RFP 10-250-00084-ebd-1R dtd 05-28-10.docx

10-250-SOL-00084-ebd-1R

HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

HEALTH RESOURCES AND SERVICES ADMINISTRATION

REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL

SECTION A - TABLE OF CONTENTS

B.1 PURPOSE OF CONTRACT

The purpose of this procurement is to have an entity with expertise in community health service delivery at HRSA funded Health Centers (Health Centers); patient health educations, and healthcare provider training test strategies to integrate two family health history tools in Health Centers – the HRSA/Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB)-funded customizable family health history tool Does in Run in the Family and the Surgeon General’s My Family Health Portrait.

B.2 COMPENSATION

Estimated Cost In consideration of the satisfactory performance of these services, which are detail in Section C.3, the Contractor shall be compensated as described below.

This is a cost type contract, and the estimated cost for the base year is $______________.

The Government shall not be obligated to reimburse the contractor for amounts incurred in excess of the contract amount, and the contractor shall not be obligated to continued performance under the contract or otherwise incur amounts in excess of the contract unless and until written notification is received by the contractor from the contracting officer which sets forth a revision of the contract amount. No notice, communication, or representation in any other form or from any person other than the contracting officer shall affect the amount of this contract.

Total funds currently available for payment and allotted to this contract are $_____________. For further provisions on funding, see the "Limitation of Funds" clause (FAR 52.232-22) It is estimated that the amount currently allotted will cover performance from Insert Date to Insert Date.

The Contracting Officer may allot additional funds to the contract without concurrence of the contractor.

The estimated cost for full performance of option year one under this contract is $____________.

The estimated cost for full performance of option year two under this contract is $_____________.

B.3 CONSIDERATION AND PAYMENT

For the performance of this contract the Government shall pay allowable costs determined by the Contracting Officer in accordance with FAR 52.216-7 of the General Provisions and the provisions of this Article.

B.4 DIRECT COSTS

a. The contractor will be reimbursed for all costs as described below, incurred directly in the performance of this contract, claimed by the Contractor, and accepted by the Contracting Officer:

3. Consultant fees or other payments to consultants required in the performance of this contract, provided that such fees or payments shall not exceed the daily rate of $600.00 per day, exclusive of travel costs, without the written approval of the Contracting Officer.

4. Travel and subsistence expenses exclusively in direct performance of this contract. The Contractor shall be reimbursed for transportation costs and travel allowances in accordance with the established policy of the Contractor, but subject to the following limitations:

B.5 PRIOR AUTHORIZATION OF CERTAIN DIRECT COSTS

a. Purchase Orders and Subcontracts are governed by FAR Clause 52.244-2, Subcontracts (JUNE 2007) of the General Provisions except as may be indicated herein.

b. The Contractor shall not incur any of the following costs without the prior written approval of the Contracting Officer. Incurrence of such costs with the intent of claiming reimbursement as direct costs under this contract shall be at the Contractor's own risk, if without such prior written authorization:

1. Purchase or rental of any item of equipment including furniture or office equipment regardless of cost.

2. Any rental or purchase agreement for real or personal property, or any term contract for maintenance.

3. Travel for general scientific meetings.

4. Rearrangement, alternation or relocation of facilities.

B.6 INDIRECT COSTS

The Contractor shall use the Organization’s current negotiated provisional indirect cost rates for billing purposes. The Contractor shall adjust previously billed indirect costs, where appropriate, in accordance with subsequent negotiated agreements and continue to bill indirect costs at newly established provisional rates. The Contractor shall submit a copy of all new rate agreements to the Contracting Officer. In the absence of a Federal Negotiated Rate Agreement, a binding indirect rate may be negotiated for this contract.

SECTION C DESCRIPTION/SPECIFICATIONS/WORK STATEMENT

C.1 Statement of Work Independently, and not as an agent of the Government, the contractor shall furnish all personnel, material, facilities, services, and equipment as needed to perform the Statement of Work set forth Section C.3 and made part of this document.

C.2 Incorporation of Contractors Proposal It is understood and agreed that the contractor shall, in meeting the requirements of this contract, perform the work in accordance with the Contractors proposal to the Health Resources and Services Administration dated ________________________, provided however, that to the extent that any provisions of the articles of this contract are in conflict or inconsistent with any provisions of said proposal, the provisions of the articles of this contract shall be controlling and shall supersede the provisions of said proposal.

C.3 Statement of Work

BACKGROUND

Family history and in particular family health history are important parts of the genetic medicine landscape. Engaging patients around questions of family health history from an individual, as well as a family perspective, provides an opportunity to further enhance the patient and provider relationship. By recording births and deaths, marriages, reproductive outcomes, and medical characteristics, the family health history becomes an invaluable resource for developing and maintaining patient-provider relationships; sharing decision-making; and providing a health context for family/patient centered care. This initiative is expected to integrate in a complementary fashion the HRSA/MCHB funded community centered family history tool, Does it Run in the Family (http://www.doesitruninthefamily.org/) and the Surgeon General’s My Family Health Portrait (http://www.hhs.gov/familyhistory/portrait/index.html) within HRSA-supported Health Centers.

The contractor will also conduct continuing education activities to train Health Center clinicians and staff on the use of providing family health history education, including genetic terminology, risk/benefits assessment, risk communication; and how to initiate and follow-through on referral for genetic services. In addition, training should include concepts and principles for shared decision-making between patients and providers. The project will utilize (supplement and/or refine when necessary) existing provider and patient educational materials, including the HRSA funded-tool Does it Run in the Family? Healthcare Provider Card and Resources for Providers, and Newborn Screening Action (ACT) Sheets and Confirmatory Algorithms http://www.acmg.net/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Reference_Materials&Template=/CM/HTMLDisplay.cfm&ContentID=3669 and the National Coalition for Health Professional Education in Genetics (NCHPEG) core competencies. The training must be amendable to in-person and distance learning formats (videoconferencing, wireless communications, internet, streaming media etc.).

An overarching goal of the project is to increase interaction between the HRSA Genetic Services Branch, Health Centers staff and clients, and the genetics community to improve access to a variety of genetic services provided by health care professionals, family support groups and national, state and federal genetic services agencies and advocates.

The project strategy and evaluation for this contract must emphasize community-based participatory research models. Health education activities that are proposed should demonstrate application of health belief models, precede-proceed and other relevant community health education and health promotion planning frameworks. In addition, the evaluation framework should compare the effectiveness of different dissemination and integration strategies used in Health Centers in order to inform the development of a nationwide dissemination and implementation strategy.

Tasks Goal I: Pilot-test integration of the HRSA/MCHB funded-tool Does it Run in the Family and the Surgeon General’s My Family Health Portrait tool in HRSA-supported Health Centers using community-based dissemination and education approaches to inform national dissemination of these two family health history tools in HRSA-funded health centers.

TASK ONE: Materials Review and Master Plan Within 15 days of the EDOC, the contractor shall meet with contract officials and Federal government officials to clarify contractor and GSB roles and responsibilities, including: monthly conference calls with the federal COTR, quarterly reporting and draft and final reports with the Executive Summary requirements.

The meeting shall take place in Rockville, Maryland.

Within 30 days of the EDOC, the contractor must present to the federal COTR a list of the potential project team members. This list must be presented in a matrix format and must describe the location, expertise and professional background of the potential team member. The team members must provide the contractor with their curriculum vitae documenting credentials and experience for selection to the team. The federal COTR must approve proposed members before the contractor makes commitments. The team must include representatives with the following skills and/or background: primary health care; genetic counseling; health education and promotion; community-based participatory research; heath literacy and cultural and linguistic competencies; risk communication; public health evaluation; health information exchange; and electronic health records interoperability.

The contractor must assemble the COTR approved team within 60 days of the contract.

The contractor will identify, collect and review relevant materials for development of the project master plan and related tasks. The reviewed materials at the minimum will include the following:

Does it Run in the Family tools My Family Health Portrait applications Newborn Screening ACT Sheets and Confirmatory Algorithms National Newborn Screening and Genetics Resource Center website Advisory Committee on Heritable Disorders in Newborns and Children Website

The contractor shall submit a draft Master Plan within 45 days of the team meeting and a final master plan within 60 days of the EDOC.

The contractor must submit quarterly reports to the federal COTR that discusses progress made, remaining tasks, problems or issues, and suggested solutions.

The contractor must participate in a monthly conference call with the federal COTR to inform the COTR of the progress, problems and issues that arise.

TASK TWO: Develop a process, identify and formalize partnerships with selected HRSA-funded Health Centers to implement family health history projects. Provide technical oversight of these Health Center projects.

Goal II: Disseminate and refine existing educational and practice modules to health center care teams and providers for direct clinical application of family health history and patient education. Support secured information exchange of consumer-provided information assembled on the My Family Health Portrait application to be transferred into a personal health record account maintained by Google Health TASK ONE: Family Health History Health Center Provider Continuing Education

1. Continuing Education Plan Within 2 months of the EDOC, the contractor must submit a continuing education plan including a timeline for development of training curriculum suitable for distance learning training of Health Centers’ health care teams of Phase One and Phase Two Health Center Family Health History Dissemination and Integration Projects efforts (see Goal I). The contractor must also develop a strategy for conducting two (2) trainings at existing national, regional, or local professional conferences a year (excluding year 1 in which one (1) professional training activity will be required).

The purpose of conducting provider training in two contexts is to compare provider knowledge, skills and intentions using two different continuing education strategies (one in conjunction with a community-based participatory research activity and one without). This project will test the hypothesis complementary education and training efforts for both patients and providers in family health history improves intentions, satisfaction and use of family health history in health center settings.

2. Continuing Education Training Curriculum Within 6 months of the EDOC the contractor shall present the initial draft of the training objectives and competencies; training curriculum and materials, speakers and/or content developers. Curriculum and training materials must be suitable for distance learning methodologies. “Distance Learning Methodologies” are defined as a continuum of audiovisual media for presenting educational content. The interaction continuum ranges from television with full-motion video and audio interaction with either visual or audio media. The midpoint of this continuum is the use of computers including PDA’s as an interactive medium for learning. The contractor shall present the teaching faculty’s expertise with the proposed distance learning methodology(s) and the plan to develop faculty, if appropriate.

Each module shall demonstrate the clinical application and utility of family health history for the diversity of clients seen at the health center and a range of clinical symptomatology and testing issues appropriate for those health professionals in Health Centers with primary responsibility for clinical services (such as pediatricians, family practice physicians, physician assistants, nurses, nurse midwives, health educators).

Parental and family issues should cover a spectrum of the ethical, legal, social and financial implications of family health history as well as awareness of cultural competence as critical components of family centered care. The concept of the medical home should be included.

The training materials shall include an understanding of the context of the informed decision-making process by patients around the use and understanding of genetic tests, information and technologies.

The curriculum and training materials shall include an understanding of the context of the decision-making process by patients around the use and understanding of family health history and genetic tests, information and technologies.

In addition, the contractor shall assemble a list of appropriate educational resources for inclusion in the training on genetics and family health history, including any on-line resources.

The contractor will refine the content and curriculum based on provider evaluations and comments. The contractor will deliver the final training curriculum at the end of the project.

TASK TWO: Support secured information exchange through standardized interoperability, enabling consumer-provided information assembled on the Surgeon General family health history tool (“My Family Health Portrait”} to be transferred into a personal health record account maintained by Google Health.

Goal III: Evaluation TASK 1: General

TASK 2: Health Center Patient and Community Projects

TASK 3: Health Center Staff and Provider Education and Training Materials

Goal IV: Final Report TASK 1: Draft Final Report

1. Month 31 of the EDOC, the contractor shall prepare a draft final report of the evaluation results and findings across the project components and Health Center sites, as well as summarize each Health Center project--including processes, activities, partners, tools, and project impact (both anticipated and unanticipated). This report shall be prepared in draft manuscript format, as suitable for a peer reviewed journal. This report shall be reviewed by the project team prior to final presentation to the federal COTR.

TASK 2: Final Report

1. Month 34 of the EDOC, the contractor shall present a final report to HRSA in the Rockville area regarding this contract. The final report must be in manuscript format suitable for publication in a peer reviewed journal.

SECTION D - PACKAGING AND MARKING

D.1 (For this Solicitation, there are NO clauses in this section)

SECTION E - INSPECTION AND ACCEPTANCE

E.1 52.246-5 Inspection of Services--Cost-Reimbursement. (APR 1984)

(a) Definition. "Services," as used in this clause, includes services performed, workmanship, and material furnished or used in performing services.

(b) The Contractor shall provide and maintain an inspection system acceptable to the Government covering the services under this contract. Complete records of all inspection work performed by the Contractor shall be maintained and made available to the Government during contract performance and for as long afterwards as the contract requires.

(c) The Government has the right to inspect and test all services called for by the contract, to the extent practicable at all places and times during the term of the contract. The Government shall perform inspections and tests in a manner that will not unduly delay the work.

(d) If any of the services performed do not conform to contract requirements, the Government may require the Contractor to perform the services again in conformity with contract requirements, for no additional fee. When the defects in services cannot be corrected by re-performance, the Government may—

SECTION F - DELIVERIES OR PERFORMANCE

F.1 Period of Performance The Period of Performance consists of one base year with 2 option years from the effective date of the contract, subject to the availability of funding.

F.2 Articles or Services to be Furnished and/or Delivery Schedule

c. In addition to the number of copies to be submitted, as shown above, one copy of the final report shall be mailed directly to:

All reports, processes, and product deliverables are subject to the COTR’s approval. The COTR shall respond within 15 working days after receipt of a deliverable for which the COTR has indicated approval is required before the Contractor can proceed to the next step in the use of that deliverable.

All copies of deliverables shall be submitted to:

Contracting Officer’s Technical Representative (COTR) [Name to be inserted at time of award] Health Resources and Services Administration Maternal and Child Health Bureau Division of Services for Children with Special Health Needs 5600 Fishers Lane, Room 18A-19 Rockville, MD 20857

SCHEDULE OF DELIVERABLES

SCHEDULE OF DELIVERABLES

15 Days from EDOC

Each month from EDOC (starting month 2)

Acceptance All reports, processes, and product deliverables are subject to approval by the COTR If any of the services performed do not conform to contract requirements, the Government may require the Contractor to perform the services again in conformity with contract requirements, for no additional fee. When the defects in services cannot be corrected by performance, the Government may (1) require the Contractor to take necessary action to ensure that future performance conforms to contract requirements and (2) reduce any fee payable under the contract to reflect the reduced value of the services performed.

SECTION G - CONTRACT ADMINISTRATION DATA

G.1. AUTHORITIES OF GOVERNMENT PERSONNEL

Notwithstanding the Contractor’s responsibility for total management during performance, administration of the contract will require maximum coordination between the Government and the Contractor. The following individuals will be the Government’s points of contact during the performance of this contract:

G.1.1 Contracting Officer, Francis R. Murphy 301-443-5165 All administration shall be performed by: Elizabeth B. Downey, Contract Specialist, Division of Contract Operations (DCO), Office of Acquisitions Management and Policy, (OAMP), HRSA, Parklawn Building, Room 13A-19, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, Maryland 20857, 301-443-0332. All communications pertaining to contractual and/or administrative matters under the contract should be addressed to the Contract Specialist at the aforementioned address.

G.1.2 Designation of Contracting Officer’s Technical Representative (COTR), INSERTED AT TIME OF AWARD The person identified above is hereby designated as the COTR for this contract. The responsibility of the COTR (or his duly authorized representative) is to ensure that the Government's technical objectives are met. To this end, the COTR will provide necessary information, direction, coordination, et cetera, within the contractual work description. Issuance of changes which affect the articles, terms or conditions of this contract will be accomplished through the Contracting Officer who is the only party authorized to bind the Government to contract:

The Government may unilaterally change its designated COTR.

G.2. TECHNICAL MONITORING

Performance of the work under this contract shall be subject to the technical monitoring of the COTR. The term “Technical Monitoring” is defined to include, the following:

Technical direction must be within the general scope of the work. The COTR does not have the authority to and may not issue any technical direction that: (i) constitutes an assignment of additional work outside the general scope of the contract; (ii) constitutes a change as defined in the contract clause entitled “Changes”; (iii) in any manner causes an increase in the total contract cost or the time required for contract performance; or (iv) changes any of the expressed terms, conditions, or specifications of the contract.

The Contractor shall proceed promptly with the performance of technical directions duly issued by the COTR in the manner prescribed within his authority under this provision.

If, in the opinion of the Contractor, any instruction or direction issued by the COTR is within one of the categories as defined in (i) through (iv) above, the Contractor shall not proceed, but shall notify the Contracting Officer in writing within five (5) working days after the receipt of any such instruction or direction and shall request the Contracting Officer to modify the contract accordingly. Upon receiving such notification from the Contractor, the Contracting Officer shall issue an appropriate contract modification or advise the Contractor in writing that, in his opinion, the technical direction is within the scope of this article and does not constitute a change under the Changes Clause of the contract. The Contractor shall thereupon proceed immediately with the direction given. A failure of the parties to agree upon the nature of the instruction or direction or upon the contract action to be taken with respect thereto shall be subject to the provisions of the contract clause entitled “Disputes”.

G.3 SUBMISSION OF INVOICES AND PLACE OF PAYMENT

1. Once each month following the effective date of this contract, the Contractor may submit to the Government an invoice (or public voucher) for payment in accordance with FAR Clauses and the General Provisions. Invoices shall be prepared in accordance with the "Billing Instructions" attached hereto and made a part of this contract. The Government shall make provisional payments on all invoices pending the completion of a final audit of the Contractor's cost records.

2. Vouchers shall be submitted, as follows:

No more often than monthly following the effective date of this contract, the Contractor may submit to the Government an invoice (or public voucher, SF-1034) for payment in accordance with FAR clauses and Attachment B, “Billing Instructions.” The Government will make provisional payments on invoices pending completion of a final audit of the Contractor’s cost records. 3. Submit vouchers as follows to expedite payment:

Send one invoice copy to the Government COTR whose name and address appear in subsection G.1.2. Send the original and one copy of all invoices (monthly, completion and final) directly to the Contracting Office at the address listed below:

HHS/HRSA/OAMP

Attn: Elizabeth B. Downey 5600 Fishers Lane Room 13A19 Rockville, Maryland 20857

G.4 KEY PERSONNEL

Pursuant to the Key Personnel clause (HHSAR 352.242-70) referenced in SECTION I of this contract, the following individual(s) is (are) considered to be essential to the work being performed under this contract:

TITLE NAME

Project Director: INSERTED AT TIME OF AWARD The clause cite above contains a requirement for review and approval by the Contracting Officer of written request for change of Key Personnel reasonably in advance of diverting any of these individuals. Receipt of written request at least thirty (30) days prior to a proposed change is considered reasonable.

The person identified above as Project Director shall direct the necessary work and services toward fulfillment of the contractual requirements.

SECTION H - SPECIAL CONTRACT REQUIREMENTS

H.1 Clearance/Production of Information Products/Services A. The Department of Health and Human Service's Office of the Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs requires clearance for any external publication, audiovisual, exhibit, or public affairs service produced for or by HRSA through this contract as a deliverable, an external publication is one of which 50 copies or more are to distributed outside HHS. This clearance, which takes approximately 12 weeks, is obtained by the COTR through HRSA’s Office of Communications.

B. It is the policy of DHHS that DHHS must be prominently and dominantly identified as the primary publisher/producer, to include use of the DHHS logo, on all communication materials, including those produced by contractors. This requirement may be satisfied by displaying the DHHS logo on the back cover of a publication. The Health Resources and Services Administration's (HRSA) logo must be displayed in a position of prominence second only to DHHS as the identifier on all communication materials produced on behalf of HRSA, whether by Agency staff, contractors, or other entities. Communication materials are any and all documents and presentations intended for audiences outside the Agency, including but not limited to:

* Fact sheets, newsletters, brochures, flyers

* Press releases, advisories, other media materials

* Exhibits, posters

* Summaries, monographs, proceedings

* Slides, overhead transparencies, posters

* Audio and videotapes, films

* Internet publications

Internal Publications, not more than 50 copies are to be distributed outside HHS, are exempted from this requirement. Where appropriate, the words Division of -insert appropriate Division-, shall be included below the HRSA logo. Only the Agency Administrator may grant an exception to the policy.

C. Title 44 of the U.S. Code requires that the printing of any publication developed under this contract shall be done by the Government Printing Office. Printing shall be coordinated through the COTR.

H.2 Rights in Data The Contractor shall be prohibited from publishing or disseminating data or information from this project without prior written approval from the COTR.

H.3 Printing and Duplicating The printing of government documents must be accomplished through the Government Printing Office or its field printing plants, unless otherwise approved by the congressional Joint Committee on Printing -JCP-. Contractors and grantees are not intended to be prime or substantial sources of printing for government agencies. Contractors may prepare copy, illustrative material -forms, etc.- and/or camera ready copy for the purpose of producing publications.

Regarding the use of private funds for printing, the regulations state that when appropriated funds are used to create information for publication, the printing of that information cannot be made available to a private publisher for publication without prior approval of the JCP.

H.4 Electronic and Information Technology Accessibility Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794d), as amended by P.L. 105-220 under Title IV (Rehabilitation Act Amendments of 1998) and the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board Electronic and Information Technology (EIT) Accessibility Standards (36 CFR Part 1194) require that all EIT acquired must ensure that:

This requirement includes the development, procurement, maintenance, and/or use of EIT products/services; therefore, any proposal submitted in response to this must demonstrate compliance with the established EIT Accessibility Standards. Further information about Section 508 is available via the Internet at http://www.section508.gov.

H.5 Equipment HRSA shall not provide funds for the purchase of any equipment for this contract.

H.6. Virus Protection

H.7 Confidentiality Agreement Requirement The Contractor shall implement a confidentiality agreement related to all data provided by the Government. All Contractor staff that work with the Federal Government and are provided information and access to databases shall sign such an agreement and a copy of the signed agreement for each relevant staff member shall be submitted to the GPO prior to receipt of relevant documents.

H.8 Quality Assurance

the review, HRSA may hold a conference with the Contractor to discuss any issues. HRSA may choose to visit the Contractor or Subcontractor site during the audit to assess performance of the review.

The Contractor shall maintain an internal quality control program adequate to ensure that the requirements of the contract are met. As with the working paper review, HRSA reserves the right to obtain and review all working papers associated with the Contractor’s internal quality control program. These reviews shall be conducted at HRSA’s discretion at either the selected firm’s site or at the HRSA office. When reviewed at HRSA’s site, the working papers will be sent to the HRSA office for review and evaluation by HRSA staff. After completion of the review, HRSA may hold a conference with the Contractor to discuss any issues. HRSA may choose to visit the Contractor and/or the subcontractor’s site during the review to assess performance of the reviews.

c. Interim and final evaluations of Contractor performance shall be conducted on this contract in accordance with the Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP) Policy Letter 92-5 issued January 11, 1993, FAR Subpart 42.15 and HHSAR 342.7002©(2)(iv). Upon contract completion, a final evaluation of the Contractor’s performance shall be completed by the Government (see Section J, Attachment A)

SECTION I - CONTRACT CLAUSES

I.1.FAR 52.217-9 OPTION TO EXTEND THE TERM OF THE CONTRACT (MAR 2000)

This contract incorporates one or more clauses by reference, with the same force and effect as if they were given in full text. Upon request, the Contracting Officer will make their full text available. Also, the