Sources Sought: Physicist Services to be provided at the Woodrow Wilson Keeble Memorial Health Care Center (WWKMHCC), Sisseton, SD.

Sources Sought Notice Number: IHS-SS-25-1502775

This Sources Sought Notice is for informational and planning purposes only and shall not be construed as a solicitation, an obligation or commitment by the Indian Health Service.

This notice is intended strictly for market research to determine the availability of Indian Small Businesses Economic Enterprise (ISBEE), Indian Economic Enterprises (IEE), or Other Small Businesses.

Your responses to the information requested will assist the Government in determining the appropriate acquisition method, including whether a set-aside is possible. The anticipated applicable NAICS code for this acquisition is 621111 – Office of Physicians.

1.0 BACKGROUND

The IHS is an agency within the Department of Health & Human Services and is responsible for providing federal health services to American Indians and Alaska Natives. The Indian Health Service provides a comprehensive health service delivery system for approximately 1.9 million American Indians and Alaska Natives who belong to 567 federally recognized tribes, in 35 states. The Indian Health Service Headquarters is located in Rockville, MD and then divided into twelve (12) physical areas:  Alaska, Albuquerque, Bemidji, Billings, California, Great Plains, Nashville, Navajo, Oklahoma, Phoenix, Portland, and Tucson.

The Great Plains Area Office (GPAO) works in conjunction with 19 Indian Health Service Units and Tribal Managed Service Units to provide health care to approximately 130,000 Native American located in North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Iowa.

WWKMHCC falls under the GPAO and provides medical care to approximately 7,000 tribal members living on the Lake Traverse Reservation. Serving a rural area, many of our patients travel 100 miles round trip to receive care. The Service Unit was built in 2007 to provide an expanded level of outpatient health care services specifically designed to meet the needs of our population. Services include:  Behavioral Health, Community Health, Dental, Laboratory, Nutrition Services, Optometry, Pharmacy, Physical Therapy, Public Health Nursing, Purchased & Referred Care Services, and Radiology.

2.0 OBJECTIVE

The primary objective of this project to provide medical physicist surveys to address radiation safety in the radiology and dental departments at WWKMHCC. The Contract Medical Physicist shall perform medical physicist surveys compatible with the IHS medical facility’s operating capacity and equipment, on the Lake Traverse Reservation

3.0 SCOPE

DESCRIPTION OF SERVICES

Services will be provided as detailed in the attached Statement of Work.

The contract resulting from this solicitation shall:

1. Be a non-personal health care services contract under which the Contractor is an independent contractor.
2. Allow the Government to evaluate the quality of professional and administrative services provided, but retains no control over the medical, professional aspects of the services rendered (e.g., professional judgments, diagnosis for specific medical treatment).
3. Require the Contractor to indemnify the Government for any liability producing act or omission by the Contractor, its employees and agents occurring during contract performance.
4. Require the Contractor to maintain medical liability insurance, in the coverage amount acceptable to the Contracting Officer, which is not less than the amount normally prevailing within the local community for the medical specialty concerned. 
5. Require the Contractor to assume sole and exclusive responsibility for employee federal taxes, social security, unemployment insurance, and workman’s compensation.
6. Require the Contractor to provide daily compensation and travel reimbursements to each Contract Optometrist as appropriate.

CONFLICT OF INTEREST.  The Contractor shall not employ any person who is an employee of the United States Government if the employment of that person would create a conflict of interest. The Contractor shall not employ any person who is an employee of Health and Human Services (HHS) unless such a person seeks and receives approval in accordance with the Department of HHS. 

4.0 CONTRACT REQUIREMENTS/ AND PERSONNEL QUALIFICATIONS

TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS

The Contractor shall possess the following:

1. Services shall be performed by a certified qualified medical physicist meeting the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) definition. AAPM defines a qualified medical physi