Attachment E Solicitation Provisions Rev.docx

36C10G20Q0003

?.## ATTACHMENT E SOLICITATION PROVISIONS

E.1 52.209-5 CERTIFICATION REGARDING RESPONSIBILITY MATTERS (OCT 2015)

(a)(1) The Offeror certifies, to the best of its knowledge and belief, that—

(i) The Offeror and/or any of its Principals—

(A) Are [ ] are not [ ] presently debarred, suspended, proposed for debarment, or declared ineligible for the award of contracts by any Federal agency;

(B) Have [ ] have not [ ], within a three-year period preceding this offer, been convicted of or had a civil judgment rendered against them for: commission of fraud or a criminal offense in connection with obtaining, attempting to obtain, or performing a public (Federal, State, or local) contract or subcontract; violation of Federal or State antitrust statutes relating to the submission of offers; or commission of embezzlement, theft, forgery, bribery, falsification or destruction of records, making false statements, tax evasion, violating Federal criminal tax laws, or receiving stolen property (if offeror checks "have," the offeror shall also see 52.209-7, if included in this solicitation);

(C) Are [ ] are not [ ] presently indicted for, or otherwise criminally or civilly charged by a governmental entity with, commission of any of the offenses enumerated in subdivision (a)(1)(i)(B) of this provision; and

(D) Have [ ], have not [ ], within a three-year period preceding this offer, been notified of any delinquent Federal taxes in an amount that exceeds $3,500 for which the liability remains unsatisfied.

(1) Federal taxes are considered delinquent if both of the following criteria apply:

(i) The tax liability is finally determined. The liability is finally determined if it has been assessed. A liability is not finally determined if there is a pending administrative or judicial challenge. In the case of a judicial challenge to the liability, the liability is not finally determined until all judicial appeal rights have been exhausted.

(ii) The taxpayer is delinquent in making payment. A taxpayer is delinquent if the taxpayer has failed to pay the tax liability when full payment was due and required. A taxpayer is not delinquent in cases where enforced collection action is precluded.

(2) Examples.

(i) The taxpayer has received a statutory notice of deficiency, under I.R.C. Sec. 6212, which entitles the taxpayer to seek Tax Court review of a proposed tax deficiency. This is not a delinquent tax because it is not a final tax liability. Should the taxpayer seek Tax Court review, this will not be a final tax liability until the taxpayer has exercised all judicial appeal rights.

(ii) The IRS has filed a notice of Federal tax lien with respect to an assessed tax liability, and the taxpayer has been issued a notice under I.R.C. Sec. 6320 entitling the taxpayer to request a hearing with the IRS Office of Appeals contesting the lien filing, and to further appeal to the Tax Court if the IRS determines to sustain the lien filing. In the course of the hearing, the taxpayer is entitled to contest the underlying tax liability because the taxpayer has had no prior opportunity to contest the liability. This is not a delinquent tax because it is not a final tax liability. Should the taxpayer seek tax court review, this will not be a final tax liability until the taxpayer has exercised all judicial appeal rights.

(iii) The taxpayer has entered into an installment agreement pursuant to I.R.C. Sec. 6159. The taxpayer is making timely payments and is in full compliance with the agreement terms. The taxpayer is not delinquent because the taxpayer is not currently required to make full payment.

(iv) The taxpayer has filed for bankruptcy protection. The taxpayer is not delinquent because enforced collection action is stayed under 11 U.S.C. 362 (the Bankruptcy Code).

(ii) The Offeror has [ ] has not [ ], within a 3-year period preceding this offer, had one or more contracts terminated for default by any Federal agency.

(2) Principal, for the purposes of this certification, means an officer, director, owner, partner, or a person having primary management or supervisory responsibilities within a business entity (e.g., general manager; plant manager; head of a division or business segment; and similar positions).

THIS CERTIFICATION CONCERNS A MATTER WITHIN THE JURISDICTION OF AN AGENCY OF THE UNITED STATES AND THE MAKING OF A FALSE, FICTITIOUS, OR FRAUDULENT CERTIFICATION MAY RENDER THE MAKER SUBJECT TO PROSECUTION UNDER SECTION 1001, TITLE 18, UNITED STATES CODE.

(b) The Offeror shall provide immediate written notice to the Contracting Officer if, at any time prior to contract award, the Offeror learns that its certification was erroneous when submitted or has become erroneous by reason of changed circumstances.

(c) A certification that any of the items in paragraph (a) of this provision exists will not necessarily result in withholding of an award under this solicitation. However, the certification will be considered in connection with a determination of the Offeror's responsibility. Failure of the Offeror to furnish a certification or provide such additional information as requested by the Contracting Officer may render the Offeror non-responsible.

(d) Nothing contained in the foregoing shall be construed to require establishment of a system of records in order to render, in good faith, the certification required by paragraph (a) of this provision. The knowledge and information of an Offeror is not required to exceed that which is normally possessed by a prudent person in the ordinary course of business dealings.

(e) The certification in paragraph (a) of this provision is a material representation of fact upon which reliance was placed when making award. If it is later determined that the Offeror knowingly rendered an erroneous certification, in addition to other remedies available to the Government, the Contracting Officer may terminate the contract resulting from this solicitation for default.

(End of Provision)

E.2 52.209-7 INFORMATION REGARDING RESPONSIBILITY MATTERS (OCT 2018)

(a) Definitions. As used in this provision— "Administrative proceeding" means a non-judicial process that is adjudicatory in nature in order to make a determination of fault or liability (e.g., Securities and Exchange Commission Administrative Proceedings, Civilian Board of Contract Appeals Proceedings, and Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals Proceedings). This includes administrative proceedings at the Federal and State level but only in connection with performance of a Federal contract or grant. It does not include agency actions such as contract audits, site visits, corrective plans, or inspection of deliverables.

"Federal contracts and grants with total value greater than $10,000,000" means—

(1) The total value of all current, active contracts and grants, including all priced options; and

(2) The total value of all current, active orders including all priced options under indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity, 8(a), or requirements contracts (including task and delivery and multiple-award Schedules).

"Principal" means an officer, director, owner, partner, or a person having primary management or supervisory responsibilities within a business entity (e.g., general manager; plant manager; head of a division or business segment; and similar positions).

(b) The offeror [ ] has [ ] does not have current active Federal contracts and grants with total value greater than $10,000,000.

(c) If the offeror checked "has" in paragraph (b) of this provision, the offeror represents, by submission of this offer, that the information it has entered in the Federal Awardee Performance and Integrity Information System (FAPIIS) is current, accurate, and complete as of the date of submission of this offer with regard to the following information:

(1) Whether the offeror, and/or any of its principals, has or has not, within the last five years, in connection with the award to or performance by the offeror of a Federal contract or grant, been the subject of a proceeding, at the Federal or State level that resulted in any of the following dispositions:

(i) In a criminal proceeding, a conviction.

(ii) In a civil proceeding, a finding of fault and liability that results in the payment of a monetary fine, penalty, reimbursement, restitution, or damages of $5,000 or more.

(iii) In an administrative proceeding, a finding of fault and liability that results in—

(A) The payment of a monetary fine or penalty of $5,000 or more; or

(B) The payment of a reimbursement, restitution, or damages in excess of $100,000.

(iv) In a criminal, civil, or administrative proceeding, a disposition of the matter by consent or compromise with an acknowledgment of fault by the Contractor if the proceeding could have led to any of the outcomes specified in paragraphs (c)(1)(i), (c)(1)(ii), or (c)(1)(iii) of this provision.

(2) If the offeror has been involved in the last five years in any of the occurrences listed in (c)(1) of this provision, whether the offeror has provided the requested information with regard to each occurrence.

(d) The offeror shall post the information in paragraphs (c)(1)(i) through (c)(1)(iv) of this provision in FAPIIS as required through maintaining an active registration in the System for Award Management, which can be accessed via https://www.sam.gov (see 52.204-7).

(End of Provision)

E.3 52.212-1 INSTRUCTIONS TO OFFERORS—COMMERCIAL ITEMS (MAR 2020)

(a) North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code and small business size standard. The NAICS code and small business size standard for this acquisition appear in Block 10 of the solicitation cover sheet (SF 1449). However, the small business size standard for a concern which submits an offer in its own name, but which proposes to furnish an item which it did not itself manufacture, is 500 employees.

(b) Submission of offers. Submit signed and dated offers to the office specified in this solicitation at or before the exact time specified in this solicitation. Offers may be submitted on the SF 1449, letterhead stationery, or as otherwise specified in the solicitation. As a minimum, offers must show—

(1) The solicitation number;

(2) The time specified in the solicitation for receipt of offers;

(3) The name, address, and telephone number of the offeror;

(4) A technical description of the items being offered in sufficient detail to evaluate compliance with the requirements in the solicitation. This may include product literature, or other documents, if necessary;

(5) Terms of any express warranty;

(6) Price and any discount terms;

(7) "Remit to" address, if different than mailing address;

(8) A completed copy of the representations and certifications at FAR 52.212-3 (see FAR 52.212-3(b) for those representations and certifications that the offeror shall complete electronically);

(9) Acknowledgment of Solicitation Amendments;

(10) Past performance information, when included as an evaluation factor, to include recent and relevant contracts for the same or similar items and other references (including contract numbers, points of contact with telephone numbers and other relevant information); and

(11) If the offer is not submitted on the SF 1449, include a statement specifying the extent of agreement with all terms, conditions, and provisions included in the solicitation. Offers that fail to furnish required representations or information, or reject the terms and conditions of the solicitation may be excluded from consideration.

(c) Period for acceptance of offers. The offeror agrees to hold the prices in its offer firm for 30 calendar days from the date specified for receipt of offers, unless another time period is specified in an addendum to the solicitation.

(d) Product samples. When required by the solicitation, product samples shall be submitted at or prior to the time specified for receipt of offers. Unless otherwise specified in this solicitation, these samples shall be submitted at no expense to the Government, and returned at the sender's request and expense, unless they are destroyed during preaward testing.

(e) Multiple offers. Offerors are encouraged to submit multiple offers presenting alternative terms and conditions, including alternative line items (provided that the alternative line items are consistent with subpart 4.10 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation), or alternative commercial items for satisfying the requirements of this solicitation. Each offer submitted will be evaluated separately.

(f) Late submissions, modifications, revisions, and withdrawals of offers.

(1) Offerors are responsible for submitting offers, and any modifications, revisions, or withdrawals, so as to reach the Government office designated in the solicitation by the time specified in the solicitation. If no time is specified in the solicitation, the time for receipt is 4:30 p.m., local time, for the designated Government office on the date that offers or revisions are due.

(2)(i) Any offer, modification, revision, or withdrawal of an offer received at the Government office designated in the solicitation after the exact time specified for receipt of offers is "late" and will not be considered unless it is received before award is made, the Contracting Officer determines that accepting the late offer would not unduly delay the acquisition; and—

(A) If it was transmitted through an electronic commerce method authorized by the solicitation, it was received at the initial point of entry to the Government infrastructure not later than 5:00 p.m. one working day prior to the date specified for receipt of offers; or

(B) There is acceptable evidence to establish that it was received at the Government installation designated for receipt of offers and was under the Government's control prior to the time set for receipt of offers; or

(C) If this solicitation is a request for proposals, it was the only proposal received.

(ii) However, a late modification of an otherwise successful offer, that makes its terms more favorable to the Government, will be considered at any time it is received and may be accepted.

(3) Acceptable evidence to establish the time of receipt at the Government installation includes the time/date stamp of that installation on the offer wrapper, other documentary evidence of receipt maintained by the installation, or oral testimony or statements of Government personnel.

(4) If an emergency or unanticipated event interrupts normal Government processes so that offers cannot be received at the Government office designated for receipt of offers by the exact time specified in the solicitation, and urgent Government requirements preclude amendment of the solicitation or other notice of an extension of the closing date, the time specified for receipt of offers will be deemed to be extended to the same time of day specified in the solicitation on the first work day on which normal Government processes resume.

(5) Offers may be withdrawn by written notice received at any time before the exact time set for receipt of offers. Oral offers in response to oral solicitations may be withdrawn orally. If the solicitation authorizes facsimile offers, offers may be withdrawn via facsimile received at any time before the exact time set for receipt of offers, subject to the conditions specified in the solicitation concerning facsimile offers. An offer may be withdrawn in person by an offeror or its authorized representative if, before the exact time set for receipt of offers, the identity of the person requesting withdrawal is established and the person signs a receipt for the offer.

(g) Contract award (not applicable to Invitation for Bids). The Government intends to evaluate offers and award a contract without discussions with offerors. Therefore, the offeror's initial offer should contain the offeror's best terms from a price and technical standpoint. However, the Government reserves the right to conduct discussions if later determined by the Contracting Officer to be necessary. The Government may reject any or all offers if such action is in the public interest; accept other than the lowest offer; and waive informalities and minor irregularities in offers received.

(h) Multiple awards. The Government may accept any item or group of items of an offer, unless the offeror qualifies the offer by specific limitations. Unless otherwise provided in the Schedule, offers may not be submitted for quantities less than those specified. The Government reserves the right to make an award on any item for a quantity less than the quantity offered, at the unit prices offered, unless the offeror specifies otherwise in the offer.

(i) Availability of requirements documents cited in the solicitation.

(1)(i) The GSA Index of Federal Specifications, Standards and Commercial Item Descriptions, FPMR Part 101-29, and copies of specifications, standards, and commercial item descriptions cited in this solicitation may be obtained for a fee by submitting a request to— GSA Federal Supply Service Specifications Section Suite 8100 470 East L'Enfant Plaza, SW Washington, DC 20407 Telephone (202) 619-8925 Facsimile (202) 619-8978.

(ii) If the General Services Administration, Department of Agriculture, or Department of Veterans Affairs issued this solicitation, a single copy of specifications, standards, and commercial item descriptions cited in this solicitation may be obtained free of charge by submitting a request to the addressee in paragraph (i)(1)(i) of this provision. Additional copies will be issued for a fee.

(2) Most unclassified Defense specifications and standards may be downloaded from the following ASSIST websites:

(i) ASSIST (https://assist.dla.mil/online/start/);

(ii) Quick Search (http://quicksearch.dla.mil/);

(iii) ASSISTdocs.com (http://assistdocs.com).

(3) Documents not available from ASSIST may be ordered from the Department of Defense Single Stock Point (DoDSSP) by?

(i) Using the ASSIST Shopping Wizard (https://assist.dla.mil/wizard/index.cfm);

(ii) Phoning the DoDSSP Customer Service Desk (215) 697-2179, Mon-Fri, 0730 to 1600 EST; or

(iii) Ordering from DoDSSP, Building 4, Section D, 700 Robbins Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19111-5094, Telephone (215) 697-2667/2179, Facsimile (215) 697-1462.

(4) Nongovernment (voluntary) standards must be obtained from the organization responsible for their preparation, publication, or maintenance.

(j) Unique entity identifier. (Applies to all offers exceeding $3,500, and offers of $3,500 or less if the solicitation requires the Contractor to be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM).) The Offeror shall enter, in the block with its name and address on the cover page of its offer, the annotation ‘‘Unique Entity Identifier’’ followed by the unique entity identifier that identifies the Offeror’s name and address. The Offeror also shall enter its Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) indicator, if applicable. The EFT indicator is a four-character suffix to the unique entity identifier. The suffix is assigned at the discretion of the Offeror to establish additional SAM records for identifying alternative EFT accounts (see subpart 32.11) for the same entity. If the Offeror does not have a unique entity identifier, it should contact the entity designated at www.sam.gov for unique entity identifier establishment directly to obtain one. The Offeror should indicate that it is an offeror for a Government contract when contacting the entity designated at www.sam.gov for establishing the unique entity identifier.

(k) [Reserved]

(l) Debriefing. If a post-award debriefing is given to requesting offerors, the Government shall disclose the following information, if applicable:

(1) The agency's evaluation of the significant weak or deficient factors in the debriefed offeror's offer.

(2) The overall evaluated cost or price and technical rating of the successful and the debriefed offeror and past performance information on the debriefed offeror.

(3) The overall ranking of all offerors, when any ranking was developed by the agency during source selection.

(4) A summary of the rationale for award;

(5) For acquisitions of commercial items, the make and model of the item to be delivered by the successful offeror.

(6) Reasonable responses to relevant questions posed by the debriefed offeror as to whether source-selection procedures set forth in the solicitation, applicable regulations, and other applicable authorities were followed by the agency.

(End of Provision) ADDENDUM to FAR 52.212-1 INSTRUCTIONS TO OFFERORS—COMMERCIAL ITEMS Provisions that are incorporated by reference (by Citation Number, Title, and Date), have the same force and effect as if they were given in full text. Upon request, the Contracting Officer will make their full text available.

The following provisions are incorporated into 52.212-1 as an addendum to this solicitation:

a. All proposal intentions, questions, and final proposal submission shall be submitted to both the Contracting Officer and the Contract Specialist via email to Glenn.Burtonjr@va.gov and James.Modlin@va.gov, respectively, no later than the dates and times below. A Standard Form (SF) 1449 is not required in offeror’s proposals:

· Indicate intention to provide a proposal via email no later than 2:00PM ET on June 12, 2020.

· Provide any questions regarding the solicitation in electronic format no later than 2:00PM ET on June 17, 2020. Only written questions submitted using (one document per Contractor) will be accepted.

· Proposals shall be submitted electronically to the Contracting Officer and the Contract Specialist identified above no later than 2:00PM ET on July 06 , 2020 unless this date is changed via a formal Amendment.

Contractors are advised to not wait until just before proposals are due to submit proposals. Proposals received after the due date/time will be late and may not be considered/accepted for evaluation. To avoid submission of late proposals, the Government recommends transmitting proposal file 24 hours prior to the required proposal due date and time. Be advised that timeliness is determined by the date and time a proposal is received by the Government, not when a contractor attempted transmission. Contractors are encouraged to review and ensure that sufficient bandwidth is available on their end of the transmission. Finally, due to VA email file size restrictions, contractors may need to logically separate their proposal into separate emails. If this is necessary, contractors should attempt to contain a complete volume within single email transmissions (and not split volumes).

The proposal shall consist of five volumes:

1. PROPOSAL FILES

Contractor’s responses shall be submitted in accordance with the following instructions:

a. Format. The submission shall be clearly indexed and logically assembled. Each volume shall be clearly identified and shall begin at the top of a page. All pages of each volume shall be appropriately numbered and identified by the complete company name, date and solicitation number in the header and/or footer. Proposal page limitations are applicable to this procurement. The Table below indicates the maximum page count (when applicable) for each volume of the contractor’s submission.

All files will be submitted as either a Microsoft Excel (.XLS) file or an Acrobat (PDF) file or compatible as indicated in the table. Page size shall be no greater than 8 1/2" x 11" with printing on one side, only. The top, bottom, left and right margins shall be a minimum of one inch (1”) each. Font size shall be no smaller than 12-point. Arial or Times New Roman fonts are required. Characters shall be set at no less than normal spacing and 100% scale. Tables and illustrations may use a reduced font size not less than 8-point and may be landscape. Line spacing shall be set at no less than single space. Each paragraph shall be separated by at least one blank line. Page numbers, company logos, and headers and footers may be within the page margins ONLY and are not bound by the 12-point font requirement. All proprietary information shall be clearly and properly marked. Footnotes to text shall not be used. Additionally, contractors shall not use hyperlinks or embedded files of any kind in any proposal volume. If included, these will not be reviewed or evaluated. If the contractor submits annexes, documentation, attachments or the like, not specifically required by this solicitation, such will count against the contractor’s page limitations unless otherwise indicated in the specific volume instructions below. Pages in violation of these instructions, either by exceeding the margin, font or spacing restrictions or by exceeding the total page limit for a particular volume, may not be evaluated. Pages not evaluated due to violation of the margin, font or spacing restrictions will not count against the page limitations. The page count will be determined by counting the pages in the order they come up in the print layout view.

b. File Packaging. All of the proposal files may be compressed (zipped) into one file entitled “proposal.zip” using WinZip version 6.2 or later version or the proposal files may be submitted individually.

c. Content Requirements. All information shall be confined to the appropriate file. The contractor shall confine submissions to essential matters, sufficient to define the proposal and provide an adequate basis for evaluation. Contractors are responsible for including sufficient details, in a concise manner, to permit a complete and accurate evaluation of each proposal.

The titles and page limits requirements for each file are shown in the Table below:

Volume, Title, and Page Limitations

(Key Personnel Résumés will not be included in page limitation. Résumés are limited to two pages each.)

(References will complete and provide the questionnaire [RFP ATTACHMENT G] to the Government. PPQs will not be included in page limitation)

NAME]Pricing Spreadsheet.xls/.xlsx

(Includes a completed

ATTACHMENT A)

None

(includes a completed plan) None

A Cover Page, Table of Contents and/or a glossary of abbreviations or acronyms will not be included in the page count of any Volume. However, be advised that any and all information contained within any Table of Contents and/or glossary of abbreviations or acronyms submitted with a contractor’s response will not be evaluated by the Government.

VOLUME I – TECHNICAL APPROACH

Under no circumstances shall any pricing be included in the Technical Approach.

The Vendor’s Technical Approach shall demonstrate an understanding of the work, including the ability to address anticipated potential problem areas, creativity and feasibility of solutions to problems, future integration of new processes, and technology for all the objectives and tasks of the PWS and planned execution of the project. The below aspects of shall be addressed:

Capability: The government wants assurance that the selected vendor is capable of performing mission-critical support services. The government wants assurance that its capability is exemplified by appropriate resources to implement the requirements of the PWS.

The vendor’s technical approach shall include the Contractor’s Statement(s) as required by paragraph b. of the VAAR Clause 852.209-70 ORGANIZATIONAL CONFLICT OF INTEREST.

Subfactor 1: Understanding the Problem

a. The proposal shall include a clear description of Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) architecture and the associated business processes for the scanning and optical character recognition services as well as for EDI quality management.

b. The proposal shall provide a clear description of the ability to provide transaction processing efficiency and the ability to comply with industry-standard data formats; and the ability to audit transactions for quality

c. The Contractor shall detail their ability to provide the conversion services within their proposed facility.

Subfactor 2: Accreditations and Certifications

a. At the time of proposal submission, the proposal must validate the Contractor’s Accredited Healthcare Network accreditation by the Electronic Healthcare Network Accreditation Commission (EHNAC). The proposal must demonstrate the ability to maintain this accreditation throughout the life of the contract.

b. At the time of proposal submission, the proposal must validate the Contractor’s certification by the Council for Affordable and Quality Healthcare (CAQH). Council for Affordable and Quality Healthcare Certification: At the time of proposal submission, the proposal must validate the Contractor’s certification by the Council for Affordable and Quality Healthcare (CAQH) as a Committee on Operating Rules for Information Exchange (CORE) Phase I, II, and III certified clearinghouse.

Subfactor 3: Key Personnel

Key Personnel: Describe a plan to recruit and retain (key) personnel that will receive specific training in roles as they relate to the PWS. Résumés for the key personnel meeting the requirements in the PWS (Section 10. KEY PERSONNEL) shall be submitted. The following key personnel résumés (two (2) page maximum) shall be included:

a. Sr. Project Manager.

The Senior Project Manager (PM) is a technical expert with subject matter expertise in HIPAA compliant X12 EDI transactions and healthcare EDI software applications with a bachelor’s degree in an Information Technology or a related field and with a minimum of 5 years’ experience in managing projects and/or programs related to healthcare EDI. He or she must be an expert in leading a team of diversified staff and have a proven record in managing programs related to healthcare EDI.

PM provides oversight to the daily operational management of the healthcare EDI claims processing and manages the resolution of technical and business defects and inefficiencies within EDI claims processing.

PM provides oversight to all design, development, testing and release work for healthcare EDI technical changes coordinating with customers, stakeholders and internal technical support.

PM ensures completion of any healthcare EDI project, such as the implementation of new EDI standards and/or transactions including standard documentation, quality assurance and workflow management.

PM requires top level customer service skills and experience to coordination operational support and change management. PM will interface with internal Help Desk systems and staffs to document, track and resolve operational problems.

Subfactor 4: Quality Assurance Plan

Quality Assurance Plan- The Proposer’s Quality Assurance shall describe how they will ensure quality deliverables. Plan shall ensure the stated performance standards are consistently met.

VOLUME II – PAST PERFORMANCE FACTOR

The offeror shall complete Attachment F: Past Performance References in its entirety, listing a total of three contracts/orders for work performed in the past three years or currently being performed, for Healthcare Clearinghouse (HCCH) to Support Health Care Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) & paper-based Health claims and associated medical documentation. The Government will make the determination of relevance (based on size, scope, and complexity of requirement).

Contracts/orders listed may include those entered into with the Federal Government, agencies of state and local governments and commercial concerns. Offerors may also submit past performance information regarding predecessor companies, key personnel who have relevant experience or subcontractors that will perform major or critical aspects of the requirement when such information is relevant to the acquisition. For the purposes of this solicitation, a major subcontract is defined as 20% of the total contract effort. Data concerning the prime contractor shall be provided first, followed by each proposed major subcontractor, in alphabetical order.

Offerors shall indicate on Attachment F if there are Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS)/Past Performance Information Retrieval System (PPIRS) report(s) available for each reference. In the event an assessment was not completed in CPARS/PPIRS for the contract/order, offerors may request the reference point of contact (POC) to complete and submit a Past Performance Questionnaire (PPQ) (See Attachment G of this solicitation). The offeror shall instruct the POC at the referenced entity to return a copy of the completed PPQ directly to the CO and the CS at Glenn.BurtonJr@va.gov and James.Modlin@va.gov NO LATER THAN THE CLOSING DATE OF THE SOLICITATION (inclusive of any closing date extensions granted via amendment). PPQs will only be evaluated for those contracts/orders that do not have a PPIRS report available.

The Government is not required to contact references provided by the offeror. Also, references other than those identified by the offeror may be contacted by the Government to obtain additional information that will be used in the evaluation of the offeror's past performance. The Government may consider past performance information obtained through other sources which is reasonably available and determined to be relevant. Past performance information obtained will be used for both the responsibility determination and best value decision.

Offerors shall indicate on Attachment G if they have no record of relevant or recent past performance.

For past performance, which is timely and relevant, the evaluation will consider the following:

VOLUME III – Socio-economic Status

1. Substantiating documents such as teaming agreements, mentor protégé agreements, and the like must be submitted with the quote. To receive credit as an SDVOSB or VOSB, an Respondent must be registered and verified in the VetBiz.gov Vendor Information Pages (VIP) database at www.vetbiz.gov at the time of award, in accordance with Veterans Affairs Acquisition Regulation (VAAR) 852.215-70, and registered in System for Award Management (SAM.gov) as required by 48 CFR Subpart 4.11, to be eligible to participate in VA VOSB prime contracting and subcontracting opportunities programs to receive new contract awards.

2. Non-Veteran Owned Respondents must state in their quotes the names of the SDVOSBs and VOSBs with whom they intend to subcontract and provide a brief description of the proposed subcontracts and the approximate dollar values of the proposed subcontracts. In addition, the proposed subcontractors must be registered and verified in the VetBiz.gov VIP database at www.vetbiz.gov in accordance with VAAR 852.215-70 and registered in SAM as required by 48 CFR Subpart 4.11, to be eligible to participate in VA VOSB prime contracting and subcontracting opportunities programs to receive new contract awards.

3. To the maximum extent feasible, the contractor and any subcontractors shall comply with VA’s VOSB, SDVOSB, socioeconomic, and other small business goals, including, but not limited to, 38 U.S.C. §8127.

4. The Respondent shall agree, if awarded a contract, to use the SDVOSB or VOSBs proposed as subcontractors or to substitute one or more SDVOSBs or VOSBs for subcontract work of the same or similar value.

VOLUME IV - PRICE

Contractors must propose pricing for each line item. The contractor must provide substantiation or basis for the price. The substantiation shall include, at a minimum, the unit prices for CLIN and any discounts from the contractor’s published price, if applicable, shall be clearly noted in ATTACHMENT A.

The price proposal shall be provided in Excel format and include the following:

ATTACHMENT A – EDI/P2E SERVICES PRICING SCHEDULE; all proposed prices will be evaluated to determine fair and reasonableness.

Implementation as described in Task Two of the PWS shall cover all activities required to establish initial operational capabilities for Payer EDI. The initial implementation will limit the need for programmatic changes on VHA/OCC Information Technology (IT) systems and pricing shall be incorporated into the transaction costs. The Contractor shall provide transactions as described in section 5.3.2 of the PWS, and pricing shall be based on transaction type and mode of communication (real time, batch, direct, hosted).

Task Five of the PWS shall provide support necessary to implement small, medium or large modifications to transactions as required by VHA/OCC. The Government may purchase any quantity any number of times but, may not exceed the following: 20 small implementations, 10 medium implementations, 5 large implementations.

The Government may reject any quotation that is unreasonable or materially unbalanced as to prices. An unbalanced quotation is one that incorporates prices significantly less than cost for some items and/or prices that are significantly overstated for other items. Offerors shall include signed amendment(s) (SF 30s), if any, in the Price volume. An authorized official of the prime Contractor shall sign the SF 30s, amendment(s) and all certifications requiring signature. Additionally, any proposed terms and conditions and/or assumptions upon which the proposal is predicated shall be included in the Price volume. Offerors are hereby advised that any Offeror-imposed terms and conditions and/or assumptions which deviate from the Government’s material terms and conditions established by the solicitation, may render the Offeror’s proposal unacceptable, and thus ineligible for award.

Price Rounding Issue - The Government requires contractors to proposal unit prices and total prices that are two decimal places and requires the unit prices and total prices to be displayed as two decimal places. Ensure that the two-digit unit price multiplied by the item quantity equals the two-digit total item price (there should be no rounding). Contractors shall ensure that the actual values in the spreadsheet cells are no more than two decimal places even if values in the spreadsheet cells are formatted to display two decimal places.

All contractors should propose assuming an estimated award date of October 01, 2020.

VOLUME V- Subcontracting Plan

Large businesses must establish a subcontracting plan with specific dollar and percent goals for subcontracting to small, HUBZone small, small disadvantaged, small women-owned, veteran-owned small, and service-disabled veteran-owned small business firms. This plan must be in place prior to contract award and is updated annually. More information is available at http://www.va.gov/oal/business/fss/sbsp.asp including current subcontracting plan templates and VA’s subcontracting goals/percentages. NOTE: This is a suggested format only. Other formats are acceptable; however, all identified elements must be included for your plan to be processed and approved.

E.4 52.212-2 EVALUATION—COMMERCIAL ITEMS (OCT 2014)

(a) The Government will award a contract resulting from this solicitation to the responsible offeror whose offer conforming to the solicitation will be most advantageous to the Government, price and other factors considered. The following factors shall be used to evaluate offers:

The award of the Requirements Contract will be made based on the best overall (i.e., best value) proposal that is determined to be the most beneficial to the Government, with appropriate consideration given to the three following evaluation Factors: Technical, Past Performance, Socio-Economic Status, and Price. The Technical Factor is more important than Past Performance. Past Performance is more important than the Socio-Economic Factor. Technical Factor, Past Performance, and Socio-Economic Factors are individually more important than Price. To receive consideration for award, a rating of no less than “Acceptable” must be achieved for the Technical Factor. The non-Price/Cost Factors combined are more important than the Price Factor. Offerors are cautioned that the award may not necessarily be made to the lowest price offered or the most highly rated technical proposal.

(b) Options. The Government will evaluate offers for award purposes by adding the total price for all options to the total price for the basic requirement. The Government may determine that an offer is unacceptable if the option prices are significantly unbalanced. Evaluation of options shall not obligate the Government to exercise the option(s).

(c) A written notice of award or acceptance of an offer, mailed or otherwise furnished to the successful offeror within the time for acceptance specified in the offer, shall result in a binding contract without further action by either party. Before the offer's specified expiration time, the Government may accept an offer (or part of an offer), whether or not there are negotiations after its receipt, unless a written notice of withdrawal is received before award.

(End of Provision)

E.5 FAR 52.212-2 EVALUATION – COMMERCIAL ITEMS- ADDENDUM

Provisions that are incorporated by reference (by Citation Number, Title, and Date), have the same force and effect as if they were given in full text. Upon request, the Contracting Officer will make their full text available.

The following provisions are incorporated into 52.212-2 as an addendum to this solicitation:

a. BASIS FOR AWARD The Government will make an award to the responsible Offeror whose proposal conforms to the solicitation and is most advantageous to the Government (i.e., that which represents the best value to the Government), price and other factors considered.

b. FACTORS TO BE EVALUATED

1. Non-Price Factors

i. Factor 1 - Technical Approach (15 pages maximum; Resumes are not to exceed 2 pages each and do not count against 15 page total; OCI plan not to exceed 3 pages and do not count against 15 page total).

ii. Factor 2 - Past Performance (no more than 3 page narrative /reference not to exceed 5 projects. Questionnaires do not count against page total.) (provide for subcontractors who will perform 20% or more of the work).

iii. Factor 3 -Socio-economic status

(2) Factor 4 – Price Factor Price (In accordance with Price schedule) Excel file. The excel spreadsheet should be comprised of the CLINs from Section B.2 and a breakout worksheet, which details the labor mix per each CLIN.

Technical, Past Performance, Socio-Economic Status, and Price. The Technical Factor is more important than Past Performance. Past Performance is more important than the Socio-Economic Factor. Technical Factor, Past Performance, and Socio-Economic Factors are individually more important than Price. To receive consideration for award, a rating of no less than “Acceptable” must be achieved for the Technical Factor. The non-Price/Cost Factors combined are more important than the Price Factor. Offerors are cautioned that the award may not necessarily be made to the lowest price offered or the most highly rated technical proposal.

1. ACQUISITION APPROACH

The contract will be awarded for one Base 12-month period with three (3) 12-month Options and will include FFP CLINs.

1. EVALUATION APPROACH

All proposals will be subject to evaluation by a team of Government personnel. Contents of the written proposals will be evaluated to determine the degree and extent to which the requirements set forth in the RFP and PWS are satisfied. The written content of proposals will be evaluated in strict accordance with the Evaluation Approach described herein. Proposals which merely restate the requirement or state that the requirement will be met, without providing supporting rationale, are not sufficient. To receive consideration for award, a minimum rating of “Acceptable” must be achieved for all Non-Price factors contained in this solicitation. Offerors will be cautioned that the award may not necessarily be made to the lowest price offeror or the offeror with the most highly rated technical proposal. In accordance with (IAW) FAR 15.306(a) (3), the Government reserves the right to award without discussions based upon the initial evaluation of proposals. Offerors will thus be encouraged to submit their best offers in response to this solicitation.

Evaluation of the offeror’s proposal shall address each Non-Price factor as it applies to the PWS.

1. NON-PRICE FACTORS

The Vendor’s Technical Approach shall demonstrate an understanding of the work, including the ability to address anticipated potential problem areas, creativity and feasibility of solutions to problems, future integration of new processes, and technology for all the objectives and tasks of the PWS and planned execution of the project. The below aspects of shall be addressed:

Capability: The government wants assurance that the selected vendor is capable of performing mission-critical support services. The government wants assurance that its capability is exemplified by appropriate resources to implement the requirements of the PWS

The Technical Approach will be evaluated by Evaluation Team members to determine if the Offeror has addressed the sub-factors listed in the Addendum to FAR 52.212-1 Instructions to Offerors-Commercial Items.

1. The following sub-factors are equally important:

1. Understanding the Problem

1. Accreditations and Certifications

1. Key Personnel

1. Quality Assurance Plan

Subfactor 1: Understanding the Problem

a. The proposal shall include a clear description of EDI architecture and the associated business processes for the scanning and optical character recognition services as well as for EDI quality management.

b. The proposal shall provide a clear description of the ability to provide transaction processing efficiency and the ability to comply with industry-standard data formats; and the ability to audit transactions for quality

c. The Contractor shall detail their ability to provide the conversion services within their proposed facility.

Subfactor 2: Accreditations and Certifications

a. At the time of proposal submission, the proposal must validate the Contractor’s Accredited Healthcare Network accreditation by the Electronic Healthcare Network Accreditation Commission (EHNAC). The proposal must demonstrate the ability to maintain this accreditation throughout the life of the contract.

b. At the time of proposal submission, the proposal must validate the Contractor’s certification by the Council for Affordable and Quality Healthcare (CAQH) as a Committee on Operating rules for Information Exchange (CORE) Phase I, II, and III certified clearinghouse.

Subfactor 3: Key Personnel

Key Personnel: Describe a plan to recruit and retain (key) personnel that will receive specific training in roles as they relate to the PWS. Résumés for the key personnel meeting the requirements in the PWS (Section 10. KEY PERSONNEL) shall be submitted. The following key personnel résumés (two (2) page maximum) shall be included:

a. Sr. Project Manager.

The Senior Project Manager (PM) is a technical expert with subject matter expertise in HIPAA compliant X12 EDI transactions and healthcare EDI software applications with a bachelor’s degree in an Information Technology or a related field and with a minimum of 5 years’ experience in managing projects and/or programs related to healthcare EDI. He or she must be an expert in leading a team of diversified staff and have a proven record in managing programs related to healthcare EDI.

PM provides oversight to the daily operational management of the healthcare EDI claims processing and manages the resolution of technical and business defects and inefficiencies within EDI claims processing.

PM provides oversight to all design, development, testing and release work for healthcare EDI technical changes coordinating with customers, stakeholders and internal technical support.

PM ensures completion of any healthcare EDI project, such as the implementation of new EDI standards and/or transactions including standard documentation, quality assurance and workflow management.

PM requires top level customer service skills and experience to coordination operational support and change management. PM will interface with internal Help Desk systems and staffs to document, track and resolve operational problems.

Subfactor 4: Quality Assurance Plan

Quality Assurance Plan- The Proposer’s Quality Assurance shall describe how they will ensure quality deliverables. Plan shall ensure the stated performance standards are consistently met.

ii. Factor 2 – Past Performance Past Performance will be evaluated as follows:

The Past Performance will be evaluated based on PPQs (See Attachment G), and other Government sources including Past Performance Retrieval System (PPIRS) See (Attachment F).

Past performance will be evaluated to determine whether each reference is relevant (based on size, scope, and complexity to this requirement), recent (within the past three years), and reflects performance which is satisfactory or better. The offeror will be evaluated to determine the extent to which their performance demonstrates the likelihood of successful performance in providing requirements similar in size, scope, and complexity to this solicitation.

iii. Factor 3- Socio-Economic Status Evaluation Approach

The order of preference will be:

1. Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB)

1. Veteran-Owned Small Business (VOSB)

1. In accordance with VAAR 852.215-70, SDVOSB, and VOSB Evaluation Factors, the Government…