Amendment_01_14-233-SOL-00119.pdf

RFP: 14-233-SOL-00119

AMENDMENT OF SOLICITATION NO.: RFP: 14-233-SOL-00119

AMENDMENT NO.: 01

EFFECTIVE DATE: July 9, 2014

ISSUED BY:

Program Support Center Office of the Assistant Secretary for Administration U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 12501 Ardennes Avenue Suite 400 Rockville, MD 20857

Point of Contact: Shanelle Jackson, Contract Specialist

NAME AND ADDRESS OF RESPONDENTS: To All Responders

The above numbered Solicitation is amended as set forth below.

DESCRIPTION OF AMENDMENT

PURPOSE: To clarify the Solicitation requirements by amending Section H.11 and Section H.12; and responding to questions submitted under the Solicitation. Unless specifically noted, all specifications remain unchanged.

Amendment:

1. Section H.11 RELEASE AND USE AND COPYRIGHT OF DATA FIRST PRODUCED

FROM WORK PERFORMED UNDER THIS CONTRACT is revised as follows:

(a) Release and Use – Data first produced in the performance of the Contract. As permitted in

FAR 52.227-17, the provisions of this Section H.1 shall apply to any release or use of data first produced in the performance of the Contract and any analysis, tools, methodologies, or recorded product based on such data.

(b) Release and Use – Requirements related to confidentiality and quality. To ensure public trust in the confidentiality protections afforded participants in Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)-supported research, AHRQ requires and monitors compliance by its contractors with section 934(c) of the Public Health Service Act (PHS Act) (42 U.S.C. 299c-3(c)), which states in part that

No information, if the establishment or person supplying the information or described in it is identifiable, obtained in the course of activities undertaken or supported under this title, may be used for any purpose other than the purpose for which it was supplied unless such establishment or person has consented...to its use for such other purpose. Such information may not be published or released in other form if the person who supplied the information or who is described in it is identifiable unless such person has consented...to its publication or release in other form.

In addition to this requirement, section 933(b)(1) of the PHS Act (42 U.S.C. 299c-2(b)(1)) requires AHRQ to assure that statistics and analyses developed with Agency support are of high quality, comprehensive, timely, and adequately analyzed. Accordingly --

(1) prior to the release or use of data based upon work performed under this Contract, the Contractor agrees to consult with the Contracting Officer’s Representative and Contracting Officers regarding the proposed release or use. The Contractor will in good faith consider, discuss, and respond to any comments or suggested modifications that are provided by AHRQ within two months of receiving the proposed release or use.

The purpose of such consultation is to assure that:

(A) identifiable information is being used exclusively for the purpose(s) for which it was supplied or appropriate consents have been obtained;

(B) the confidentiality promised to individuals and establishments supplying identifiable information or described in it is not violated; and

(C) the quality of statistical and analytical work meets the statutory standards cited above.

(2) The Contractor must satisfy conditions (1)(A) and (1)(B). At the conclusion of any consultation required by paragraph (b)(1) above, if AHRQ and the Contractor cannot agree that a proposed use or release satisfies condition (1)(C) above:

(A) the research professional at the Contractor responsible for the quality of the

Contract work will, in advance of any release or use of such data, certify in a letter to the Contracting Officer what differences of opinion cannot be resolved regarding the statutory standards referenced in condition (1)(C) and the basis for Contractor assertions that these standards have been met;

and

(B) the Contractor must print prominently on the release or other product, or on any portion that is released, or state prior to any oral presentation or release of such material, the following disclaimer:

THIS PRESENTATION/ PUBLICATION/OR OTHER PRODUCT IS

DERIVED FROM WORK SUPPORTED UNDER A CONTRACT WITH THE

AGENCY FOR HEALTHCARE RESEARCH AND QUALITY (AHRQ)

CONTRACT# . HOWEVER, THIS PRESENTATION/ PUBLICATION/OR

OTHER PRODUCT HAS NOT BEEN APPROVED BY THE AGENCY.

(c) Required Statement Regarding Protected Information. On all written material or other recorded products, or preceding any presentation or other oral disclosure, release or use of material based on identifiable information obtained in the course of work performed under this contract, the Contractor shall make the following statement:

IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION ON WHICH THIS REPORT, PRESENTATION, OR

OTHER FORM OF DISCLOSURE IS BASED IS PROTECTED BY FEDERAL LAW,

SECTION 934(c) OF THE PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE ACT, 42 U.S.C. 299c-3(c).

NO IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION ABOUT ANY INDIVIDUALS OR ENTITIES

SUPPLYING THE INFORMATION OR DESCRIBED IN IT MAY BE KNOWINGLY

USED EXCEPT IN ACCORDANCE WITH THEIR PRIOR CONSENT. ANY

CONFIDENTIAL IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION IN THIS REPORT OR

PRESENTATION THAT IS KNOWINGLY DISCLOSED IS DISCLOSED SOLELY

FOR THE PURPOSE FOR WHICH IT WAS PROVIDED.

(d) Copyright – Data first produced in the performance of the Contract. Subject to the terms of this Section regarding release and use of data, AHRQ, through its Contracting Officer, will grant permission under FAR 52.227-17(c)(1)(i) to the Contractor to establish claim to copyright subsisting in scientific and technical articles based on or containing data first produced in the performance of this contract that are submitted for publication in academic, technical or professional journals, symposia proceedings or similar works. When claim to copyright is made, the Contractor shall affix the applicable copyright notice of 17 U.S.C.

401 or 402 and acknowledgment of Government sponsorship (including contract number) to the data when such data are delivered to the Government, as well as when the data are published or deposited for registration as a published work in the U.S. Copyright Office. In such circumstances, the Contractor hereby agrees to grant to AHRQ, and others acting on its behalf, a paid-up, nonexclusive, irrevocable, worldwide license for all such data to reproduce, prepare derivative works, distribute copies to the public, and perform publicly and display publicly, by or on behalf of AHRQ. A description of this license will be incorporated into the copyright notices required above.

(e) Subcontracts. Whenever data, analyses, or other recorded products are to be developed by a subcontractor under this Contract, the Contractor must include the terms of H.1 in the subcontract, without substantive alteration, with a provision that the subcontractor may not further assign to another party any of its obligations to the Contractor. No clause may be included to diminish the Government’s stated requirements or rights regarding release or use of products or materials based on data derived from work performed under this contract.

2. Section H.12 LACK OF COMPLIANCE WITH REQUIREMENTS FOR RELEASE OR

USE is revised as follows:

Failure to submit materials for statutorily mandated confidentiality and statistical and analytic quality reviews as required by Section H.1 of this contract will be viewed as a material violation and breach of the terms of this contract, as the requirements of this provision are necessary for AHRQ to carry out its statutory obligations and responsibilities. Records of the Contractor's performance, including the Contractor's performance pertaining to this Contract, will be maintained and will be considered as an element of past performance which is part of all subsequent competitive contract proposal reviews.

Questions:

Question 1: Our organization is considering submitting a proposal as a “prime” or master contract holder for ACTION III. Would this preclude us from also being a collaborating member of another master contract holder’s team?

Answer 1: For the purposes of the competition for award of ACTION III Master Contracts, any organization submitting a proposal to be a “Prime Organization” is precluded from participating as a subcontractor to another organization seeking to be a Prime Organization.