice of Intent to Sole Source National Library of Medicine (NLM) Health Care Journalism Fellowship Program - Statement of Work
- Notice Date
- 6/6/2016
- Notice Type
- Presolicitation
- NAICS
- 611430
— Professional and Management Development Training
- Contracting Office
- Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, National Library of Medicine, 6707 Democracy Blvd., Suite 105, Bethesda, Maryland, 20894, United States
- ZIP Code
- 20894
- Solicitation Number
- NIHLM2016797SRE
- Archive Date
- 7/5/2016
- Point of Contact
- Sheila R. Edmonds, Phone: 3014966546
- E-Mail Address
-
sheila.edmonds@nih.gov
(sheila.edmonds@nih.gov)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- Statement of Work This is a Presolicitation/Notice of Intent to Sole Source for commercial services prepared in accordance with FAR Parts 12 and 13. It is the intent of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Library of Medicine (NLM) to procure professional services of an independent, professional development-oriented journalism organization on a sole source basis from the Association for Health Care Journalists dba/Centers for Excellence and Health Care Journalism, Missouri School of Journalism, 10 Neff Hall, Columbia, MO 20892-7511 under the authority of FAR 6.302-1(a)(2) to assist the NLM with planning and implementing its annual NLM Health Care Journalism Fellowship Program. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Code is 611430-Professional and Management Development Training with a small business size standard of $11 million. Background The National Library of Medicine (NLM) established a Health Care Journalism Fellowship Program in order to: 1) raise NLM's visibility and awareness among the news media; 2) promote and foster the use of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and NLM's health informatics sources, research results and health education information; and 3) enhance the quality and accuracy of today's coverage of science and medicine generally, and of NLM specifically. The NLM Health Care Journalism Fellowship program was specially established to: • Increase Visibility for NLM. This Health Care Journalism Fellowship raises NLM's visibility among health news reporters, writers, editors, and producers as a source of interesting, reliable, and valuable scientific information. Participants are exposed to - and receive hands-on training in - some of NLM key resources and services, and return to their newsrooms to share this information with their colleagues as well as their fellow journalists. • Improve Knowledge Dissemination. The NLM Health Care Journalism Fellowship helps to make more journalists aware of the information NIH and NLM provide and opens new communication channels with the public. Working closely with journalists in the Health Care Journalism Fellowship helps them optimally access and utilize the library's informatics resources enabling NLM to accelerate and enhance its ability to distribute and promote its vast scientific knowledge and materials. Health and medical journalists also become more able to incorporate more of the library's services, programs, and resources into their news reporting and editing. • Enhance Medical and Scientific Reporting. Through the Health Care Journalism Fellowship, NLM impacts future coverage of health and medicine by helping fellows better understand and appreciate the scientific process and obtain evidence-based information. On-site at NLM -- and released from their daily deadline pressures -- reporters see first-hand how to access biomedical evidence, how to analyze its importance, and then describe its application. The Fellows also are exposed to the process of government research-from awarding grants, to publishing trial results, to how studies affect the delivery of care. Most of all, the Fellows become well-versed in effectively mining and culling NLM's vast and comprehensive health informatics resources. Established in 2009, the NLM Health Care Journalism Fellowship is solely for independent and news organization-based journalists who write about health and biomedicine. The Fellows are screened and selected by an independent journalism organization that is devoted to professional development. Although Fellows are sought from each of the three (3) media venues: print, broadcast (TV or radio), and online (Internet), the Contractor shall select the most qualified candidates who are most likely to benefit from the NLM Health Care Journalism Fellowship program. A group of journalism Fellows shall attend a 5-day, on-site visit with researchers and senior officials at NLM and NIH. The NLM Health Care Journalism Fellowship is similar to a prior NIH Fellowship program, which placed reporters from organizations such as USA Today and Associated Press with leadership in various NIH institutes. The NIH public information officers, who participated in the NIH Fellowship program, believe it forged long-lasting relationships with the selected journalists. The news media participants attested it helped them better understand and, consequently, enhanced their capability in covering NIH. Purpose/Objective The purpose of the requirement is to procure the professional services of an independent, professional development-oriented journalism organization (the Contractor) to assist the NLM with planning and implementing its annual NLM Health Care Journalism Fellowship Program. The target audience for participants in the NLM Health Care Journalism Fellowship program shall include the Contractor's organizational members who write exclusively for news organizations that serve the general public as well as health and medical reporters and editors who write about health and medicine for independent journalism organizations that also serve the general public. General assignment, non-health and medical specialist journalists, public relations, and practitioners who do not work for news organizations that serve the general public (such as public information officers for health organizations) are not the intended audience to participate in the NLM Health Care Journalism Fellow Program. The services of an independent, professional development-oriented journalism organization are crucial to the NLM Health Care Journalism Fellowship program's success because the organization's participation will create instant credibility for a journalistic educational development activity and ensure participatory interest among its intended, target audience. The Contractor's participation will also enhance the quality of health and medical journalism through utilizing its organizational standards regarding membership, professional practice, and ethics. The Contractor shall possess national leadership in health and medical journalism and have an elevated professional standing among health and medical journalists as well as in the journalism community. The Contractor's membership criteria shall focus on health and biomedical reporters and editors who are independent or who work for news organizations. These attributes have contributed to the prior Fellows' selections and success of the NLM Health Care Journalism Fellowship program. Contractor Requirements Independently, and not as an agent of the government, the Contractor shall furnish all necessary services, qualified personnel, materials, equipment, and facilities, not otherwise provided by the government to perform the work set forth in this Statement of Work (SOW). All work shall be monitored and technically coordinated by the Contracting Officer's Representative (COR). Contractor Tasks The Contractor shall be responsible for planning and implementing the NLM Health Care Journalism Fellowship program. The Contractor shall be responsible for managing the publicity about the NLM Health Care Fellowship Journalism program solely to its organizational members. NLM will be responsible for publicizing the program to the public, other NIH entities, within NLM. The Contractor shall also be responsible for selecting the candidates for the NLM Health Care Journalism Fellowship from its members, assisting the NLM COR with planning and implementing the 5-day program agenda, and evaluating the NLM Health Care Journalism Fellowship program. Specifically, the Contractor shall complete the following tasks: ● The Contractor shall promote the NLM Health Care Journalism Fellowship program solely to its members. The Contractor shall create membership informational materials. The information materials shall include: publicity about the Fellowship program, informing its members about the Fellowship program's availability, informing membership about the selected participants, and post-program descriptions of the program written for the Contractor's members. The Contractor shall integrate information about the Fellowship program into the Contractor's existing membership publications, website, and email dissemination. The Contractor, at its discretion, may include presentations about NLM's services for journalists at its membership meetings and conferences. ● The Contractor shall design and produce a logo for the NLM Health Care Fellowship program in collaboration with the COR and NLM staff. ● The Contractor shall create and implement an application process for its members. ● The Contractor shall select judges who shall review membership applications and select at least three (3) members/applicants to participate as NLM Journalism Fellows. The selected judges shall be nationally respected journalists who are interested in the professional development of other health and biomedical journalists. The Contractor shall determine the selection criteria to screen the applicants. ● The Contractor shall conduct ongoing consultation with the COR, NLM staff, and its members regarding the NLM Health Care Journalism Fellowship program agenda. The Contractor shall participate with the COR and NLM officials in a planning meeting and provide information about the selected NLM Health Care Journalism Fellows in order for NLM to finalize and prepare the Fellowship program agenda. ● The Contractor shall provide travel arrangements and stipends for the selected NLM Journalism Fellows to attend the 5-day NLM Journalism Program located at the National Library of Medicine located in Bethesda, MD. The anticipated dates of the 5-day program are September 24-28, 2017. The Contractor shall provide the judges an honoraria, if required. The Contractor shall also provide travel arrangements for an organizational representative to attend the program. The Contractor shall possess the ability to plan travel arrangements and provide upfront financial resources for domestic travel of the program attendees. ● The Contractor shall provide monthly and quarterly progress reports to the COR and/or NLM designee on the progress of the NLM Health Care Journalism Fellowship program by the 5th day of the following month. ● The Contractor shall provide a final written executive summary to the COR and/or NLM designee within thirty (30) days of completion of the contract. ● The Contractor shall assess and evaluate the NLM Health Care Journalism Fellowship program and provide participant feedback. The Contractor shall provide a written executive summary of the evaluation and the raw feedback materials to the COR and/or NLM designee. ● The Contractor shall plan and implement a post-program meeting. ● The Contractor shall obtain additional feedback about the NLM Health Care Journalism Fellowship from its membership, leadership, and staff for the post-program meeting. The Contractor shall disseminate these findings at the post-program meeting with the COR and NLM officials to discuss methods to enhance future NLM Health Care Journalism Fellowship programs. Reporting Requirements All reports shall be written in Microsoft Word compatible format. Monthly Progress Report-The Contractor shall provide a monthly progress report about the project's progress via teleconference to the COR and/or NLM designee. The monthly progress report should be a brief overview that outlines all progress in the past thirty (30) days and outlines anticipated progress during the next thirty (30) days. Quarterly Progress Report-The Contractor shall provide a quarterly progress report about the project's progress. These quarterly progress reports shall be electronically submitted to the COR and/or NLM designee via email by the 5th day of the following month. The quarterly progress report shall be a brief overview that outlines all progress in the prior quarter and outlines anticipated progress during the next quarter. Executive Summary-The Contractor shall provide a final written executive summary to the COR and/or NLM designee within thirty (30) days of completion of the proposed contract. The executive summary should be written in a Microsoft Word compatible format. The executive summary shall include an evaluation of the NLM Journalism Fellowship program and raw feedback from the participants. The executive summary shall assess participant feedback and provide some suggestions for the further enhancement of the NLM Journalism Fellowship program. If the Contractor prepares a paper for refereed academic meetings or journals based on materials developed in conjunction with the contract, the Contractor shall cite the NLM contract. All instruments, publications, and presentations should be section 508 complaint. The Contractor shall deposit any future publications resulting from this work in PubMed Central (PMC) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/. Period of Performance The period of performance shall be a 12-month Base Period with four (4) additional 12-month Option Periods. Contract Type The resultant Purchase Order shall be Firm-Fixed price. Travel costs will be reimbursed based on actual allowable expenses incurred in accordance with Federal Travel Regulations (FTR). PROMOTING HHS EFFICIENT GOVERNMENT SPENDING On September 21, 2011, the Office of Management and Budget issued Memorandum M-11-35, entitled, "Eliminating Conference Spending and Promoting Efficiency in Government," emphasizing the President's priority to ensure that the Government operates with the utmost efficiency and eliminates unnecessary or wasteful spending. This was followed by the Executive Order on Delivering an Efficient, Effective, and Accountable Government ( EO 13576 ) and the Executive Order on Promoting Efficient Spending ( EO 13589 ). On January 3, 2012, the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) issued the memorandum "HHS Policy on Promoting Efficient Spending: Use of Appropriated Funds for Conferences and Meetings, Food, Promotional Items, and Printing, and Publications" (See http://www.hhs.gov/asfr/ogapa/acquisition/effspendpol_memo.html ). In support of these administrative directives, the NIH issued a January 30, 2012, Memorandum, entitled, "NIH Guidance Related to the HHS Policies on Promoting Efficient Spending: Use of Appropriated Funds for Conferences, Conference Grants and Meetings, Food, Promotional Items, and Printing and Publications." (See http://oamp.od.nih.gov/ ) As a result, the resultant contract will: o Specifically prohibit the use of contract funds for the provision of food for meals, light refreshments and beverages for any NIH funded meeting or conference; o Limit the procurement of meeting space, promotional items, printing, and publications; and, o Prohibit the use contract funds (direct or indirect) to conduct meetings or conferences in performance of this contract without prior written Contracting Officer approval. Sole Source Justification: Pursuant to 41 U.S.C. 253(c)(1) as set forth in the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) at 6.302-1, Only One Responsible Source, the Association of Health Care Journalists (AHCJ) is the only independent, freestanding, professional-development oriented journalism organization that is exclusively dedicated to serving journalists who provide health and medical research news intended for the general public via print, broadcast, and internet news media. AHCJ is unique in that it possesses rigorous membership standards that require all members to be working journalists. AHCJ's membership is uniquely restricted to working health care and medical journalists, and excludes persons who do not work in news organizations that serve the general public, including public information officers at scientific organizations. Health and medical journalists who work for news organizations that serve the general public are the exclusive target audience for the NLM Journalism Fellowship Program. Overall, AHCJ's membership provides the precise target audience that NLM plans to attract to the NLM Journalism Fellowship. AHCJ's membership is uniquely limited to health care/biomedical research reporters and editors, who are employees of news organizations, or independent health care/biomedical research reporters and editors that provide health and medical information to the general public. AHCJ's membership demographics is comprised of a diverse mix of entry level, mid-career, and veteran health and medical journalists who would benefit the most from participation in the NLM Journalism Fellowship Program. AHCJ possesses a unique professional standing that fosters the program's success. AHCJ's professional mission, membership, and organizational structure are uniquely aligned with NLM's programmatic objectives. AHCJ's participation also enhances the NLM Journalism Fellowship's efficiency and cost-effectiveness by providing a membership pool that essentially prescreens the applicants whom NLM desires to participate in the program. AHCJ also has the self-contained capacity to manage the tasks outlined in the Statement of Work (SOW). The following provisions and clauses apply to this acquisition and are incorporated by reference. Full text may be found at https://www.acquisition.gov/Far FEDERAL ACQUISITION REQULATION (FAR) CLAUSES FAR 52.212-4 Contract Terms and Conditions-Commercial Items FAR 52.212-5 Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes and Executive orders This is not a Request for Proposals (RFP), nor is a RFP available; however, all responsive sources may submit a proposal in a timely manner which will be considered by NLM. Firms interested in responding to this notice must be able to provide the referenced service as specified above. Responses must be in writing and must be received electronically at the Government infrastructure by 3:00 PM EST on Monday, June 20, 2016. Proposals must include pricing information and should reference Solicitation No. NIHLM2016797SRE and should be submitted to sheila.edmonds@nih.gov. Inquiries regarding this procurement shall be submitted electronically to sheila.edmonds@nih.gov and shall be received by 2:00 PM EST on Monday, June 13, 2016.
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