Program Planning Annual Acquisition

Refer to: OAM/DCGP

1. PURPOSE.  An annual acquisition plan is being implemented to assist in the coordination of Indian Health Service (IHS) program managers contractual requirements between program offices and the acquisition office.  It is the intent that this plan will be used for early identification of program requirements expected to result in contract awards.  This early notification should assist the acquisition office to provide timely contracting support and program offices with the status of information as well as offer management an additional tool for planning and control.

2. BACKGROUND.  The Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) at Part 7.1 and the Health and Human Services Acquisition Regulation (HHSAR) at Part 307.1 require that advanced procurement planning be accomplished both on an individual and an annual basis.

   Failure to plan acquisitions and failure to schedule the overall acquisition workload of an Agency tends to result in an inordinate percentage of contract awards being made in the closing weeks and even days of the fiscal year.  The key to preventing year end spending is to begin advance acquisition planning as early as possible.  The annual procurement plan is being implemented to avoid year end spending and to help IHS meet the Departmental requirements for procurement planning, to balance resource expenditures, and assist programs in planning their contractual requirements.

3. PROCEDURES.  The plan shall be initiated and maintained by the Senior Contracting Officer of each Area contracting office, the Public Health Service (PHS) Supply Service Center, and the Office of Engineering Services, Regions II, VI, and X (hereinafter known as "contracting office").  No later than the first month of each fiscal year, the Senior Contracting Officer shall request each program, which is supported by that contracting office, to identify all requirements that are expected to result in a formal contract award (generally greater than $25,000).  Information supplied shall, as a minimum, identify the projected requirement by title, total estimated costs to be obligated, date the request for contract (RFC) is anticipated and the desired award date.  The plan shall include all new contract requirements, including Public Law 93-638 program awards (unless changed), and contract modifications over $25,000.

   The Senior Contracting Officer shall allow 30 days for program responses (see Circular Exhibit 92-17-A) and upon receipt, consolidate the projected requirements into one package.  Once consolidated, the report shall be maintained in the Senior Contracting Officer's location, distributed internally within that office, as deemed appropriate, and forwarded to the Area Executive Officer for information.

   As new, unplanned RFC's are received during the course of the year, the Senior Contracting Officer shall update the annual acquisition plan accordingly.

   On a quarterly basis, the plan shall be redistributed to the programs for their review.  The program office should note on the plan a brief update on the status of the requirement and return the plan to the contracting office.  Any significant changes and/or additions shall be noted by the Senior Contracting Officer.  The final update should occur at the beginning of the fourth quarter.  One of the uses could be to initiate dialogue between the program and contracting offices.  Upon receipt, the Senior Contracting Officer shall review the plan to identify new requirements, ascertain the realism of award dates, identify and resolve potential problems and make internal assignments for a contract specialist.  It is an excellent tool for directing contract specialists to make contact with their program counterparts and to initiate the contract planning documents for contracts exceeding $25,000, as required by IHS policy.

   The annual plan shall further be used to comply with the Phase II planning requirements specified in HHSAR 307.71.  The Senior Contracting Officer will use the information contained in this annual plan to formulate the data for the acquisition planning report.  Summaries of the annual plans shall be submitted quarterly to the Division of Contracts and Grants Policy, IHS, by the contracting office.  The annual plan shall also be used by the Fiscal Officer, the Contracting Office, and IHS Management to control end of year spending to assure compliance with the limitation placed on IHS for fourth quarter obligations.

   Senior Contracting Officers shall meet with appropriate Senior Managers early in the fiscal year, and no later than January 31, to review the plans and establish agreements on the contents of the plan.  The budget allocation process is an important component for program development of RFC's and therefore budgets must be released as early as possible.  Form and format of the annual acquisition plan as specified in Circular Exhibit 92-17-A, will be utilized as a minimum and the option to expand upon this format is left to the discretion of the Senior Contracting Officer.  The plan may be expanded by the contract operation to include the identification of the assignment of contract specialists, the actual receipt date of the request for contract, actual award date or any other information deemed meaningful by either the contracting office or the program offices.  The plan should be designed to provide for flexible adaptations within each contracting office.  It is the intent of this plan to provide a tool for all participants to share meaningful and timely information.  A flow chart of how the plan is to be implemented, distributed, and maintained can be found at Circular Exhibit 92-17-B.

4. EFFECTIVE DATE.  This policy becomes effective upon date of signature and will remain in effect until canceled.

Circular Exhibit 92-17-A

This is not an exact replica of the Annual Acquisition Plan
This is just a sample of information contained in the Exhibit.  For an exact replica of this Exhibit please contact the Division of Acquisitions Policy