36C10X21Q0216_1.docx

SUBJECT*

VA-21-00078491 | VHA Innovators Network Programming Development, Delivery & Support

GENERAL INFORMATION

Department of Veterans Affairs

5202 Presidents Court, Suite 103 Frederick MD 21703

POINT OF CONTACT*

Contract Specialist Ashley Riggs Ashley.Riggs@va.gov 240-215-1626

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

AGENCY CONTACT’S EMAIL ADDRESS

EMAIL DESCRIPTION

Special Notice Special Notice

DESCRIPTION

Special Notice

DESCRIPTION

Synopsis

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Office of Procurement, Acquisitions, & Logistics (OPAL), Strategic Acquisition Center-Frederick (SAC-F), in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 13.106-1(b) intends to solicit and award a single source contract to Aspen Labs, 5660 BIG CANON DRIVE, GREENWOOD VILLAGE, CO 80111, a Woman Owned Small Business Concern for healthcare innovation consulting services, programming development, delivery, and support.

Background

VA Veterans Health Administration (VHA), Innovators Network (iNET), VA Innovation Ecosystem (VAIE) has a requirement to procure consulting services to support iNET with the Innovation Accelerator Program (Accelerator), annual Ignite workshop series, and opportunities for learning and professional growth for field based iNET Innovation Specialists. VHA iNET Accelerator, Ignite workshop series, and professional learning opportunities, provided to innovation specialists, are designed to support frontline healthcare innovation through “learning by doing.” The Accelerator is a program and series of workshops which creates targeted experiences for each employee innovator to mature their innovation. The series and workshops are individualized based on the maturity of the targeted innovation; Spark investments support a prototype, Seed investments support a pilot, and Spread investments support multi-environment feasibility testing. The consulting services are intended to support healthcare innovation through thought leadership, training and programming, mentoring, project support, and professional personnel support. The professional personnel support includes but is not limited to roles such as clinical innovators, customer insight specialists, Customer Experience (CX) service providers, health informaticists, strategic and visual designers, clinical/biomedical engineers, and futurists.

Purpose and Objective

The contractor shall provide programming development, delivery and support to:

· Support activities such as developing plans and schedules, producing training decks and digital workspaces, facilitating trainings and workshops, managing event registration and training calendar invitations.

· Training support such as teaching, modeling, and mentoring participants through healthcare innovation methodologies.

· A suite of tools to better drive innovation within VA healthcare to include templates and guidance.

· Co-design, curate content (create materials, prepare discussion topics, etc.);

· Deliver the iNET fiscal year (FY) 2022 Accelerator, while also supporting mentoring needs from participating employees;

· Provide support as needed (i.e., providing subject matter expertise during the creation of and panelists to participate in) for the 2021/2022 Incubator and ad-hoc technical and content development support for quarterly Innovation Specialist trainings (4 total); and

· Provide ad-hoc technical and content development and deliver VHA Innovation Ecosystem Fellowship trainings (8 total).

Single Source Circumstances

Aspen Labs is best suited to provide the unique consulting services required by iNET and is unlike any other contractor in the commercial marketplace for the following reasons:

· Aspen Labs has a diverse team uniquely suited for the healthcare innovation space within the Veterans Health Administration (VHA). The team at Aspen Labs includes researchers; directors of innovation, strategy, operations, and design; workforce development professionals, product designers’ specialists, inclusive design specialists, communication design professionals, virtual engagement advisors, healthcare strategists, and healthcare improvement specialists.

· Aspen Labs has a vision which closely aligns with iNET; Aspen Labs aims to learn through design and experimentation to achieve meaningful results. Aspen Labs has a structure to cultivate innovation by expanding creativity, testing assumptions, completing field research, and gathering insights. This structure closely aligns with the structure of iNET’s foundation and programming that is exclusively founded on human-centered design (HCD) principles.

· Aspen Labs has extensive experience in both HCD and innovation within a health care system. HCD is a foundational pillar of iNET and serves as the basis for national programming provide by iNET throughout the VHA. iNET will benefit from Aspen Lab’s experience in implementing HCD and leading innovation within expansive health care systems. These health care systems include, but are not limited to Kaiser Permanente, American Nurses Association, Steelcase Health, Center for Care Innovations, and UC Davis’ Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing.

Additional Information

The North American Industry classification (NAICS) Code is 541611 – Administrative Management and General Management Consulting Services with a size standard of 16.5 Million. THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR A COMPETITIVE QUOTE. Any response to this notice must be submitted in writing to the Government and show clear and convincing evidence that another source can meet the Government’s requirements and that competition of the requirement would be advantageous to the Government. Respondents must also include their Dun & Bradstreet Number (DUNS), the Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN), and the certification of business size. Respondents must have an active registration in the System for Award Management (SAM) www.sam.gov. A determination by the Government not to compete this proposed contract based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. The information received will normally be considered solely for the purposes of determining whether to proceed on a non-competitive basis or to conduct a competitive procurement. PHONE CALLS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED. Responses must be received within five days after the initial publication of this posting and must reference synopsis number 36C10X21Q0216 and shall be submitted electronically to all POC’s noted within this announcement.

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