S06 - Attachment 01 - Final PD Acute Care Referral SaaS - 3-3-21v.2.pdf

Web-based Post-Acute Care Referral Management System TAC Number: VA-20-00092540

Contents

1.0 PRODUCT REQUIREMENTS

1.1 SALIENT CHARACTERISTICS

1.2 ASSESSMENT, AUTHORIZATION, and CONTINUOUS MONITORING

2.0 NOTICE OF THE FEDERAL ACCESSIBILITY LAW AFFECTING ALL

INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY (ICT)

PROCUREMENTS (SECTION 508)

2.1 SECTION 508 – INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY (ICT)

STANDARDS

2.2 COMPATABILITY WITH ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY

2.3 ACCEPTANCE AND ACCEPTANCE TESTING

3.0 GENERAL REQUIREMENTS

3.1 SAFETY CODES / CERTIFICATIONS / LICENSING

3.2 HIPAA COMPLIANCE

3.3 ACCOUNTING OF DISCLOSURES

3.4 VA TECHNICAL REFERENCE MODEL

3.5 POSITION/TASK RISK DESIGNATION LEVEL(S)

ADDENDUM B – VA INFORMATION AND INFORMATION SYSTEM

SECURITY/PRIVACY LANGUAGE

1.0 PRODUCT REQUIREMENTS

Case Managers and Social Workers at the Department of VA, VISN 2 VA Medical Centers have a requirement for a web-based solution to help them collaborate with high quality available post-acute care providers, such as nursing homes and homecare agencies, etc., to reserve their services for patients transferring to the nursing homes or homecare agencies, and to track patient outcomes. Today, our case managers and social workers are responsible for finding these and other essential placements and services for about 40% of Veterans before they can discharge. Finding placement using available fax, e-fax and e-referral systems leads to delays and fails to consistently identify high quality providers for our Veterans. The Case Managers and Social Workers in VISN 2 want to implement a proven solution that optimizes referral workflows and task management, empowers Veteran choice, and incentivizes provider partners to avoid discharge delays, reduce the acute inpatient hospital Length of Stay (LOS), and deliver the “best available quality post-acute care to Veterans. This contract will have a 12-month base period and three 12-month option years.

Several firms provide e-fax and e-referral capabilities that enable online communication with partner providers but lack tools to implement, track and enforce a standardized placement process. VISN 2 does not need a solution that sends electronic referrals only.

VISN 2 requires a solution that enables a business process change that will reduce discharge delays, track progress of every referral for speed and accuracy, optimize patient choice for top quality available care, and incentivize partner provider collaboration. VISN 2 needs a vendor whose primary innovation is an optimized ‘open market’ approach to placements that is proven to reduce inpatient hospital LOS. An open market approach creates the dynamics where supply and demand are optimally aligned according to the established reputation and outcomes to allow collaboration between partner providers, staff and Veterans with post-acute care placement decisions.

The solution shall encourage staff to follow an ‘open market’ search of interested partners on every referral; automatically assigns deadlines and marks delayed tasks as overdue in real-time through every step of placement; generates advanced Veteran choice tools that highlight Medicare and real-time quality and satisfaction data for all available provider partners; and through patient and provider partner follow up and surveying, allows partner providers to establish their performance reputation against key criteria prioritized by VISN 2 leadership. VISN 2 Case Managers and Social Workers need a solution that features this integrated competitive model, allowing VISN 2 leadership to set consistent workflow task and deadline tracking, engage all eligible providers on a tech-agnostic platform (fax, email, text or online) and is designed to consistently identify all available options for Veterans while streamlining and expediting case manager responsibilities.

The required solution must monitor partner providers performance, based on their operational and clinical goals. These goals include, but are not limited to, Medicare quality, real time patient satisfaction and readmission data. This solution in turn helps Staff and Veterans with identifying and selecting high quality post-acute care placements. This solution also incorporates Veteran surveys to collect detailed information on how post-acute care partners are satisfying our Veterans’ needs in real-time, and automatically embeds that information back into the open market to be available to partners, patients and VISN 2 staff. This wholly integrated open market approach gives our staff a standardized, repeatable, measurable process and aligns our partner providers with our clinical and operational goals and incentivizes them to meet them consistently.

The Contractor shall provide a 12-month web-based post-acute care referral management system Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) Software as a Solution (SaaS) which shall comply with all salient characteristics detailed in section 1.1. The SaaS shall be available to the VISN 2 facilities identified in Table 1. The SaaS solution shall include software licenses for approximately 3,000 users, implementation (including installation, integration, configuration, testing, and deployment), as well as other professional services (as necessary), and training of VISN 2 users. The Contractor shall provide the following implementation services:

a. Provide current state analysis that begins with analysis of existing workflow variation, referral patterns and VA staff needs, and configure the SaaS to meet the workflow needs of each location. This analysis shall ensure a smooth path to go-live and inform VISN 2 staff training to be led by the vendor services team later.

b. Provide strategic goals development that includes introducing leadership to available metrics and reports relevant to the open market placement approach and, based on the current state analysis, help leadership develop operational and outcome goals for Case Managers and Social Workers.

c. Provide future state visualization of the open market approach that details how VA staff and workflows layer onto Contractor’s solutions. The Contractor shall guide leadership and staff through the future open market approach vision in every implementation meeting to ensure leaders are informed and knowledgeable of the future state.

d. Provide visual strategic roadmap that includes creating and managing a roadmap and work plan of all tasks, owners and key dates to transition to the future open market approach state. Road map to include specific provider outreach about the changes and benefits inherit to the open market placement approach.

e. On-site or virtual training before go-live, as well as continuously offer webinars and make available online training video resources. Training handouts and a web-based user manual shall be provided for each attendee. Virtual training and continuous webinars must also be available for partner providers on an ongoing basis.

f. Provide and staff a support desk to troubleshoot and resolve technical and user issues 24/7.

Table 1 - VISN 02 Facilities/Locations for the Web-based Post-Acute Care Referral Management System SaaS

VISN 02 Facility Name Address

James J. Peters VA Medical Center (VAMC) 130 West Kingsbridge Rd., Bronx, NY 10468

Albany VAMC: Samuel S. Stratton 113 Holland Ave., Albany, NY 12208

Finger Lakes Healthcare System (HCS)

Bath Campus:

76 Veterans Ave., Bath, NY 14810

Canandaigua Campus:

400 Fort Hill Ave., Canandaigua, NY 14424

Syracuse VAMC 800 Irving Ave., Syracuse, NY 13210

VA Western New York HCS 3495 Bailey Ave., Buffalo, NY 14215

VA New Jersey HCS

East Orange Campus:

385 Tremont Ave., East Orange, NJ 07018

Lyons Campus:

151 Knollcroft Rd., Lyons, NJ 07939

VA Hudson Valley HCS

Montrose Campus:

2094 Albany Post Rd., Montrose, NY 10548

Castle Point Campus:

41 Castle Point Rd., Wappingers Falls, NY 12590

VA New York Harbor HCS

Brooklyn Campus:

800 Poly Place, Brooklyn, NY 11209

Manhattan Campus:

423 E. 23 Street, New York, NY 10010

Northport VAMC

79 Middleville Rd., Northport, NY 11768

The Contractor shall make the SaaS available 99% of the time, 24 hours per day, seven days per week, 365 days per year to approximately 3,000 users. The outage or downtime percentage shall not be more than 1% of the time in any given 12-month period of performance. The Contractor shall manage all technical and user-based issues and provide VISN 2 access to the support desk for technical support and user support via phone 24/7. The Contractor shall respond to all requests for support within one hour of receipt of VISN 2 call or email for support, with resolution to any request within 24-hours.

The Contractor shall develop and maintain an effective Quality Control Plan (QCP) which details how they will monitor their work to ensure they are meeting all the requirements of the contract. The Contractor shall develop and implement procedures to identify, prevent, and ensure non-recurrence of defective services. The Contractor shall use the QCP to assure that their work complies with the requirements of the contract. The Contractor is expected to provide the Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) with quarterly QCP reports specific to VISN 2. The Contractor shall provide three current references, from different post-acute-care institutions, which demonstrate the effectiveness of their system in implementing the open market approach to placements, which includes data and/or case studies which validate performance metrics and inpatient hospital LOS reduction as compared to legacy e-referral and e-fax systems. The Contractor shall meet with Program Manager/COR every two weeks (on Friday) to discuss implementation status until implementation is completed and VISN 2 users are using the SaaS.

A technical kickoff meeting shall be held within 10 calendar days after contract award.

The Contractor shall coordinate the date, time, and location (can be virtual) with the Contracting Officer (CO), as the Post-Award Conference Chairperson, the VISN 2 PM, as well as the Co-Chairperson, the Contract Specialist (CS), and the COR. The Contractor shall provide a draft agenda to the CO and VA PM at least five (5) calendar days prior to the meeting. Upon Government approval of a final agenda, the Contractor shall distribute to all meeting attendees. During the kickoff-meeting, the Contractor shall present, for review and approval by the Government, the details of the proposed approach, work plan, and project schedule for the effort via a Microsoft Office PowerPoint presentation. At the conclusion of the meeting, the Contractor shall update the presentation with a final slide entitled “Summary Report” which shall include notes on any major issues, agreements, or disagreements discussed during the kickoff meeting and the following statement “As the Post-Award Conference Chairperson, I have reviewed the entirety of this presentation and assert that it is an accurate representation and summary of the discussions held during the Technical Kickoff Meeting for the Web-based Post-Acute Care Referral Management System SaaS.” The Contractor shall submit the final updated presentation to the CO for review and signature within three calendar days after the meeting. The Contractor shall also work with the CS, the Government’s designated note taker, to prepare and distribute the meeting minutes of the kickoff meeting to the CO, COR and all attendees within three calendar days after the meeting. The Contractor shall obtain concurrence from the CS on the content of the meeting minutes prior to distribution of the document.

Deliverables:

A. Training Materials B. User Manual C. Quality Control Plan D. Technical Kickoff Presentation

1.1 SALIENT CHARACTERISTICS

A. Salient Characteristics related to Urgent Needs to Respond to COVID-19:

1. The solution shall allow VISN 2 Staff to filter, to identity and easily and clearly communicate all Veteran and humanitarian patients’ COVID-19 status to post-acute providers. Available patient status filters and designations should include:

a. COVID-19 Possible Contact Exposure

b. COVID-19 Suspected – Presenting Signs and Symptoms

c. COVID-19 Tested Positive

d. COVID-19 Tested Negative

2. The solution shall enable post-acute providers to document their ability to care for COVID-19 patients and track their historic acceptance rates of COVID-19 patients.

This information must be available to VISN 2 staff and Veterans during the care transition.

3. The solution shall track the real-time status of all open market care transitions (highlighting COVID-19 patients in particular) enabling leadership to identify delays relative to VISN 2 leadership defined timing; and support staff when needed to create additional bed space to accommodate future surges in hospital bed need.

4. The solution shall provide VISN leadership with a summary of all post-acute providers’ COVID-19 acceptance rates and capabilities

5. The solution shall support for real-time modifications to patient status filters and indicators and reporting to quickly accommodate new findings related to COVID- 19 patients and all future infectious disease challenges

B. All Other Salient Characteristics:

1. The solution shall be web-based

2. The solution shall operate on Internet Explorer, Firefox and Chrome

3. The solution shall support open market referrals to:

a. Long Term Care Acute Hospitals

b. Inpatient Rehab Hospitals

c. Skilled Nursing Facilities

d. Certified Home Health Agencies

e. Adult Day Healthcare

f. Long Stay Dementia Care

g. Assisted Living

h. Hospice Agencies

i. Infusion Providers

j. Private Duty Nursing Agencies

k. Outpatient Dialysis Centers

l. Psychiatric Facilities

m. Durable Medical Equipment

n. Drug and Alcohol Rehab Centers

o. Homeless Housing

p. Ambulance Transportation

4. The solution shall support direct referrals to single providers via online or fax

5. The solution shall support the open market referral workflow to allow staff to initiate automatically timed and tracked placements from search to reservation via online or fax

6. The solution shall generate through the open market approach Veteran-specific real-time custom patient choice list that outline all their available options with real-time and Medicare-collected quality, satisfaction and operational data available

7. The solution shall provide standardized open market workflows that allow staff to set, track and expedite response deadlines, track patient choice timing, and one-click reserve care or services with partners and notify non-selected partners

8. The solution shall provide detailed task management for every step in the open market placement process, and overdue status and workflow optimization reporting at the individual user, care unit, campus or system-wide view

9. The solution shall track partner providers who meet VISN 2 defined standards for quality outcomes, satisfaction scores, and operational metrics. This data shall be visible to partner providers, Case Managers, Social Workers and VISN 2 leadership

10. The solution shall collect and publish Veteran feedback on their post-acute partners and make such data available to Case Managers, Social Workers and VISN 2 leadership

11. The solution shall allow universal free secure access to partner providers via online or fax

12. The solution shall include network management suite with full administrative and team management privileges

13. The solution shall allow Case Management and Social Work leadership to set and monitor operational goals essential to implementing the open market approach (example goal metrics below):

a. Success rate in finding an available provider for a Veteran in first open market search

b. Average number of providers contacted with referrals

c. Average number of providers offering care to Veterans

d. Availability, decline rates and performance for providers

e. Average number of key criteria met by providers offering care to Veterans

f. Percentage of Veterans choosing top quality available provider

g. Number of delayed discharges by number of providers invited to the open market

h. Overdue task to on-time task ratio for hospital staff

i. Overdue task to on-time task ratio for provider staff

j. Readmission rate from post-acute care partners

k. Staff compliance with referral distribution to all appropriate eligible partners

l. Staff compliance with Patient Choice requirements

m. Staff utilization and daily referral volumes

14. The solution shall include these reports:

a. Capacity Management report highlighting COVID patient referrals and real-time view of avoidable delays for every step of the open market placement process

b. Provider reporting with provider denial codes, on-time response rates, volumes, and rewards denoting clinical, operational and satisfaction scores

c. Team report outlining team and individual performance on core metrics and utilization of the open market approach

d. Referral report with full referral details and detailed Veteran Choice patterns and feedback

e. Provider reporting of open market referral funnel volumes, win rates, and performance against key criteria

1.2 ASSESSMENT, AUTHORIZATION, AND CONTINUOUS MONITORING

1. The information system solution selected by the Contractor shall comply with the Federal Information Security Management Act.

2. The Contractor shall comply with Federal Risk and Authorization

Management Program (FedRAMP) requirements as mandated by Federal laws and policies, including making available any documentation, physical access, and logical access needed to support this requirement.

3. Following guidance from the Federal Chief Information Officer, VA will utilize existing Joint Authorization Board Authority to Operate (ATO) or agency ATO issued by another agency as a starting point for FedRAMP requirements. If neither of those exist, VA will sponsor FedRAMP ATO. VA will be using the FedRAMP baselines as a starting point, since they are specifically tailored for cloud services.

4. The Contractor shall, where applicable, assist with the VA ATO Process to help achieve agency authorization of the cloud service or migrated application.

5. The Contractor shall complete a FedRAMP System Security Plan (SSP) and supporting documentation within 30 calendar days after contract award.

6. The Contractor shall complete a Third-Party Assessment Organization (3PAO) Security Assessment Plan (SAP) within 75 calendar days after contract award.

7. The Contractor shall complete a 3PAO Security Assessment Report (SAR) within 90 calendar days after contract award.

8. The Contractor shall afford VA access to the Contractor’s and Cloud Service Provider’s facilities, installations, technical capabilities, operations, documentation, records, and databases.

9. If new or unanticipated threats or hazards are discovered by either VA or the Contractor, or if existing safeguards have ceased to function, the discoverer shall immediately bring the situation to the attention of the other party in accordance with the security addendum B.

10. The Contractor shall not release any data without the consent of VA in writing. All requests for release must be submitted in writing to the Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR)/Contracting Officer (CO).

11. For live VA data to be used in this system, a FedRAMP Authorization and Agency ATO will be required.

Deliverables:

A. FedRAMP System Security Plan (SSP) and supporting documentation B. 3PAO Security Assessment Plan (SAP C. 3PAO Security Assessment Report (SAR)

2.0 NOTICE OF THE FEDERAL ACCESSIBILITY LAW AFFECTING ALL

INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY (ICT)

PROCUREMENTS (SECTION 508)

On January 18, 2017, the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board (Access Board) revised and updated, in a single rulemaking, standards for electronic and information technology developed, procured, maintained, or used by Federal agencies covered by Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as well as our guidelines for telecommunications equipment and customer premises equipment covered by Section 255 of the Communications Act of 1934. The revisions and updates to the Section 508-based standards and Section 255-based guidelines are intended to ensure that information and communication technology (ICT) covered by the respective statutes is accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities.

2.1 SECTION 508 – INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY (ICT)

STANDARDS

The Section 508 standards established by the Access Board are incorporated into, and made part of all VA orders, solicitations and purchase orders developed to procure ICT.

These standards are found in their entirety at: https://www.access-board.gov/guidelines-and-standards/communications-and-it/about-the-ict-refresh/final-rule/text-of-the-standards-and-guidelines. A printed copy of the standards will be supplied upon request.

Federal agencies must comply with the updated Section 508 Standards beginning on January 18, 2018. The Final Rule as published in the Federal Register is available from the Access Board: https://www.access-board.gov/guidelines-and-standards/communications-and-it/about-the-ict-refresh/final-rule.

The Contractor shall comply with “508 Chapter 2: Scoping Requirements” for all electronic ICT and content delivered under this contract. Specifically, as appropriate for the technology and its functionality, the Contractor shall comply with the technical standards marked here:

E205 Electronic Content – (Accessibility Standard -WCAG 2.0 Level A and AA Guidelines)

E204 Functional Performance Criteria E206 Hardware Requirements

E207 Software Requirements E208 Support Documentation and Services Requirements

2.2 COMPATABILITY WITH ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY

The standards do not require installation of specific accessibility-related software or attachment of an assistive technology device. Section 508 requires that ICT be compatible with such software and devices so that ICT can be accessible to and usable by individuals using assistive technology, including but not limited to screen readers, screen magnifiers, and speech recognition software.

2.3 ACCEPTANCE AND ACCEPTANCE TESTING

Deliverables resulting from this solicitation will be accepted based in part on satisfaction of the Section 508 Chapter 2: Scoping Requirements standards identified above.

The Government reserves the right to test for Section 508 Compliance before delivery.

The Contractor shall be able to demonstrate Section 508 Compliance upon Deliverables resulting from this solicitation will be accepted based in part on satisfaction of the Section 508 Chapter 2: Scoping Requirements standards identified above.

The Government reserves the right to test for Section 508 Compliance before delivery.

The Contractor shall be able to demonstrate Section 508 Compliance upon delivery.

3.0 GENERAL REQUIREMENTS

3.1 SAFETY CODES / CERTIFICATIONS / LICENSING

Contractor personnel performing the required work under this contract shall not be considered Government employees.

3.2 HIPAA COMPLIANCE

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) compliance is required. The Contractor must adhere to the provisions of Public Law 104-191, HIPAA of 1996 and the National Standards to Protect the Privacy and Security of Protected Health Information (PHI). As required by HIPAA, the Department of Health and Human Services has promulgated rules governing the security and use and disclosure of protected health information by covered entities, including the Department of VA. In accordance with HIPAA, the Contractor will enter into a Business Associate Agreement with VA.

3.3 ACCOUNTING OF DISCLOSURES

The Contractor shall:

• Within five business days of a written request from Covered Entity, make available information for Covered Entity to respond to an Individual’s request for access to PHI about him/her.

• Make available information for Covered Entity to respond to an Individual’s request for amendment of PHI about him/her and, as determined by and under the direction of Covered Entity, incorporate any amendment to the PHI.

• Make available PHI for Covered Entity to respond to an Individual’s request for an accounting of Disclosures of PHI about him/her. Business Associate may not take any action concerning an individual’s request for access, amendment, or accounting other than as instructed by Covered Entity.

3.4 VA TECHNICAL REFERENCE MODEL

The Contractor shall support the VA enterprise management framework. In association with the framework, the Contractor shall comply with OI&T Technical Reference Model (VA TRM). The VA TRM is one component within the overall Enterprise Architecture (EA) that establishes a common vocabulary and structure for describing the information technology used to develop, operate, and maintain enterprise applications. Moreover, the VA TRM, which includes the Standards Profile and Product List, serves as a technology roadmap and tool for supporting OI&T. Architecture & Engineering Services has overall responsibility for the VA TRM.

3.5 POSITION/TASK RISK DESIGNATION LEVEL(S)

In accordance with VA Handbook 0710, Personnel Security and Suitability Program, the position sensitivity and the level of background investigation commensurate with the required level of access for the following tasks within the PWS are:

Position Sensitivity and Background Investigation Requirements by Service Task/Item Number

Service Task/ Item Number

Tier1 / Low Risk Tier 2 / Moderate Risk

Tier 4 / High Risk

1.0 1.1 1.2

The Tasks identified above, and the resulting Position Sensitivity and Background Investigation requirements identify, in effect, the Background Investigation requirements for Contractor individuals, based upon the tasks the particular Contractor individual will be working. The submitted Contractor Staff Roster must indicate the required Background Investigation Level for each Contractor individual based upon the tasks the Contractor individual will be working, in accordance with their submitted proposal.

Deliverable:

A. Contractor Staff Roster

INFORMATION SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS:

The Assessment and Authorization (A&A) requirements do not apply and a Security Accreditation Package is not required

All VA sensitive information shall be protected at all times in accordance with local security field office System Security Plans (SSP’s) and Authority to Operate (ATO)’s for all systems/LAN’s accessed while performing the tasks detailed in this Product Description.

A prohibition on unauthorized disclosure: “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).

A requirement for data breach notification: Upon discovery of any known or suspected security/privacy incidents, or any unauthorized disclosure of sensitive information, including that contained in system(s) to which the Contractor/Subcontractor has access, the Contractor/Subcontractor shall immediately notify the COR and simultaneously, the designated ISO, and Privacy Officer for the contract. The term “security incident” means an event that has, or could have, resulted in unauthorized access to, loss or damage to VA assets, or sensitive information, or an action that breaches VA security procedures. See VA Handbook 6500.6, Appendix C, paragraph 6.a.

A requirement to pay liquidated damages in the event of a data breach: “In the event of a data breach or privacy incident involving SPI the contractor processes or maintains under this contract, the contractor shall be liable to VA for liquidated damages for a specified amount per affected individual to cover the cost of providing credit protection services to those individuals.” However, it is the policy of VA to forgo collection of liquidated damages in the event the Contractor provides payment of actual damages in an amount determined to be adequate by the agency.

Based on the determinations of the independent risk analysis, the Contractor shall be responsible for paying to VA liquidated damages in the amount of $37.50 per affected individual to cover the cost of providing credit protection services to affected individuals consisting of the following:

1) Notification;

2) One year of credit monitoring services consisting of automatic daily monitoring of at least 3 relevant credit bureau reports;

3) Data breach analysis;

4) Fraud resolution services, including writing dispute letters, initiating fraud alerts and credit freezes, to assist affected individuals to bring matters to resolution;

5) One year of identity theft insurance with $20,000.00 coverage at $0 deductible;

and

6) Necessary legal expenses the subjects may incur to repair falsified or damaged credit records, histories, or financial affairs

A requirement for annual security/privacy awareness training: “Before being granted access to VA information or information systems, all Contractor employees and Subcontractor employees requiring such access shall complete on an annual basis either: (i) the VA security/privacy awareness training (contains VA security/privacy requirements) within 1 week of the initiation of the contract, or (ii) security awareness training provided or arranged by the contractor that conforms to VA’s security/privacy requirements as delineated in the hard copy of the VA security awareness training provided to the Contractor. If the Contractor provides their own training that conforms to VA’s requirements, they will provide the COR or CO, a yearly report (due annually on the date of the contract initiation) stating that all applicable employees involved in VA’s contract have received their annual security/privacy training that meets VA’s requirements and the total number of employees trained. See VA Handbook 6500.6, Appendix C, paragraph 9.

A requirement to sign VA’s Rules of Behavior: “Before being granted access to VA information or information systems, all Contractor employees and Subcontractor employees requiring such access shall sign on annual basis an acknowledgement that they have read, understand, and agree to abide by VA’s Contractor Rules of Behavior which is attached to this contract.” See VA Handbook 6500.6, Appendix C, paragraph 9, and Appendix D. Note: If a medical device vendor anticipates that the services under the contract will be performed by 10 or more individuals, the Contractor Rules of Behavior may be signed by the vendor’s designated representative. The contract must reflect by signing the Rules of Behavior on behalf of the vendor that the designated representative agrees to ensure that all such individuals review and understand the Contractor Rules of Behavior when accessing VA’s information and information systems.

ADDENDUM B – VA INFORMATION AND INFORMATION SYSTEM

SECURITY/PRIVACY LANGUAGE

APPLICABLE PARAGRAPHS TAILORED FROM: THE VA INFORMATION AND

INFORMATION SYSTEM SECURITY/PRIVACY LANGUAGE, VA HANDBOOK 6500.6,

APPENDIX C, MARCH 12, 2010

B1. GENERAL

Contractors, Contractor personnel, Subcontractors, and Subcontractor personnel shall be subject to the same Federal laws, regulations, standards, and VA Directives and Handbooks as VA and VA personnel regarding information and information system security.

B2. ACCESS TO VA INFORMATION AND VA INFORMATION SYSTEMS

Before being granted access to VA information or information systems, all Contractor employees and Subcontractor employees requiring such access shall sign on annual basis an acknowledgement that they have read, understand, and agree to abide by VA’s Contractor Rules of Behavior which is attached to this contract.” See VA Handbook 6500.6, Appendix C, paragraph 9, and Appendix D. Note: If a medical device vendor anticipates that the services under the contract will be performed by 10 or more individuals, the Contractor Rules of Behavior may be signed by the vendor’s designated representative. The contract must reflect by signing the Rules of Behavior on behalf of the vendor that the designated representative agrees to ensure that all such individuals review and understand the Contractor Rules of Behavior when accessing VA’s information and information systems.

B3. VA INFORMATION CUSTODIAL LANGUAGE

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).

B4. INFORMATION SYSTEM DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT

Not applicable.

B5. INFORMATION SYSTEM HOSTING, OPERATION, MAINTENANCE, OR USE

Not applicable.

B6. SECURITY INCIDENT INVESTIGATION

Upon discovery of any known or suspected security/privacy incidents, or any unauthorized disclosure of sensitive information, including that contained in a system(s) to which the Contractor has access, the Contractor shall immediately notify the COR and simultaneously, the designated ISSO and Privacy Officer for the contract. The term “security incident” means an event that has, or could have, resulted in unauthorized access to, loss or damage to VA assets, or sensitive information, or an action that breaches VA security procedures. See VA Handbook 6500.6, Appendix C, paragraph 6.a.

B7. LIQUIDATED DAMAGES FOR DATA BREACH

In the event of a data breach or privacy incident involving SPI/PII/PHI which the Contractor processes or maintains under this contract, the Contractor shall be liable to VA for liquidated damages for a specified amount per affected individual to cover the cost of providing credit protection services to those individuals. However, it is the policy of VA to forgo collection of liquidated damages in the event the Contractor provides payment of actual damages in an amount determined to be adequate by the agency.

Based on the determinations of the independent risk analysis, the Contractor shall be responsible for paying to VA liquidated damages in the amount of $37.50 per affected individual to cover the cost of providing credit protection services to affected individuals consisting of the following:

1) Notification;

2) One year of credit monitoring services consisting of automatic daily monitoring of at least 3 relevant credit bureau reports;

3) Data breach analysis;

4) Fraud resolution services, including writing dispute letters, initiating fraud alerts and credit freezes, to assist affected individuals to bring matters to resolution;

5) One year of identity theft insurance with $20,000.00 coverage at $0 deductible;

and

6) Necessary legal expenses the subjects may incur to repair falsified or damaged credit records, histories, or financial affairs.

B8. SECURITY CONTROLS COMPLIANCE TESTING

Not applicable.

B9. TRAINING

Before being granted access to VA information or information systems, all Contractor employees and Subcontractor employees requiring such access shall complete on an annual basis either: (i) the VA security/privacy awareness training (contains VA security/privacy requirements) within 1 week of the initiation of the contract, or (ii) security awareness training provided or arranged by the contractor that conforms to VA’s security/privacy requirements as delineated in the hard copy of the VA security awareness training provided to the Contractor. If the Contractor provides their own training that conforms to VA’s requirements, they will provide the COR or CO, a yearly report (due annually on the date of the contract initiation) stating that all applicable employees involved in VA’s contract have received their annual security/privacy training that meets VA’s requirements and the total number of employees trained. See VA Handbook 6500.6, Appendix C, paragraph 9.