Questions and answers.docx

Changes and add ins

B.2 IT CONTRACT SECURITY

4. INFORMATION SYSTEM DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT

j. The vendor shall notify VA within 24 hours of the discovery or disclosure of successful exploits of the vulnerability which can compromise the security of the Systems (including the confidentiality or integrity of its data and operations, or the availability of the system). Such issues shall be remediated as quickly as is practical, but in no event longer than 2 days.

Is now changed from 7 days to 60 days.

k. When the Security Fixes involve installing third party patches (such as Microsoft OS patches or Adobe Acrobat), the vendor will provide written notice to the VA that the patch has been validated as not affecting the Systems within 10 working days. When the vendor is responsible for operations or maintenance of the Systems, they shall apply the Security Fixes within 7 days.

Is now changed from 7 days to 60 days

7. LIQUIDATED DAMAGES FOR DATA BREACH

d. Based on the determinations of the independent risk analysis, the contractor shall be responsible for paying to the VA liquidated damages in the amount of _______ per affected individual to cover the cost of providing credit protection services to affected individuals consisting of the following:

Was previously blank, will now say $37.50.

Questions and Answers

1. Is the requestor amendable to the contractor providing services remotely?

NO

1. How are medical records accessed?

Electronically

1. What educational qualifications are needed for data abstractors?

Data abstractors require the experience and skills to navigate an electronic medical record and review/understand and translate an ocular medical record, including eye exams, ocular surgical notes, etc.

1. Are all medical records to be reviewed in digital or other formats?

Digital

1. If there are any previously developed training manuals specific to this project, will they be provided?

Yes, training materials will be provided, including on the Job training.

1. Is training time reimbursable?

Training for the use of the DVEIVR (eye injury registry) system and the DVEIVR data abstraction business processes will be provided at the onsite work location and is required to perform the work. Therefore, this would be considered as daily worked required to perform the services and would be charged as regular labor.

1. Would project systems access be provided by the requestor?

Yes

1. How are the medical records being presented to the data abstractors?

Medical records will be accessed through Joint Legacy Viewer (JLV).

1. Will there be a baseline of business rules provided No

1. The VA database that has to be maintained. Is that database store on the Veterans Affairs network or will it be stored externally?

Externally

11. Is there an incumbent in mind for this solicitation?

There is no incumbent

12. What is the platform technology which drives the DVEIVR database (is it Oracle, Microsoft, etc.)?

Microsoft

13. Section 1.15 has information related to Contractor Travel; however, the location of the performance is in Silver Spring, MD in section 1.8. We did not see other facility locations within the solicitation to constitute travel, did we just miss it?

May be National Capital Region travel. (May need occasionally travel around DC, for example, from Silver Spring to Arlington or Bethesda – although that should be rare).

14. What is the year range for this contract for abstraction (example: 2001-current; 2008-current)?

Years of the abstraction cover 9/11/2001-current

15. Will the Rehabilitation Tab in DVEIVR be used for this project?

Yes

16. Will there be a need for VA Orphan File Mitigation?

Yes

17. Will contractor personnel require a clearance? If YES, what is the required clearance level (Public Trust or Secret)?

Yes, T3 NACI

18. Section 1.8 – Will the government allow contractors to perform work at contractor facilities?

No

19. Part 2 - Should the technical response include the contractor’s approach to 2.1 through 2.14 of Part 2 – Summary Requirements?

Yes

20. Section 2.16 Can the government clarify which personnel listed under 2.16 are considered Key Personnel?

All 4 FTE listed are key personnel

21. Section 2.16 2.16 Are all resumes for Key Personnel including in the 25- page limit?

Yes

22. Would the government grant an extension to July 14 due to July 4 holiday weekend?

No

23. Is 8 pt. Times New Roman acceptable for charts and graphics?

Yes

24. Will the government provide incumbent name and contract number information?

No incumbent, this is a new requirement

25. For the RFQ response, is the Government looking to have all elements requested within one document? In other words, is the Government looking to receive one consolidated RFQ response or separate technical/contractual volume and a price volume?

Complete the SF 1449 in accordance with Addendum to Far 52.212-1 Instructions to the offeror. Include all documents in one RFQ response email.

26. The Government provided a past performance questionnaire attachment, but did not include a suspense for offeror’s clients, request the Government to provide a date/time in its related instructions.

The past performance questionnaire is based on good faith answers from an offeror. It is based off the offeror’s past performance evaluations from their clients. (Example: Fill in the blank/ block on how your clients rated your performance)

27. Do these positions need to be on-site or is remote work allowed? If so, what proportion?

On-site.

28. Will GFE (i.e., laptops and/or additional monitors) be issued to support this work?

Laptops and monitors will be GFE.

29. Should the PMP be a separate volume or included within the tech volume with the understanding the page count for that section is limited to 25 pages?

Include all documents in one RFQ response email.

30. In the PMP section of the RFQ it says:

A detailed staffing plan identifying all staffing positions including key personnel, name of incumbent or vacant, status (full-or part-time, work location, and company). The plan shall also address their recruiting and retention efforts to ensure a qualified workforce to initially staff this task and ramp up the data abstraction services. The plan shall also address procedures to replace personnel due to attrition. The plan shall also include accepted procedures to reduce the likelihood of attrition.

However, there are no key personnel specified in the RFQ. Please clarify.

The RFQ specifies 3 data abstractors and 1 lead data abstractor/quality reviewer for a total of 4 FTE

31. With the 5-megabyte size limit per email for quote packages, can you please clarify that offerors should submit the technical quote, inclusive of the 25-page PMP, and the price quote utilizing separate emails.

Include all documents must be in one RFQ response email.

32. Respectfully request the Government to extend the proposal one week to allow for fully compliant proposal responses from SDVOSB small businesses.

There will be an amendment to extend and answer questions in the RFQ as stated in the RFQ page 1 block 20. The extension duration is at government discretion.

33. What documents are required for submitting a Proposal?

The SF 1449 completed i.a.w. addendum to FAR 52.212-1 INSTRUCTIONS TO OFFERORS, applicable associated attachments and any other information referenced in the RFQ

34. The performance Document requirement. Do we send the document to our customer and then include the response in with the proposal?

The past performance questionnaire is based on good faith answers from an offeror. It is based off the offeror’s past performance evaluations from their clients. (Example: Fill in the blank/ block on how your clients rated your performance)

35. The VA database that has to be maintained. Is that database store on the Veterans Affairs network or will it be stored externally?

Externally

36. Reference: Addendum to FAR 52.212-1 Instructions to Offerors – Commercial Items, para. D, page 65 Question: In accordance with "FAR Subpart 42.15 (Contractor Performance Information)," Government agencies are directed to prepare past performance evaluations at least annually, using the Contractor Performance Assessment Report (CPAR). As a result, many Government agencies no longer complete Customer Past Performance Surveys, since the requirement is to enter this data into a CPAR which is then stored for Government use in the Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS). In addition, Survey data is not materially different than data collected via the CPAR/CPARS process. Requiring reference clients to complete a PPQ places an unnecessary burden on Government personnel especially during this time when COVID 19 has the workforce widely dispersed.

We request the Government incorporate the following: "If the referenced Past Performance contract has received a CPAR evaluation within the past 5 years, a PPQ is not required. " The past performance questionnaire is based on good faith answers from an offeror. It is based off the offeror’s past performance evaluations from their clients. (Example: Fill in the blank/ block on how your clients rated your performance)

37. Reference: 7. Liquidated Damages for Data Breach, page 13

a. Question: Under paragraph d, “the contractor shall be responsible for paying to the VA liquidated damages in the amount of …” This is blank. Please update to be consistent with other VA IT contracts where the liquidated damages are capped at $37.50 per individual.

This will be addressed in an amendment

38. Reference: 1.16 Organizational Conflict of Interest, page 17

a. Question: This section states that the contractor may receive or have access to source selection information or provide evaluation services. Our review of the PWS does not indicate that these services are in scope. Please confirm that this scope of work would not present any OCIs or alternatively identify where in the scope these services are located.

Please see FAR Subpart 9.5 - Organizational and Consultant Conflicts of Interest

39. Reference: B.4 Price/Cost Schedule

a. Question: Elsewhere in the solicitation it is stated that the contract will be firm-fixed price, however the pricing table appears to be Labor Hour. If this is FFP, how is this to be invoiced? Suggest that the services be priced by the unit of month to allow monthly invoicing for these services.

The quantity listed B.4 Price/Cost Schedule is firm-fixed priced for labor hours

40. Reference: Personnel Security Requirements

a. Question: What is the Position/Task Risk Designation Levels for this work; Tier 1/Low/NACI, Tier 2/Moderate/MBI or Tier 4/High BI?

It is Tier 2/moderate/MBI (or the equivalent of DoD Tier 3 NACI)

41. Reference: B.3 Statement of Work/B.4 Price Cost Schedule

a. Question: The statement of work references for training, training materials throughout the SOW but there is no pricing line item for a Training Manager. We suggest that a Training Manager labor category be added.

Training materials will be provided for including on the job training. A Training Manager category will not be added.

42. Is this a new requirement? If not, please provide Contract details and Incumbent’s information?

This is a new requirement

43. Can you provide two weeks extension so we can incorporate response from Q&A and also due to long weekend?

There will be an amendment to answer questions, see RFQ page 1 block 20. The extension duration is at government discretion.

44. Section 1.3 Objectives – Will the VA require any Document Conversion as part of this requirement? If Yes, will VA Provide Scanning equipment or will that be contractor’s responsibility?

No

45. Section 1.15 Contractor Travel – Will the VA identify the location where Contractor would travel and how many trips/year?

Local travel only, Washington DC area

46. Section 2.1 Manual Data Abstraction Service – Will it be VA’s responsibility or Contractor’s to identify if a patient is eligible to be enrolled in DVEIVR?

It is a combination of contractor and VA responsibility for determining DVEIVE eligibility based on government established business rules, with VA as the final approval authority.

47. Section 2.2 Data Abstraction – Contractor to exceed 400 Records Per Month – Is that 400 Records Per Month Per Contractor or 400 Records Per Month per Abstractor?

400 records per month for the entire TEAM

48. Section 2.2 Data Abstraction – “The government expects the contractor to consistently exceed 400 records per month 6 months after date of award” – 400 Records/Month = 3 Records/Hour. Contractors would be reviewing patient’s past/current medical history, exam findings, treatments/outcomes, complicates/procedures, look for coded diagnoses, etc. They would combine all information received from multiple sources to combine into digital file and enter data into DVEIVR. Lot of this Process is manual, and it might be more time consuming based on how big Patient’s Medical record is and Network Speed of database where patient’s information resides. How was VA able to analyze that it should not take Contractor more than 15-20 Minutes to complete One record?

See 2.2 Data Abstraction, 2nd paragraph, The Government expects the Contractor to be fully competent and fully capable of abstracting a minimum of one encounter per hour.

If this is not a new requirement, is the scope of work (including level of effort) the same as the current contract?

This effort is not currently under contract.

49. Is there currently a “Procedural Guide for Data Abstraction” (SOW Para 2.3), or will this deliverable be a brand-new document that we will need to create?

There is currently a Procedural Guide for Data Abstraction, which would be updated as needed

50. Are there currently “Business Rules” (SOW Para 2.4), or will this deliverable be a brand-new document that we will need to create?

Yes, there are current business rules. The contractor will propose new business rules for government approval if applicable.

51. Is there a previously developed Training Plan (SOW 2.10)?

Yes

52. Are there previously developed Training Materials (SOW 2.11) that we may use as a basis for our deliverable?

Yes

53. Lead Data Abstractor/Quality Reviewer, and Data Abstractor: Is there a recommended corresponding Occupation Code/Title on the Wage Determination which is included with the solicitation?

Contact Department of Labor for guidance

54. Recognized Holidays: Will Juneteenth be a Federal holiday beginning in 2022?

Unknown however Federal Holidays are recognized