Inactive

NOTICE OF INTENT to Sole Source SOLICITATION NUMBER: NIH-NIMH-NOI-21-75N95021R00038 TITLE: Assessing Outcomes of Health System Suicide Risk Screening Programs CLASSIFICATION CODE:R499 NAICS CODE: 5419... NOTICE OF INTENT to Sole Source SOLICITATION NUMBER: NIH-NIMH-NOI-21-75N95021R00038 TITLE: Assessing Outcomes of Health System Suicide Risk Screening Programs CLASSIFICATION CODE:R499 NAICS CODE: 541990 - All Other Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services RESPONSE DATE: July 17, 2021 at 5:00 PM EST PRIMARY POINT OF CONTACT: Michael Horn, Contract Specialist Michael.horn@nih.gov DESCRIPTION: INTRODUCTION THIS IS A PRE-SOLICITATION NOTICE OF INTENT TO AWARD A CONTRACT WITHOUT PROVIDING FOR FULL OR OPEN COMPETITION WITH THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS SOUTHWESTERN MEDICAL CENTER. THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR QUOTE/PROPOSALS. The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) intends to negotiate on a sole source basis with The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center for the assessment of outcomes of health system suicide risk screening programs. The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), NIH, supports research on ways to prevent, identify and treat mental illness and suicide risk as well as mental health services research. The purpose of this contract is to support assessment of suiciderelated patient outcomes in one large general population health system in the United States that has implemented a systematic program of comprehensive or universal suicide risk screening across multiple care settings, beyond the suicide risk screening that is currently required by applicable accreditation standards, particularly the Joint Commission’s National Patient Safety Goal 15.01.01. This contract will support linkage and analyses of data on health, health care and mortality of patient panels/populations, in relation to health system implementation of suicide risk screening programs, and in relation to patients’ suicide risk screening results. Findings will identify key areas for future research to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of suicide prevention programs, inform quality improvement programs focused on suicide prevention by health systems across the range of current suicide risk screening practices, from those that conduct minimal screening to those with more comprehensive or universal screening programs, and inform possible revision of health care accreditation standards and other policies that could expand use of evidence-based suicide prevention practices. This contract will support linkage and analyses of data on health, health care and mortality of patient panels/populations, in relation to health system implementation of suicide risk screening programs, and in relation to patients’ suicide risk screening results. Analyses of interest include: ? The fraction of patients in particular care settings who were identified with suicide risk, before and after implementation of a suicide risk screening program. ? Patterns of suicide death and other relevant types of mortality over particular periods of follow-up after an index clinical encounter, for patient groups defined by care setting and identified suicide risk. ? Patterns of non-fatal suicide events, and other relevant types of injury (e.g., unintentional overdoses, non-overdose unintentional injury) over particular periods of follow-up after an index clinical encounter, for patient groups defined by care setting and identified suicide risk. ? Patterns of emergency department and hospital use and costs over particular periods of follow-up after an index clinical encounter, for patient groups defined by care setting and identified suicide risk. REGULATORY AUTHORITY This acquisition is conducted under the authority of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 6.302-1, Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements. The proposed contractor has the following unique qualifications: UTSW is the only entity with access to data resulting from a systematic program of comprehensive or universal suicide risk screening across multiple care settings with a general patient population (as opposed to, for example, a system that mainly serves veterans or other specific population subgroups) with the scope and scale necessary to conduct the analyses detailed in the Statement of Work. The data results from a systematic suicide screening program implemented in Parkland Health and Hospital System and exceeds what is required by applicable accreditation standards (particularly the Joint Commission’s National Patient Safety Goal 15.01.01), with the scope and scale necessary to conduct the analyses detailed in the Statement of Work. Specifically, UTSW is the only entity with the access and ability to analyze data on suicide risk screening scores from at least 500,000 unique general population patients, and/or from more than 2.5 million unique patient-encounters, since 2010. In addition, UTSW is the only entity able to take this scale of suicide screening data and link it to (1) data on mortality spanning a period of at least 12 months after each suicide risk screening and; (2) data on subsequent health care use during a period of at least 12 months after each suicide risk screening. CONTRACTING WITHOUT PROVIDING FOR FULL OR OPEN COMPETITION (INCLUDING BRAND-NAME) DETERMINATION The determination by the Government to award a contract without providing for full and open competition is based upon the following rationale: Because non-fatal suicide behaviors – and especially suicide deaths – are rare in absolute terms, the Statement of Work of this contract requires data on suicide risk screening scores from at least 500,000 unique general population patients, and/or from more than 2.5 million unique patient-encounters in order to achieve adequate statistical power. In addition, screening scores alone are not sufficient to perform the analyses required to better understand the impact of a universal suicide screening program on suicide and other health-related outcomes. To perform these analyses (described below), it is also necessary to have access to mortality and health care use for the screened individuals, and to be able to link screening scores with this data. Without these data and linking capabilities, it is impossible to perform the analyses required to answer the following: ? The fraction of patients in particular care settings who were identified with suicide risk, before and after implementation of a suicide risk screening program. ? Patterns of suicide death and other relevant types of mortality over particular periods of follow-up after an index clinical encounter, for patient groups defined by care setting and identified suicide risk. ? Patterns of non-fatal suicide events, and other relevant types of injury (e.g., unintentional overdoses, non-overdose unintentional injury) over particular periods of follow-up after an index clinical encounter, for patient groups defined by care setting and identified suicide risk. ? Patterns of emergency department and hospital use and costs over particular periods of follow-up after an index clinical encounter, for patient groups defined by care setting and identified suicide risk. To the Government’s knowledge, only one entity – UTSW – can readily access the data required to perform the analysis services described in the Statement of Work. The intended source is: The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center 5323 Harry Hines Blvd Dallas, TX 75390 Period of Performance: The period of performance is one (1) 12-month base year with two (2) 12-month option periods. Contract Type: A fixed-price contract is considered to be the most appropriate contract type. The services and required analysis are complex; however, once negotiated, the duration and required workflow are considered to be predictable enough for a fixed-price contract. CLOSING STATEMENT THIS NOTICE OF INTENT TO AWARD A CONTRACT WITHOUT PROVIDING FOR FULL OR OPEN COMPETITIONON IS NOT A REQUEST FOR COMPETITIVE PROPOSALS. However, interested parties may identify their interest and capability to respond to this notice. A determination by the Government not to compete this proposed work based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. All responsible sources may submit a capability statement, proposal, or quotation which shall be considered by the agency. The information received will normally be considered solely for the purposes of determining whether to proceed on a non-competitive basis or to conduct a competitive procurement. Responses to this notice shall contain sufficient information to establish the interested parties' bona-fide capabilities for fulfilling the Comprehensive Service Agreement requirements contained in this notice and include your Dun & Bradstreet Number (DUNS), the Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN), and the certification of business size. All offerors must have an active registration in the System for Award Management (SAM) www.sam.gov. All responses must provide evidence that they can provide the requested services immediately and in accordance with all Federal Information System Security requirements. All responses must be received by the closing date and time of this announcement and must reference the notice number, NIH-NIMH-NOI-21-75N95021R00038. Responses must be submitted electronically to Michael Horn, Contract Specialist, at michael.horn@nih.gov. U.S. Mail and Fax responses will not be accepted.