Next Gen Medical East RFI Amendment 1 Responses.xlsx

Sheet1

Question: Will VA allow the submitting company name to be placed in the page header only and not in the footer?

All other Vendor feedback should be submitted in PDF format in accordance with sections 4.2 and 5.0. All Vendor feedback should clearly and concisely address the Vendor’s approach to meet the objectives, requirements, and constraints described in this notice.

6 Vendor Response Template Headings Instructions Please clarify the headings and intent of the structure of the Vendor Response Template. Given the structure, should vendors assume that the rows are meant to cover the same topic? Is Column A for the citation to the specific document with Column B being the vendor's response to that same topic? We recommend you provide an updated template with clear instructions and several examples. Without that the government is likely to receive a different approach from different vendors which will make it very difficult for the government to organize the responses.

Alternatively, we recommend the government update the response template in its entirety and use columns with dropdown boxes and choices to improve a vendor's ability to provide meaningful feedback and the government's ability to adjudicate that feedback. Please see the Sample Vendor Response Form attached to this email as an example of how the government might gather feedback more effectively. In this example file we have added several tabs, including ReadMe (with instructions), Experience (for vendors to list the relevant experience they will reference), Attachment Feedback (for feedback on the Attachments to the RFI), and RFI Questions (for feedback on the 20 discrete RFI questions). There is also a Lists tab which drives the dropdown boxes used in the other tabs.

We believe updating the RFI to use tools like the attached Sample Vendor Response Form will significantly aid the government and vendors to collect, organize and consider feedback. Offeror should copy each individual question from Section 6.0 into an individual row in column A. Offeror should provide its response to the question in Column B.

VA does not intend to revise Attachment 6 - Vendor Responses Template.

7 RFI Doc 4.2 Instructions It is unusual for an RFI response to ask for "examples of relevant experience or solution" and it is not clear where the government would like that information and in what form. We have concerns that, in the current form, the government will receive a myriad of different responses to such an extent that adjudicating those responses into useful information will be difficult, if not impossible.

If the government's intention is to understand the applicability of a vendor's feedback based on their relevant experience or solution, the government may consider adding another column to the feedback template to ask for a that relevant experience. We recommend the government create a separate worksheet in the response template for vendors to list their top 5 most relevant contracts and then ask vendors to refer to those relevant contracts as applicable within the feedback template. See SAMPLE Vendor Response Template attached as a model for consideration Vendor feedback should be submitted in PDF format in accordance with Sections 4.2 and 5.0. All Vendor feedback should clearly and concisely address the Vendor’s approach to meet the objectives, requirements, and constraints described in this notice.

The Vendor Response Template should be used when responding to the questions in Section 6.0 only.

VA does not intend to revise Attachment 6 - Vendor Responses Template.

8 RFI Doc 5.0 Instructions The submission instructions for submit "written feedback in response to this RFI" seem to conflict with the request for feedback in the Vendor Response Template. We recommend:

- The government require vendors to submit a 3-page overview of the vendor to include general capability statement (in PDF) that includes the information requested in 4.1 Vendor Information

- The government require all other feedback to be submitted via the Vendor Response Template The Vendor Response Template should be used when responding to the questions in Section 6.0 only.

All other Vendor feedback should be submitted in PDF format in accordance with sections 4.2 and 5.0.

9 RFI Doc 1.0 East vs West We appreciate the government's intent behind releasing both an East and West RFI for consideration. However, we are concerned with the bifurcation of feedback, particularly at this point in the process. The government is setting the stage for two very large, simultaneous procurements that could be markedly different. This approach will add significant burden to government contracting staff, likely require two entirely different evaluation teams, and will substantially add to the complexity of the overall procurement.

We highly recommend the government consider:

1 - Publishing a separate Attachment titled "CCN Next Generations Regions" with the information current in the PWS document at Section 3.2 2 - Gathering and consolidating feedback on the RFI questions and all other documents into a single and consolidated "global" version (and not different feedback and comments for East and West Regions).

3 - Retaining that single version of the associated documents, including subsequent solicitation documents throughout the duration of the process and use Attachments to the solicitation for region-unique or specific requirements.

4 - Maintain a single Contractor Manual as the source for both regional contracts to minimize ongoing maintenance of two different manual versions throughout the life of the CCN Next Gen contracts.

All other Vendor feedback should be submitted in PDF format in accordance with sections 4.2 and 5.0. All Vendor feedback should clearly and concisely address the Vendor’s approach to meet the objectives, requirements, and constraints described in this notice.

All other Vendor feedback should be submitted in PDF format in accordance with sections 4.2 and 5.