NOTICE OF INTENT TO SOLE SOURCE The Department of Veterans Affairs intends to issue sole-source firm-fixed priced award contract, to Alvarez LLC, 8251 Greensboro Drive Suite#230, Tysons Corner, VA 22102. A sole source procurement will be issued to Alvarez, LLC because they are the only vendor capable of fully performing the service. Alvarez, LLC is the sole distributor of Nuance proprietary software Clintegrity 360 and does not offer or authorize the software to a third-party vendor outside of Alvarez, LLC, this requirement is for the annual license and support services for existing software at the Augusta VA Medical Center. This procurement is being conducted in accordance with FAR Part 6.302-1 Only One Responsible Source and No Other Supplies or Services Will Satisfy Agency Requirements. The NAICS code is 541519 Information Technology Software and has a size standard of 150^18 employees for this procurement. This notice of intent is not a request for competitive quotes. However, interested parties may identify their interest and capability to respond to the requirement and submit quotations no later than 9:30 AM EST, June 05, 2020 to:
[email protected]. Responses received will be evaluated; however, a determination by the Government not to compete the proposed procurement based upon responses received to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. Disclaimer and Important Notes: This notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay for the information provided in response. The Government reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate. Any organization responding to this notice should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed to allow the Government to determine the organization's qualifications to perform the work. Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted. After a review of the responses received, a pre-solicitation synopsis and solicitation (or combined synopsis) may be published in Federal Business Opportunities. However, responses to this notice will not be considered adequate responses to a solicitation. Determination by the Government not to compete the proposed procurement based upon responses received to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. All interested companies shall provide quotation(s) for the following: CLIN(S) DESCRIPTION QTY MEASURE UNIT $ TOTAL $ 0001 Clintegrity 360, CDI Pro Professional Services 1 YR 1001 Clintegrity 360, CDI Pro Professional Services 1 YR 2001 Clintegrity 360, CDI Pro Professional Services 1 YR 3001 Clintegrity 360, CDI Pro Professional Services 1 YR 4001 Clintegrity 360, CDI Pro Professional Services 1 YR Total Contract Pricing $ Statement of Work Statement of VA CDI-Pro Services for Charlie Norwood VA Medical Center, Augusta, GA INTRODUCTION/BACKGROUND: The Nuance Veterans Affair (VA) Clinical Documentation Improvement Program (CDI Pro) Software will allow for better and broader use of existing Nuance system within Charlie Norwood VA Medical Center (CNVAMC). CDI Pro supports VERA methodology. Activation of this feature on the Nuance Clintegrity 360 will provide for assessment of current processes, including identification of gaps within the processes and opportunities for improvement. CDI Pro consultants will also analyze CDI metrics and provide on-site expert training. CDI Pro promotes a clinical and holistic approach to documentation that starts with physician education delivered face to face by Nuance consultant physicians and ends with a complete story of the patient s medical history. The use of CDI Pro software results in an immediate opportunity for the hospital to engage in real time, front end improvement of documentation, providing for an accurate patient profile that results in appropriate severity, complexity, risk of morbidity and mortality, and reimbursement for the medical center. The Nuance VA CDI Pro Software will allow for a compliant documentation management program, in order to improve clinical documentation throughout the facility. A real time clinical approach will be deployed in order to capture the complexity, severity, quality, and present on admission indicators. When the patient is discharged, the medical record will tell the complete clinical story of care. CDI pro software will easily bridge the gap between Clinical Documentation Specialist (CDS) professionals and coding staff. Obtaining this software will ultimately allow CDI specialists to spend more time performing face to face physician education, engaging in real time feedback, and being a vital part of improving the healthcare record, quality of care, performance measures, and facility reimbursement. OBJECTIVE: The Contractor shall coordinate with CNVAMC CDI Department to complete activation, implementation, and post-implementation procedures as outlined in the requirements section below. Nuance VA CDI Pro is an additional licensing agreement to the Nuance Clintegrity 360 software that CNVAMC is currently using. Once activation and implementation is completed, CDI staff should be able to utilize the CDI Pro tab in the existing Clintegrity 360 system. The CDI staff is expected to use VA CDI Pro daily, as a patient record auditing tool, tracking system, and to run various reports, including potential VERA impact, case mix index CMI, DRG weights, etc. It is the expectation that Nuance staff will coordinate with VA staff throughout installation and implementation. Nuance shall be available by phone for questions. Nuance shall provide Nuance IT support and also complete the post-implementation phase after the product has been in use by VA staff for approximately 6 months. PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE The period of performance shall be two weeks after award for 12 months with four (4) 12-month option periods to be exercised at the Government s discretion From the date of the award of this order, installation, pre-implementation, and the 6 week implementation phase will be developed during the kickoff meeting. PLACE OF PERFORMANCE: Downtown address: 800 Baillie Dr., Augusta, GA 30901. Uptown address: 1 Freedom Way, Augusta, GA 30904 (whichever applies). DAYS AND HOURS OF OPERATION: Monday Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. excluding federal holidays REQUIREMENTS: Nuance VA CDI Pro representatives shall be available by phone after the implementation phase and shall provide post-implementation services approximately 6 months after implementation and training is completed. Nuance Technical Support shall be available to the end users throughout the life of this contract. In order for the Contractor to accomplish the work under this task order/purchase order, it shall be necessary for the Contractor to complete the following tasks for the base year as listed below (tasks for subsequent option years, if exercised, should be followed as stated on the quote from the vendor):  BASE YEAR REQUIREMENTS  QTY QVA-CDI-MD-SVC Clintegrity 360 | VA CDI Pro, Term, Annual IP Admissions Lic. (2,001K-10k). Facility Annual License - 1 VACDI-AIMPL-PRO VA CDI Pro Implementation Professional Services VA CDI Pro Implementation Package, must include project management, 2 training sessions, 1 remote week of support, Peer to Peer physician education, post implementation on-site training  1 VACDI-PIMPL-PRO VA CDI Pro Post Implementation Professional Services 1 QVERA-MDIP-TRM-SVC002 Clintegrity 360 | VERA Analyzer Automated, VERA analysis tool for Clintegrity 360 Suite Inpatient Medium (100-299 beds) Facility Annual License, 3-5 Licenses. Annual Service 1 QCONSU-CON1 Consulting Fee, daily rate, 1 consultant 2 QIMP-TRN1 Implementation and Training Fee, daily rate, 1 On-site three-day training with one EPS Trainer with 3+ years of EPS Training on site classroom experience and experience in development/testing of EPS standard VA processes as part of EPS national training team.  3 TRAVEL-Z Estimated, NTE Travel Two 3 or 4-days consulting weeks (Implementation) + 3 days Post Implementation week, one 2-day week for physician on site days, 3 day EPS Training 1 The Government and the Contractor understand and agree that the services to be delivered under this contract by the Contractor to the Government are non-personal services and the parties recognize and agree that no employer-employee or master-servant relationships exist or will exist under the contract between the Government and the Contractor s employees. TRAINING: Training shall be done at Charlie Norwood VA Medical Center, Augusta GA MEETINGS AND REVIEWS: After implementation assessment, The Contractor shall have a meeting with executive leadership and provide a report of their findings. VA CDI Team will work with the Office of the Chief of Staff to coordinate all training times, including didactic, virtual, and on-site training. 6. TRAVEL REQUIREMENTS: Government employees will not be traveling. The Contractor s Consultants and Physician will be traveling to the VA site. The cost of their travel has been included in the approved quote for VA CDI Pro and VERA Analyzer. 7. CONTRACTING OFFICER'S REPRESENTATIVE (COR): b. No Government personnel, other than the Contracting Officer, or designated subject matter expert (SME) has the authority to change or alter these requirements. The COR shall clarify technical points or supply relevant technical information, but no requirements in this scope of work may be altered as a sole result of such verbal clarification. 8. REPORTS/DELIVERABLES: a. The Contractor IT will coordinate with Region 3 COTS for installation of VA CDI Pro and VERA Analyzer. Nuance VA CDI Pro representatives, CDI consultants, and Nuance Physician will complete the 6-week implementation phase as outlined in the attached sample calendar. VA CDI Pro representatives, consultants, and Physician, will be available on site or by phone at specified times as coordinated, outlined, and approved by the CDI Team in collaboration with the Office of the Chief of Staff. b. Nuance CDI consultants will perform monthly CDI case reviews, assess weaknesses in the current system and suggest improvements phase. The Contractor shall perform 10 case reviews per license to ensure the quality of queries. They will report their findings during to the executive leadership and will also provide a written summary report. VA CDI Pro representatives shall be available by phone throughout the implementation phase, after the didactic and on-site training is complete, and will conduct monthly audits. Reports generated will be presented to the CNVAMC Executive Pentad. c. Monthly progress reports will be offered to Manager of the CDI program, Deputy Chief of Staff, or Executive Pentad by the SME as requested. 10. CONTRACTOR QUALIFICATIONS: This is a Sole Source purchase because the VHA has an existing contract with Nuance that has been recently renewed and CN VAMC is already using Nuance s Clintegrity 360 program, to which this is an additional license. Please see attached J&A for further information on this Sole Source purchase. 11. SECURITY/NATIONAL AGENCY CHECK REQUIREMENTS: Nuance has an existing BAA which has been provided to the SME by the local privacy officer and has been attached. VA form 6500.6 has also been completed and attached. Contractors, Contractor personnel, Sub-Contractors, and Sub-Contractor personnel shall be subject to the same Federal laws, regulations, standards, and VA Directives and Handbooks as VA and VA personnel regarding information and information system security. VA INFORMATION AND INFORMATION SYSTEM SECURITY/PRIVACY LANGUAGE FOR INCLUSION INTO CONTRACTS, AS APPROPRIATE 1. GENERAL Contractors, contractor personnel, subcontractors, and subcontractor personnel shall be subject to the same Federal laws, regulations, standards, and VA Directives and Handbooks as VA and VA personnel regarding information and information system security. 2. ACCESS TO VA INFORMATION AND VA INFORMATION SYSTEMS A contractor/subcontractor shall request logical (technical) or physical access to VA information and VA information systems for their employees, subcontractors, and affiliates only to the extent necessary to perform the services specified in the contract, agreement, or task order. All contractors, subcontractors, and third-party servicers and associates working with VA information are subject to the same investigative requirements as those of VA appointees or employees who have access to the same types of information. The level and process of background security investigations for contractors must be in accordance with VA Directive and Handbook 0710, Personnel Suitability and Security Program. The Office for Operations, Security, and Preparedness is responsible for these policies and procedures. Contract personnel who require access to national security programs must have a valid security clearance. National Industrial Security Program (NISP) was established by Executive Order 12829 to ensure that cleared U.S. defense industry contract personnel safeguard the classified information in their possession while performing work on contracts, programs, bids, or research and development efforts. The Department of Veterans Affairs does not have a Memorandum of Agreement with Defense Security Service (DSS). Verification of a Security Clearance must be processed through the Special Security Officer located in the Planning and National Security Service within the Office of Operations, Security, and Preparedness. Custom software development and outsourced operations must be located in the U.S. to the maximum extent practical. If such services are proposed to be performed abroad and are not disallowed by other VA policy or mandates, the contractor/subcontractor must state where all non-U.S. services are provided and detail a security plan, deemed to be acceptable by VA, specifically to address mitigation of the resulting problems of communication, control, data protection, and so forth. Location within the U.S. may be an evaluation factor. The contractor or subcontractor must notify the Contracting Officer immediately when an employee working on a VA system or with access to VA information is reassigned or leaves the contractor or subcontractor s employ. The Contracting Officer must also be notified immediately by the contractor or subcontractor prior to an unfriendly termination. 3. VA INFORMATION CUSTODIAL LANGUAGE Information made available to the contractor or subcontractor by VA for the performance or administration of this contract or information developed by the contractor/subcontractor in performance or administration of the contract shall be used only for those purposes and shall not be used in any other way without the prior written agreement of the VA. This clause expressly limits the contractor/subcontractor's rights to use data as described in Rights in Data General, FAR 52.227-14(d) (1). VA information should not be co-mingled, if possible, with any other data on the contractors/subcontractor s information systems or media storage systems in order to ensure VA requirements related to data protection and media sanitization can be met. If co-mingling must be allowed to meet the requirements of the business need, the contractor must ensure that VA s information is returned to the VA or destroyed in accordance with VA s sanitization requirements. VA reserves the right to conduct on site inspections of contractor and subcontractor IT resources to ensure data security controls, separation of data and job duties, and destruction/media sanitization procedures are in compliance with VA directive requirements. Prior to termination or completion of this contract, contractor/subcontractor must not destroy information received from VA, or gathered/created by the contractor in the course of performing this contract without prior written approval by the VA. Any data destruction done on behalf of VA by a contractor/subcontractor must be done in accordance with National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) requirements as outlined in VA Directive 6300, Records and Information Management and its Handbook 6300.1 Records Management Procedures, applicable VA Records Control Schedules, and VA Handbook 6500.1, Electronic Media Sanitization. Self-certification by the contractor that the data destruction requirements above have been met must be sent to the VA Contracting Officer within 30 days of termination of the contract. The contractor/subcontractor must receive, gather, store, back up, maintain, use, disclose and dispose of VA information only in compliance with the terms of the contract and applicable Federal and VA information confidentiality and security laws, regulations and policies. If Federal or VA information confidentiality and security laws, regulations and policies become applicable to the VA information or information systems after execution of the contract, or if NIST issues or updates applicable FIPS or Special Publications (SP) after execution of this contract, the parties agree to negotiate in good faith to implement the information confidentiality and security laws, regulations and policies in this contract. The contractor/subcontractor shall not make copies of VA information except as authorized and necessary to perform the terms of the agreement or to preserve electronic information stored on contractor/subcontractor electronic storage media for restoration in case any electronic equipment or data used by the contractor/subcontractor needs to be restored to an operating state. If copies are made for restoration purposes, after the restoration is complete, the copies must be appropriately destroyed. If VA determines that the contractor has violated any of the information confidentiality, privacy, and security provisions of the contract, it shall be sufficient grounds for VA to withhold payment to the contractor or third party or terminate the contract for default or terminate for cause under Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) part 12. If a VHA contract is terminated for cause, the associated BAA must also be terminated and appropriate actions taken in accordance with VHA Handbook 1600.01, Business Associate Agreements. Absent an agreement to use or disclose protected health information, there is no business associate relationship. The contractor/subcontractor must store, transport, or transmit VA sensitive information in an encrypted form, using VA-approved encryption tools that are, at a minimum, FIPS 140-2 validated. The contractor/subcontractor s firewall and Web services security controls, if applicable, shall meet or exceed VA s minimum requirements. VA Configuration Guidelines are available upon request. Except for uses and disclosures of VA information authorized by this contract for performance of the contract, the contractor/subcontractor may use and disclose VA information only in two other situations: (i) in response to a qualifying order of a court of competent jurisdiction, or (ii) with VA s prior written approval. The contractor/subcontractor must refer all requests for, demands for production of, or inquiries about, VA information and information systems to the VA contracting officer for response. Notwithstanding the provision above, the contractor/subcontractor shall not release VA records protected by Title 38 U.S.C. 5705, confidentiality of medical quality assurance records and/or Title 38 U.S.C. 7332, confidentiality of certain health records pertaining to drug addiction, sickle cell anemia, alcoholism or alcohol abuse, or infection with human immunodeficiency virus. If the contractor/subcontractor is in receipt of a court order or other requests for the above mentioned information, that contractor/subcontractor shall immediately refer such court orders or other requests to the VA contracting officer for response. For service that involves the storage, generating, transmitting, or exchanging of VA sensitive information but does not require C&A or an MOU-ISA for system interconnection, the contractor/subcontractor must complete a Contractor Security Control Assessment (CSCA) on a yearly basis and provide it to the COTR. 4. INFORMATION SYSTEM DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT a. Information systems that are designed or developed for or on behalf of VA at non-VA facilities shall comply with all VA directives developed in accordance with FISMA, HIPAA, NIST, and related VA security and privacy control requirements for Federal information systems. This includes standards for the protection of electronic PHI, outlined in 45 C.F.R. Part 164, Subpart C, information and system security categorization level designations in accordance with FIPS 199 and FIPS 200 with implementation of all baseline security controls commensurate with the FIPS 199 system security categorization (reference Appendix D of VA Handbook 6500, VA Information Security Program). During the development cycle a Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) must be completed, provided to the COTR, and approved by the VA Privacy Service in accordance with Directive 6507, VA Privacy Impact Assessment. b. The contractor/subcontractor shall certify to the COR that applications are fully functional and operate correctly as intended on systems using the VA Federal Desktop Core Configuration (FDCC), and the common security configuration guidelines provided by NIST or the VA. This includes Internet Explorer 7 configured to operate on Windows XP and Vista (in Protected Mode on Vista) and future versions, as required. c. The standard installation, operation, maintenance, updating, and patching of software shall not alter the configuration settings from the VA approved and FDCC configuration. Information technology staff must also use the Windows Installer Service for installation to the default program files directory and silently install and uninstall. d. Applications designed for normal end users shall run in the standard user context without elevated system administration privileges. e. The security controls must be designed, developed, approved by VA, and implemented in accordance with the provisions of VA security system development life cycle as outlined in NIST Special Publication 800-37, Guide for Applying the Risk Management Framework to Federal Information Systems, VA Handbook 6500, Information Security Program and VA Handbook 6500.5, Incorporating Security and Privacy in System Development Lifecycle. f. The contractor/subcontractor is required to design, develop, or operate a System of Records Notice (SOR) on individuals to accomplish an agency function subject to the Privacy Act of 1974, (as amended), Public Law 93-579, December 31, 1974 (5 U.S.C. 552a) and applicable agency regulations. Violation of the Privacy Act may involve the imposition of criminal and civil penalties. g. The contractor/subcontractor agrees to: (1) Comply with the Privacy Act of 1974 (the Act) and the agency rules and regulations issued under the Act in the design, development, or operation of any system of records on individuals to accomplish an agency function when the contract specifically identifies: The Systems of Records (SOR); and The design, development, or operation work that the contractor/subcontractor is to perform; (2) Include the Privacy Act notification contained in this contract in every solicitation and resulting subcontract and in every subcontract awarded without a solicitation, when the work statement in the proposed subcontract requires the redesign, development, or operation of a SOR on individuals that is subject to the Privacy Act NOTE: The C&A (Certification and Accreditation) requirements do not apply, and a Security Accreditation Package is not required. 12. INVOICES: Payment will be made upon receipt of a properly prepared, itemized invoice, validated by the COTR, and submitted electronically.        (1) A properly prepared invoice will contain: Invoice Number and Date Contractor s Name and Address Accurate Purchase Order Number Dates service performed Total amount due 52.217-8 OPTION TO EXTEND SERVICES (NOV 1999) The Government may require continued performance of any services within the limits and at the rates specified in the contract. These rates may be adjusted only as a result of revisions to prevailing labor rates provided by the Secretary of Labor. The option provision may be exercised more than once, but the total extension of performance hereunder shall not exceed 6 months. The Contracting Officer may exercise the option by written notice to the Contractor within 30 days. (End of Clause) 52.217-9 OPTION TO EXTEND THE TERM OF THE CONTRACT (MAR 2000) The Government may extend the term of this contract by written notice to the Contractor within 30 days; provided that the Government gives the Contractor a preliminary written notice of its intent to extend at least 60 days before the contract expires. The preliminary notice does not commit the Government to an extension. If the Government exercises this option, the extended contract shall be considered to include this option clause. The total duration of this contract, including the exercise of any options under this clause, shall not exceed 36 Months. (End of Clause)