GS35F362CA-001.pdf

1. Contracting Activity:

Control Number: TAC-18-50811

LIMITED SOURCES JUSTIFICATION

Department of Veterans Affairs 01 A) Office of Acquisition Operations Technology Acquisition Center 1701 Directors Blvd Austin , TX 78744

2. Description of Action : The proposed action is for the award of a firm-fixed price (FFP) contract under the General Services Administration (GSA) Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) GS-35F-362CA (SKU#PRAEDICO024) from Bitscopic, Inc. for continued licensing and maintenance of Praedico Analytics Platform software.

3. Description of the Supplies or Services: The Public Health Surveillance and Research (PHSR), Quality, Safety, Value (QSV), conducts public health surveillance and research within the Department of Veterans Affairs 0/A). PHSR requires the renewal purchase of twelve months of one each Praedico Analytics Platform Limited Site edition software. With this software, PHSR is able to carry out lookbacks, outbreak investigations, and epidemiologic investigations on a daily basis with speed , accuracy and efficiency. The ability to build , modify, and save queries, and to share public health surveillance data among PHSR staff saves time and allows PHSR Epidemiologists to devote time to drilling down into critical chart reviews and other important data gathering aspects of the investigation. The period of performance for this effort will consist of 12 months. The total estimated value of the proposed action is

4. Statutory Authority: This acquisition is conducted under the authority of the Multiple Award Schedule Program. The specific authority providing for a limited source award is Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 8.405-6(a)(1)(i)(B) , "Only One source is capable of providing the Supplies or Services required at the level of quality required because the supplies or services are unique or highly specialized."

5. Rationale Supporting Use of Authority Cited Above: The proposed source for this action is Bitscopic, Inc. 585 Broadway Street, Redwood City, CA. Praedico Analytics Platform Limited Site Edition is a proprietary system of Bitscopic, Inc. no other company would be permitted to work on adaptation of the Praedico Analytics Platform Limited Site Edition for VA. The original purchase of the software was made after an exhaustive search of the industry.

VA technical experts determined that the Praedico Analytics Platform Limited Site Edition (Bitscopic, Inc.) is the only system that meets VA data and architecture requirements as follows: (a) Establishing and maintaining the VA network connectivity needs; (b) Integrating & complying with SSL certs and VA Security standards; (c) Section 508 Compliance (system access to Federal Employees with disabil ity; (d) Compatiblity with VistA data interfaces, and (e) Compatible with the VA Site Tracking 0/AST) system to support geospatial functionalities . In addition VA technical experts determined that only Praedico Analytics Platform Limited Site Edition has the ability to be adapted specifically for the functionality required by the VA, has integrated

Praedico Analytics Platform Limited Site Edition Software

Control Number TAC-18-50811 geospatial mapping and sophisticated graphing capabilities , and can be scaled to accept the volume and various types of data the VA wishes to consume. :

6. Efforts to Obtain Competition : Market research was conducted , details of which are in the market research section of this document. This effort did not yield any additional sources that can meet the Government's requirements. It was determined that Bitscopic, Inc. is the only provider of Praedico Analytics Platform software and maintenance. No other sources have access to the software code necessary to perform technical support or upgrades. There is no competition anticipated for th is acquisition.

TAC-Austin will post the justification along with the Request For Quotation toe-Buy in accordance with FAR 8.405-6(b)(3)). In accordance with FAR 5.301 and 8.405-6(a)(2) , this action will be synopsized at award on the Federal Business Opportunities Page (FBO) and the justification will be made publicly available.

7. Actions to Increase Competition: 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 .

8. Market Research: VA technical experts have been conducting on-going market research since February 2014 through the present. Most of the similar products available are produced by other Government Agencies or Educational institutions. The only private company found to be similar is . All of the products were reviewed. VA technical experts determined that the other products have one or more of the following limitations: (1) were built or designed for local/state health jurisdictions and are not available for purchase by outside agencies; (2) cannot be modified or scaled to accommodate the volume and diversity of health data that the VA has available nationally; (3).do not contain all the functionality that VA wishes to house within a single biosurveillance application ; (4) do not utilize statistical algorithms that are customizable for the nuances of Veteran data (e.g. , VA data contain very little pediatric data unlike other systems); and/or (5) do not utilize ICD-10-CM/PCS codes for which HHS is requiring implementation to replace the existing ICD-9 system on October 1, 2014 by final rule CMS-0040-F issued on September 5, 2012.

In addition, The Contract Specialist issued a Request for Information (RFI) with a draft Product description on May 16, 2018 to open market contractors through Federal Business Opportunities, National Aeronautics and Space Administration Solutions for Enterprise-Wide Procurement Governmentwide Acquisition Contract, and General Services Administration Federal Supply via the General Services Administration 's e-Buy tool to ascertain the ability of any other source to provide an alternate product. The intent of the RFI was to ascertain if any other brand name products could meet VA's needs. The RFI included language to secure participation of small business, small disadvantaged business, service-disabled Veteran-owned small business (SDVOSB), Veteran-owned small business (VOSS} , women-owned small business, and HubZone small business concerns. Responses to the RFI from all ·venues were due on May 23, 2018. No responses were received .

Praedico Analytics Platform Limited Site Edition Software

9. Other Facts: N/A

Control Number TAC-18-50811

10. Technical and Requirements Certification: I certify that the supporting data under my cognizance, which are included in this justification, are accurate and

11 . Determination of Best Value: I hereby determine that the proposed contract action will represent the best value to the Government consistent with FAR 8.404(d). GSA has already determined that the prices on the FSS contract are fair and reasonable. Further price analysis will be conducted and subsequent negotiations held as necessary.

12. Procuring Contracting Officer Certification: I certify that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.