Sources Sought Notice: Accreditation Services for Secure Healthcare Exchange

This is a Sources Sought Notice.

The Government is seeking to identify Indian Small Business Economic Enterprises (ISBEEs), Small Businesses, and any Business size capable of performing the accreditation services noted below for this Indian Health Services (IHS) requirement. This is NOT a solicitation for proposals, proposal abstracts, or quotations. Pursuant to 48 CFR Part 326, Subpart 326.603-3 and IHM 5.5-6, Indian Health Service must use the negotiation authority of the Buy Indian Act, 25 U.S.C. 47, to give preference to Indian Economic Enterprises (IEE) whenever the use of that authority is authorized and practicable, however, any vendor/business responding to this notice should submit their capability statement as well as the Buy Indian Act Indian Economic Enterprise Representation Form (Attachment 1) if applicable. Instructions for submission are outlined below.

INSTRUCTIONS TO INDUSTRY

ISBEEs are highly encouraged to respond to this notice, however, this notice is applicable to all vendors/businesses. Generic capability statements are not sufficient for effective evaluation of their capability to perform the work required. Responses must directly demonstrate the company’s capability, experience, and ability to provide the accreditation services noted below:

-The accreditation company must abide by the ANSI/DS 2019-01-V01-2021, The Direct Standard (new standard), completed by DirectTrust (DirectTrust.org, Inc.) Final Action Date: 05/13/2021, which provides a trust framework for secure exchange of health information.

-The accreditation company shall ensure compliance with industry standards and regulatory requirements fostering secure and reliable communication among healthcare entities.

-The accreditation company shall provide a plan of action how the accreditation will be processed which may include self-assessments (documentation/website portals/online assistance), site visits, accreditation cycles, timelines, and reports.

-The accreditation company shall provide a list of Health Information Service Providers (HISPs) of trusted and reliable partners in the healthcare system.

The Government requests interested parties also submit a written response to this notice which includes:

1. Company Name;
2. Company’s Socioeconomic Status;
3. Company’s Unique Entity ID (UEI) number;
4. Company point of contact, mailing address, and telephone number(s), and website address;
5. Name, telephone number and email address of the company point of contact who has the authority and knowledge to clarify responses with government representatives;
6. Date submitted;
7. If applicable, company GSA Schedule number or other available procurement vehicle;
8. Company’s System for Award Management (SAM) registration status. All respondents must register on the SAM website located at https://www.sam.gov/.
9. Documentation you are an authorized accreditation business to conduct accreditation for direct messaging digital services/secure direct service healthcare exchange.
10. Submit Indian Health Service Buy Indian Act Indian Economic Enterprise Representation Form if applicable (Attachment 1).

Disclaimer and Important Notes. This notice does 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. However, 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).

How to respond. Please include the notice number 75H7042Q00057 and put in the Sources Sought Notice Title in the subject line via email to the Contract Specialist, Nadine Cruz at Nadine.Cruz@ihs.gov no later than 12 PM EST on August 12, 2024. Capability statements will not be accepted after the due date. The maximum number of pages for this submission is five (5) pages, not including a cover page.