Notice of Intent to Sole Source for HIG SST Exam Master Physician Assistant National Certifying Exam (PANCE) and Physician Assistant National Recertifying Exam (PANRE) Practice Exam Subscription Interface Service 1.0 Introduction: The Physician Assistant National Certifying Exam (PANCE) and Physician Assistant National Recertifying Exam (PANRE) are certification examinations taken by physician assistants (PAs) in the United States. The examinations are administered by the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA). The examinations (tests) are computer-based and consist of practical medical and surgical questions. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Veterans Health Administration (VHA) requires an existing, commercial, off-the-shelf, web-based, board review/certification PA practice exam subscription interface service that will be made available to 225 individual accounts/users throughout the VHA healthcare system. VHA s goal is to ensure the uniform availability of a high quality, clinical board review/certification PA practice exam subscription interface service to 225 individual users across the VHA healthcare system to improve clinical decision making. 2.0 Scope of Work: The contractor shall provide immediate account access to 225 individual users from any web-enabled computer to a subscription interface service to Exam Master (Brand Name or Equivalent) physician assistants (PAs) practice examinations for the PANCE/PANRE, which shall include at least 17,000 medical/clinical questions and answers, along with multimedia content and explanations. The contractor shall ensure the requirements indicated in paragraphs 4 8 below are met. 3.0 Performance Period: One (1) year from date of award, plus four (4), one (1) year options, to be exercised at the discretion of the Government. Base Year: 10/30/2020-10/29/2021. Option Year 1 of 4: 10/30/2021-10/29/2022. Option Year 2 of 4: 10/30/2022-10/29/2023. Option Year 3 of 4: 10/30/2023-10/29/2024. Option Year 4 of 4: 10/30/2024-10/29/2025. 4.0 Information Scope: The contractor shall ensure the resource includes: a. Knowledge-based information covering review materials for board certifications. b. Information that reflects current practice issues and supports clinical decision making. c. Comprehensive information in a single product available for stand-alone purchase or license, independent of complementary or companion products offered by the contractor. 5.0 Information Quality: The contractor shall ensure: a. Information is accurate, authoritative, and relevant. b. Authors and sources are well recognized subject experts in their fields. c. Best practice, evidence-based information, or treatment practice guideline information is included. d. Policies for determining validity and standards for inclusion of material are well described. 6.0 Usability: The contractor shall ensure: a. Navigation within the system is logical and is easy to use. b. The product has user friendly help and direction aids. 7.0 Currency: The contractor shall ensure questions and materials are updated regularly. 8.0 Access, Content, Support: The contractor shall ensure: a. Product shall be 508 compliant. (http://www.section508.gov/) b. If product is not 508 compliant, the contractor shall describe measures being taken to bring product into compliance and date, within 12 months of contract award, that product will be 508 compliant. OR c. If product is not 508 compliant, the contractor shall describe why no work is being done to make it 508 compliant. d. Access shall be granted through IP address validation on an enterprise basis, eliminating the need for users to enter identification, username and/or password. e. An unrestricted number of the 225 users shall have immediate, simultaneous access from any web-enabled computer throughout VHA. All authorized remote users (with VPN, dial-up, wireless access) shall have access to the product through any VA networked computer. A username and/or password option shall be offered for remote users if needed. f. The product is compatible with most web browsers, which have cookies enabled. To ensure privacy, the product shall use session cookies rather than persistent cookies. g. The product is compatible with the Windows environment. h. All site content and support of the web site is the responsibility of the contractor. This shall include tech support to VHA users nationwide. i. System downtime shall be minimal and VA project manager is notified when such occurs. j. Information is be easily printed. k. The product s licensing agreement shall permit free use for educational purposes of all pictures and graphics. l. A single point of contact for customer service issues is assigned to VA. m. Questions are responded to within two (2) business days. n. Usage statistics are available to the system administrator on an enterprise and IP level. o. The product is accessible via a variety of Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) platforms. p. Graphics, pictures, and/or images that are searchable shall be highly desirable. q. Information or text can be emailed among VHA colleagues. Submittal Information: As stated above, this is an Intent to Sole Source. However, any responsible source who believes it is capable of meeting the requirement may submit a capability statement, proposal, or quotation, which shall be considered by the agency, only if received by the closing date and time of this notice. A determination not to compete the proposed requirement based upon the responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the government. Responses to this notice are due on or before October 22, 2020 at 3:00 PM EST to Erich Hoffman via email at
[email protected]. All responses must include the following information: Company name, Cage code, CCR number, Dun & Bradstreet number, Company address, Point of contact name, Phone number, Fax number, GSA contract (if applicable) and email. The subject line for correspondence should clearly display: HIG SST Exam Master Practice Exams