36C24520Q0383-002.docx

Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan (QASP) Applicable for the Home Health Care Services (NAICS Code 621610 )

1. PURPOSE

This Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan (QASP) is a VA developed and applied document used to make sure that systematic quality assurance methods are used in the administration of the Performance Based Service Contract (PBSC) standards included in this contract and in subsequent task orders issued there under. The intent is to ensure that the Contractor performs in accordance with performance metrics set forth in the contract documents, that the VA receives the quality of products and services called for in the contract and that the VA only pays for the acceptable level of products and services received.

2. AUTHORITY

Authority of issuance of this QASP is provided under Contract Section E – Inspection and Acceptance, which provides for inspections and acceptance of the products, services, and documentation called for in task orders to be accomplished by the Contracting Officer or his duly authorized representative.

3. SCOPE

To fully understand the roles and the responsibilities of the parties, it is important to first define the distinction in terminology between the Quality Control Plan (QCP) and the Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan (QASP). The Contractor, and not the VA, is responsible for management and quality control actions necessary to meet the quality standards set forth by the contract and follow-up task orders. The Contractor develops and submits his Quality Control Plan (QCP) for the VA approval in compliance with his contract deliverables. Once accepted, the Contractor the uses the QCP to guide and to rigorously document the implementation of the required management and quality control actions to achieve the specified results. The QASP on the other hand, is put in place to provide VA surveillance oversight of the Contractor’s quality control efforts to assure that they are timely, effective, and are delivering the results specified in the contract or task order. The QASP is not a part of the contract nor is it intended to duplicate the Contractor’s QCP. The VA may provide the Contractor an information copy of the QASP as an Attachment to the solicitation to support the Contractor’s efforts in developing a QCP that will interrelate with the VA’s QASP.

4. VA RESOURCES

The following definitions for VA resources are applicable to this plan:

Contracting Officer (CO): A person duly appointed with the authority to enter into, administer, or terminate contracts and make related determinations and findings on behalf of the government.

Contracting Officer representative (COR): An individual designated in writing by the CO to act as his authorized technical representative to assist in administering a contract. The source and authority of a COR is the CO. The COR limitations are contained in the written letter of designation.

5. RESPONSIBILITIES

The VA resources shall have responsibilities for the implementation of this QASP as follows:

Contracting Officer (CO): The Contracting Officer ensures performance of all necessary actions for effective management of the contract, ensures compliance with the terms of the contract and safeguards the interests of the United States in the contractual relationship. It is the CO that assures the Contractor receives impartial, fair, and equitable treatment under the contract. The CO is ultimately responsible for the final determination of the adequacy of the Contractor’s performance.

Contracting Officer representative (COR): The COR is responsible for technical administration of the project and assures proper Government surveillance of the Contractor’s performance. The COR is not empowered to make any contractual commitments or to authorize any contractual changes on the Government’s behalf. Any changes that the Contractor deems may affect contract, price, terms, or conditions shall be referred to the CO for action.

6. METHODS OF QUALITY ASSURANCE SURVEILLANCE

The methods of surveillance listed below are examples that may be used in the administration of this QASP. In addition to specific instructions that may be mentioned, the appropriate and standardized form is an example of the Surveillance Activity Checklist, included as Attachment A, which should be developed.

Customer Feedback: Customer feedback may be obtained either from the results of formal customer satisfaction surveys or from random customer complaints. Customer complaints, to be considered valid, must set forth clearly and in writing the detailed nature of the complaint, must be signed and must be forwarded to the COR. The COR shall maintain a summary log of all formally received customer complaints as well as a copy of each complaint in a documentation file. The COR shall also keep tabulated results of all customer satisfaction surveys on file and shall enter the summary results into the Surveillance Activity Checklist.

100% Inspection: This level of inspection shall be accomplished by automated monitoring and documentation features built into the products and services. Four times a year (once every Quarter), the COR, or if so designated the appropriate Technical Monitor, shall review the generated documentation and enter summary into the Surveillance Activity Checklist.

Periodic Inspection: Periodic inspections shall be conducted if and when specified in individual task orders. For the potential tasks that have been identified so far and included in this QASP, the appropriate Technical Monitor typically performs the periodic inspection on a monthly basis.

Random Monitoring: Random monitoring shall be conducted if and when specified in individual task orders. For potential task orders that have been identified so far and included in this QASP, the random monitoring shall be performed by the COR or by the appropriate designated Technical Monitor.

7. IDENTIFIED QUALITY ASSURANCE TASKS

The following Performance Based Service Contract (PBSC) items are identified within the Home Healthcare Services contract Statement of Work (SOW) to be applicable on a VA basis and are to be monitored under this QASP.

CONTRACT Task # 1

Performance Requirement:

· verifying the status of equipment

· verifying the functionality of the equipment

· verifying whether or not performance meets the performance standards

Performance Standard: as specified in the contract

Method of Measurement: as specified in the contract

Performance Metrics: as specified in the contract

Performance Incentives/ Disincentives: as specified in the contract

Unacceptable performance: When performance is deemed unacceptable, the Quality Assurance will so inform the Contractor’s on-site representative, or one of the Contractor managers. Disputes should be referred to the COR.

The COR will notify the CO of subpar performance. If any services do not conform to contract requirements, the government may require the Contractor to re-perform the services to conform with contract requirements at no increased cost to the government. When subpar performance cannot be corrected by re-performance, the Government may:

· Require the contractor to take action necessary to ensure future performance conforms to contract requirements.

· By separate contract or otherwise, perform the services and charge to the contractor any cost incurred by the Government that is directly related to the performance of such service or:

a- Issue Cure Notice b- Issue Show Cause c- Terminate the contract for government convenience d- Terminate the contract for cause.

8. DOCUMENTATION

The COR will, in addition to providing documentation to the Contracting Officer, maintain a complete Quality Assurance file. The file will contain copies of all reports, evaluations, recommendations, and any actions related to the VA’s performance of the quality assurance function, including the originals of all Surveillance Activity Checklists. All such records will be retained for the life of this contract. The COR shall forward these records to the CO at termination or completion of the contract.

9. ATTACHMENTS

Attachment A: Sample Surveillance Activity Checklist

Date

Rating

Customer Feedback

Periodic Inspection

Area of Inspection