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R -- HEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH INFORMATION SUPPORT POC Daniel J. Hartinger, Contract Specialist, 301/496-6546 The National Library of Medicine (NLM) intends to contract on a sole source basis, under the authority cited in 41 USC 253(c)(1) and FAR 6.302-1, with ECRI, a non-profit organization located in Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania, 19462 to extend their current fixed price, (indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity), type contract for an additional six months from August 15, 1998 through February 28, 1999. This extension is necessary in order to provide the continuity of services while additional software mapping capabilities are created by the Government and placed into service to allow for ECRI to perform, via remote access, special editing operations within NLM's Unified Medical Language System that involve ECRI's UMDNS vocabulary. This contract action is for an extension of the following data and services: (1) Machine-readable records for health services research and health care technology assessment reports collected, abstracted, and indexed by ECRI in its role as a World Health Organization Collaborating Center for Information Transfer on Medical Devices, and as publisher of the Healthcare Standards Directory; and (2) Expert review of the results of automated mapping between ECRI's proprietary Universal Medical Device Nomenclature System and NLM's own vocabulary products as well as expert mapping of ECRI's UMDNS with related medical vocabularies available through NLM's Unified Medical Language System. NLM has determined that ECRI possesses unique capabilities and experience, and is the only vendor capable of performing the necessary services. Substantial duplication of costs and unacceptable delays in completing this project make competition for this six month extension impossible. Telephone/fax requests will not be honored. See numbered Notes 22 and 26. (0058)

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