RFI File Room Scanners.docx

Special Notice

GENERAL INFORMATION

10300 Spotsylvania Ave., Suite 400 Fredericksburg, VA 22408

POINT OF CONTACT:

Nequa Godette, Contract Specialist Nequa.Godette@va.gov

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

DESCRIPTION

The Strategic Acquisition Center (SAC) is issuing this Request for Information (RFI) in accordance with FAR 15.201(e). The agency does not intend to award a contract but rather gather information on capability, delivery, and other market information pertinent for acquisition planning. The result of this market research will contribute to determining the method of procurement and identify parties having an interest in and the resources to support this requirement for the following:

The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) is the largest integrated health care system in the United States, providing care at 1,293 health care facilities, including 171 VA Medical Centers and 1,112 outpatient sites of care of varying complexity (VHA outpatient clinics) to over 9 million Veterans enrolled in the VA health care program.

The intent of this RFI is to obtain market capability information for national services for the scanning and/or importing, indexing and incorporation of paper and electronic documents. These services will augment VHA document imaging capabilities and be used to mitigate scanning backlogs resulting from unexpected staffing shortages or process changes. VA medical facilities requiring these services may be located in any state or U.S. territory.

Although VHA has transitioned to electronic health records, occasionally legacy paper forms and paper-based administrative and clinical workflows result in paper documentation which must be incorporated into Veterans’ health records. Additionally, due to Veteran eligibility for care provided outside of VA in the community, VA facilities regularly receive clinical documentation from community providers which requires incorporation into the Electronic Health Record (EHR).

Vendors should be able to provide all resources necessary to scan/import and accurately index designated paper and/or electronic documentation for inclusion into the EHR in accordance with VA standards and requirements. Source documentation is generated by VA and/or community providers depending on each site’s needs. VHA facilities have differing processes and workflows related to document processing, so varying levels of effort shall be required for each of the facilities. All work is expected to be completed utilizing VA approved software and depending on the site, may involve working in different EHR platforms. The volume of work may also vary in the document sets needing to be processed at any given time. Work could be completed remotely or at a VA facility depending on the Government’s need.

See attached DRAFT Performance Work Statement (PWS) for additional information regarding VA needs.

Information on services that should not be included in response to this RFI are as follows:

1. The digital capture of x-rays or other diagnostic media. Digital capture of x-rays or other diagnostic media received from non-VA sources will be processed by VHA.

2. Document destruction services.

3. A Scanning/Importing software solution.

4. Contractor storage of records or electronic files.

5. Scanning/digitizing federal agency records other than records related to the Veteran health record.

6. Scanning/digitizing clinical documents and providing image files in a shared environment outside of the medical record as the end result. Services should encompass the complete scanning process for the electronic document by incorporating, indexing, and associating the scanned file with a consult (if needed) in the VA's EHR.

Definitions:

Scanning/Digitizing: Converting paper records to an electronic format (TIFF, PDF, JPEG, etc.). This may be accomplished using standard national imaging software or by other VHA-approved means.

Importing: The action of bringing electronic files into standard national imaging software for inclusion into the Veteran’s electronic health record.

Indexing: Selecting required indexing field terms using VA established standards in the VA’s national scanning software that is used to add context and improve search functionality.

Document Set: A paper or electronic document set contains a Veteran’s documents associated with a clinical visit/encounter/hospital stay or administrative form.

I. Example #1: A 5-page cardiology outpatient visit progress note equates to one (1) document set.

II. Example #2: A 20-page inpatient packet of documents for a Veteran’s hospitalization inpatient stay that came from an outside hospital equates to one (1) document set.

III. Example #3: A 6-page advance directive form for a Veteran equates to one (1) document set.

THERE IS NO SOLICITATION AT THIS TIME. This request for capabilities information does not constitute a request for proposals; submission of any information in response to this market survey is purely voluntary; the government assumes no financial responsibility for any costs incurred. Your responses may be shared with all stakeholders, thus the information received will not be considered proprietary.

Instructions to Responders

The SAC appreciates responses from all capable and qualified sources.

Cover Sheet – 1 page

Please provide the following information:

1. Organization name, address, and web site.

2. Point of contact to include e-mail address and telephone number.

3. Business size (large or small). If small, please provide type of small business.

4. North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) that best fits these task areas.

5. If applicable, GSA contract number, schedule, and SIN category.

Index – 1 page

Please provide an index to assist the Government in identifying where you have addressed each question below in your Capabilities Statement and Market Information. Please provide question number and corresponding page and section heading and/or paragraph number.

Capabilities Statement and Market Information –

Please respond to the following questions by providing a capabilities statement and market information:

· Describe your organization’s capabilities and how you would provide the services listed in the attached Performance Work Statement (PWS) throughout the United States and its territories. Ensure the following items are addressed in reply:

· How your organization would ensure services are provided utilizing personnel who are experienced in: electronic health record components, identifying the type of clinical documents, and scanning/importing/digitizing clinical information for inclusion in the electronic health record, and who can successfully pass a government background investigation.

· How your organization would ensure services are provided according to your customer’s needs and policies within established turn-around-times (TATs) to include STAT (i.e., immediate) processing? Current VA TATs are within 3 days of receipt.

· How your organization would process paper and electronic documents for incorporation into the VA electronic health record on-site and/or remotely depending on the needs and preference of individual VA facilities.

· How your organization would provide services listed according to VA technical specifications. Paper documents are required to be scanned with a minimum resolution of 300 x 300 dots per inch (dpi). Scanned documents may be scanned in black/white, gray scale, true color (24-bit), or 256 colors (8-bit), depending on the type of document.

· Whether your organization is capable of processing up to 3,000,000 document sets per year.

STRUCTURE AND SUBMISSION OF RESPONSES

Contractors should submit responses to Nequa D. Godette NLT 4:30pm Eastern Standard Time on June 3, 2022 via e-mail to Nequa.Godette@va.gov. Limit all responses to 20 pages.

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