amendment 2 EPC IV.pdf

Amendment 2:

Solicitation AHRQ-12-10009 is amended as set forth below:

1. The conflict of interest paragraph on the cover page of the RFP is revised as follows:

Conflict of Interest: The contractors selected for this requirement will prepare reports for the

Effective Health Care Program as EPCs. Therefore, an organization that manages the topic triage process and receives/coordinates EHC/EPC deliverables, including the EPC Scientific

Resource Center (SRC) has been identified as having a significant Organizational Conflict of

Interest that is considered unable to be mitigated. (Reference FAR subpart 9.5, Section L.7, and

SOW paragraph #D3.3). However, this conflict of interest does not include technology assessments and USPSTF reviews. Consequently, any award made under this RFP to the same entity that receives the award of the SRC contract under RFP AHRQ-12-10010 will be limited to competing for task orders that do not present a conflict.

2. Section L.7, paragraph 1 is revised as follows:

The contractors selected for this requirement will prepare reports for the Effective Health Care

Program as EPCs. Therefore, an organization that manages the topic triage process and receives/coordinates EHC/EPC deliverables, including the EPC Scientific Resource Center

(SRC) has been identified as having a significant Organizational Conflict of Interest that is considered unable to be mitigated. (Reference FAR subpart 9.5 and SOW paragraph D3.3).

However, this conflict of interest does not include technology assessments and USPSTF reviews.

Consequently, any award made under this RFP to the same entity that receives the award of the

SRC contract under RFP AHRQ-12-10010 will be limited to competing for task orders that do not present a conflict. Offerors shall identify any other contractual agreements or relationships that may be in conflict with this requirement and propose a mitigation plan for the Government’s review.

End of amendment

The following questions and answers are provided:

Question 1:

Can an institution that is the prime contractor on the SRC contract be a subcontractor on an EPC-

IV contract if there isn't any overlap in personnel?

Answer: Contractors are responsible for understanding and minimizing conflicts of interest, or the appearance thereof. The answer to this question cannot be rendered on a large scale basis.

To do so would likely result in an expansive response that would prohibit otherwise acceptable collaborations.

Since subcontracts on EPC-IV task orders will be approved at the time of task order award, we anticipate reviewing any potential conflicts at that time. This will be largely dependent upon the nature of the work being performed by the subcontractor, and any proposed mitigations plans for conflicts of interest.

Please note that in performance of individual task orders, contractors are not restricted to working with subcontractors identified in the initial IDIQ contract proposal. Offerors must carefully consider any subcontractors arrangements that will be presented in the IDIQ proposal to establish their capabilities to perform as an EPC IV IDIQ contractor.

Question 2:

Can an institution that is the prime contractor on an EPC-IV contract be a subcontractor on the

SRC contract?

This would be dependent upon the nature of the subcontract effort, and whether it presents a conflict with the EPC-IV effort. Offerors are requested to examine proposed subcontract roles and any conflicts of interest in accordance with their conflict of interest policy and RFP section

L.7 and FAR 9.5.