DHHS/PSC/AOS/DAM/ADP Acquisitions, 5600 Fishers Lane; Room 5-95, Rockville, MD 20857

D -- EXTENDING THE PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE FOR DATA TRANSMISSION SERVICES PROVIDED BY COMPUSERVE, INC.,CONTRACT #213-96-0008 POC Jan Leahey, Contracting Officer: 301/443-0706 The DHHS/Division of Acquisition Management intends to award a modification to Contract 213-96-0008 to extend the current contract to CompuServe, Inc. for an additional year. The contract, awarded March 1, 1996, provides data transmission services between customers of the National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB) and the Systems Research and Applications Corporation, i.e., the contractor that maintains the operation of the NPDB for the Government. Electronic querying and reporting capabilities are provided to NPDB customers through the use of a software product called "QPRAC" which has CompuServe's proprietary TMAIL software incorporated in it. 14,000 customers utilize QPRAC to submit their queries and reports via CompuServe's secure, store-and-forward, proprietary InfoPlex service. The NPDB is a system mandated under Title IV of Public Law 99-660, Health Care Improvement Act of 1986, as amended, to assist State Licensing Boards, hospitals and other health care entities in conducting independent investigations of the qualifications of the health care practitioners they seek to license, hire or grant clinical privileges. A Justification for Other Than Full and Open Competition (JOFOC) has been approved under the authority of Far 6.302-1(2)(ii) to support this extension which will provide critical data transmission services in support of the NPDB customers and allow the Government time to solicit a follow-on contract. No solicitation document exists. Responses to this notice shall be submitted in writing to the attention of Jan Leahey referencing Contract No. 213-96-0008. See Note(s): 22. (0016)

Loren Data Corp. http://www.ld.com (SYN# 0024 19970122\D-0002.SOL)