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R -- PROFESSIONAL SERVICES CONCERNING HEALTH DEVICES AND TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT POC Daniel J. Hartinger, (301)496-6546 The National Library of Medicine (NLM) intends to negotiate with ECRI, a non-profit organization located at 5200 Butler Pike, Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania, 19462, on a sole-source basis for a fixed-price, (indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity), type contract for a Base Year with options for two additional years, for the following services: 1) Machine-readable records relating to healthcare laws, regulations, economics, insurance, and recommended healthcare practices, guidelines, and standards collected, abstracted and indexed by ECRI; and 2) Expert review of the results of automated mapping between ECRI's proprietary Universal Medical Device Nomenclature System and NLM's own Unified Medical Language System. ECRI has created the proprietary nomenclature and produces and maintains databases and publications in the health devices, the health technology assessment, and healthcare standards areas, resulting in their unique knowledge and capabilities in those subject areas. ECRI is publisher of the Healthcare Standards Directory, the most comprehensive directory of published standards, guidelines, and recommendations for both clinical and administrative aspects of the delivery of healthcare, and is also a World Health Organization Collaborating Center for Information Transfer on Medical Devices and Technologies. NLM has determined that ECRI is the only vendor capable of providing the necessary services. This notice of intent is not a Request For Proposals (RFP), nor is an RFP available. Based on authority cited in 41 U.S.C. 253(c)(1) (FAR 6.302-1(a)(2)), award to ECRI for this contract without full and open competition is planned. (See numbered Notes 22 and 26.) ***** Posted 10/13/98 (W-SN261532). (0286)

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