Questions to solicitation 36C24521Q0407.docx

Questions to Washington, DC Home Oxygen RFP 36C24521Q0407

1. Government-owned equipment is referenced in the solicitation in multiple areas but there is no item number in the Price / Cost Schedule referencing government-owned equipment.

Is there any government-owned equipment associated with this solicitation?

No. There isn’t any government-owned equipment associated with this solicitation

2. On Page 25, 26. Initial Home Visit, Follow-Up Visit and Instruction a. states “In addition to initial set-ups, an RRT or CRTT will make a quarterly visit to each patient’s home”.

There is no line item in the Price / Cost Schedule for quarterly RT Visits. Is this an oversight?

RT visits (services) fall outside the purview of Prosthetics thus we cannot pay or allocate any funds to this requirement.

3. How many active ventilator patients (both invasive and non-invasive) are currently being serviced?

DC Home Oxygen Program currently has 4 ventilator patients.

4. There are several questions about quantities outlined in the Price / Cost Schedule. They are as follows :

Item Number 0001, 1001, 2001, 3001, 4001 Oxygen Concentrator Estimated Quantity 3,600 Is this 3,600 per month OR 300 per month?

360 annually DC currently has 360 home oxygen patients that require a stationary oxygen concentrator

How many are 5 liter and how many are 10 liters?

We cannot confirm number at this time.

Item Number 0002, 1002, 2002, 3002, 4002 Portable Oxygen Concentrator Estimated Quantity 180 Is this 180 per month OR 15 per month?

180 annually We currently have 180 patients utilizing a portable oxygen concentrator.

Item Number 0003, 1003, 2003, 3003, 4003 Bi-Directional OxySafe Patient Setup Kit Estimated Quantity 100 Bags of 25 Is this 100 Bags of 25 per month OR 8.33 Bags of 25 per month?

DC currently has 360 home oxygen patients who require a bidirectional Oxy-safe kit per oxygen device. Each setup requires annual replacement of the bi directional Oxy-safe kit per DC Home Oxygen requirement.

Item Number 0004, 1004, 2004, 3004, 4004 Home Fill Oxygen System Estimated Quantity 40 DC currently has 40 home oxygen patients utilizing the home fill system Item Number 0005, 1005, 2005, 3005, 4005 Gaseous Oxygen System (Portable) A, D, E cylinder Estimated Quantity 150 1800 Gaseous Oxygen System (Portable) A, D, E cylinders annually Item Number 0006, 1006, 2006, 3006, 4006 Ventilator (Portable) Estimated Quantity 4 4 patients annually Item Number 0007, 1007, 2007, 3007, 4007 Ventilator (Portable) Microprocessor Estimated Quantity 3 Clin “0007, 1007, 2007, 3007, 4007” will be removed

Item Number 0008, 1008, 2008, 3008, 4008 Ventilator Heated Humidifier Estimated Quantity 4 Annually Item Number 0009, 1009, 2009, 3009, 4009 High Volume Air Compressor, Electric Estimated Quantity 20 DC currently has 40 home oxygen patients utilizing the home fill system with a High-Volume Air Compressor, Electric Item Number 0010, 1010, 2010, 3010, 4010 Reservoir refills disposable supplies. Includes delivery, setup, and education. This is a one-time charge for new set-ups.

Estimated Quantity 35 Is this 35 per month OR 2.9 per month Please define “reservoir refills”?

There are 35 Home O2 PT utilizing humidity via stationary concentrator reservoirs Item Number 0011, 1011, 2011, 3011, 4011 Gaseous Oxygen M/M60 Cylinder System Estimated Quantity 60 360 pts who require an M60 (or an equivalent) cylinder as a back-up.

Item Number 0012, 1012, 2012, 3012, 4012 A, D, E Cylinder Medical Oxygen refill (Portable) Estimated Quantity 720 720 annually Item Number 0013, 1013, 2013, 3013, 4013 Gaseous Oxygen Cylinder Refill (M/M60 Cylinder Stationary) Estimated Quantity 10 This CLIN will be removed Item Number 0014, 1014, 2014, 3014, 4014 Oxygen VIA Eclipse Concentrator (Portable) Estimated Quantity 6 Is this 6 per month OR 0.5 per month?

We will remove this CLIN

1. Do you have to have a location in the service area to bid on the contract, or prior to servicing the contract? Yes, must have a location in the service area to bid on contract.

1. How many oxygen patients will this contract be for? Looking at the estimates, it appears some of the amounts are annual estimates and others and monthly estimates. There are currently 360 patients in the Home Oxygen Program

1. Would you consider changing the estimated quantities to all reflect an annual amount? This is a contracting question?

1. On page 12, the Items included with a ventilator show oxygen concentrator and backup. Will we be able to bill separate for the oxygen when a patient has both, or are we to include the oxygen with the Ventilator? **See Contract

1. The Phase-in requirement states that the equipment should be switched out in 30 days. Due to the massive back-order situation that was created by Covid for respiratory equipment, can this be extended to 90 days? Suggest extending to 60 days.

1. Is a respiratory Therapist required to do the Quarterly oxygen visits, or can that be done by a service technician, as is done in other VISNs? Quarterly visits by a Registered Respiratory Therapist. RRT credentialed by the AARC.

1. Is Line item 0002 and 0014 (portable oxygen concentrators) both intended for long-term monthly rentals, or are both for travel oxygen patients? Line Item 002 is intended for both long term monthly rentals and travel oxygen patients. Line item 0014, which specifies a Brand of POC will be removed.

1. Can you clarify what line item 0003 is for? Would this be for new set-ups, on-going supplies, or both? Thermal Fuse fire stop safety valve. Required in all continuous oxygen delivery devices. 2 per device – 1 proximal to patient and 1 proximal to device. Not required in pulse dose devices.

1. Does Line Item 0004 include a concentrator, home-fill unit, and 4 home-fill tanks? If not, what all is included? Yes, it includes a stationary concentrator, attached home-fill compressor and individual home fill cylinders.

1. In line item 0007, what Ventilator are you wanting to be used with a microprocessor? Remove this line item.

1. Page 10: provides a description of a 5 LPM concentrator and a 10 LPM concentrator. There are no specific CLINs for either of them. CLIN X001 is for an Oxygen Concentrator. Is this supposed to encompass both the 5 and 10 LPM Concentrators? The 10 LPM Concentrator is a much more expensive than the 5 LPM. Would you consider adding a CLIN for each?

Yes. We can modify to include a separate CLIN for each.

1. Page 13: Item 7 states “Contractor shall inventory and stack all current equipment and supplies together neatly for easy pick up by outgoing supplier”. It is our experience to not touch the outgoing suppliers’ equipment, due to liability reasons. Can you please remove this requirement?

Yes, requirement to stack existing equipment may be removed. However, directive to inventory existing equipment and provide a copy of inventoried equipment to the Washington DC VAMC and a copy to the Veteran patient shall remain. Contractor to notify outgoing supplier within 24 hours of the transition.

1. Page 34: “Contractor Personnel Security Requirements”. According to the Solicitation, there is no requirement for the Contractor Staff or RT’s to access the VA computer system. Can you confirm if this section applicable and the directive can be removed?

This section is applicable and describes the process mandated in the event that contractor access to Dept of Veteran’s Affairs computer systems is requested by the DC VAMC.

1. Page 37: CLIN 1 Estimated Quantities Monthly = 3600. Does this indicate that you have 3600 monthly concentrator patients? If so, CLIN 12 would indicate you only have 720 refills for 3600 patients. We are trying to reconcile the numbers. Can you please clarify these numbers for us?

There are 360 stationary concentrator patients in the Washington DC Home Oxygen Program.

1. Would you consider adding a separate CLIN for the RCP visits? This would assist Offerors in providing the best value pricing to the VA.

No. Unfortunately, Prosthetics funding is not to be used to pay for devices or services that fall under the purview of PSA. Services that are outside the purview of PSAS include respiratory therapists.

1. What is this, is this gas or liquid?

15. It’s gas. DC does not use liquid oxygen.

1. Why is Eclipse carved out?

We can remove the brand eclipse and insert “portable oxygen concentrator”.

1. What is a microprocessor and why is it different from 0006 line?

We can remove “Clin 0007”

1. Would VA consider providing the relevant HCPCs for the other CLINs?

We will remove the HCPC from CLIN 0010 image1.png image2.png image3.png image4.png