SOURCES SOUGHT
65 -- Pads & Wipes
- Notice Date
- 8/6/2009
- Notice Type
- Sources Sought
- NAICS
- 339113
— Surgical Appliance and Supplies Manufacturing
- Contracting Office
- Department of the Army, U.S. Army Medical Command, MEDCOM, North Atlantic Regional Contracting Office, ATTN: MCAA NA Bldg T20, 6900 Georgia Avenue NW, Washington, District of Columbia, 20307-5000
- ZIP Code
- 20307-5000
- Solicitation Number
- APP01-0907-002
- Archive Date
- 9/10/2009
- Point of Contact
- Toni Massenburg, Phone: 202 782-3666, Tracy Martin-Tilghman, Phone: 2027823663
- E-Mail Address
-
toni.massenburg@us.army.mil, tracy.martintilghman@us.army.mil
(toni.massenburg@us.army.mil, tracy.martintilghman@us.army.mil)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- A.General Information. The Northeast Region (TRBO Reg. 1), a military integrated delivery network, comprised of 47 Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and U.S. Coast Guard Medical Treatment Facilities (MTFs) in the states of Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia including institutional and operational healthcare settings announces a Request for Regional Incentive Agreement Quotation (RFRIAQ) for the standardization of PADS AND WIPES. This product line includes but is not limited to the following Pads and Wipes: alcohol, povidone-iodine, witch hazel, benzalkonium chloride, and adhesive removers. Vendors are required to supply items listed in all sizes, textures, and concentrations. The primary objective of this program is to standardize the quality of care across this region based on a best value determination that represents the clinically preferred product or source(s) at the best possible price. It is also intended that standardized product be obtained through the DoD Prime Vendor Program. The secondary objective of this standardization initiative is the potential of decreasing the existing Stock Keeping Units (SKUs) and thus dollars held as inventory. The below item detail of the products being purchased within the region will be used to target and cross-match product lists submitted by the vendor. This process will ensure the minimum requirements of the Region are met and help identify possible candidates for elimination (i.e. like product items), as well as potentially minimizing the number of SKUs included in a subsequent incentive agreement. The major facilities in the Northeast Region include, but are not limited to Walter Reed Army Medical Center (Washington, DC), National Naval Medical Center (Bethesda, MD), Malcolm Grow Medical Center (Andrews AFB, MD), Dewitt Healthcare System (FT Belvoir, VA), Keller Army Community Hospital (West Point, NY), and Kimbrough Ambulatory Care Center (FT Meade, MD). This standardization action is part of the Medical/Surgical Prime Vendor program executed by the Defense Supply Center Philadelphia (DSCP), Directorate of Medical Materiel. In order to participate, your company MUST have a Distribution and Pricing Agreement (DAPA) and a separate commercial agreement with the Prime Vendors for the program. This is pursuant to the DAPA clause by which DAPA holders agree to the Standardization process and to allow Prime Vendors to distribute their products. This RFRIAQ will result in Regional Incentive Agreements (RIA’s) that supplement the Prime Vendor Program. The RFQ will not result in a contract award. For additional information regarding DSCP’s Prime vendor program please access their web site at https://dmmonline.dscp.dla.mil. The resulting Regional Incentive Agreement (RIA) will be for a base period of two years (24 months) from date of selection with three one year (12 months) option periods (not to exceed 5 years.) Anticipated selection date is November 2009. The evaluation will be based on clinical, technical, and pricing factors. Clinical/performance and technical/company factors will be weighted more heavily than price. The Technical/Company and Clinical/Performance evaluation factors, when combined, are considered significantly more important than cost or price. As the technical and clinical evaluation results become more equal, price will become more important. The selection will be determined utilizing Best value/ trade-off criteria. The selection of a single vendor is anticipated. Point of Contact: Toni Massenburg, (202) 782-3666, toni.massenburg@us.army.mil. B.Products & Performance Required. The Northeast Region is seeking product line items in the category of PADS AND WIPES, which at a minimum includes the high volume lines below. Within this region, this product line has an estimated annual dollar requirement of $100,328. This forecast is based on historical prime vendor sales during a recent 12-month period. The top high volume usage lines for this project are shown in the Technical/Company Criteria below. At the request of the Northeast Regional MTFs, vendors will provide on-site support and in-servicing during implementation, conversion information, prime vendor order numbers, and itemization of the brands, types and packaging information of the products supplied by the vendor. C.Instructions to Vendors. DAPA holders interested in participating in this standardization initiative should (1) email their detailed responses to the technical/company criteria below and (2) Company name and address, (3) Company POC (Name and Phone Number, Fax Number, and E-mail address) to Toni Massenburg, (202) 782-3666, toni.massenburg@us.army.mil or Tracy Martin-Tilghman, (202) 782-3663, tracy.martintilghman@us.army.mil as a back-up. Submissions must be received by COB 5:00 PM EST on the specified closing date/time of this sources sought notice. Vendors that fail to meet this submittal deadline will be disqualified from participating in the standardization process. This process will include vendor requirements to provide electronic responses to technical criteria, no charge samples for clinical evaluation, and submission of electronic best price quotes. Due to the potential for email to be lost in transmission, from network security, etc., vendors are strongly encouraged to confirm with the Region that its initial submission, quote, and literature actually arrived at the Region via email. Each submitting vendor is advised to confirm receipt, allowing adequate time for resubmission before the due date/time, should a problem occur with the first submission. Vendors that do not meet the deadline of COB 5:00PM EST on 26 August 09, will be disqualified from further consideration in the standardization initiative. All email communications between vendors and the Region should be digitally signed by the issuer. D.Evaluation Criteria. The Tri-Service Product Review Board (TPRB) is the governing body of the standardization process. This board includes clinicians and logisticians from the Military Treatment Facilities within the Northeast Region. They are the deciding officials for this initiative. The Region intends to evaluate quotes and select a vendor or vendors, on initial submissions/quotes. Vendor quotes should contain the vendor's best product matches for the products or product lines requested in this announcement. Vendor quotes should contain the vendor's best tiered-pricing discounts off of the vendor's DAPA pricing (based on committed volume of 80% of the total requirements of the MTFs in the Region). (Note: vendors that fail to submit a discount from DAPA will be disqualified. Note: Where lower FSS prices are available, DAPA holders are required by previous agreement to provide the FSS price as the DAPA price. Vendors shall not quote FSS prices as the discounted price for purposes of this standardization initiative.) However, the Region reserves the right to conduct discussions and request revised quotes, if determined necessary. The Region reserves the right to limit the number of quotes to the greatest number that will permit an efficient competition among vendors. The Region reserves the right to make a down-selection during the evaluation process based on considerations of efficient competition. The TPRB votes for the best value for a single or multiple vendor selection(s). A multiple selection is only a possibility if no single vendor can meet the total requirement of the Region and would be based on a combination of MTF preference and product availability. Phase I – Technical/Company Evaluation Process: Interested vendors are to respond to this FBO announcement by emailing their detailed responses and required documentation to toni.massenburg@us.army.mil by the required response date. Vendors are required to meet/provide responses to the technical/company criteria stated below. All technical/company criteria are weighted equally. The responses will be reviewed by the Clinical Product Team (CPT) and determine the acceptability of each vendor. After the review of the technical/company criteria, those vendors who meet the following technical/company criteria will be qualified/invited to participate in the clinical/performance evaluation process as well as the price analysis process and will be requested to submit their best product/price proposed package discount quotes via an email communication with each vendor. In general, “acceptability for the purposes of validation of technical/company criteria is defined as follows: Generally, responses to all questions in the technical/company criteria demonstrate that: (1) based on the vendors’ responses, the evaluators have reasonable confidence that the line of products and /or services submitted meet the medical standards of care of the community, applicable to such products and services; (2) the vendor’s information provided is factually correct. Any misrepresentation of information will disqualify the vendor from further consideration. NOTE: Specific technical/company criteria will require an additional, more-specific definition of “technical acceptability.” The specific standard for technical acceptability will be set forth with the individual statement of each criterion, as required. The following equally weighted Technical/Company Evaluation Criteria have been established for this standardization initiative: 1.Vendor MUST provide a complete line of Pads and Wipes products. A ‘complete line of product’ is defined as the MTF’s requirements for usage items in the product line. Usage items are defined in the Medical/Surgical Prime Vendor contract statement of work, as DAPA items ordered at least once per month, and at least one unit per order. The ability for the vendor to provide these items is considered critical and failure by them to do so will result in the vendor not being included in this standardization effort. a. At a minimum this product line consists of Pads and Wipes containing alcohol, povidone-iodine, witch hazel, benzalkonium chloride, and adhesive removers. Vendors are required to supply all items listed in all items/applications listed. Product to SendItem DescriptionQuantity Prep pad, alcohol sterile, medium; 1 ˝ x 2 ˝ 4 boxes (100pads/box) Prep pad, povidone iodinemedium texture 4 boxes (100pads/box) Towelette, benzalkonium chloridemedium6 boxes (100pads/box) Witch Hazel wipeswipes, Witch Hazel6 boxes (100pads/box) b. Vendor MUST provide a complete list of items supplied (manufactured and/or distributed by brands) via catalog, and product literature in response to this RFQ with initial submittal. Vendors are required to supply all items listed in all sizes, textures, and concentrations. (Vendors who do not have a complete product line as above will be disqualified in Phase I). 2.Vendor MUST have a DAPA for the Pads and Wipes product line. Vendor MUST provide DAPA number with initial submittal. (Note that vendors without a DAPA number will be disqualified in Phase I). 3.Vendor MUST have a separate agreement with the prime vendor (currently, the prime vendor is Owens & Minor) for Pads and Wipes in the Northeast Region. (Note that vendors whose products are not available through the regional PV will be disqualified in Phase I.) Vendor MUST provide supporting documentation (four digit code) of agreement with Prime Vendor with initial submittal. 4.Vendors MUST submit discounts off DAPA for all products included in this standardization initiative. (Note: vendors that fail to submit a discount from DAPA will be disqualified. Note: Where lower FSS prices are available, DAPA holders are required by previous agreement to provide the FSS price as the DAPA price. Vendors shall not quote FSS prices as the discounted price for purposes of this standardization initiative.) Vendors who do not provide discounts off DAPA for ALL products in Phase II will be disqualified. 5.Vendor MUST provide all history of back orders and recalls that occurred during the most recent 12-month period for Pads and Wipes products, including dates, duration, cause, and resolution. Vendors will not have an opportunity to provide additional information on back orders and recall during any subsequent stage in this evaluation. Vendors are encouraged to submit all information deemed relevant (i.e., positive resolutions, etc.) in response to this RFQ. The Government will not contact any provided points of contact in response to this question. Vendors should not provide point of contact information in response to this question. 6.Vendor MUST provide Pads and Wipes systems that have infection control features such as those items containing antiseptic and antimicrobial properties that are an integral part of the Pads and Wipes. Vendors MUST identify the infection control features of their products and provide literature to support this in response to this RFQ with initial submittal. 7. Vendor MUST provide latex safe/free products. Vendor MUST provide list of all latex safe/free items supplied such as catalogs, etc. in response to this RFQ with initial submittal. Phase II Plan – Clinical/Performance Evaluations and Pricing Analysis Process: Clinical/Performance Evaluations 1.Following acceptability of the technical/company criteria, the TRBO, on behalf of the CPT, will request product sample sets from the product group to be sent directly to the to the CPT members at participating Medical Treatment Facilities (MTFs), and will be allowed 14 calendar days from the date of notification to complete the delivery. Product samples must be shipped to arrive at the participating MTF address by COB, 5:00PM EST, (14) calendar days after the notice to ship. Vendors who do not meet the deadline to deliver the product samples by the deadline will be disqualified from this standardization initiative. Note: all vendors must send the TRBO verification regarding the date of shipment from the vendor and final delivery date of the product sample sets. 2.Specific MTFs will evaluate the vendor’s product sample sets against the clinical/performance criteria in a non-clinical/non-patient care setting using a Likert scale, with a one to five scoring range. The scale descriptors are: one (1)-not acceptable, two (2)-minimally acceptable, three (3)-acceptable, four (4)-more acceptable, and five (5)-highly acceptable. 3.All clinical/performance criteria are weighted equally. The clinical/performance evaluation period will last for one (1) calendar day. The CPT has established a target threshold of 3.50 for the Clinical Acceptability of products for standardization. The CPT will determine the actual Acceptability threshold for this standardization initiative -- at or near 3.50 -- depending on the location of any "break" in vendors’ average scores (i.e., a gap between vendors’ average scores). In addition, the CPT may consider how closely scores are clustered near the Acceptability target threshold of 3.50, in determining the actual Acceptability threshold. Vendors scoring below the actual Acceptability threshold will be determined to be clinically Unacceptable, and be disqualified from further consideration for this standardization initiative. Vendors that have been disqualified will be notified in writing at the conclusion of the evaluation process (DSCP approval). 4.To determine acceptability, the CPT, comprised of medical professionals from multiple disciplines from the Northeast Region will evaluate the products based on the evaluation criteria below in a non-clinical/non-patient care setting. 5.Vendors will ONLY provide sample products of the items that are requested and being evaluated. Vendors that bring in other product samples or literature on items that are not part of the evaluation process will be disqualified from the evaluation process. Vendor’s presence will be required for in-servicing prior to the evaluations. Vendors WILL NOT BE ALLOWED TO BE PRESENT during the actual evaluation process of their products or their competitor’s products. 6.Vendors will not be allowed to speak to any hospital staff member regarding the product evaluation, product pricing or price–related factors. Vendors that speak to hospital staff members regarding the product evaluation; pricing or price–related factor will be disqualified from this evaluation process. Clinical/Performance Criteria: 1.The CPT identified that the standards of care that the Northeast Region medical communities adhere to, specifically related to Pads and Wipes, are those that will be the basis for specific technical/company and clinical/performance criteria. The standards are set forth by the following: a.The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Guidelines for the Prevention of Intravascular Catheter-Related Infections, MMWR. 2002;51(RR-10): i. Providers should maintain aseptic technique throughout all aspects of injection preparation and administration. ii.Skin antisepsis: povidone iodine has been the most widely used antiseptic for cleansing arterial catheter and CVC insertion sites. iii. If a medication vial has already been opened, the rubber septum should be disinfected with alcohol prior to piercing it. b.The World Health Organization (WHO) Guidelines on Prevention and Control of Hospital Associated Infections, January 2002, under 4.6 Intravascular catheter related infections, advocates that a high level of aseptic technique should be used for insertion and handling of catheters. c.Comparison of Four Antiseptic Preparations for Skin in the Prevention of Contamination of Percutaneously Drawn Blood Cultures: a Randomized Trial by David P. Calfee and Barry M. Farr, Department of Medicine, University of Virginia Health System, Charlottesville, VA, J Clin Microbiol, 2002 May; 40(5); 1660-1665: i. In conclusion, blood culture contamination rates ranged from 2.46 to 2.93% during this study when povidone-iodine with alcohol (Persist), isopropyl alcohol, tincture of iodine, or povidone-iodine (P = 0.62) was used. There was, however, evidence to suggest less contamination with the alcohol-based antiseptics. Given the demonstrated efficacies of these four antiseptics, their relative costs, the greater risk of cutaneous reactions with TI (Tincture of iodine), and the potential to decrease costs by producing more accurate results, IPA (isopropyl alcohol) may be the optimal antiseptic for percutaneous blood cultures. Clinical/Performance Criteria: During the pre-source selection procedures, the CPT validated/approved the equally weighted clinical/performance criteria outlined below: 1.(Staff Efficiency of Care/ Patient Safety) The packaging is easy to open without compromising sterility. a.Clinicians require packaging that allows for easy opening without compromising sterility to prevent introducing bacteria to the skin surface. b.This criterion will be evaluated in the non-clinical setting by use of the product on at least (3) members of the CPT. c.Evaluator will open/remove product from packaging without contamination and apply to CPT member’s skin. Evaluator will observe the ease of performing the task. 2.(Patient Safety) The product does not leave lint behind. a.Clinicians require that the product not leave lint behind on the skin to prevent fibers from entering the body during procedures. b.This criterion will be evaluated in the non-clinical setting by use of the product on at least (3) members of the CPT. c.After cleansing the CPT member’s skin, the evaluator will examine the skin and visualize if lint was left on the skin. 3. (Patient Safety) The product effectively cleanses the skin. a.Clinicians require that the product effectively cleanse the skin to remove dirt, debris and bacteria. b.This criterion will be evaluated in the non-clinical setting by use of the product on at least (3) members of the CPT. c.The evaluator will examine the CPT member’s skin with the naked eye and determine if there is any dirt and/or debris on the skin. After the evaluator cleanses the skin, the evaluator will re-examine the skin with the naked eye and verify the skin is clear of dirt and debris. 4. (Patient Safety) The product is non-irritating. a.Clinicians require that product not be irritating to the skin to prevent damage to the skin or allergic reactions. b.This criterion will be evaluated in the non-clinical setting by use of the product on at least (3) members of the CPT. c.The evaluator will observe the condition of the CPT member’s skin before cleansing with the product and after the product has dried for compromise to skin integrity. Pricing Analysis Process. Upon completion of the Phase I – Technical/Company Criteria Evaluation, vendors who are found technically acceptable will be qualified/invited to provide their product samples and price discount quotes concurrently. Vendors will be given 14 calendar days from the date of pricing requests, to submit RIA pricing quotes, in a prescribed electronic spreadsheet format, based upon the requirements of the Northeast Region. Pricing must be received at the TRBO by COB 5:00 PM (EST), fourteen (14) calendar days after the issue date of the vendor notice to submit best product and price quotes. Failure to respond within this timeframe or failure to submit incentive discounts from their DAPA prices will result in the vendor being disqualified from further consideration/ participation. The Region intends to evaluate quotes and select a vendor on initial submissions/quotes. Vendor quotes should contain the vendor's best product matches for the products or product lines requested in this announcement. Vendor quotes should contain the vendor's best tiered-pricing discounts off of the vendor's DAPA pricing (based on committed volume of 80% of the total requirements of the MTFs in the Region). The Region intends to evaluate quotes and select a vendor or vendor(s), without discussions as noted above. However, the Region reserves the right to conduct discussions and request revised quotes, if it is determined to be necessary. If a down-selection is made during the evaluation process, the Region may limit the number of quotes to the greatest number that will permit an efficient competition among vendors. Clinical/performance and technical/company factors will be weighted more heavily than price. The Technical/Company and Clinical/Performance evaluation factors, when combined, are considered significantly more important than cost or price. As the technical and clinical evaluation results become more equal, price will become more important. Pricing will be evaluated based on best value to the government and will be based on a committed volume for a two year (24 months) from date of selection with three one year (12 months) option periods (not to exceed 5 years). The following elements will be considered in the pricing analysis: (1) Impact of RIA prices on the Region. (Post-Standardization Costs). This represents the new estimated annual cost or the total cost post standardization and includes the vendor’s products, and the products that could not be matched. The unmatched lines make it difficult to compare the prices of the various vendors, because the evaluator cannot compare similar product lines for each vendor. Those items that are considered in the high usage category will have a higher impact to the region for the unmatched product line and the end post-standardization costs. (3) Consideration of SKUs by each vendor. The Region intends to reduce the number of SKUs that must be handled per period. Vendors that can supply the complete range of clinically-required product, without unnecessary numbers of SKUs for minimally-differentiated products, will be more likely to provide the best-value solution for the Government in this standardization initiative. (4) Potential Cost Avoidance. Cost avoidance is calculated by subtracting the RIA price from the Distribution and Pricing Agreement (DAPA) price and multiplying by 12-months of usage. This is included as a reporting Matrix. Operational Impact of RIA prices on the Northeast Region are considered more important than other pricing elements. END
- Web Link
-
FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/spg/USA/MEDCOM/DADA15/APP01-0907-002/listing.html)
- Place of Performance
- Address: North Atlantic Regional Medical Command, ATTN: ACSLOG (MCAT-LA), 6900 Georgia Avenue, NW, Washington, District of Columbia, 20307, United States
- Zip Code: 20307
- Zip Code: 20307
- Record
- SN01902378-W 20090808/090807000939-61e98c7306fc5006cf70e97dd0c65b72 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
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