Inactive Total Small Business Set-Aside (FAR 19.5)

Contracting Office Address: Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute, Office of Acquisitions, 9609 Medical Center Drive, Rockville, MD 20850, U... Contracting Office Address: Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute, Office of Acquisitions, 9609 Medical Center Drive, Rockville, MD 20850, USA. Type of Notice: This is a Small Businesses Sources Sought notice (SBSS). This is NOT a solicitation for proposals, proposal abstracts, or quotations. The purpose of this notice is to obtain information regarding: (1) the availability and capability of qualified small business sources; (2) whether they are small business; HUBZone small businesses; service-disabled, veteran-owned small businesses, 8(a) small businesses; veteran-owned small businesses; women-owned small businesses; or small disadvantaged business; and (3) their size classification relative to the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for the proposed acquisition. Your response to the information requested will assist the Government in determining the appropriate acquisition method, including whether a set-aside is possible. An organization that is not considered a small business under the applicable NAICS code should not submit a response to this notice. The North American Industry Classification System code is 511210 and the small business size standard is $35.5 Million. Background: The SEER Program of the National Cancer Institute is an authoritative source of information on cancer incidence and survival in the United States. Case ascertainment for SEER began on January 1, 1973, in the states of Connecticut, Iowa, New Mexico, Utah, and Hawaii and the metropolitan areas of Detroit and San Francisco-Oakland. In 1974-1975, the metropolitan area of Atlanta and the 13-county Seattle-Puget Sound area were added. In 1978, 10 predominantly black rural counties in Georgia were added, followed in 1980 by the addition of American Indians residing in Arizona. In 1992, the SEER Program was expanded to include the Alaska Native population in the State of Alaska as well as to increase coverage of the minority populations, especially Hispanics, in Los Angeles County and four counties in the San Jose-Monterey area south of San Francisco. In 2001, the SEER Program expanded its coverage to include Kentucky, the remainder of the State of California, New Jersey, and Louisiana. In 2010 the remainder of the State of Georgia also entered the program. On May 1, 2018, four state registries were added to the SEER program: Idaho, Massachusetts, New York, and Wisconsin. The Detroit and New Jersey registries left the program as of May 1, 2018. Additional registries are expected to join the program in November of 2021. The SEER Program currently collects and publishes cancer incidence and survival data from population-based cancer registries covering approximately 35 percent of the US population. Information on more than 9.7 million in situ and invasive cancer cases are included in the SEER database, and approximately 494,000 2015 cases were accessioned within the SEER catchment areas. The SEER registries routinely collect data on patient demographics, primary tumor site, morphology, and stage at diagnosis, first course of treatment, and follow-up for vital status. The SEER Program is the only comprehensive source of population-based information in the United States that includes stage of cancer at the time of diagnosis and survival rates within each stage. Generally, about 95% of cancers are definitively diagnosed by pathology. As a result, cancer registries rely heavily on pathology reports to identify new cases of cancer and to determine key characteristics of the cancer required for its classification. Historically, this pathology data gathering has been performed manually, either by cancer registrars who travel to laboratories and review histopathology reports, or by relying on laboratories to voluntarily identify and forward reports to a central registry. Both methods can be labor-intensive and may result in data of varying quality and completeness. Purpose and Objectives: The overall scope of this requirement is to support and maintain the current electronic pathology reporting infrastructure, including maintaining continuity of electronic pathology reporting licenses for the facilities listed in Exhibit 1 “SEER ePath Sites” and to install and maintain new license installations as required by the NCI to support the SEER program. This requirement is not related to the Request for Information HHS-NIH-NCI-RFI-PCPSB-SRP-MB titled “Tools and Solutions for Improving the Acquisition of Electronic Pathology and Radiology Reports for National Cancer Surveillance” that is specifically focused on identifying sources with innovative technologies that may improve the acquisition of electronic pathology and radiology reporting in the future. A separate solicitation for this requirement may be posted at a later date. Project Requirements: Referred to as "Electronic Pathology" or ePath, the software to accomplish such automation requires the following capabilities: Pre-existing pathology reports, consisting of both text-based and coded portions of the overall report, must be searched to select the potential cancer cases. Text-based portions of the report are parsed, and the potential cancer cases selected through comparisons to an appropriate dictionary of reportable terminology. Coded portions of the report are selected using a rules-based process. No standard report format exists for pathology laboratories to follow, so the software must also be flexible enough to accommodate a variety of report formats. Selected cases are then transmitted from the pathology laboratory to the registry. This must include complete tracking and an audit trail. The transmission system must be secure and conform to all HIPAA requirements. Once received, the information must be easily incorporated into the registry's data management operation. The increasing implementation of electronic medical record systems has opened and will continue to open additional options for electronic data capture. These include but are not limited to electronic records from radiation oncology, surgical and medical notes, and diagnostic imaging reports. The NCI SEER Program has identified diagnostic imaging as the next source to pursue. This is due to the increased capture of malignant and benign brain cases provided by diagnostic imagining. The Contractor(s) shall perform the following tasks: OPERATIONAL SUPPORT AND CONFIGURATION CHANGES Provide IT services for system maintenance and include the following: Maintenance of the existing SEER ePath network; Changes to ePath implementations resulting from changes to servers, networks, laboratory and EMR systems as appropriate; Resolving transmission problems; Maintaining functionality as clients upgrade their systems (including alterations to reporting styles); Convert existing stand-alone ePath sites to a system set up where the reportability assessment application will call an artifact knowledge file stored on an external server. This will facilitate updates to the reportability list without having to go through the facility or lab IT security. Convert existing e-path installations to the “cloud” configuration, whenever possible. 2. E-PATH INSTALLATIONS Provide installation of the ePath application and related software in laboratories and/or registries selected under the direction of the NCI. Use a system set up where the reportability assessment application will call an artifact knowledge file stored on an external server. This will facilitate updates to the reportability list without having to go through the facility or lab IT security. Use the “cloud” configuration whenever possible for new installations Provide renewal of all existing site licenses previously purchased by the National Cancer Institute and installed within SEER Program registries. EPath Software Maintenance and Version Upgrade Services (SMVU). Anticipated Period of Performance: The anticipated period of performance, inclusive of options, for this proposed acquisition is September 26, 2020 – September 25, 2023 Capability Statement/Information Sought: Small businesses possessing experience and demonstrated capability to accomplish the aforementioned requirements and level of effort are to supply pertinent information in sufficient detail to demonstrate their ability to perform the required services. Information furnished must not exceed 20 pages (12-point font minimum), including all attachments, resumes, charts; and should include an outline of previous or similar projects performed. All responses must include an indication of current certified small business status, and clearly marked on the first page of the capability statement, as well as the eligible small business concern’s name, point of contact, address, and DUNS number. Information Submission Instructions: NCI is seeking capability statements from all eligible small businesses concerns in performing the tasks/duties herein. Based on the responses received from this SBSS notice, the proposed project may be solicited as a Small Business Set-Aside. THERE IS NO SOLICITATION AVAILABLE AT THIS TIME. However, should such a requirement materialize, no basis for claims against NCI shall arise as a result of a response to this Small Business Sources Sought notice or the NCI’s use of such information as either part of our evaluation process or in developing specifications for any subsequent requirement All capability statements sent in response to this Small Business Sources Sought notice must be sent electronically (via email) to Mark Brady, Contracting Officer at mark.brady@nih.gov either MS Word or Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) by June 27, 2020; 2:00 PM EST. All responses must be received by the specified due date and time in order to be considered. Capability Statements received after that date and time will not be considered. Disclaimer and Important Notes: This notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay for the information provided in response. The Government reserves the right to use the information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate. Any organization responding to this notice should ensure its response is complete and sufficiently detailed to allow the Government to determine the organization’s qualifications to perform the work. Respondents are advised the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted. After a review of the responses received, a pre-solicitation synopsis and solicitation may be published in Federal Business Opportunities. However, responses to this notice will not be considered adequate responses to a solicitation. Confidentiality: No proprietary, classified, confidential, or sensitive information should be included in your response. The Government reserves the right to use any non-proprietary technical information in any resultant solicitation.