Single Source Procurement: STD-Lab Testing Services

The NYS Department of Health Office of Public Health/AIDS Institute has received a six month contract extension for Contract C022043 with the Center for Disease Detection (CDD) for the period of 1/1/15 through 6/30/15. The contract provides critical STD laboratory testing services for Chlamydia trachomatis, Neisseria gonorrhoeae and Treponema pallidum infections of at-risk persons screened in public health and community settings. The majority of individuals with sexually transmitted infection do not have symptoms and thus, will not be prompted to seek health care. Screening is essential to identifying these asymptomatic infections. The Department of Health's screening services are integral to efforts to monitor prevalence, interrupt the spread of disease, and prevent the complications of undetected infection. The current contract provides essential lab testing services for over 37,000 high risk women and their sexual partners in New York State annually.

These services will continue to provide critical STD screening for at-risk individuals and will reduce the incidence of adverse consequences such as infertility, pelvic inflammatory disease and ectopic pregnancy. Research shows that scaling back on laboratory testing and STD control efforts leads to a dramatic increase in morbidity. Without approval of the additional 6 -month extension, there would be a gap in critical testing services for vulnerable populations served in the following settings: local health department STD clinics, family planning clinics, adolescent, college, and community health centers, as well as juvenile detention centers.

The current provider was initially selected via the competitive RPF process. Monitoring of services provided has shown CDD to be effective and innovative in the implementation of their testing program. CDD has established an electronic requisitioning system. Each of the testing sites has been set-up with the software needed to access results from this central system. The centralized electronic system has resulted in real-time reporting of test results and increased the efficiency and effectiveness of the laboratory services. To utilize another contractor during this extension period would not be practical and to avoid a gap in testing services it is imperative that the contract with CDD be extended.

The RFP process being used to determine the contractor that will provide the required services at the end of the extension period is currently being completed.

Procurement / Program Name STD-Lab Testing Services
Contractor Name(s) Center for Disease Detection
Contract Period 1/1/15 - 6/31/15
Contract Number(s) C022043