Indian Health Service Pediatric Site Visit Consultation and Technical Assistance

The Program Support Center (PSC), Strategic Acquisition Service (SAS), on behalf of the Indian Health Service (IHS), intends to negotiate and award a fixed-price contract on a sole-source basis to The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), 141 NW Point Blvd, Elk Grove, IL 60007 under the authority of FAR 6.302-1(a) (2). This procurement will be awarded under Part 15 of the FAR Contracting by Negotiation. Background: The Indian Health Service (IHS)/ Maternal and Child Health Program sponsored by the Office of Clinical and Preventive Services, Division of Clinical and Community Services is the principal health care provider and health advocate for American Indian and Alaska Native Children (AIAN). Over 550,000 AIAN children are served at federal and tribal hospitals and clinics, including urban Indian programs in 34 metropolitan centers. Health care disparities for infants, children and youth have been well documented including early childhood caries, childhood obesity, mental health issues and injuries. Community programming including Women Infant Child nutrition and Head Start bring needed resources for early childhood intervention supporting parenting and young families. Youth residential treatment facilities at 12 sites and off reservation boarding schools represent the complexity of services and needs of AIAN children and youth and their health care. The AAP/Committee on Native American Child Health or CONACH has been providing site visit consultation to IHS for over 15 years to tribal/on reservation, urban Indian program, boarding school and school clinic site visit consultation for service units at each of the twelve IHS Areas. The AAP's emphasis is on the needs of at risk populations such as AIAN infants, children and youth have been instrumental in improving the services to AIAN children in the IHS. Purpose/Objective: The purpose of this acquisition is for the AAP/CONACH to provide continuing support for consultation, education and promotion of child health activities on the behalf of the IHS and Indian children. AAP/CONACH working within the Council on Community Pediatrics, a council in the AAP has developed through twenty years of site visit consultations extensive understanding and knowledge of the clinical services, health care delivery gaps and social welfare needs of AIAN Children The Contractor shall conduct IHS Area and local site visits, continuing education sessions, continued Area by Area liaison contacts and semi-annual reports that will allow the aggregation to assess for overall trends and further recommendations. Key recipients are health care personnel, including clinicians, pediatricians, advanced practice nurses, physician assistants, nurses, nurse midwives, pharmacists, behavioral health specialists, and social service providers working with children and families; community health representatives working with maternal child health populations; hospital, clinic, and tribal leadership; as well as IHS Area, Headquarters and Health Board leadership. The Contractor shall advocate for Native American child health and collaborate with the Reach out and Read National Center to plan and implement a coalition focused on IHS, Tribal, and Urban sites. AAP/CONACH is the only entity that can implement the continuing support for consultation, education and promotion of child health activities on the behalf of the IHS and Indian children. The proposed contract is for services for which the Government intends to solicit and negotiate with only once source under the authority of FAR Part 6.302-1(A)(2). The purpose of this synopsis is to determine whether there may be other sources with the necessary expertise, qualifications, and experience to perform the work described above. Interested parties who feel that they are capable of fulfilling this requirement may identify their interest by providing clear and comprehensive information supporting their claim, inclusive of references listing contact person(s), phone number(s), and email address. Interested parties shall submit this information electronically to Marisha.Foreman@psc.hhs.gov. This notice of intent is not a request for competitive proposals. No solicitation document is available; therefore, requests for such documents will be considered invalid responses. However, all information received within 10 days of the publication of this notice will be considered by the Government. A determination by the Government not to compete this requirement is solely within its discretion. Information received will normally be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement. If no responses are received within 10 days, the Government shall negotiate and award a contract to the American Academy of Pediatrics.