First Data Bank License Agreement Renewal

INTENT TO AWARD SOLE SOURCE: The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) intends to negotiate and award a sole source purchase order to the First Data Bank, 500 East 96th St., Suite 500, Indianapolis, IN 46240 to purchase a license to the National Drug Data File (NDDF). Under the authority of FAR 6.301-1 10 U.S.C. 2304, Only One Responsible Source and No Other Supplies and Services Will Satisfy Agency Requirements. A justification and approval is currently being processed for this requirement. This requirement is intended as a sole source procurement because First Data Bank (FDB) is the only source for licenses for Rx Norm Cross Reference Module to be used with the NDC drug codes and data information for electronic delivery to CMS. CMS REQUIREMENTS: Careful market research was performed and found FDB either purchases all other previously existing data sources, or the other data sources are no longer in existence. CMS uses the licenses for data and standards for use by appropriate CMS staff and associated contractors performing work within the scope of the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003. The specific statistical data supplied by FDB has been used by CMS for many years. NAICS CODES: The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) is 51140 (Director and Mailing List Publishers) and the size standard is 500 employees. INTERESTED PARTIES: All responsible sources may submit a capability statement, proposal, or quotation which shall be considered by the agency. In order to qualify as a potential contractor for this procurement, the identical data files (NDDF) must already be in existence and available to the contractor. FDB's products include a complete line of drug databases, including clinical decision support and disease suite modules, applicators program interfaces, and standalone PC products. The FDB databases include descriptive drug information, drug pricing, and drug identification. FDB's unsurpassed clinical information and drug data, combined with Medi-Span's drug databases is the most complete source of current and authoritative drug information available. To be considered, interested vendors must submit technical literature describing their capability to effectively satisfy this requirement, as well as terms and conditions and a complete price quote within 5 days of this notice, to the following electronic mail address: phillip.harrell@cms.hhs.gov. DISCLAIMER: This notice is not a Request for Proposals or a Solicitation, nor does it restrict the Government as to the ultimate acquisition approach. This notice is not a commitment from the Government. The Government will not reimburse any bid or proposal costs as a result of this notice. No solicitation exists and requests for a copy of the solicitation will be disregarded. However, any future solicitation that will be open to competition will be subsequently issued on www.sam.gov in order to permit firms to respond.