The Defense Health Agency has started to conduct market research before it moves to finalize a 10-year, $20 billion indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract by March 2016, Federal News Radio reported Friday.
Jared Serbu writes DHA officials plan to reorganize the Defense Department‘s healthcare activities through a strategic sourcing approach.
Col. Scott Svabek, DHA’s acting procurement director, told industry at an IT Day event in Northern Virginia that the new contract will focus on subcontract awards to smaller and disadvantaged companies, according to the station.
DHA intends to select vendors for the new vehicle by first proposing prices and other terms to companies and then launching a competitive source selection later, the report says.
Svabek said DHAÂ will bypass the second stage if the agency picks enough number of firms during the first round to initiate the task order phase, Â Serbu reports.
“It’s a cool concept, because I’m not spending nine months doing a formal source selection when I’ve already got companies who have great past performance in the federal space, ” he told the industry audience.
Svabek also said he expects more than 300 companies to work with the DHA in formulating terms and conditions for the vehicle, Â Federal News Radio reports.
Serbu writes the new contract is a follow-on to the SIDDOMS information technology support vehicle set to expire at the end of 2015.
