Loren Data's SAM Daily™

FBO DAILY ISSUE OF AUGUST 04, 2012 FBO #3906
DOCUMENT

U -- Nutrition Care Manual Subscription - Attachment

Notice Date

8/2/2012
 

Notice Type

Attachment
 

NAICS

519130 — Internet Publishing and Broadcasting and Web Search Portals
 

Contracting Office

Department of Veterans Affairs;Program Contracting Activity Central;6150 Oak Tree Blvd, Suite 300;Independence OH 44131
 

ZIP Code

44131
 

Solicitation Number

VA70112I0359
 

Response Due

8/9/2012
 

Archive Date

11/16/2012
 

Point of Contact

Nicholas Sparks
 

E-Mail Address

as.Sparks@va.gov<br
 

Small Business Set-Aside

N/A
 

Description

Nutrition Care Manual Knowledge Product Office of Information and Analytics Request for Information: VA701-12-I- 0359 August 2, 2012 I. Introduction: This is for information and planning purposes only and shall not be construed as a solicitation or as an obligation on the part of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The VA is currently conducting market research to locate qualified, experienced and interested potential sources. Responses will not be considered as proposals, nor will any award be incurred by interested parties in responding to this sources sought announcement. The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) is seeking interested sources (contractors) for a near-future solicitation. At this time, no solicitation exists. Therefore, DO NOT REQUEST A COPY OF THE SOLICITATION. II. Background: The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Veterans Health Administration (VHA) requires an existing commercial off the shelf web based, Nutrition Care Manual Product that will be made available throughout the VHA healthcare system. VHA's goal is to insure uniform availability of high quality, clinical dietetic healthcare knowledge based resources across the VHA system to improve clinical decision making. III. Requirements: Objectives The desired goals of the nationwide provision of a commercial Nutrition Care Manual Knowledge Based Resources are as follows: Providing access nationwide to standard knowledge based Nutrition Care Manual clinical dietetic healthcare information resources will build on the enterprise wide availability of the web based version New England Journal of Medicine and other e-resources. Initiating a nationwide, centralized purchase to capitalize on the economies of scale offered by vendors. Negotiating one license/contract to decrease the current contracting and reviewing efforts that are required at the facility and/or VISN level and thereby avoid the costs and workload associated with multiple procurements. Making this Nutrition Care Manual Knowledge Product available through CPRS (Computerized Patient Record System), the VA's Electronic Health Record, nationwide to insure consistent access at the bedside for all VHA health professionals and staff. Scope of Work: The vendor will provide all sites on the VHA network with access to a single online, web-based product. Authentication will be through IP address validation on an enterprise basis, eliminating the need for users to enter identification, username and/or password. An unrestricted number of simultaneous users are to have immediate access from any web-enabled computer within VHA. It is required that all authorized remote users with VPN access have access to the product. Currently there are 152 VHA libraries providing remote access through Athens authentication service. Product should have technical capability to include Athens authentication for remote users. Information Scope The product should include: Online diet and professional practice manual which can easily link to any intranet system. Consistent information with the ADA's Evidence Analysis Library, ADA position papers, and the Nutrition Care Process. Research- and evidence-based nutrition care information for diseases, conditions, and topics. Printer-friendly client education - customizable format also allows placement of your company/facility logo as well as the ability to fill in client information prior to printing! Meal Plans section includes food lists (food recommended / not recommended) and sample 1-day menus. Electronic calculators that use evidence-based formulas to ensure the most accurate results. An extensive formulary References with links to abstracts and full text articles (where available). Resources section, including information on cultural food practices, malnutrition coding, and special issues related to the patient population. Information that reflects current practice issues and supports clinical decision making. Current awareness information for the healthcare professionals. Comprehensive information in a single product available for stand-alone purchase or license, independent of complementary or companion products offered by the vendor. Related patient education material. Information Quality Information is accurate, authoritative, and relevant. Authors and sources are well recognized subject experts in their fields. "Best practice", evidence-based information, or treatment practice guideline information is included. Policies for determining validity and standards for inclusion of material are well described. Usability Navigation within the system is logical and is easy to use. The product has "user friendly" help and direction aids. Access, content, support Product is 508 compliant. (http://www.section508.gov/) If product is not 508 compliant, vendor must describe measures being taken to bring product into compliance and date, within 12 months of contract award, that product will be 508 compliant. OR If product is not 508 compliant and vendor must describe why no work is being done to make it 508 compliant. Access to be granted through IP address validation on an enterprise basis, eliminating the need for users to enter identification, username and/or password. An unrestricted number of simultaneous users are to have immediate access from any web-enabled computer throughout VHA. It is required that all authorized remote users (with VPN, dial-up, wireless, etc. access) have access to the product through any VA networked computer and/or CPRS. A username and/or password option must be offered for remote users if needed. The product is compatible with most standard web browsers, which have cookies enabled. To insure privacy, the product uses session cookies rather than persistent cookies. The product is compatible with the Windows environment. All site content and support of the web site is the responsibility of the contractor. This includes tech support to VHA users nationwide. System downtime is minimal and VA project manager is notified when such occurs. Information is easily printed. The product's licensing agreement must permit free use for educational purposes of all pictures and graphics. Single point of contact for customer service issues is assigned to VA Questions are responded to within two business day. Usage statistics are available to the system administrator on an enterprise level. The product should be accessible via a variety of Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) platforms including the Blackberry. Graphics, pictures, and/or images that are searchable are highly desirable. The contractor should offer training services. On an as requested basis, training session (web-based or live) will be set up to train VHA staff on use of the product. Specialized training sessions may be requested for VA library staff. Availability of usage statistics at an IP level is highly desirable. Information or text can be emailed among VHA colleagues. IV. Submittal Information: Responses will assist in determining the acquisition strategy used for this procurement. For example, if enough responsible and capable -Disabled Veteran Owned Small Businesses (SDVOSBs) respond, the acquisition strategy will most likely be a SDVOSB set-aside; therefore, interested vendors who are responsible and capable of performing the work are strongly encouraged to respond by the date specified. At this time no acquisition strategy has been decided. The following Information is requested in response to this RFI: Please include: Company Name, Company Address, Point of Contact, Telephone Number, e-mail Address. Companies should provide clear and unambiguous evidence to substantiate their capability to fulfill these requirements. A.Experience 1.Please provide no more than five (5) contracts that your company has performed within the last three (3) years that are of comparable complexity and scope for each domain requirement for which your company is responding: a.Describe your Self-Performed* effort (as either a Prime or Sub-Contractor). b.Please be specific and provide a complete reference to include at a minimum the project name (and the government contract number, if applicable), contract award amount, start and completion dates, and the project owners' contact information. c.Additionally, please provide the Contract Type: Firm Fixed-Price, Time and Material, etc. *Self-Performed means work performed by the company themselves, NOT work performed by another company for them for any of the project examples provided. 2.A narrative case study that describes the details of each project and why it is relevant to this requirement, including difficulties and successes. 3.A table listing all companies involved in the relevant project(s), including the technical expertise and percentage of work that each company provided. B. Capabilities / Qualifications 1.A written response providing clear and unambiguous evidence to substantiate the capacity to fulfill this requirement. 2.Company business size and socioeconomic status (i.e., Large Business, Small Business, Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business, Women-Owned Small Business,) the number of years in business, affiliate information: parent company, joint venture partners, potential teaming partners. a.Specify any teaming arrangements and how those arrangements will impact the structure of services their company can provide including technical expertise provided by each company. Please specify the percentage of work the each company will perform. 3.If the company holds a Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) Contract, list the GSA Contract Number and relevant Special Item Numbers (SINS) applicable to this requirement. This notice does not restrict the Government to an ultimate acquisition approach. All firms responding to this sources sought notice are advised that their response is not a request that will be considered for contract award. All interested parties will be required to respond to the resultant solicitation separately from their response to this sources sought notice. The Point of Contact (POC) for this RFI is: Nicholas Sparks Contract Specialist VHA Program Contract Activity Central 6150 Oak Tree Boulevard Suite 300 Independence, OH 44131 Please submit electronic responses (via email) to Nicholas Sparks at Nicholas.Sparks@va.gov no later than 1:00 PM EDT on Wednesday, August 8, 2012. Disclaimer This notice is issued solely for information and planning purposes only and does not constitute a solicitation. All information received in response to this notice that is marked as proprietary will be handled accordingly. In accordance with FAR 15.201(e), responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract. Responders are solely responsible for all expenses associated with responding to this RFI. End Document
 

Web Link

FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/spg/VA/ISC/OISC/VA70112I0359/listing.html)
 

Document(s)

Attachment
 

File Name: VA701-12-I-0359 VA701-12-I-0359.docx (https://www.vendorportal.ecms.va.gov/FBODocumentServer/DocumentServer.aspx?DocumentId=424468&FileName=VA701-12-I-0359-000.docx)

Link: https://www.vendorportal.ecms.va.gov/FBODocumentServer/DocumentServer.aspx?DocumentId=424468&FileName=VA701-12-I-0359-000.docx

 

Note: If links are broken, refer to Point of Contact above or contact the FBO Help Desk at 877-472-3779.
 

Record

SN02825048-W 20120804/120803000708-928e3b2770d286218bb3e6eaeeac1529 (fbodaily.com)
 

Source

FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)

---

| FSG Index  |  This Issue's Index  |  Today's FBO Daily Index Page |