Description
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, NCIRD/ID/VSDB, 1600 Clifton Rd. NE, Atlanta, GA, 30333, hereby announces its intent to issue a sole source contract in accordance with FAR 6.302-1 to Kaiser Permanente Northwest Center for Health Research (KPNW-CHR), 3800 N. Interstate Ave Portland, OR 97227, to conduct a retrospective analysis to better understand factors related to acute gastroenteritis (AGE) within an integrated health care delivery system. The statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition is 41 U.S.C. 253(c)(1) as cited in FAR 6.302-1, "Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements." The proposed acquisition aims to build upon a previous project recently conducted between Kaiser Permanente Northwest Center for Health Research (KPNW-CHR) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In the previous project, active surveillance of medically-attended acute gastroenteritis (MAAGE) was conducted over two and a half years in the KPNW catchment area of Northwest Oregon and Southwest Washington. The objectives of the MAAGE project were to obtain age-stratified incidence estimates of medically-attended disease, assess the seasonality, and better characterize the clinical characteristics and epidemiological profile of acute gastroenteritis (AGE) and norovirus infections. It was possible to achieve these objectives due to many factors uniquely available through the KPNW collaboration. First, the KPNW membership is large and highly representative of the health plan's coverage area. Access to this population proved instrumental to recruitment efforts and the validity of the MAAGE project estimates. Second, KPNW has a dedicated clinical research team in the Center for Health Research (CHR). The CHR is an academic-level research institute with access to data and resources not commonly available at other medical institutions. Specifically, the CHR has a designated team of researchers and IT personnel, access to the KPNW electronic health records (EHR) database, and the ability to recruit study participants from the entire KPNW membership. Third, KPNW has a close working relationship with the Oregon State Public Health Laboratory (OSPHL) who are experienced in norovirus testing and surveillance using CDC protocols. This relationship enabled KPNW to coordinate MAAGE stool sample testing at OSPHL with high confidence in the validity of sample testing results. More recently CDC and KPNW-CHR continued this collaboration with a one year study of community acute gastroenteritis (CAGE), which assessed the incidence of AGE in the community, asymptomatic prevalence rates of enteric viruses, and healthcare utilization practices of KPNW members. The proposed activities will build on MAAGE and CAGE, and thus require many of the same factors that enabled MAAGE and CAGE to succeed. First, the requested supplemental data needs to be drawn from the same highly representative population as MAAGE and CAGE. Those studies demonstrated that the KPNW membership is an ideal population. KPNW members were highly receptive to participating and displayed higher-than-expected survey completion and stool submission. Therefore, continuing to collaborate with KPNW will provide access to the same representative KPNW membership. Second, the KPNW staff have gained expertise in conducting active surveillance within their membership. No other researchers currently possess the knowledge or have the experience to conduct such a project within this target population. Moreover, a tremendous amount of project infrastructure was developed during MAAGE and CAGE that is specific to the KPNW health system. Fortunately, the existing recruitment and tracking systems, survey instruments, and databases can be quickly modified to fit the supplemental project needs. Selecting a different contractor will require much more investment of time and money to reconstruct these tools that could be saved through continuing the KPNW collaboration. Third, this project will benefit from the close working relationship between KPNW and OSPHL. OSPHL has demonstrated the ability to efficiently and reliably test nearly 4000 stool samples for MAAGE and CAGE. Additional surveillance and testing of samples in the same laboratory will help ensure appropriate comparability of results from MAAGE and CAGE studies. Additionally, the logistical system established between KPNW and OSPHL has been tested and proven. As a result, many obstacles common to projects of this nature will be avoided due to lessons learned during MAAGE and CAGE. In summary, access to the KPNW membership and their EHR data, KPNW staff expertise, the existing MAAGE infrastructure, and the proven collaboration between KPNW and OSPHL, make KPNW uniquely poised to efficiently and successfully fulfill the needs of the proposed study. Responsible sources that believe they possess the expertise and capabilities identified above are encouraged to submit to the Contracting Officer within 15 days from the posting date of this notice, their written capabilities statement, proposal or quotation which shall be considered by the agency. Please forward the capability statement and/or pricing information to Maria Shamburger, Contracting Officer, Reference 2018-19748, Centers for Disease Control, Procurement and Grants Office, ATTN: Maria Shamburger, MS: K14, 2920 Brandywine Road, Atlanta, GA 30341. All vendors must be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) prior to an award of a federal contract. The website is: www.sam.gov. The Government will review any/all capabilities statements and pricing information submitted and determine if other qualified sources do exist that could provide this requirement. Information received in response to this announcement will be used solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement. If no affirmative responses are received within 15 days, negotiations will be conducted with the Kaiser Permanente Northwest Center for Health Research as the only source and a contract will be issued without any additional notices being posted.