Description
This is a synopsis being conducted under Simplified Acquisition Procedures in accordance with FAR Part 13. This solicitation document incorporates provisions and clauses that are in effect through the May 2006 Federal Acquisition Regulation revision, which includes the consolidation of all Federal Acquisition Circulars through 2005-09. This acquisition is NOT a small business set-aside and the NAICS code is 813212. It is the intent of the National Library of Medicine (NLM) working as the coordinating office of the Partners in Information Access to the Public Health Workforce (Partners) to procure professional support services on a sole source basis from the Public Health Foundation (PHF), the national nonprofit organization whose mission is to improve public health infrastructure and performance through research, training, and technical assistance. NLM plans to provide support to PHF to expand access to public health performance and quality improvement resources, tools, and lessons and to identify, organize, and translate relevant performance improvement information from the private sector and other fields that can be applied/adapted to public health. Public health organizations at all levels are increasingly being held accountable for defining and achieving measurable standards of performance. While techniques to analyze, monitor, and improve quality or performance are widely employed in other industries, these techniques are still underutilized in healthcare and are rarely used in public health. The vendor will: 1) increase access of public health professionals to Quality Improvement (QI) resources from public health and industry; 2) organize and convene two Council on Linkages Between Academia and Public Health Practice (Council) sessions related to public health systems research (PHSR) at the American Public Health Association (APHA) 134th Annual Meeting; and 3) produce a summary report that provides highlights of the overall project activities and accomplishments. PHF has a 35-year history in providing training, support, and research to public health agencies to assist them in improving infrastructure and performance and is a widely recognized authority in helping public health agencies and the communities they serve find and/or develop innovative solutions that lead to measurable performance improvement results. NLM has identified PHF as having the requisite experience, knowledge and skills to perform this work. PHF has sole ownership of the Public Health Infrastructure Resource Center (PHIRC) Web site, existing relationships and commitments from the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) and the American Society for Quality (ASQ) to modify their Web sites for public health constituents, is the sole fiscal agent and staffing organization for all Council of Linkages activities, and serves as the lead on performance improvement among the partners involved in the National Public Health Performance Standards Program (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, National Association of County and City Health Officials, National Association of Local Boards of Health, American Public Health Association, National Network of Public Health Institutes, Public Health Foundation). PHF is uniquely qualified to provide the required services in the shortest possible timeframe and at least cost. This requirement is for a twelve (12) month period. This notice of intent is not a request for competitive quotations however, all responses received, within 15 days from the date of publication of this synopsis will be considered by NLM. The quoter shall include all information which documents and/or supports the qualification criteria in one clearly marked section of its quotation. The contractor shall comply with all applicable Federal, State, and local laws, executive orders, rules and regulations applicable to its performance under this order. Full text of clauses and provisions are available at Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR): http://www.arnet.gov/far/index.html. The following clauses and provisions apply to this acquisition and may be obtained from the web site: FAR 52.213-4, Terms and Conditions—Simplified Acquisitions (Other Than Commercial Items) (February 2006).