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FBO DAILY - FEDBIZOPPS ISSUE OF JULY 09, 2014 FBO #4610
DOCUMENT

R -- Disciplinary Alert services - Attachment

Notice Date

7/7/2014
 

Notice Type

Attachment
 

NAICS

921190 — Other General Government Support
 

Contracting Office

Department of Veterans Affairs;Strategic Acquisition Center;10300 Spotsylvania Ave, Suite 400;Fredericksburg, VA 22408;Washington DC 20420
 

ZIP Code

20420
 

Solicitation Number

VA11914Q0172
 

Response Due

7/28/2014
 

Archive Date

9/26/2014
 

Point of Contact

LaTanya Collier
 

E-Mail Address

0-2217<br
 

Small Business Set-Aside

N/A
 

Description

Issue Date: 07/07/2014 Response Date: 07/28/2014 Classification Code: R Solicitation Number: VA-119-14-Q-0172 The Strategic Acquisition Center (SAC), U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs 10300 Spotsylvania Avenue, Suite 400 Fredericksburg, VA 22408 intends to negotiate follow-on firm fixed priced contract with The Federation of State Medical Boards, Inc., at 400 Fuller Wiser Rd, Ste. 300, Euless, TX 76039.This procurement is being conducted in accordance with FAR 6.302-, only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements. A justification for other than full and open competition has been prepared in support of this acquisition. The NAICS 921190 applies to this requirement but no size standard is represented for this category, management and administrative support services. This notice is not a request for competitive proposals. A determination by the Government not to compete this proposed requirement based on responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. The Government will consider all responses to this notice by 3:00 p.m. (EST) July 28, 2014. All responsible sources may submit a capability statement, proposal, or quotation, which shall be considered by the agency. Responses must be in writing to the Contracting Specialist. The contract period is one (1) base year and four (4) option years. Please refer questions to Maurice.Spencer@va.gov, (202) 769-6064 or laTanya.Collier@va.gov (202) 210-2217. This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format in Subpart 12.6, as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; proposals are being requested and a written solicitation will not be issued. The solicitation number is VA-119-14-Q-0172 is issued as a request for quote (RFQ). The solicitation document and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular 2005-73, effective 05/29/2014. The associated NAICS code is 921190 and business size standard is undefined. The acquisition is not set-aside and is being negotiated as sole source follow-on procurement. The requirement for Disciplinary Alert Services: The Veterans Health Administration is responsible for assuring that all physicians who practice medicine in the Veteran Affairs Medical Facilities are authorized to do so. In accordance with Title 38 USC 7402(f), physicians may not practice in VA facilities if a single license has been terminated for cause or surrendered after written notification of potential for termination until such license is fully reinstated. This agency proposes to issue a sole source, firm fixed price (FFP) contract to the incumbent contractor to provide Monitoring and licensing and verification services on physicians practicing within the VHA on a nationwide basis. The incumbent contractor is The Federation of State Medical Board. This proposed contracting action will be for one base year and four one year option periods. TOTAL ESTIMATED COST $457,883 The following clauses/ provisions apply to this solicitation. Clauses: FAR 52.203-11 Certification and disclosure regarding; 52.203-16 personal conflicts of interest; 52.203-17 Contractor Employee whistle blower rights; 52.204-4 Printed or copied double-sided postconsumer fiber/paper; 52.204-10 reporting executive compensation; 52.204-13 SAM maintenance; 52.209-6 protecting the Government's Interests; 52.212-5 Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Statutes; 52.216-18 Ordering; 52.216-19 Order Limitations; 52.216-22 Indefinite Quantity; 52.217-8 Option to Extend Services; 52.217-9 Option to Extend the Term of the Contract; 52.222-17 non-displacement of qualified worker; 52.222-3, Convict Labor (June 2003) (E.O. 11755). 52.222-21, Prohibition of Segregated Facilities (Feb 1999); 52.222-35 Equal Opportunity for Veterans (SEP 2010) (38 U.S.C. 4212); 52.222-36, Affirmative Action for Workers with Disabilities (Oct 2010);52.222-37, Employment Reports on Veterans (SEP 2010) 52.222-40, Notification of Employee Rights Under the National Labor Relations Act (DEC 2010); 52.222-41, Service Contract Act of 1965; 52.222-43, Fair Labor Standards Act and Service Contract Act; 52.222-44, Fair Labor Standards Act and Service Contract Act; 52.223-18, Encouraging Contractor Policies to Ban Text Messaging While Driving (AUG 2011); 52.232-33, Payment by Electronic Funds Transfer-System for Award Management (Jul 2013); 52.237-3 Continuity of Services; 52.217-8 Option to Extend Services; 52.217-9 Option to Extend the Term of the Contract Provisions: 52.204-7 SAM; 52.209-2 Prohibitions on contracting with inverted domestic corporations' representation; 52.212-1 Instructions to Offerors- Commercial Items 52.212-2 Evaluation commercial items; 52.212-3 Offeror representations and certifications -commercial items; 52.216-1 Type of contract; 52.217-5 Evaluation of Options; 52.232-38 submission of electronic funds transfer information with offer Jul 2013; 52.225-25 prohibition on contracting with entities engaging with certain activities or transactions relating to Iran -Representation and Certifications. VAAR: The VAAR Clauses applicable to this acquisition are 852.203-70 Commercial Advertising, 852.233-70 VAAR Clause 852.232-72 Electronic Submission of Payment Requests; VAAR 852.233-70 Protest content/alternative dispute resolution Protest content/alternative dispute resolution, 852.233-71 Alternate protest procedure, 852.252-70 Solicitation provisions or clauses incorporated by reference, 852.273-70 Late offers, and 852.273-74 Award without exchanges. Information concerning clauses and provision incorporated by reference may be obtained at http://farsite.hill.af.mil. Contract clauses and provisions cited in this solicitation may be accessed electronically at these addresses: http://www.arnet.gov/far/ and http://www.va.gov/oamm/acquisitions/ars/ policyreg/vaar/vaar852.htm. Offers are to be received at Strategic Acquisition Center (SAC), U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs 10300 Spotsylvania Avenue, Suite 400 Fredericksburg, VA 22408, ATTN: Maurice Spencer or LaTanya Y. Collier, no later than 3:00 P. M. Eastern Standard Time (EST) on July 28, 2014. Electronic copies of proposal may be submitted. Maurice.Spencer@va.gov or LaTanya.Collier@va.gov Contracting Specialist; No Facsimile proposals will be accepted. Electronic offers are acceptable for this acquisition if received by date and time specified. The offeror is responsible for ensuring that the contract specialist has received the offer before the deadline for receipt of offers, and the government will not be responsible for delays or failures of either the contractor's email system or the Government's email system. Performance Work Statement Participation in Disciplinary Alerts Service Federation of State Medical Boards Background: The Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB) of the United States was founded in 1912. The Federation's membership comprises the medical boards of all the states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, the Virgin Islands, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and 13 state boards of osteopathic medicine. FSMB also operates the Federation Physician Data Center, a nationally recognized system for collecting, recording and distributing to state medical boards and other appropriate agencies data on disciplinary actions taken against licensees by the boards and other governmental authorities. The role of State licensing boards is to protect the public. Over 80% of all actions taken by State licensing boards are prejudicial to the physician and taken for violations such as quality of care, sexual misconduct, insurance fraud, alcohol/ substance abuse or inappropriate prescribing of controlled substances. The Department of Defense makes similar information available to the Federation concerning physicians in the military. The Department of Health and Human Services reports data relating to Medicare/Medicaid sanctions. Considered the preeminent resource for board action information, the FSMB Physician Data Center is the only central repository for formal actions taken against physicians by state licensing and disciplinary boards, Canadian licensing authorities, the U.S. armed forces, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and other regulatory bodies. The Federation Physician Data Center contains more than 267,000 board actions related to approximately 68,336 physicians dating to the 1960s. This information is available to licensing and disciplinary boards, the military, governmental and private agencies and organizations involved in the employment and/or credentialing of physicians. To be included in the Data Center, an action must be a matter of public record or be legally releasable to state medical boards or other entities with recognized authority to review physician credentials. Actions fall into two categories: prejudicial (e.g., revocations, probations, suspensions or consent orders) and non-prejudicial (e.g., reinstatements of licensure, replacement of lost or destroyed licenses or license denials). Once reported to the Federation, an action becomes part of the physician's permanent record. SCOPE of WORK The Government's requirement is to subscribe to the ability to submit identifying information on physicians (MDs and DOs) to the FSMB's Board Action Data Bank. FSMB will provide services consisting of the screening of individual physicians as requested by the Government, by means of a search of its Board Action Data Bank (BADB) in order to provide to the Government information in the furtherance of the Government's exercise of its responsibilities to establish the credentials of physicians pursuant to its lawful functions. The FSMB will report to the Government, all licenses current or previously held that are known to the FSMB as well as any orders reported to the FSMB from licensing entities, the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS OIG) and the Department of Defense, will be cross referenced against the VHA's identifying data table. Subsequent to the initial screening, in the event a disciplinary action is reported to the FSMB on one of the providers previously screened with an appointment to a VA medical center, the VHA Credentialing and Privileging Program Director is notified via e-mail that an action has been reported. The disciplinary information that pertains to the physician can then be downloaded for review and inclusion in the physician's credentials file. All information provided to the FSMB in accordance with this agreement will be collected and maintained in accordance with the Privacy Act System of Records Notice, 77VA10Q, Health Care Provider Credentialing and Privileging Records - VA. SPECIFIC MANDATORY TASKS AND ASSOCIATED DELIVERABLES Task 1: The FSMB shall provide VA with an account and data tables in which VA will enroll VA physicians through the import of specified physician information described elsewhere in this Statement of Work so that such data can be used to search against the BADB for any orders reported to the FSMB from licensing entities. Task 2: Upon receipt of a report of a new order being reported to the FSMB on a VA physician enrolled in the BADB from a reporting entity, the FSMB shall notify VA via e-mail of the presence of the new order which VA staff shall be able to access and obtain a hard-copy of such order. Task 3.a: FSMB shall provide VA with a copy of the enrollment data from the BADB for VA to update, adding practitioners who are new to the VA credentialing process and deleting those for whom monitoring by VA is no longer necessary. Task 3.b: FSMB shall incorporate the VA updated data, submitted by VA to FSMB, into the BADB. Task 4: To assure quality communication with FSMB leadership and its member boards, registration to the FSMB Annual Meeting shall be provided to two (2) VA participants. DELIVERABLES SCHEDULE CLINDeliverable DescriptionDue Date 0001VA specific account and data tables in BADB for monitoring of orders from licensing entitiesTBD 0002Notification of VA of new order from a licensing entity and hard copy available24 hours after order processed by FSMB 0003aCopy of enrollment data from BADBTBD, at least monthly 0003bUpdating of BADBWithin 3 business days of receipt of information from VA 0004Registration for FSMB Annual Meeting TBD 0005Registration for the FSMB Annual meeting of Board AttorneysTBD GENERAL REQUIREMENTS FSMB shall provide a report that results from monitoring of the BADB when a match of a board action to a physician being monitored for VA in the form of a hard-copy report, known as a Board Action Report. The Board Action Report shall contain a brief summary statement on the nature of all actions taken against physician, reported to the FSMB by licensing/disciplinary boards and other reporting entities. The date of each action and the reporting entity taking the action shall be included in the Report. FSMB shall authorize The Government to disseminate to its client the actual or copy of the Board Action Report received through this contract provided to the Government by FSMB. The Government agrees that such dissemination will only be in the Government's normal course of business of providing credentialing services to the Government's client in accordance with the Privacy Act System of Records 77VA10Q - Health Care Provider Credentialing and Privileging Records-VA. The Government understands that the information reported will consist only of formal actions taken by reporting medical licensing and disciplinary boards or other official sources. Furthermore, The Government understands that validation and verification of the information contained in any report must be made through the original reporting jurisdiction or source (i.e., state medical/disciplinary boards, armed forces, Department of Health and Human Services, Canadian provincial licensing authorities, etc.) The Government agrees that its use of information from the BADB will consist of reporting to its VA medical facilities the results of BADB searches. The Government agrees to keep all information provided by the FSMB in strictest confidence and warrants that it will not release, or allow to be released, any information of any sort whatever, either directly or indirectly, or in any other manner, to any person, party, entity, or organizations except to its VA medical facilities. INSPECTION AND ACCEPTANCE CRITERIA Final approval and acceptance of documentation required herein shall be by written letter of approval and acceptance by the COR. The Contractor shall not construe any letter of acknowledgment of receipt material as a waiver of review, or as an acknowledgment that the material is in conformance with this PWS. Acceptable level of performance is 90% of CLIN 0001 - 0003 and 100% for CLIN 0004 and 0005 if exercised by the Government. INVOICING Invoices shall be submitted for payment only after receipt of written letter of final approval. The Contractor or Offeror shall submit an original copy of all invoices to the following address for payment: The invoice shall include the following information: invoice date; contractor's name, address and telephone number; order number (101-, etc.), performance period, CLIN, (description, amount for services performed), telephone number, name and address of payee. One copy of the invoice shall also be forwarded both electronically and via hard copy to the COTR accompanied by an activity report that provides sufficient detail to support the invoiced amount. Invoices will be paid in accordance with the provisions of the Prompt Payment Act. Electronic submissions shall be viewable in Microsoft Word 2003. GOVERNMENT RESPONSIBILITIES BUSINESS PURPOSES. The Government agrees that all requests for searches of the BADB will be limited to physicians about whom the Government requires such information in fulfillment of its responsibilities pursuant to its lawful functions. It is understood and agreed by the parties that the Government acts on behalf of various healthcare organizations (VA medical facilities) whose legitimate business purpose requires verification of the board action history of individual physicians, and the Government warrants that all of its VA medical facilities are health care organizations having a legitimate business purpose that includes verification of such board action history records. The Government agrees that it will not use BADB information nor compile the information for use by or sale to any person or entity other than as specified herein. PHYSICIAN INFORMATION. The Government agrees to submit data for BADB search purposes in the format specified by FSMB for the search methodology to be used by The Government. The required biographic information for the individuals to be searched will consist of the following: i)Full name (last name, first name, middle name) ii)Date of birth iii)Medical school attended iv)Year of graduation from medical school v)Social Security number - if available vi)National Provider Identifier (NPI) It is understood and acknowledged by The Government that failure to submit complete biographic information on individuals to be searched will result in rejection of the search request as incomplete. Any such rejected request must be resubmitted with the complete biographic data, and will be subject to fees as a new search. Data is transmitted via secure File Transfer Protocol (FTP). Data transmission is in accordance with the Privacy Act System of Records Notice, 77VA10Q - Health Care Provider Credentialing and Privileging Records-VA, Routine Use 5, which allows for the release of such information to the FSMB "in order for the Department to obtain information relevant to a Department decision concerning the hiring, utilization, appointment, retention or termination of individuals covered by this system or to inform a Federal agency or licensing boards or the appropriate non-government entities about the health care practices of a currently employed, appointed, otherwise utilized, terminated, resigned, or retired health care employee or other individuals covered by this system whose professional health care activity so significantly failed to meet generally accepted standards of clinical practice as to raise reasonable concern for the safety of patients. These records may also be disclosed as part of an ongoing computer-matching program to accomplish these purposes." DATA RIGHTS Performance of this effort may require the Contractor to access and use data and information proprietary to a Government agency or Government contractor which is of such a nature that its dissemination or use, other than in performance of this effort, would be adverse to the interests of the Government and/or others. The Contractor and/or contractor personnel shall not divulge or release data or information developed or obtained in performance of this effort, until made public by the Government, except to authorize Government personnel or upon written approval of the Contracting Officer. The contractor shall not use, disclose, or reproduce proprietary data that bears a restrictive legend, other than as required in the performance of this effort. RELEASES. The Privacy Act System of Records Notice, 77VA10Q - Health Care Provider Credentialing and Privileging Records - VA, authorizes the Government to release information to the FSMB for the purposes of monitoring physician licensure and therefore allows FSMB access to VA physician data as a source of information for provision of information to the Government and/or for the Government's subsequent use of the information provided by FSMB. The Government agrees that searches of the BADB will be only on physicians for whom The Government has an authorization, duly executed by the physician, on file. RESPONSIBILITY FOR DAMAGES. Each Party shall be responsible for any and all damages, claims, liabilities, or judgments from third parties, which may arise as a result of its own negligence or actions. NO WARRANTIES. The Government understands that FSMB makes no representations or warranties, either express or implied, as to the accuracy or completeness of the information provided to the Government and assumes no responsibility for any errors or omissions which may be contained in the information provided as a result of this agreement. ASSIGNMENT. The Government agrees that it will not assign, sell, hypothecate, or transfer any of its rights under this Agreement using the information in accordance the Government's normal course of business of providing credentialing services to the Government's client. AUDIT. The Government agrees that FSMB may make a request to inspect and audit The Government's credentialing and privileging files to assure compliance with the terms of this agreement, such files to be made available for FSMB's inspection after reasonable notice to The Government. Nothing herein shall preclude the use of any data independently acquired by the contractor without such limitations or prohibit an agreement at no cost to the Government between the contractor and the data owner which provides for greater rights to the contractor. The Department of Veterans Affairs shall have unlimited rights to and ownership of all deliverables provided under the basic award, including reports, recommendations, logos, charts, brochures, work plans, back-up documentation and work-sheets, and any other deliverable. This includes the deliverables provided under the basic award and any optional task deliverables that are exercised by the Contracting Officer. The definition of "unlimited rights" is contained in Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 27.401, Definitions. PROPERTY RIGHTS, CONFIDENTIALITY AND NONDISCLOSURE It is agreed that: 1.The preliminary and final deliverables and all associated working papers, and other material deemed relevant by VA, which have been generated by the Contractor in the performance of this task order, are the exclusive property of the U.S. Government and shall be submitted to the contracting officer at the conclusion of the task order. 2.The Contracting Officer will be the sole authorized official to release verbally or in writing any data, the draft deliverables, the final deliverables, and any other written or printed materials pertaining to this task order. No information shall be released by the Contractor. Any request for information relating to this task order presented to the Contractor shall be submitted in writing to the Contracting Officer for response. 3.Press releases, marketing material or any other printed or electronic documentation related to this project shall not be publicized without the written approval of the Contracting Officer. INFORMATION AND INFORMAITON TECHNOLOGY SECURITY REQUIREMNTS 839.201 Contract clause for Information and Information Technology Security: Due to the threat of data breach, compromise or loss of information that resides on either VA-owned or contractor-owned systems, and to comply with Federal laws and regulations, VA has developed an Information and Information Technology Security clause to be used when VA sensitive information is accessed, used, stored, generated, transmitted, or exchanged by and between VA and a contractor, subcontractor or a third party in any format (e.g., paper, microfiche, electronic or magnetic portable media). b. In solicitations and contracts where VA Sensitive Information or Information Technology will be accessed or utilized, the CO shall insert the clause found at 852.273-75, Security Requirements for Unclassified Information Technology Resources. As prescribed in 839.201, insert the following clause: The contractor, their personnel, and their subcontractors shall be subject to the Federal laws, regulations, standards, and VA Directives and Handbooks regarding information and information system security as delineated in this contract. 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. CHANGES TO PERFORMANCE WORK STATEMENT Any changes to this PWS shall be authorized and approved only through written correspondence from the Contracting Officer. A copy of each change will be kept in a project folder along with all other products of the project. Costs incurred by the contractor through the actions of parties other than the Contracting Officer shall be borne by the Contractor. CONTRACT ADMINISTRATION Notwithstanding the Contractor's responsibility for total management during the performance of this contract, the administration of the contract will require maximum coordination between the Government and the Contractor. The following individuals will be the Government's points of contact during the performance of this contract: CONTRACTING OFFICER REPRESENTATIVE (COR) The COTR shall be designated on the authority of the Contracting Officer at the time of contract award to monitor all technical aspects of the contract. In no event is the COTR empowered to change any of the terms and conditions of the contract. Changes in any section of this contract shall be made only by the Contracting Officer pursuant to a properly executed modification. The types of actions within the purview of the COTR's authority are to ensure that the Contractor performs the technical requirements of the contract, and to notify both the Contractor and the Contracting Officer of any deficiencies observed. A memorandum of designation shall be issued to the COTR and a copy shall be sent to the Contractor at the time of contract award setting forth in full the responsibilities and limitations of the COTR. JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION 1. Contracting Activity: Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Office of Acquisition Operations Strategic Acquisition Center 10300 Spotsylvania Avenue, Ste 400 Fredericksburg, VA 22408 2. Nature of Acquisition Being Approved: In accordance with FAR 6.302-1 we seek to use other than full and open market competition procedures to issue a sole source, firm fixed price (FFP) contract to the incumbent contractor to provide monitoring and licensing and verification services on physicians practicing within the VHA on a nationwide basis. Federation State Medical Board (FSMB), 400 Fuller Wiser Rd Suite 300, Euless, TX 76039, is the only company that is quick and accurate and fulfills the VHA's unique need of providing continuous monitoring, licensing and verification of its network of Physicians. 3. Statutory Authority: The statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition is 41 USC 3304(a)(1) as implemented by the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Subpart 6.302-1 entitled, "Only One Responsible Source and No Other Supplies or Services Will Satisfy Agency Requirements." 4. Rationale Supporting Use of Authority Cited Above: The Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB) was founded in 1912. The FSMB comprises the medical boards of all 52 States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, the Virgin Islands, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and 13 state boards of osteopathic medicine. This vast network gives the FSMB unlimited access to physicians who are license to practice medicine in each. The FSMB operates the Physician Data Center which is a nationally recognized system for recording, collecting and distributing to state medical boards and other governmental authorities data on disciplinary actions taken against license physicians. VHA is responsible for assuring that all physicians who practice medicine in VA facilities are authorized to do so. One authorization must be from one or more State licensing boards. Additionally, in accordance with Title 38 U.S.C. 7402(f), physicians may not practice in VA facilities if a single license has been terminated for cause or surrendered after written notification of potential for termination until such license is fully reinstated. VHA medical staff works diligently in their monitoring of physician licenses however the administrative effort required for this type of monitoring is not without error. Furthermore the time it takes to get background verification completed from state to state vary by weeks. The normal verification procedure requires the VHA Credentialing authority to validate licenses by contacting the state licensing board for each physician and initiate a background investigation. This process verifies all current and previously held licenses have no disciplinary actions. Since state boards are reluctant to share information with each other and outside agencies the process is slow. This delay causes interruption to the critical care our Nation's Veterans so desperately need. Through the services offered by the FSMB, VHA will learn of disciplinary actions in an expeditious manner. After researching methods for VHA to automatically be notified in the event of a pending or final action against one of the 60,000 physicians delivering care to our veterans, our market research has determined that there are no other sources. The Federation of State Medical Boards provides a Disciplinary Alerts Service which is unique in that they get immediate responses to inquiries though their access to a real time database thus making it the only one of its kind. The accuracy and immediacy of this information is crucial to providing assurance that our veterans are receiving the best possible care. Additionally, the Federation of State Medical Board will create a database from which the accounts of enrolled VA Physicians will be crossed referenced and screened against a databank of medical board actions to verify any disciplinary reports. The contractor shall report to the government any licenses currently or previously held that are known to the contractor to have disciplinary information. Additionally, orders reported to the Department of Health and Human Services office of inspector General, the Department of Defense or licensing entities such as the American Medical Association will be provided to the VHA Credentialing and Privileging Program Director. The contractor shall provide the VHA Credentialing Program director new reports on physicians that are enrolled in the database. This report shall be preceded by an email notice to the director. The contractor shall provide a copy of the enrollment data from their database to the VHA for updating and deletions by the VA credentialing authority. The total estimated value of this proposed action is $486,000 (inclusive of options). 5. Efforts to Obtain Competition: VA Market research was conducted, details of which are in paragraph 7, the market research section of this document. A Request for Information (RFI) was posted to the Federal Business Opportunity (FBO) website. This effort did not yield any additional sources that can meet the Government's requirements. There is no competition anticipated for this acquisition. Additionally, the proposed action will be synopsized on the Federal Business Opportunities Page in accordance with FAR 5.201. Any proposals that are received shall be evaluated. 6. A Description of Efforts Made to Ensure That Offers From as Many Potential Sources As Practicable and Whether a Notice Will Be Publicized. A Notice shall be publicized and synopsized under requirements stated in FAR Part 5. This agency will work directly with the program office to perform market research in the hopes of finding alternate solutions. 7. Market Research Results: Request for Information (RFI) was issued on April 17, 2014 via the FBO to ascertain if there were any other sources that could meet the Government's requirements. No responses were received from any source. The VetBiz.gov database was also queried with negative results. Additionally, GSA E-library was queried for possible source with no results. Given these findings the contracting specialist concluded that the FSMB is currently the only source can provide the required services. This conclusion supports the findings of the VHA's Program Management Office. 8. Any Other Facts Supporting the Use of Other Than Full and Open Competition: The fact that this requirement calls for immediate and accurate response to inquiries is a crucial factor in the determination that this service is only available from one source. 9. Any Other Interested Sources? There are no other sources that have expressed an interest to date. 10. A Statement of the Actions, if any, the Agency May Take to Remove or Overcome Any Barriers to Competition before Any Subsequent Acquisition is required: The Government will continue to conduct market research to ascertain if there are changes in the market place that would enable future actions to be competed. Specifically, this agency will work directly with the program office to perform market research prior to the exercise of the next option year to determine if market conditions have changed enough to make this a competitive requirement. 11. Technical and Requirements Certification: I certify that the supporting data under my cognizance, which are included in this justification, are accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief. Kathryn Enchelmayer Date: ______________________ Director, Credentialing Privileging Signature: ______________________ 12. Fair and Reasonable Cost Determination: I hereby determine that the anticipated contracting action will represent the best value to the Government consistent with FAR 12.601. Additionally, price analysis of historical prices quoted covering similar services and parametric estimating will be used to determine price reasonableness. Lori Smith Date: ______________________ Procuring Contracting OfficerSignature: ______________________ 13. Procuring Contracting Officer Certification: I certify that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief. As this contract action does not exceed $650,000, the certification below required by FAR 6.303-2(b)(12) serves as approval. Lori Smith Date: ______________________ Procuring Contracting Officer Signature: ______________________
 

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Document(s)

Attachment
 

File Name: VA119-14-Q-0172 VA119-14-Q-0172.docx (https://www.vendorportal.ecms.va.gov/FBODocumentServer/DocumentServer.aspx?DocumentId=1479068&FileName=VA119-14-Q-0172-000.docx)

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Place of Performance

Address: Department of Veterans Affairs;810 Vermont Ave;Washington, DC

Zip Code: 20420
 

Record

SN03416155-W 20140709/140708021551-0eb44185d2fbf8cae42070c069f1ec59 (fbodaily.com)
 

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