SOLICITATION NOTICE
R -- Support Service for a Prospective US Cohort set within Integrated Health Care Systems to Study Cancer
- Notice Date
- 11/25/2020 11:28:18 AM
- Notice Type
- Presolicitation
- NAICS
- 541990
— All Other Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services
- Contracting Office
- NIH NCI ROCKVILLE MD 20852 USA
- ZIP Code
- 20852
- Solicitation Number
- HHSN261201800005C
- Response Due
- 12/9/2020 9:00:00 AM
- Archive Date
- 12/10/2020
- Point of Contact
- Nikki Arena, Phone: 2402765925, Rukshani Levy, Phone: 2402765425
- E-Mail Address
-
nikki.arena@nih.gov, rukshani.levy@nih.gov
(nikki.arena@nih.gov, rukshani.levy@nih.gov)
- Description
- Background: The Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics (DCEG) at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), is seeking to add level of effort to the �Support Service for a Prospective US Cohort set within Health Care Systems to Study Cancer� contract, a high-impact epidemiologic study that relates carefully-defined exposure assessments to specific outcomes and provides new insights into cancer etiology and mechanisms of action. This contract was awarded to the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) on June 4, 2018 as a cost plus fixed fee, level of effort contract with an initial base period of June 4, 2018 to June 3, 2019 and nine (9) one-year option periods for a total potential period of performance through June 3, 2028. This contract provides support services for the study fieldwork activities where participants will be recruited from nine sites across the US. This includes activities such as but not limited to: providing support for provision of procedures and protocols; staff training at recruitment sites; follow-up; data linkages and tracing of participants who have left the site�s health plan (serving as an alternate point of contact for participants); and organizing data and specimen access. NORC works with NCI, other NCI third party contractors, processing labs, NCI central repository, various oversight committees, and researchers.� In addition, they provide a tiered-access study IT platform with integrated systems for study operations, study data collection, data management and review, and study data and specimen request and approval.� This notice follows a Non-Research and Development Sources Sought Notice that was posted on October 22, 2020 as HHSN261201800005C. One capability statement came in and the Contracting Officer Representative (COR) determined that the vendor was not responsive, therefore not capable of doing the work. Description: The full process of successful establishment of the cohort includes the necessary preparatory work; coordination of recruitment of participants over several years; the abstraction of relevant data from electronic medical records; and the successful collection of repeat biospecimens and questionnaires. In order to collect and organize this information, NCI has a need for a centralized Help Desk that is integrated with the NCI study IT platform and other existing IT infrastructure. This system will also provide retention incentives. In order to achieve this, additional labor hours will need to be added to the existing Level of Effort, Contract HHSN261201800005C. NCI intends to modify contract no. HHSN261201800005C with the National Opinion Research Center (NORC), to increase the quantity of labor hours by approximately 71,188, delivered to the Government through the remainder of the current contract period by increasing the effort to provide technical expertise and services to develop and implement a centralized Help Desk for data management and retention incentives as additional support services for the fieldwork activities. The proposed contract action is for services for which the Government intends to solicit and negotiate with only one source, National Opinion Research Center (NORC), under the authority of FAR 6.302-1(a)(2)(ii). Statutory authority: 41 U.S.C. 253(c)(1), as set forth in FAR 6.302-1, only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements. NORC is the only responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements. NORC is uniquely qualified as the only source to provide these services. They are the only organization with existing knowledge of the Connect protocol and with requisite IT infrastructure and expertise for this project. NORC is well versed in the protocol, data systems, and nuances of this highly complex study and has been involved in every step of the study launch and establishing the cohort.� In addition, NORC is the only organization with demonstrated experience and expertise in maintaining the privacy of personally identifiable information (PII) and protected health information (PHI) collected from study participants and storing these data in a FedRamp IT platform with restricted access by the contractor. NORC is also in the process of obtaining a valid authority to operate (ATO), certifying that their information system meets the contract's requirements to protect the agency data. NORC is integrally involved in the study and has established access to PII under strict data security requirements. Their depth of understanding of the cohort, combined with the fact that they host the PII, makes them uniquely qualified to assist with the Help Desk and distribute incentives. It also gives NORC the sole capability to follow-up with participants who leave membership at the recruitment sites and to link participants to external data sources such as the National Death Index (NDI) and state tumor registries. NORC also has unique experience with an established incentive system/application for tracking and maintaining incentives that can be fully integrated into a FedRamp IT System. They have experience and expertise operating a FedRamp centralized online Help Desk together with the incentive payment system that is compatible with the existing study data system through secure application programming interfaces (APIs). Additionally, NORC is the only organization with specialized experience in developing and implementing Help Desk Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for this study. NORC currently serves as a point of contact for field activities and is the only organization with the breadth of knowledge required to provide responses to Help Desk inquiries within one business day. The proposed contract action is for supplies or services for which the Government intends to continue with one source, National Opinion Research Center, under authority FAR 6.302-1(a)(2)(ii). Interested persons may identify their interest and capability to respond to the requirement. This notice of intent is not a request for competitive proposals. However, all proposals received will be considered by the Government. A determination by the Government not to continue with this proposed contract based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government.� Information received will normally be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a competitive acquisition. Respondents should submit a tailored Capability Statement demonstrating the offerors� facilities, qualifications and experience. Capability statements must include the respondents� DUNS number, organization name, address, and point of contact; and small business type(s). Sources are expected to have the necessary skills and tools to meet the requirements of this project. Interested qualified small business organizations should submit a tailored capability statement for this requirement, not to exceed 15 single-sided pages (including all attachments, resumes, charts, etc.) presented in single-space and using a 12-point font size minimum, that clearly details the ability to perform the aspects of the notice described above. All capability statements sent in response to this pre-solicitation notice must be submitted electronically (via email) to Rukshani Levy, Contracting Officer, at rukshani.levy@nih.gov and Nikki Arena, Contract Specialist, at nikki.arena@nih.gov in MS Word or Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) by December 9, 2020 at 12:00 PM, EST. All responses must be received by the specified due date and time in order to be considered. CAPABILITY STATEMENTS RECEIVED AFTER THIS DATE AND TIME WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED. No collect calls or facsimile transmissions will be accepted.
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- Record
- SN05861124-F 20201127/201125230136 (samdaily.us)
- Source
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