Sources Sought_FY26.pdf

Sources Sought Notice

Produce Prescription Pilot Program

Title: Instructions For Use Software

Agency: Indian Health Service, Division of Diabetes Treatment and Prevention (DDTP)

Issue Date: Wednesday, August 5, 2026

Due Date: Friday, August 14, 2026 no later than 12:00pm EST

POCs: Responses must be submitted via email to Natasha.Bitsoi@ihs.gov. Include “SSN-P4 Program –

Your Company Name” in the Subject of the email.

This Sources Sought Notice (SSN) is for market research and planning purposes only and shall not be construed as a solicitation or an obligation or commitment to issue a solicitation by the Indian Health Service (IHS). This SSN is seeking information from the specific types of entities listed below to assess their capabilities in fulfilling the requirements set forth in this SSN. The information from this SSN will be used to determine the appropriate set-aside, if any, in accordance with the applicable regulations listed. The Government encourages the identified to respond to this Notice and will be assessed of their capabilities in the following priority:

1. Indian Small Business Economic Enterprise (ISBEE),

2. Indian Economic Enterprise’s (IEE) in accordance with HHSAR 326.603-1.

3. Small business concerns in accordance with FAR Overhaul 19.104.

4. Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) with FAR Overhaul 19.106.

Responses to the information requested will assist the Government in determining the appropriate acquisition method, including whether any ISBEE/IEE or small business set-aside is possible based on the Contracting Officer’s reasonable expectation of obtaining offers from two or more relevant concerns that will be competitive in terms of market price, product quality, and delivery capability. An organization that is not considered an ISBEE/IEE firm or small business under the applicable NAICS code should NOT submit a response to this notice. The applicable primary NAICS code for this requirement is 541690 – Other Scientific and Technical Consulting Services. Generic capability statements are not sufficient and may not be considered when assessing entity capabilities.

Background

The IHS provides comprehensive primary health care and disease prevention services to approximately 2.8 million

American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) people in 574 federally recognized tribes through a network of more than 605 hospitals, clinics, and health stations on or near Indian reservations. IHS facilities are located across 12 Areas and serve populations in rural and urban locations in 37 states. IHS healthcare facilities are accredited and Centers for

Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) certified to ensure high‑quality, safe, evidence‑based care and to support third‑party billing for eligible AI/AN patients.

Description of Supplies/Services

The Produce Prescription Pilot Program is a demonstration and evaluation program designed to assess the impact of produce prescription models on American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) people and their families. The overall goal is to improve health care outcomes by reducing food insecurity and improving overall dietary health by increasing consumption of fruits, vegetables, and traditional foods. The Division of Diabetes Treatment and Prevention (DDTP) is committed to supporting these programs by evaluating whether structured food access interventions integrated into health care settings can improve measurable clinical outcomes.

The contractor shall work under the direction of the Indian Health Service (IHS) Division of Diabetes Treatment and

Prevention (DDTP) federal leadership to coordinate and facilitate IHS Produce Prescription Pilot Program (P4) evaluation activities to address food insecurity in Native communities by:

1. Creating and managing the IHS Produce Prescription Pilot Program (P4) evaluation framework, including data coordination for the existing and additional programs

2. Organizing and facilitating meetings with IHS P4 support team staff and grantees

3. Organizing nutrition security training and evaluation capacity-building activities for P4 grantees

The Contractor shall have demonstrated experience leading evaluations of multiple produce prescription programs across different healthcare and community settings. This includes developing shared measures, cross-site reporting frameworks, implementation assessments, and outcome evaluations.

Relevant content expertise should span food and nutrition security, diet quality, healthcare utilization, chronic disease outcomes, and work with Native communities. From this experience, the Evaluator must bring the organizational capacity, subject matter expertise, and operational infrastructure needed to meet the functional requirements and capabilities outlined below.

Capability 1. Evaluation infrastructure & data systems

• Maintain a mature and scalable data infrastructure that supports standardized data collection, management, analysis, and reporting across multiple sites and can implement both process and outcome evaluation components of the IHS P4.

• Provide individual- and aggregate-level reporting expertise specific to produce prescription and food and nutrition security programs that are tailored to Native communities.

• Implement both retrospective and prospective evaluation designs, with the ability to adapt measurement strategies as the IHS P4 pilot matures.

• Demonstrate experience integrating clinical, food security, nutrition, and implementation data across multiple healthcare and community settings to evaluate food is medicine interventions.

Capability 2. Theory of change & measurement expertise

• Apply tested strategies for developing and tailoring food and nutrition security measures for IHS P4 (i.e., screening tool specific to AI/AN people).

• Apply established theory of change development and adaptation methods to create evaluation frameworks that reflect the unique goals, implementation environments, and community priorities of the IHS P4.

• Bring deep expertise in chronic disease management and prevention, including from a nutrition lens, to ensure outcome measures reflect both clinical and Native community-defined indicators of impact.

Capability 3. Evaluation expertise with AI/AN communities

• Follow and honor tribal IRB processes and data sovereignty requirements, including those governing access to and use of clinical and electronic health record data held by tribal health systems.

• Bring experience measuring Indigenous research projects and food ways, ensuring that evaluation approaches honor community priorities and cultural context.

• Apply relationship building models known to be effective across different Native communities.

• Maintain and expand established working relationships with Tribal, Urban Indian, and IHS partners that enable rapid project start-up, stakeholder engagement, and navigation of Tribal review, approval, and data governance processes.

Capability 4. Technical assistance & capacity building

• Activate an existing network of subject-matter partners to deliver targeted technical assistance to support

IHS P4 grantees.

• Operate an established community of practice and technical assistance network focused on produce prescription implementation and evaluation, allowing immediate peer learning and support across P4 grantee sites.

• Explore opportunities to support grantees to collect clinical outcome data.

• Deploy a model that provides IHS P4 grantees and their site-based evaluation partners with on-demand evaluation support to build evaluation capacity locally.

Capability 5. National presence & dissemination

• Elevate the P4 pilot to the national stage through strategic dissemination to tribal, healthcare, academic, government, community, grantee, policy, and other relevant audiences.

• Maintain a demonstrated record of producing peer-reviewed publications, evaluation reports, policy briefs, webinars, and presentations related to produce prescription programs, nutrition security, and Native community health.

• Translate evaluation findings into practical products (e.g., resources, tools) that support program improvement, sustainability, and scaling of produce prescription models across Tribal, Urban Indian, and

Indian Health Service settings.

Capability 6. Program coordination & meeting facilitation

• Provide experienced facilitators to organize and lead P4 support team meetings, grantee convenings, and training webinars, approximately 1-2 times per month.

• Maintain grantee databases, distribution lists, and reporting calendars.

• Coordinate nutrition security training presenters and ensure education objectives are met across virtual and in-person formats.

Capability Statement/Submission Information

*Generic capability statements are not sufficient and will not be considered compliant with the requirements of this notice.*

To assist the Government in an expeditious review of your capabilities, the capability statement should be organized as follows:

• Cover page

• Executive Summary

• Capability areas as listed

• Qualification and Experience

• Past Performance

• Other Information, as applicable

The tailored capability statement should not exceed 15 pages excluding Past Performance information. Font must not be less than 10 point (for readability) and may be submitted in either in either Microsoft Word or Adobe Portable

Document Format (PDF) but must be a standard 8-1/2 by 11 inch in paper size. All proprietary information should be marked as such.

Cover Page:

Please provide a cover page to include:

1. Company Name

2. Company Designation (ISBEE/IEE/SB/SDVOSB)

3. Type of Business – as applicable (e.g. 8(a), Woman Owned Small Business, HUBZone, etc.)

4. UEI Number

5. Point of contact

6. Primary NAICS Code(s)

7. Existing federal contracting vehicle(s) numbers, as applicable (e.g. GSA MAS number, NITAAC/CIO SP3, etc.)

8. System for Award Management (SAM) registration status. Note, all respondents must be registered on the

SAM located at http://www.sam.gov/ prior to any potential award.

Executive Summary:

Provide a high-level overview of your services and include how it will benefit the Indian Health Service.

Capability Areas as listed:

Provide an overview of technical capability to provide the anticipated requirement to include but not limited to:

- Capability 1. Evaluation infrastructure & data systems

- Capability 2. Theory of change & measurement expertise System access control

- Capability 3. Evaluation expertise with AI/AN communities

- Capability 4. Technical assistance & capacity building

- Capability 5. National presence & dissemination

- Capability 6. Program coordination & meeting facilitation

Qualification and Experience:

http://www.sam.gov/

- Evidence of more than five years of experience designing, implementing, and evaluating produce prescription programs across Tribal-serving healthcare and community settings, including Tribal and federally qualified health center (FQHC) partners nationwide.

- Proof of authorship of nationally recognized theories of change for produce prescription and nutrition incentive programs that are used to guide evaluation efforts across the United States.

- Evidence of more than five years of experience providing national training, technical assistance, performance monitoring, and evaluation for multi-state produce prescription program grantees through large-scale federal initiatives.

- Evidence of more than five years’ experience developing, validating, and refining food and nutrition security measurement tools and evaluation frameworks for national Food is Medicine initiatives.

- Evidence of key personnel having experience in human subject research training and education qualification of PhD, MPH and RDN or related field.

- Indicate whether your company holds unique proprietary rights to the services provided.

- Indicate whether you expect to subcontract for services or will work as the prime contractor.

Past Performance:

Please provide any past performance, references, and information to support a demonstration of your capabilities in the relevant technical areas and magnitude of work.

Other Information (Optional):

You may include any other information that may be helpful in developing or finalizing the requirements of the potential acquisition.

Disclaimer and Important Notes

This notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract. Any information provided by industry to the

Government as a result of this SSN 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 capabilities 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. However, responses to this Notice will not be considered adequate responses to any resultant solicitation.

Confidentiality. No 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).