SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE
PROJECT TITLE: Pharmacy Outpatient Robotic Dispensing System
DEPARTMENT: National Institutes of Health (NIH), Clinical Center (CC), Pharmacy Department
INTRODUCTION
The National Institutes of Health (NIH), Clinical Center (CC), Office of Purchasing and Contracts (OPC) is issuing this Sources Sought Notice as a means of conducting Market Research to identify parties having an interest in and the resources to support the requirement for a Pharmacy Outpatient Robotic Dispensing System for the NIH Clinical Center (CC), Pharmacy Department.
PLACE OF PERFORMANCE
The primary place of performance for this requirement is as follows:
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Clinical Center (CC)
Pharmacy Department
10 Center Drive, Building 10
Bethesda, MD 20892
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE
The Period of Performance for this requirement shall consist of a Base Period of twelve (12) months commencing at the time of Contract Award and four (4) one (1) year Option Periods. Options to increase quantities may be exercised by formal modification to the contract should there be a need to provide additional services or support. FAR 52.217-8, Option to Extend Services, will be included and shall not exceed one hundred and eighty (180) Calendar Days.
The equipment/software pertaining to the this requirement must be in place No-Later-Than (NLT) December of 2021 to keep pace with the Construction Schedule associated with the new Pharmacy Construction Build-Out Process.
CONTRACT TYPE
In accordance with FAR PART 16.504, a Firm-Fixed-Price (FFP) Indefinite Delivery-Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract type will be utilized for this acquisition because the risk associated with this contract type for the Government is deemed minimal and can be predicted with an acceptable degree of certainty.
DISCLAIMER
This Sources Sought Notice is for informational purposes only. This Notice does not constitute a Solicitation and shall not be construed as a commitment by the Federal Government. Responses of any form are not offers and the Government is under no obligation to award a contract as a result of this announcement. No funds are available to pay for preparation of responses to this announcement. Any information submitted by Respondents to this notice is strictly voluntary. Responses will not be returned to the Responder. Not responding to this notice does not preclude participation in any future Request for Quote (RFQ), Invitation for Bid (IFB), Request for Proposal (RFP), if any issued. If a Solicitation is released, it will be released via the Government-Wide Point of Entry (GPE). It is the responsibility of potential Offerors to monitor the GPE for additional information pertaining to this requirement.
BACKGROUND
The National Institutes of Health (NIH), a part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), is the primary Federal Agency for conducting and supporting medical research. Helping to lead the way toward important medical discoveries that improve people's health and save lives, NIH Scientists investigate ways to prevent disease as well as the causes, treatments, and even cures for common and rare diseases. Composed of 27 institutes and centers, the NIH provides leadership and financial support to researchers in all fifty states and throughout the world.
The Clinical Center (CC) at the NIH in Bethesda, Maryland, is the nation's largest hospital devoted to Clinical Research. It is a national resource that makes it possible to rapidly translate scientific observations and laboratory discoveries into new approaches for diagnosing, treating, and preventing disease. Approximately 1,500 studies are in progress at the NIH Clinical Center. About half the studies are the first tests of new medications or medical treatments in patients.
The primary operating objective of the Pharmacy Department is to support and conduct research by providing safe and high quality care. The secondary operating objective is to standardize, improve effectiveness (service, outcomes), and reduce waste.
The NIH Clinical Center, Pharmacy Department, Outpatient Unit processes approximately 500 prescriptions per day, including both commercial and investigational drug products. The Pharmacists review prescriptions that crossed over from Allscripts and submit them to be filled. The Pharmacy Technicians fill the prescriptions which then get verified by the Pharmacists and batched to different designations (e.g. pick-up, FedEx, International delivery, or USPS mail).
In the 4th quarter of 2021, the NIH Clinical Center, Pharmacy Department will be relocating to a newly designed facility. The Outpatient section is looking to have a fully integrated Automated Dispensing System that maximizes speed and minimizes the amount of physical space required for onsite prescription review, filling, verification, and drug storage.
The NIH Clinical Center currently utilizes Allscripts Sunrise v118.4 as the primary Electronic Health Record (EHR) for Prescriber Order Entry. The EHR is primarily managed by the Department of Clinical Research Informatics (DCRI). The NIH Clinical Center, Pharmacy Department has initiated the efforts to create a fully automated facility for the dispensing and inventory management phase of the Medication Use Process. This Pharmacy Outpatient Robotic Dispensing System will further strengthen the structure of the final design.
REQUIRED CAPABILITIES
Further detail/requirement specifics are provided in the draft Statement of Work (SOW) attached to this announcement. If your organization has the potential capacity to meet this need, please provide the following information:
- Organization Name and Mailing Address
- Organizational Point of Contact (Include Telephone Number and E-mail Address)
- CAGE Code and DUNS Number
- Business Size
- Website Address
- Title your response with Sources Sought Response for NIH/CC/OPC for a Pharmacy Outpatient Robotic Dispensing System
- Tailor Capability Statements to effectively address the particulars of this effort.
The Government will evaluate market information to ascertain potential market capacity to:
- Provide services consistent, in scope and scale, with those described in this notice and otherwise anticipated;
- Secure and apply the full range of corporate financial, human capital, and technical resources required to successfully perform similar requirements;
- Implement a successful project management plan that will include: compliance with tight program schedules; cost containment; meeting and tracking performance; hiring and retention of key personnel and risk mitigation; and
- Provide services under a performance based service acquisition contract.
ELIGIBLITY
In accordance with FAR 19.502-2, a Total (100%) Small Business Set-Aside is being considered for this requirement. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Code contemplated for this project is 339112 (Surgical and Medical Instrument Manufacturing), which includes corresponding index entries such as IV Apparatus Manufacturing, Probes, Surgical Manufacturing, etc. The NAICS code size standard for 339112 is 1,000 Employees to be considered a Small Business. However, Respondents may identify other potential NAICS Codes and the reasoning to support the recommendation. This Sources Sought Notice is not intended to discourage competition from any business interested in this requirement. Since the current capabilities must be confirmed, ALL ELIGIBLE BUSINESSES(including Large Business efforts) are encouraged to respond. The Government is not obligated and will not pay for any information received from potential sources as a result of this Sources Sought Notice.
The Federal Supply Code (FSC) is 6530: Hospital Furniture, Equipment, Utensils, and Supplies.
Potential Offerors must be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) in order to conduct business with the Federal Government. The registration process is free, but does take time and effort on behalf of a firm to complete. Interested parties are encouraged to start the registration process early so the firm can be considered for award.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION AND SUBMISSION DETAILS
Interested parties shall submit a Capability Statement in the following format:
- Page Limit: 20 Pages Single-Sided
- Page size shall be no greater than 8 1/2" x 11". The top, bottom, left, and right margins shall be a minimum of one (1) inch each.
- Font size shall be no smaller than 11-point. Arial or Times New Roman fonts are required. Characters shall be set at no less than normal spacing and 100% scale.
- Tables and illustrations may use a reduced font size no smaller than eight (8)-point and may be landscape.
- Line spacing shall be set at no less than single space.
- Each paragraph shall be separated by at least one blank line.
- Page numbers, company logos, and headers and footers may be within the page margins only and are not bound by the 11-point font requirement.
- Footnotes to text shall not be added.
- Annexes, documentation, attachments or the like, not specifically required by this announcement, such will count against the page limitations.
- Pages in violation of these instructions, either by exceeding the margin, font, or spacing restrictions or by exceeding the total page limit for a particular volume, will not be evaluated.
The deadline for response to this Sources Sought Notice is No-Later-Than (NLT) 12:00 p.m. (EDT) on Wednesday, July 21, 2021. Please submit all documentation via email in PDF Format and state in the subject line Sources Sought Response for NIH/CC/OPC for a Pharmacy Outpatient Robotic Dispensing System to Anthony Q. Hawley (Supervisory Contract Specialist) at anthony.hawley@nih.gov. Responses received after this date and time will not be reviewed. It is your responsibility to ensure your response is received. Telephone inquiries will not be accepted or acknowledged, and no feedback or evaluations will be provided to companies regarding their submissions.
Respondents WILL NOT be notified of the results of this Sources Sought Notice. If and when a Solicitation is issued, the Solicitation will be posted via https://sam.gov/content/home under Contract Opportunities. It is the Respondent's responsibility to monitor the aforementioned site for the release of any Synopsis or Solicitation.
The Government will not award a Purchase Order or Contract as a result of this announcement. The Government shall not assume any costs for preparing or submitting any information in response to the market survey or the Government's use of the information. Any Proprietary Information should be clearly identified as Proprietary Information . This Sources Sought Notice is for informational purposes only and does not constitute an Invitation for Bids (IFB), Request for Quote (RFQ), or Request for Proposal (RFP), and should not be construed as a commitment by the Government to issue an Order/Contract or otherwise pay for the information solicited. This Sources Sought Notice is for information and planning purposes only and does not commit the Government to any Contractual Agreement.
All questions must be submitted to the individual(s) identified above. The Government is not committed nor obligated to pay for the information provided, and no Basis for Claims against the Government shall arise as a result of a response to this Sources Sought Notice.
