R--The Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs (OASDHA) TRICARE Management Activity (TMA) seeks expressions of interest in the acquisition of independent auditing services in the audit of TRICARE pharmacy claims.

THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS OR A REQUEST FOR QUOTATIONS, IT IS STRICTLY A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI). NEITHER UNSOLICITED PROPOSALS NOR ANY OTHER KINDS OF OFFERS, WILL BE CONSIDERED IN RESPONSE TO THIS RFI. No contract will be awarded pu rsuant to this announcement. This announcement does not constitute a commitment, implied or otherwise, that a procurement action will be issued nor will the government pay for any information or action forwarded in response to this announcement. The TMA is seeking an independent audit of its pharmacy claims for accuracy of payment and payment record coding. The auditing services represent an opportunity to compete for the award of a singular contract with a base year and options for four addition al years. Currently, there is no incumbent. This announcement is an opportunity for those firms that are interested in participating in the TRICARE pharmacy auditing services procurement to identify themselves. Such firms should submit a written Declaration of Interest and Capabilities Statement to the above point of contact. The written Capabilities Statement should include (1) Point of Contact, (2)Mailing address, (3)E-Mail address, (4) Telephone number for firm, (5)GSA contracts available, if any, (6) Small & Disadvantaged business status, and ( 7) Marketing literature illustrating the capabilities of your institution. Telephone calls and personal visits related to the TRICARE pharmacy auditing services procurement will not be acknowledged or entertained. The TMA is an acivity within the Department of Defense with the responsibility for delivering health care and pharmacy benefits for over 9.1 million Military Health Service beneficiaries. These beneficiaries include active duty service members and their d ependents, retired military personnel and their dependents, and survivors of active duty and retired military personnel. An average of 0.9 million prescriptions are filled on a weekly basis by mail order and retail methods. TMA has categorized all its non-purchased care requirements into three broad categories, as defined below, for purposes of identifying, avoiding, and mitigating against Organizational Conflicts of Interest (OCIs) in accordance with FAR Subpart 9.5. These categories are defined as follows: Category 1: TMA Internal Support: Services which, by their very nature, give the Contractor access to extensive data about the contracts of all other TMA contractors. Category 2: Program Management Support: Services which assist TMA in planning and managing its activities and programs. This includes, for example: requirements analysis; acquisition support; budget planning, and management; business process reengineering ; program planning and execution support; and independent technical management support. Category 3: Product Support: Services or end items required to meet the mission requirements of TMA's non-purchased care activities and programs. This includes, for example: concept exploration and development; system design; system development and integr ation; COTS procurement and integration; internal development testing; deployment; installation; operations; and maintenance. TRICARE pharmacy claims audit support is a Category 2 requirement. The purpose of this categorization is to accomplish the following three objectives: (1) To inform prospective offerors that TMA presumes that award of a contract or order in the subject category will give rise to real or apparent OCIs with respect to requi rements in the other two categories, (2)To assist current contractors and prospective offerors in developing their own business strategies regarding participation in TMA requirements, where possible,to identify, avoid, and mitigate against OCIs, and (3)To ensure that all current contractors and prospective offerors are afforded the maximum practicable opportunity to compete for all TMA requirements consistent with the restrictions required under FAR Subpart 9.5 and sound business practices. Potential bidders with business relationships with the Tricare Mail Order Pharmacy contractor (Express Scripts, Inc.), Tricare Retail Pharmacy contractor (Express Scripts, Inc.), the Pharmacy Data Transaction Syst em contractor (CSC (Prime) and WebMD(Subktr)), must be prepared to demonstrate that such relationships do not cause an actual or apparent conflict of interest. Contractor participation in more than one of these areas may give rise to an unfair competitive advantage resulting from access to advance acquisition, planning, source selection, or sensitive and/or proprietary information. Furthermore, contractor partic ipation in more than one area may give rise to a real or apparent loss of contractor impartiality and objectivity; whereas, its advisory or planning assistance in one area potentially affects its present or future participation in another area. At this time, questions concerning the composition and requirements of the future RFP, as well as those regarding the nature of the services to be performed under the TRICARE pharmacy auditing services contract, will not be entertained. The competition for the award of the TRICARE pharmacy claims audit services is expected to be conducted under full and open procedures; however, the contracting officer reserves the right to set-aside awards to GSA holders and/or small businesses, if appro priate conditions exist.