Request for Information (RFI)/Sources Sought for Indian Health Services (IHS) Health & Wellness Coaching Pilot

AMENDMENT 0002 The purpose of Amendment 0002 is to provide Government responses to Industry questions. A hard copy of the Q&A is attached within this Notice. This Amendment does not change the RFI response submission date. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- AMENDMENT 0001 The purpose Amendment 0001 is as follows: 1) To rename the title to include that this requirement is a "Health & Wellness" Coaching Pilot; 2) To change the Agency's set-aside requirement from Buy Indian to Total Small Business to extend, include and encourage maximum industry participation from all Responsible National Board for Health & Wellness Coaching (NBHWC) certified small businesses; and 3) To extend the RFI response submission deadline by an additional 2 weeks from 5 PM (ET) on September 16, 2020 to 5 PM (ET) on September 30, 2020. This Amendment hereby extends the RFI submission response due date to 5 PM (ET) September 30 2020. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- INTRODUCTION This is a Sources Sought Notice. This is NOT a solicitation for proposals, or quotations. The purpose of this notice is to obtain information regarding the availability and capability of qualified Native-Alaskan/Native American-Owned and/or small business firms that can participate in the upcoming requirement under the authority of The Buy Indian Act (25 USC 47) and FAR Part 19. Your responses to the information requested will assist the Government in determining the appropriate acquisition strategy. Potential North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) codes for this requirement are/is as follows: - 611430 - Professional and Management Development Training - 541990 - All Other Professional, Scientific and Technical Services BACKGROUND The American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) people have long experienced lower health status when compared with other Americans. Lower life expectancy and the disproportionate disease burden exist perhaps because of inadequate education, disproportionate poverty, discrimination in the delivery of health services, and cultural differences. These are broad quality of life issues rooted in economic adversity and poor social conditions. In addition, AI/AN populations continue to die at higher rates than other Americans in many categories, including chronic liver disease and cirrhosis, diabetes mellitus, unintentional injuries, assault/homicide, intentional self-harm/suicide, and chronic lower respiratory diseases. Given the higher health status enjoyed by most Americans, the lingering health disparities of AI/AN populations are troubling. In trying to account for the disparities, the Division of Clinical & Community Services (DCCS) Health Education program is looking at the inclusion of health and wellness coaching (HWC) as a way for improving health status evidenced from the following: - Recognition of a shift in leading causes of death and disability from acute disease to chronic conditions, which requires increased individual involvement in prevention and recognition of illness; - Growing awareness among health professions that many health problems such as smoking, poor nutrition, overweight, lack of exercise, abuse of drugs and alcohol, are both environmental and behavior patterns and lifestyle choices; - Concern about the high cost of health care which has resulted in efforts to recognize and prevent health problems and to promote more effective planning and use of health care resources as ways of achieving savings to obtain maximum benefit from expenditures; - Recognition by health care providers that improved communication and understanding support patients/clients towards autonomy for both personal and community health. The HWC field is an emerging discipline championing healthy behavior change as a means of averting or mitigating chronic lifestyle related diseases. Health and wellness coaching (HWC) is rapidly emerging as an adjunct treatment for lifestyle diseases, which collectively are the greatest causes of morbidity and mortality in the developed world. The HWC holds great potential for advancing healthy behavior change and stemming the rising tide in prevalence of chronic disease (Sforzo et al., 2017). RESPONSE INFORMATION IHS is seeking contract sources who have demonstrated experience in relevant scope in terms of its size, complexity and magnitude to the activities to be performed under this scope, particularly, as it pertains to technical knowledge and experience with an evidence-based Health and Wellness Coaching program or solution that is according to the standards under the National Board Certified Health and Wellness Coaching (NBC-HWC) organization as a permanent approved program and in accordance with the attached, Statement of Objectives (SOO). The capability statement shall sufficiently address how the responder's support services will be delivered for the proposed project. The qualifying response for this notice must ensure that the offeror has the experience and capacity to take part in this specific type of requirement. In particular, the responders SHALL provide a Technical Capability, addressing each of the following information in addition to the questions within the attached, Attachment 2 - Market Research Survey and Technical Questionnaire attached to this Notice. - Contractor's capability to provide health and wellness coaching and training services at an entity/enterprise level; - Contractor's technical experience and knowledge and any past performance information that is relevant to this requirement; and - Contractor and contractor staff qualifications/certifications. Optional Capabilities Statement: 1. Please provide three (3) references for any similar requirements your organization has worked - include agency/customer, project name, contract number, period of performance and a brief description. 2. In terms of evaluation approaches, beyond the required evaluation factors e.g. Past Performance, Technical and Price/Cost, what specific aspects within the Technical Factor do you recommend the Government evaluate that are - discriminators to help distinguish differences in a Contractor's approach? Optional Feedback: Please provide any feedback or questions you may have related to this requirement and the draft SOO. INSTRUCTIONS TO INDUSTRY All capable parties are encouraged to respond to this RFI and to the attached, Attachment 2 - Market Research Survey/Technical Questionnaire. Responses must directly demonstrate the company's capability, experience, and ability to marshal resources to effectively and efficiently perform the objectives described above. Generic capability statements are not sufficient and will not be considered compliant with the requirements of this notice. The Government requests interested parties submit a written response to this notice which includes: a. Company point of contact, mailing address, and telephone number(s), and website address b. Applicable company GSA Schedule number or other available procurement vehicle. c. Company's System for Award Management (SAM) registration status. Only one (1), single document can be uploaded. Please be sure to combine all documents or convert to PDF prior to uploading and submitting via email. Please do not provide general capabilities statements. Only provide relevant information related to this requirement. This is optional All Optional feedback and questions must be submitted legibly on an Excel, Word, or PDF document to the furnished email addresses. Disclaimer and Important Notes. This notice shall not obligate the Government to award contract. Any information provided by industry to the Government as a result of this sources sought synopsis is strictly voluntary. Responses will not be returned. No entitlements to payment of direct or indirect costs or charges to the Government will arise as a result of contractor submission of responses, or the Government's use of such information or otherwise pay for the information provided in response. The Government reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate. Any organization responding to this notice should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed to allow the Government to determine the organization's qualifications to perform the work. Respondents are advised that 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 on a government GPE. Furthermore, 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(s). Responses must be submitted via email, no later than 5:00pm ET on Wednesday, September 16, 2020. All Questions are due no later than 2:00pm ET on Wednesday, September 8, 2020. No phone contacts. Capability statements will not be returned and will not be accepted after the due date. The maximum number of pages for this submission is ten (10) pages and is inclusive of feedback and responses to the attached, Market Research Survey and Technical Questionnaire. Interested parties shall submit their responses to this notice to the both individuals listed below in order to be considered compliant. Primary POC: Glenda Smith Contract Specialist Email: Glenda.Smith@ihs.gov; and Secondary POC: Paul Premoe Contracting Officer Email: Paul.Premoe@ihs.gov