RFI_CCN Next Gen Amendment 5 Final.docx

Community Care Network Next Generation Request for Information

Department of Veterans Affairs Integrated Veteran Care Veterans’ Health Administration

Date: October 30, 2023

36C10G23Q0058 Amendment #5

FAR Part 52.215-3 (a) The Government does not intend to award a contract on the basis of this solicitation or to otherwise pay for the information solicited except as an allowable cost under other contracts as provided in subsection 31.205-18, Bid and proposal costs, of the Federal Acquisition Regulation. (b) Although "proposal" and "offeror" are used in this Request for Information, your response will be treated as information only. It shall not be used as a proposal. (c) This solicitation is issued for the purpose of information and planning.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION

VIRTUAL INDUSTRY DAY

1.0 INTRODUCTION

THIS IS NOT A SOLICITATION.

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Veterans Health Administration (VHA) is issuing this Request for Information (RFI) as Market Research used for the potential procurement of services for a contractor to develop and maintain a national or regional network of high-performing licensed healthcare providers and practitioners. In addition to developing and maintaining this provider network, where providers deliver standard healthcare services to include medical, surgical, complementary and integrative services, durable medical equipment, pharmacy, and dental, the contractor shall provide enhanced community care services such as scheduling appointments, case management, disease management, population health management, and other innovative industry best practices and lessons learned. VHA looks to become the trend-setter and standard-bearer for streamlined healthcare services and to deploy an innovative healthcare model throughout the nation via the Community Care Network Next Generation (CCN Next Gen).

This RFI/Virtual Industry Day notice is issued solely for information and planning purposes. There is no obligation for the Government to acquire any products or services described in this RFI. In accordance with the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) Subpart 15.201€, responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract. No funds have been authorized, appropriated, or received for this effort. The information provided may be used by VA in developing its acquisition strategy and informing, refining, and finalizing a Performance Work Statement (PWS). Interested parties are responsible for adequately marking proprietary, confidential, restricted, or competition sensitive information contained in their response. Verbal responses at the Virtual Industry Day or electronic responses to the RFI/Virtual Industry Day will be accepted. The Government will not pay for any time expended or information submitted in response to this RFI/Virtual Industry Day notice. Eligibility in participating in a future acquisition does not depend upon a response to this RFI/Virtual Industry Day notice.

2.0 BACKGROUND

The VA provides care to Veterans through community providers when VA cannot provide the care needed or when Veterans are unable to access local VA medical centers. Community care is based on specific eligibility requirements, availability of VA care, and the needs and circumstances of individual Veterans.

In an effort to streamline VA’s community care programs, the VA Maintaining Internal Systems and Strengthening Integrated Outside Networks (MISSION) Act was signed into legislation on June 6, 2018, providing more choices and robust care coordination for Veterans using one consolidated program instead of multiple programs. Over time, community care program needs evolved with requirements for expanded healthcare services and improvements in customer service, accountability, health information exchange, referrals, scheduling, and provider payments. This evolution led to development of the VA Community Care Network (CCN).

The Contractor shall serve as a third-party administrator with responsibility to provide regional or national managed healthcare services. The Contractor shall (i) provide exemplary customer service; (ii) monitor and manage quality outcomes; (iii) use data and performance metrics to improve services; and (iv) process and pay claims for services ordered against the contract.

CCN is VA’s direct link with community providers to ensure Veterans receive timely, high-quality care. CCN uses industry and VA standard approaches and guidelines to administer services, promptly pay for services, and manage the network to its full potential.

CCN is comprised of five (5) regional networks that serve as the primary contract vehicles for VA to purchase care for Veterans from community providers, covering all U.S. states and territories. VA is currently in its market research phase of its acquisition planning schedule for CCN Next Gen. The solicitation phase is tentatively scheduled for the latter part of fiscal year 2024. These dates are subject to change.

While the CCN program has sought to address expanding Veteran healthcare requirements and needed improvements, VA’s Office of Integrated Veteran Care (IVC) plans to further streamline and enhance community care processes and services through the CCN Next Gen contract initiative. CCN Next Gen looks to build upon CCN lessons learned and implement industry best practices through extensive market research, innovative acquisition strategies, and review and analysis of acquisition and contract requirements.

3.0 PURPOSE

VA seeks industry’s input regarding potential paths forward and recommendations.

· VA will invite industry feedback dustry on a proposed new contract structure that separates capabilities into different domains, each with its own oversight, including:

· Regional medical care network and claims processing.

· National dental network and claims processing.

· National pharmacy benefits management and claims processing.

· Veteran Family Member Program (VFMP) claims processing.

· National integrated services, such as VFMP customer service, data exchange and program integrity.

· The intent is to gain information from industry relative to the following North American Industry Classification Code (NAICS):

0. 524 Insurance Carriers and Related Activities

0. 524114: Direct health and medical insurance carriers; dental insurance carriers, direct

0. 524292: Pharmacy Benefit Management (PBM) services

0. 524298: All Other Insurance Related Activities

0. 5416 Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services

0. 5415 Computer Systems Design and Related Services

2. 541512: Computer Systems Design Services

0. 5182: Data processing, hosting, and related services

3. 518210: Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services)

The VA will have a presentation with questions at the end. Vendors will have the opportunity to respond verbally during the industry day event or in written correspondence according to Section 5.0.

VA acknowledges that the draft IVC CCN Next Gen procurement milestones originally shared in August 2022 will be changing; VA anticipates notifying industry of the updated procurement timeline by the end of FY24 Q1. As such, further discussion of procurement milestones will not be included or discussed during this event.

4.0 VENDOR REGISTRATION

The CCN Next Gen Virtual Industry Day will be on November 13, 2023 from 10:00am – 11:30 am (EST).

Attendees should register for the CCN Next Generation Virtual Industry Day event by November 8, 2023 by emailing NextGenRFI_Industryday@va.gov. In your email registration, please include “CCN Next Generation- Virtual Industry Day Registration” in the subject line. VA will send coordinating instructions and login information via email. Only vendors that register will be able to attend, and only those who attend will have the opportunity to respond to the questions as detailed in Section 5.0.

When registering please provide the following information:

· Vendor Name

· Vendor Address

· DUNS Number

· Vendor Website

· Vendor Point of Contact name, telephone number, and email address

· Unique Entity Identifier (EUID) Number under which the vendor is registered in SAM.gov and/or VetBiz.gov

· Vendor Business Size and Status [e.g., Large Business, Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB), Veteran-Owned Small Business (VOSB), Small Business (SB), etc.].

· GSA contract number, schedule, and SIN category(s), if applicable.

· The number of years in business operating under NAICS 524114, 524292, 524298, 541512, and 518210, if applicable.

5.0 SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS

Questions will be provided during the Virtual Industry Day to all registered vendors. Please submit responses to questions that are presented at the Virtual Industry Day on November 13, 2023 via email only to NextGenRFI_Industryday@va.gov. Submissions are due no later than November 21, 2023 at 4:00 p.m. EST. The email subject line must contain the following: “Response to RFI 36C10G23Q0058 Amendment #5, Community Care Network Next Generation.” VHA reserves the right to not reply to any emails, responses, questions, and materials submitted in response to the RFI/Virtual Industry Day.

Mark your response as “Proprietary Information” if the information included is considered to be business sensitive and/or includes trade secrets. Interested vendors are directed to respond to this RFI with documents in PDF format and RFI responses shall not exceed 20 pages total (exclusive of the title/cover page, and table of contents). VA will not review any other data or attachments that are in excess of the 20-page limit. All documents must measure 8.5 x 11-inches (charts may be landscaped but must be 8.5 x 11-inches) and shall be in Times New Roman, font size (12), with 1” margins. All pages of the response shall be appropriately numbered, and identified with the RFI number (i.e., 36C10G23Q0058 Amendment #5). Any documents not in conformance with these requirements may not be reviewed.

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