RFQ 1145PC23Q0131 - Responses to Industry Q.A..pdf

Number Contract Line Item Number Contract Section Page #/Section Industry Question/Comment Government Response 1 2.0 Performance Work Statement Scope t How many sites you are looking to launch teleSANE services in total? How many additional per year?

Peace Corps plans to launch TeleSANE services at all posts. To date, 49 Posts (53 countries) have received Peace Corps Trainees, Peace Corps Volunteers, and Peace Corps Returned Volunteers. We cannot definitively say how many will be added per year. However to give you an idea, prior to the 2020 evacuation, there were approximately 60 posts.

2 3.0 Performance Requirements General Requirements 3.1 The solution requires internet connectivity at the local site. This connectivity is the responsibility of the local team, and not the responsibility of SAFE-T.

The Peace Corps has internet connectivity at each post. There are IT specialist on site to provide technical assistance if needed.

3 3.0 Performance Requirements Other Services 3.5 Is expert witness testimony always in Washington, D.C.? It is not necessarily possible for the teleSANE who participated in the examination to be available to testify. A SAFE-T teleSANE or SAFE-T leadership will be available to testify for all cases although they may not be the nurse who conducted the consultation.

Peace Corps cannot definitively confirm that expert testimony will always be in Washington D.C. We are fine with forensic leadership-preferably an established expert witness- testifying on behalf of the teleSANE who participated in the examination.

4 3.0 Performance Requirements Other Services 3.5 Best practice for all telehealth consultations is that there be local documentation of the examination by the provider physically conducting the exam with a QA document by the teleSANE that includes relevant documentation that can be sent to the PCMO. Further, if there are any technology issues, the documentation can still occur at the point of care. We will work with the COR to develop a streamlined QA with the relevant information that will be helpful to augment the care documentation.

Peace Corps concurs with your statement

5 3.0 Performance Requirements Training 3.6 How many PCMOs are there per location/site?

There's a minimum of two PCMOs at each post. Some posts have up to four PCMOs.

6 3.0 Performance Requirements Training 3.6.1 Given the short notice, it is unlikely our team can be present at the conference in Morocco in May, 2023. We can develop the three hour content and connect remotely and plan to attend this conference in subsequent years.

If your team cannot travel to the conference in Morocco, Peace Corps will work out a solution with the contractor to either remotely participate in the 2023 CME or participate in an alternative training opportunity.

7 15.0 Invoice Instructions Applicable to time and material and labor hour contracts

15.4.1 We can ship technology to a central location for the Peace Corps to distribute to sites. Peace Corps will directly purchase the equipment and coordinate shipment to the posts.

8 16.0 Special Contract Requirements Personally Identifiable Information 16.2

Our system was built for cloud infrastructure and with security for PHI as a pillar of development.

All data is encrypted at rest and in transit, all accounts use 2FA to login, access controls and users roles, network/workstation/application logging and monitoring, vulnerability scanning, antivirus, rate limiting, data separation, backups, disaster recovery plans, AWS WAF, system redundancy and user action auditing on application level and more. We are audited yearly by the XXXXXX Office of Information Security and meet their Authority to Operate (ATO) standards. We are currently functioning in numerous health systems and our standards are well accepted by those health systems and patients. Given our current security state of HIPAA compliance, we see three potential options to meet your request to provide service rapidly. 1) Our current security configuration is accepted and we are positioned to offer services as quickly as our system can be implemented. Alternatively, we could provide an option in which the victim can learn about our security and opt in so they can accept our services. 2) Our current system is accepted, but you maintain we must meet either aspects of FedRamp you deem essential or meet full FedRAMP certification. In this scenario we would need time to explore costs to do so (currently we are able to serve all our other partners with our current security system) and would need time to develop that compliance. 3) If there is no scenario where we are able to use our current system, we can offer live telehealth consultation through Peace Corps zoom.gov portal. We will be able to connect to the PCMO, support both the PCMO and the patient during the exam by seeing what they are seeing through zoom. No photographs or documentation would be able to be exchanged if we are not using our portal, therefore we would be able to provide live examination support, but would not be able to have access to images and documentation that would allow us to serve as an expert witness. We could use this scaled down version of our ability to support quality sexual assault examinations while we meet with Peace Corp about FedRAMP essentials and explore pricing and timeline for compliance.

Peace Corps does not require a Contractor to be FedRAMP certified.

From a cyber security standpoint, No ePHI will be transferred to the vendor or stored on the vendor system, thus no further assessment and authorization would be required. The QI tool exchanged between Peace Corps and the Contractor will de-identify the individual to whom the information relates. Any further documentation needed for testimony will be provided upon subpoena.

Peace Corps will evaluate all quotes in accordance with RFQ Section 17.4.2 b) Volume I. Factor 1. Technical to determine whether or not proposed approaches are technically acceptable.

9 16.0 Special Contract Requirements Rights to Intellecutal and/or Creative Data 16.6 If we make modifications to our proprietary software/system application for the benefit of Peace Corps, we must retain the rights to this software.

This is acceptable as long as it does not expose Peace Corps internal working processes. The modification must not divulge any internal workflow or procedure executed by the Agency that may impact its ability for fair negotiations with other vendors.

10 16.0 Special Contract Requirements Breach of Information Notification Requirement

16.7 XXXXXXXX has a 3 day minimum standard response for security breaches. We would have to move forward with this standard as we cannot meet the 4 hour criteria.

Peace Corps should be notified as soon as possible of any breach to allow Peace Corps to disengage and check our systems.

3.2 4 Will victim make initial call or report to PCMO for initiation?

The victim/survivor will always make contact with the PCMO before the TeleSANE is engaged.

3.1 3

Does Peace Corp anticipate recording encounters via Zoom or audio recordings for telephone? Is PC or Contractor responsible to mantaining / storing those recordings? Are there specific standards that might apply?

The Peace Corps Zoom subscription is FedRAMP and has a BAA agreement through OCIO. OCIO has defined a user group which locks down certain functionality to meet our business needs. This includes prohibiting the creation of artifacts, such as saving chats, audio and video recordings. The reason for this is that any creation of such artifacts would prompt the question about where those artifacts would be stored and processed on the cloud.

3.5 5 Where does PC consider jurisdiction? Is there a jurisdicational law enforcement agency to liason with?

The jurisdiction is the United States. The Office of Inspector General works with the Federal Bureau of Investigations.

3.3 4 Once clinicians engage with victim, they would have potential obligation to ensure safety. Will Peace Corp ensures safety of victim (ie lodging, protections, etc)

The Peace Corps Medical Officers (PCMOs) work closely with the Safety and Security Manager to ensure safety of the victim/survivor.

3.1 3

Does the contractor need to provide emergency medical consultation services for associated traumatic or medical concerns in locations where PCMO is not immediately available or to support the PCMO as needed?

No, this service is not needed.

3.3 4 Is the contractor involved in any chain of custody concerns? No, the Contractor is not involved in chain of custody

3.3 4 How is chain of custody managed from remote locations? Per Manual Section 243, there is a chain of custody process.

3.3 4 How is cold storage if needed managed?

Specimens that require cold storage are stored in heatlh unit refrigerator until they are ready to be processed

CLIN 0004 1 Does Peace Corp anticipate any time restricted travel for response? (outside of schedule training) No, we do not.

CLIN 0003 1

Is the the optional testimony CLIN 0003 for mandated testimony for cases adjudicated in the United States a daily rate or per case rate?

Per case rate

Section (c) Volume II, Factor 2 Past Performance, item #6

pg. 30

I wanted to reach out to you with questions about the attachment numbering, which appears to be a mismatch with the submission instructions.

• On the second to last page of the RFQ in section (c) Volume II, Factor 2 Past Performance, item #6, it says that “Attachment 2, FAR 52.212-3 shall be completed and submitted as part of the response.” However, in the supplemental documents, FAR 52.212-3 is labeled as attachment 1 and while the CLIN Quote Pricing Worksheet is labeled as attachment 2.

o Is it correct that we should submit FAR 52.212-3 and not the CLIN Quote Pricing worksheet?

Section (c ) Volume II, Factor 2 Past Performance, item #6 has been updated to read, "Attachment 1." See Amendment 001 Attachment 2, Amended RFQ

You should submit submit Attachment 1, FAR 52.212-3 as part of Volume II, if applicable. Refer to RFQ instructions under Section 17.5.1 of the RFQ.

You should submit Attachment 2: CLIN Quote Pricing Worksheet as part of Volume III

Section (d) (d) Volume III, Factor 3 Price item #4

pg. 30 In section (d) (d) Volume III, Factor 3 Price, it asks us to submit “Attachment 4: Domestic Vendor Request Form.” However, the Domestic Vendor Request Form is Attachment 3 in the supplemental documents, while the “Industry Questions and Responses” is labeled as Attachment 4.

Are we to assume that the Domestic Vendor Request Form is the correct document to submit here?

Section 17.5.2 (d) Volume III, Factor 3 Price, Domestic Vendor request form has been updated to read, "Attachment 3." See Amendment 001 Attachment 2, Amended RFQ

You should submit Attachment 2: CLIN Quote Pricing Worksheet and Attachment 3:

Domestic Vendor request form as part of Volume III

N/A Finally, I was also wondering when we could expect to receive a response to the Industry Questions and Responses document that we submitted?

Please see Amendment 001, Attachment 1, Industry Questions and Responses which has been posted to SAM.gov under the existing RFQ notice.

N/A Will the release date impact the final quote submission timeline of Wednesday, 4/5/23 at

1200EST?

The deadline for quotes in response to this RFQ has been extended to:

Please see Amendment 001

RFQ Section 17.5.2 (a) Basis for Award pg. 29 According to the FAR 13.003, Sec C - Simplified Acquisition Procedures if the award amount exceeds $250k or $7.5million - Can you clarify which simplified acquisition threshold is being used?

Please refer to Section 17.5.2 (a) Basis for award. The evaluation of the quote(s) received shall be on the basis of FAR part 13. In accordance with FAR 13.106(a)(2)(ii), quotes received from this solicitation will be evaluated based upon the best-value continuum.

RFQ Section 18 Attachments While reviewing the Peace Corps RFA (attached) I notice a number of attachments listed on the last page:

SECTION 18 – APPENDICES OR ATTACHMENTS

Attachment 1 – FAR 52.212-3 Attachment 2 – CLIN Quote Pricing Worksheet Attachment 3 – Domestic Vendor Request Form Attachment 4 – Industry Questions and Responses Attachment 5 – PWS Attachment 1, Peace Corps MS-243-Procedures

Do you know where we can get a copy?

The attachments are provided under the attachments section of the RFQ posting in SAM.gov. Each attachment has its own file.

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