5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, MD 20857

D -- DATA TRANSMISSION SERVICES IN SUPPORT OF THE NATIONAL PRACTITIONER DATA BANK POC Jan Leahey, Contract Specialist -- 301/443-0706 The DHHS/PSC/Division of Acquisition Management is seeking contractors who have the knowledge and skills to provide a high-speed data transmission service in support of the National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB). Title IV of Public Law 99-660, the Health Care Improvement Act of 1986, as amended, established the NPDB system to collect data relating to the professional competence and conduct of doctors and dentists for release to eligible parties. As a nationwide flagging system, the NPDB provides a resource to assist State Licensing boards, hospitals and other health care entities in conducting extensive independent investigations of the qualifications of health care practitioners they seek to license, hire or grant clinical privileges. The Health Resource Services Administration (HRSA)/Division of Quality Assurance (DQA) is responsible for the implementation and operation of the NPDB system, which initiated operation in September, 1990. Initial interactions between the NPDB and entities occurred through the use of paper Requests for Information Disclosure (RFID) forms. In September 1992, the NPDB provided electronic querying capabilities to entities through the distribution and use of a software product called "QPRAC." On July 18, 1994 the SRA Corporation was awarded contract # 213-94-0004, for the redesign and maintenance of the current NPDB system, which presently provides electronic querying and reporting capabilities to over 14,000 entities. Entities currently communicate their queries utilizing QPRAC, through a secure store-and-forward capability service provided by CompuServe Incorporated, using its proprietary Tmail and Infoplex electronic mail software under contract #213-96-0008. The Government is preparing to solicit a follow-on contract and is currently seeking vendors capable of providing: (1) a secure high speed data network service that supports current NPDB system operations; (2) data communication speeds that include, but are not limited to 1200, 2400, 9600, and 14400 and 28800 bps; (3) electronic return receipt, generated at the time an entity retrieves an electronic response file which ensures that a user has retrieved his/her electronic response; (4) the capability to establish new users and update old users on an ad hoc basis with a time delay not to exceed one hour; (5) the ability to return undeliverable electronic files to the sender; (6) the ability to hold unopened electronic files sent by the NPDB to entities for a period of time that can be established by defined parameters, at no further cost for any time between 5 and 60 days; (7) the ability to return unopened electronic files to the sender after the holding time established by the parameters identified in item 6; (8) uninterrupted service 24 hours per day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year; (9) service by which 95% of the entities can connect at a cost no more than a local call; (10) users on average, will not experience a busy signal more frequently that 1 call out of 100;(11) security to all query and response data held in the vendor's store-and-forward service. There shall be at least three levels of log-on-access, (i.e. ID, password and a 3rd code, such as a 2nd password); (12) the ability to transfer encrypted files. The character set for encrypted files are all ASCII values from 32 to 127 and line feed, carriage return, and page break; (13) that the services provided limit entities only to file transfer capability to and from the NPDB; (14) assurance that computer viruses cannot be passed to or through the Government's file transfers; (15) a separate region to function as a test bed for use by the Government or the NPDB Contractor for testing changes to the NPDB querying and reporting software; (16) patterns of usage and associated pricing provided in the monthly billing statement; (17) compatibility with current NPDB operations, including transparent integration of dial-up access with QPRAC 3 software and (18) the ability to transfer data using the QPRAC 3 software product as the user interface. The level of support required for this requirement is based on the following: the data bank services from 14,000-16,000 entities per year; 90% of queries and reports are submitted between 9:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m., EST; approximately 6,000 (avg. 6,000 characters ea.) incoming queries are received weekly; 6,000 (60,000 characters ea.) outgoing query responses are transmitted weekly; 200 (avg. 3,000 characters ea.) incoming reports are submitted weekly; and 200 (avg. 4,000 characters ea.) outgoing verification documents for each report are transmitted weekly. It is anticipated that there will be a 30% growth in electronic querying and reporting per year. Current monthly transactions include: 1500 hours connect time; 750,000 kilo characters transferred, and 1,000 entities retrieving messages, 7 days late. No solicitation document exists, therefore requests for such documents shall be considered an invalid response. Potential offerors should respond in writing, no later than 15 days from publication of this notice, to the attention of Jan Leahey; Room 5-95, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, MD, 20857. Please provide a brief, concise technical capability statement that demonstrates not only an understanding of the Government's requirement, but evidences that similar services have been provided to commercial or Government agencies by your firm. Include the names and phone numbers of current or past customers utilizing these services, and provide estimated unit pricing for the services described above. Provide a description of your methodology for the transition of queries from the present CompuServe Infoplex system to the system being proposed. No award shall be made on the basis of any response to this notice. (0009)

Loren Data Corp. http://www.ld.com (SYN# 0022 19970113\D-0005.SOL)