Department of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), Division of Contracts Management, Parklawn Building, Room 13C-06, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, Maryland 20857.

B -- HIV/AIDS EDUCATION AND TRAINING OF PSYCHIATRISTS AND PSYCHIATRY PRACTICE RESEARCH NETWORK SOL 280-98-8013 DUE 052698 POC Beatrice L. Woods, Contracting Officer at 301-443-0043 The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS), is proposing to award a three (3) year sole source contract to the American Psychiatric Association (APA) to continue providing comprehensive education and training in the direct care of and support for people affected by and living with HIV/AIDS for Psychiatrists nationwide, and to maintain and expand the APA's Practice Research Network (PRN). The successful offeror must be knowledgeable and have a track record of accomplishments in developing highly focused educational programs and materials and have a mechanism to remain current with research and other activities in the neuropsychiatric and psychological aspects of AIDS and HIV disease which will be needed well into the next century; and the contractor must also be knowledgeable of the types of services that are being provided by psychiatrists, and the characteristics of these providers, and must be able to evaluate and disseminate service delivery models to treat mental illness. The specific objectives are: 1) to provide training and educational opportunities to practicing psychiatrists and other mental health professionals on the psychiatric and neuropsychiatric dimensions of HIV disease; 2) to maintain a national faculty of regional trainers who provide education and training to health and mental health care professionals across the country; 3) to update and expand current curriculum modules that incorporate the current state-of-the art advances in the treatment of patients with HIV/AIDS into an updated educational program for psychiatrists; 4) to provide assistance and services to encourage the use of the HIV/AIDS psychiatry residency training curricula developed and piloted by the APA; 5) to develop alternative delivery modes, primarily in the form of distance learning, to enable educational programs to be more widely available and accessible; 6) to maintain and expand the Practice Research Network (PRN) membership to 1000 psychiatrists; 7) to provide information summarizing the characteristics of psychiatrists and their patients, including information on the settings and systems in which they practice; and 8) to assess psychiatrists' awareness of, and adherence to, clinical practice guidelines. The APA is the only known organization that has the knowledge of, and credible access to psychiatry faculty at graduate and professional schools and internship programs nationwide and has the credentials for developing and accrediting graduate level education. APA also has the experience and capability to obtain the participation of psychiatrists in rural areas of the country as well as areas where HIV/AIDS training and education has not been conducted. Accordingly, it is the intent of SAMHSA, CMHS to award a three (3) year cost reimbursement completion type contract on other than full and open competition, consistent with Federal Acquisition Section 6.302-1. Inquiries regarding this proposed procurement should be addressed to Beatrice L. Woods, Division of Contracts Management, OPS, SAMHSA. Telephone requests will not be honored.***** (0096)

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