LSJ IAW FAR 8.405-6 ***REDACTED*** Vocera System NOTICE OF INTENT TO SOLE SOURCE: The Department of Veterans Affairs Network Contracting Office 4, 1700 South Lincoln Avenue, Lebanon, PA 17042, intends to award a sole source Firm-Fixed-Price Contract to Government Marketing & Procurement for the provision of facility tracking system and support at the Wilmington VA Medical Center (VAMC), located at 1601 Kirkwood Hwy., Wilmington, DE 19805. This contract action is for services for which the Government intends to solicit from only one source under the authority of FAR 8.405-6, Limited Source Awards. Interested parties may identify their interest and capability to respond to the requirement or submit proposals. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) for this requirement is 511210 with a small business size standard of $38.5 million. THIS NOTICE OF INTENT IS NOT A REQUEST FOR COMPETITIVE QUOTATIONS. Responsible sources may identify their interest by submitting capability information by 12:00 P.M., EST, on Thursday, September 20, 2019, in order to establish the ability of the source to meet this requirement. A determination by the Government not to compete this proposed contract based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. Information received will normally be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement. The Government will not be responsible for any costs associated with the preparation of responses to this notification. All inquiries and submittals must be sent via email to Daniel Johnson, Contract Specialist, at
[email protected]. Telephone inquiries will not be accepted. LIMITED SOURCES JUSTIFICATION ORDER >SAT FAR PART 8.405-6 Acquisition Plan Action ID: ***REDACTED*** Contracting Activity: Department of Veterans Affairs, VISN 4, Lebanon VA Medical Center. Requestor: Wilmington VA Medical Center. 2237: ***REDACTED***. Description of Action: This acquisition is conducted under the authority of the Multiple-Award Schedule Program (41 U.S.C. 251 and 40 U.S.C. 501). New requirement. DO-TO order against a GSA Schedule. Order against: FSS Contract Number: _GS-35F-0858N_ Name of Proposed Contractor: Government Marketing & Procurement, LLC. Street Address: 13350 Ranch Road, 12 City, State, Zip: Wimberly, TX 78676 Phone: 979-716-0811 Description of Supplies or Services: The total estimated contract value of this requirement is ***REDACTED***. This requirement is for the purchase of a deployment of an enterprise Event-Driven Care Team Communication Workflow Vocera System. This event-driven communication workflow is a primary requirement for all medical centers due to research showing improved care-team communication (i.e. voice, secure messaging, and health alerting). This solution leads to a reduction in sentinel events and near misses; and to an increase in patient satisfaction scores, staff efficiency, and accountability. The key communication modalities addressed for potential system inefficiencies addressed include: Nurse Call, Patient-to-Nurse, Inter-Departmental and Physician-to-Caregiver Communication, Physiologic Alarm Response, Critical Alerts and BMS Workflows, Secure Device Messaging, and Bed Staff Assignments. This solution includes the ability to initiate a call to a panic group directly from a hands-free badge device with the touch of a button ensuring safety of Responders, Social Service Assistants, etc. Additionally, this solution enables sending secure text messages which can be sent from a console to users via a badge device. This streamlines critical communication, allowing workers to instantly communicate with other staff using either voice or text messaging. The hands-free Badge is FIPS 140-2 certified for use on the VA wireless network. Regarding communication interoperability, the Vocera solution facilitates alert, alarm, and messaging between all FIPS-140-2 facility-approved VoIP and Smartphone devices. (4) IDENTIFY THE AUTHORITY AND SUPPORTING RATIONALE (see 8.405-6(a)(1)(i)(A), (B), and (C) or 8.405-6(b)), AND IF APPLICABLE, A DEMONSTRATION OF THE PROPOSED CONTRACTOR S UNIQUE QUALIFICATIONS TO PROVIDE THE REQUIRED SUPPLY OR SERVICE. An urgent and compelling need exists and following the ordering procedures would result in unacceptable delays. Only one source is capable of providing the supplies or services required at the level of quality required because the supplies or services are unique or highly specialized; In the interest of economy and efficiency, the new work is a logical follow-on to an original Federal Supply Schedule order provided that the original order was placed in accordance with the applicable Federal Supply Schedule ordering procedures. The original order must not have been previously issued under sole source or limited source procedures. Items peculiar to one manufacturer: The Vocera Engage System is proprietary to the OEM, Vocera Communications, Inc. Vocera Engage uses its own data that starts aggregating, storing and correlating data. The system stores the data from the Vocera devices and then assembles relevant data that is tasked into actionable information that can be accessed by the clinic. The gathered data can be used to give context or specifics to an alarm or alert. A patent, copyright or proprietary data limits competition. The proprietary data is: These are direct replacements parts/components for existing equipment. The material/service must be compatible in all aspects (form, fit and function) with existing systems presently installed/performing. Describe the equipment/function you have now and how the new item/service must coordinate, connect, or interface with the existing system. (5) DESCRIBE WHY YOU BELIEVE THE ORDER REPRESENTS THE BEST VALUE CONSISTENT WITH FAR 8.404(d) TO AID THE CONTRACTING OFFICER IN MAKING THIS BEST VALUE DETERMINATION: Per FAR 8.404(d), GSA has determined the prices of supplies and fixed-price services and rates for services offered at hourly rates under Schedule contracts to be fair and reasonable. Currently, Government Marketing and Procurement, LLC. (GMP) is the exclusive authorized reseller/distributor holding a GSA contract that contains the required product and on-going services. VISN 8 awarded a contract for the Vocera Engage System (equipment only), ***REDACTED***, to GMP for a contract value of ***REDACTED***. This contract was later modified to add an additional ***REDACTED*** for services/support. The contract line item pricing correlates to GMP s FSS pricing under ***REDACTED***. The facility supported in VISN 8 is approximately double the size of Wilmington, DE; therefore, an Independent Government Cost Estimate (IGCE) of ***REDACTED*** is reasonable. (6) DESCRIBE THE MARKET RESEARCH CONDUCTED AMONG SCHEDULE HOLDERS AND THE RESULTS OR A STATEMENT OF THE REASON MARKET RESEARCH WAS NOT CONDUCTED: Online market research and information gathered at the VA Small Business Convention indicates that Vocera is the only available unified platform for clinical alarm management and secure text messaging that is Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) compliant to interface with existing VA wireless communications. A search was conducted considering AbilityOne but did not yield any results relating to the essential needs of this requirement. To further verify the market place, a Sources Sought Notification was posted on FedBizOpps (FBO), 08/01/2019. The notification was issued as a Brand Name or Equal description noting the NAICS 511210 ($38.5 million). Upon closing of the notification, two (2) responses were received that expressed interest in the requirement. ***REDACTED***, and ***REDACTED***. ***REDACTED*** President/CEO, ***REDACTED***, withdrew their interest noting they don t offer Vocera or a comparable product. GMP provided a letter from Vocera Communications, Inc., stating that GMP was Vocera s exclusive authorized distributor on GSA contract. GMP holds current GSA contract GS-35F-0858N which does contain the Vocera system. The Contract Specialist contacted Vocera Communications, Inc. to verify this authorization and the vendor verified the exclusive authorized distributor status. A search on www.contractdirectory.gov was also conducted. As a result of the search, GMP was listed three (3) times under separate PSC/FSC and using Vocera as the keyword. No other sources were identified in this search. Another search on www.gsaelibrary.gsa.gov was conducted. This search produced GMP s GSA contract, GS-35F-0858N, which was reviewed to confirm that the Vocera System is included in the contract. A letter of authorized distributors was provided by Vocera Communications Sales Development Representative ***REDACTED***, noting GMP. GMP s Director of Operations ***REDACTED*** also provided a letter noting them as an authorized distributor. A review of the VISN 8 s justification for Other Than Full and Open Competition (AP: ***REDACTED***) stated that the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) will not allow separate entities to deliver and provide services for the Vocera communication system. Based on this market research, it is reasonable to determine that GMP is the only source capable of providing this solution. (7) ANY OTHER FACTS SUPPORTING THE JUSTIFICATION: N/A (8) A STATEMENT OF THE ACTIONS, IF ANY, THE AGENCY MAY TAKE TO REMOVE OR OVERCOME ANY BARRIERS THAT LED TO THE RESTRICTED CONSIDERATION BEFORE ANY SUBSEQUENT ACQUISITION FOR THE SUPPLIES OR SERVICES IS MADE: In an effort to identify at least two potential offers in accordance with FAR 19.502-2, a Sources Sought Notification was posted onto FedBizOpps (FBO). The Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM), Vocera Communication, Inc., provided a letter that identified Government Marketing and Procurement, LLC. as their exclusive authorized distributor. Vocera also communicated they do not perform these required tasks for the Federal Government, only in the commercial sector. (9) REQUIREMENTS CERTIFICATION: I certify that the requirement outlined in this justification is a Bona Fide Need of the Department of Veterans Affairs and that the supporting data under my cognizance, which are included in the justification, are accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge. I understand that processing of this limited sources justification restricts consideration of Federal Supply Schedule contractors to fewer than the number required by FAR Subpart 8.4. (This signature is the requestor s supervisor, fund control point official, chief of service or someone with responsibility and accountability.) _____ SIGNATURE DATE ***REDACTED*** ***REDACTED*** ***REDACTED*** NAME TITLE SERVICE LINE/SECTION Wilmington VAMC FACILITY (10) APPROVALS IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE VHAPM Part 806.3 OFOC SOP: a. CONTRACTING OFFICER S CERTIFICATION (required): I certify that the foregoing justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief. _____ CONTRACTING OFFICER DATE ***REDACTED*** ***REDACTED***_____________________ NAME AND TITLE FACILITY b. One Level Above the Contracting Officer (Required over the SAT but not exceeding $700K): I certify the justification meets requirements for other than full and open competition. ________ SIGNATURE DATE ***REDACTED*** ***REDACTED***_________________ NAME AND TITLE FACILITY HIGHER LEVEL APPROVAL (Required for orders over $700,000): c. VHA SAO HCA REVIEW AND APPROVAL (over $700,000 to $68 million): I have reviewed the foregoing justification and find it to be complete and accurate to the best of my knowledge and belief and approve for restricting consideration of the Federal Supply Schedule contractors to fewer than the number required by FAR Subpart 8.4. _____ SIGNATURE DATE ***REDACTED*** ***REDACTED***