36C24619Q0528-001.docx

36C24619Q0528

PAGE 1 OF

1. REQUISITION NO.

2. CONTRACT NO.

3. AWARD/EFFECTIVE DATE

4. ORDER NO.

5. SOLICITATION NUMBER

6. SOLICITATION ISSUE DATE

a. NAME

b. TELEPHONE NO. (No Collect Calls)

8. OFFER DUE DATE/LOCAL

TIME

9. ISSUED BY

CODE

10. THIS ACQUISITION IS

UNRESTRICTED OR

SET ASIDE:

% FOR:

SMALL BUSINESS

HUBZONE SMALL

BUSINESS

SERVICE-DISABLED

VETERAN-OWNED

SMALL BUSINESS

WOMEN-OWNED SMALL BUSINESS

(WOSB) ELIGIBLE UNDER THE WOMEN-OWNED

SMALL BUSINESS PROGRAM

EDWOSB

8(A)

NAICS:

SIZE STANDARD:

11. DELIVERY FOR FOB DESTINA-

TION UNLESS BLOCK IS

MARKED

SEE SCHEDULE

12. DISCOUNT TERMS

13a. THIS CONTRACT IS A

RATED ORDER UNDER

DPAS (15 CFR 700)

13b. RATING

14. METHOD OF SOLICITATION

RFQ

IFB

RFP

15. DELIVER TO

CODE

16. ADMINISTERED BY

CODE

17a. CONTRACTOR/OFFEROR

CODE

FACILITY CODE

18a. PAYMENT WILL BE MADE BY

CODE

TELEPHONE NO.

DUNS:

DUNS+4:

PHONE:

FAX:

17b. CHECK IF REMITTANCE IS DIFFERENT AND PUT SUCH ADDRESS IN OFFER 18b. SUBMIT INVOICES TO ADDRESS SHOWN IN BLOCK 18a UNLESS BLOCK BELOW IS CHECKED

SEE ADDENDUM

19.

20.

21.

22.

23.

24.

ITEM NO.

SCHEDULE OF SUPPLIES/SERVICES

QUANTITY

UNIT

UNIT PRICE

AMOUNT

(Use Reverse and/or Attach Additional Sheets as Necessary)

25. ACCOUNTING AND APPROPRIATION DATA

26. TOTAL AWARD AMOUNT (For Govt. Use Only) 27a. SOLICITATION INCORPORATES BY REFERENCE FAR 52.212-1, 52.212-4. FAR 52.212-3 AND 52.212-5 ARE ATTACHED. ADDENDA

ARE

ARE NOT ATTACHED.

27b. CONTRACT/PURCHASE ORDER INCORPORATES BY REFERENCE FAR 52.212-4. FAR 52.212-5 IS ATTACHED. ADDENDA

ARE

ARE NOT ATTACHED

28. CONTRACTOR IS REQUIRED TO SIGN THIS DOCUMENT AND RETURN _______________

29. AWARD OF CONTRACT: REF. ___________________________________ OFFER

COPIES TO ISSUING OFFICE. CONTRACTOR AGREES TO FURNISH AND

DATED ________________________________. YOUR OFFER ON SOLICITATION

DELIVER ALL ITEMS SET FORTH OR OTHERWISE IDENTIFIED ABOVE AND ON ANY

(BLOCK 5), INCLUDING ANY ADDITIONS OR CHANGES WHICH ARE

ADDITIONAL SHEETS SUBJECT TO THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS SPECIFIED

SET FORTH HEREIN IS ACCEPTED AS TO ITEMS:

30a. SIGNATURE OF OFFEROR/CONTRACTOR 31a. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (SIGNATURE OF CONTRACTING OFFICER) 30b. NAME AND TITLE OF SIGNER (TYPE OR PRINT) 30c. DATE SIGNED 31b. NAME OF CONTRACTING OFFICER (TYPE OR PRINT) 31c. DATE SIGNED

AUTHORIZED FOR LOCAL REPRODUCTION

(REV. 2/2012)

PREVIOUS EDITION IS NOT USABLE

Prescribed by GSA - FAR (48 CFR) 53.212

7. FOR SOLICITATION

INFORMATION CALL:

STANDARD FORM 1449

OFFEROR TO COMPLETE BLOCKS 12, 17, 23, 24, & 30

SOLICITATION/CONTRACT/ORDER FOR COMMERCIAL ITEMS

36C24619Q0528 08-28-2019 Diane Stoskopf 757-728-3449 09-06-2019 3:30 pm Department of Veterans Affairs Network Contracting Office 6 100 Emancipation Drive Hampton VA 23667 X X 561421 $15 Million N/A X SERVICE: See Schedule

Department of Veterans Affairs Network Contracting Office 6 100 Emancipation Drive Hampton VA 23667

Department of Veterans Affairs Financial Services Center

PO BOX 149971

Austin TX 78714-9971 X Contractor to provide switchboard operator services for the Hampton VA Medical Center, Hampton, Virginia.

This requirement is set-aside 100% for Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business (SDVOSB). To be eligible for award, the Company must be verified as an SDVOSB in VetBiz.gov.

x X x Table of Contents

SECTION B - CONTINUATION OF SF 1449 BLOCKS

B.1 CONTRACT ADMINISTRATION DATA

1. Contract Administration: All contract administration matters will be handled by the following individuals:

a. CONTRACTOR:

b. GOVERNMENT: Contracting Officer 36C246 Department of Veterans Affairs Network Contracting Office 6 100 Emancipation Drive Hampton VA 23667

2. CONTRACTOR REMITTANCE ADDRESS: All payments by the Government to the contractor will be made in accordance with:

3. INVOICES: Invoices shall be submitted in arrears:

4. GOVERNMENT INVOICE ADDRESS: All Invoices from the contractor shall be submitted electronically in accordance with VAAR Clause 852.232-72 Electronic Submission of Payment Requests.

Department of Veterans Affairs Financial Services Center

PO BOX 149971

Austin TX 78714-9971

5. ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF AMENDMENTS: The offeror acknowledges receipt of amendments to the Solicitation numbered and dated as follows:

B.2 SCHEDULE OF SERVICE

Contractor shall provide all labor, management and supervision necessary to provide telephone switchboard operator service for the Hampton VA Medical Center, Hampton, Virginia in accordance with all the terms and conditions herein.

BASE PERIOD: 1 October 2019 through 30 September 2020

Option Year 1: 1 October 2020 through 30 September 2021

Option Year 2: 1 October 2021 through 30 September 2022

Option Year 3: 1 October 2022 through 30 September 2023

Option Year 4: 1 October 2023 through 30 September 2024

Total Price for Base and four (4) Option Years: $________________

B.3 PERFORMANCE WORK STATEMENT (PWS)

1. INTRODUCTION

The Veterans Health Administration requires switchboard operator service for the Hampton VA Medical Center (VAMC), Hampton, Virginia that will proactively receive, transfer, assess, track, and monitor and handle the disposition of inbound calls. The Hampton VAMC currently has four NEC Electronic Telephone Attendant Consoles and the volume of calls is estimated at 40,000 per month. The Hampton VAMC is a tertiary care, Complexity Level 2 Hospital that supports two remote Community Based Outpatient Clinics, 460 inpatient beds, 49,392 unique patients, 557,082 outpatient visits per year.

2.0 BACKGROUND

The contractor shall provide all personnel, supervision and other services necessary to provide outstanding switchboard services 24/7 for Hampton VA Medical Center, with a focus on customer –friendly communications and warm hand offs. Operators are expected to handle all call processes, and maintain a daily abandonment rate of five percent; the average speed to answer should be less than 30 seconds. The daily, weekly, and monthly average handle time of calls shall not exceed 35 seconds. The daily average will include all calls in a 24-hour period; weekly average handle time is all calls in a seven day period; and monthly average handle time is all calls for a calendar month. Average handle time is consider the time it takes to disposition the call to the appropriate destination.

3.0 GENERAL REQUIREMENTS

The contractor shall provide all personnel, supervision and other services necessary to provide outstanding switchboard coverage with first-call resolution for Hampton VA Medical Center 24 hours a day 7 days a week.

The contractor shall comply with industry best practices in the staffing of the Hampton VAMC switchboard operators placing an emphasis on customer-friendly communications and interpersonal "people" skills. The operators should be familiar or become familiar with proper telephone etiquette and should be familiar with the VA healthcare system. The operators will become familiar with various areas of Hampton VAMC so that they may appropriately transfer calls, provided general medical center information, and assist patients and health care providers in paging via pager system to physicians and other providers on call. The operators shall, have, or acquire an understanding of the mission, vision, standard concepts, practices and procedures of Hampton VAMC. Operators will be able to clearly articulate and communicate in English.

The operators shall become familiar with the various areas of the Hampton VAMC so they may appropriately transfer calls; provide general medical center information, and assist patients and health care providers in paging via pager system to physicians and other providers on call.

4.0 PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENTS

The contractor shall provide 24-hour coverage 7 days a week 365 days a year, utilizing industry best practice switchboard operator service for the Hampton VAMC with a daily abandonment rate of 5 percent; the average speed to answer should be less than 30 seconds. Average handle time of calls should not exceed 35 seconds. Average handle time is considered as the time it takes to disposition the call to the appropriate destination.

Contractor shall provide all necessary training to switchboard operators. The switchboard operator service shall provide the following, but is not limited to: Receiving all incoming calls, provide general and specific information to include general information queries, location of clinical and non-clinical areas and general directs to the hospital, clinic, and offices; locate employees, provider operator assistance, answer all emergency calls, alarms, operate audio, radio and digital paging systems, and maintaining appropriate records. Operators shall follow all established protocol for emergencies, threats, disasters, fire drill, and suicidal phone calls.

The contractor shall utilize a current directory of on-call rosters, notification and recall rosters, department/clinic service telephone listings and the medical center internet directory.

The contractor will ensure a supervisor/lead will be available to handle complex calls; complex calls are considered calls in which the operator cannot address and/or requires additional support example suicide caller.

Contractor shall create and utilize operator scripts when communicating with callers. The template shall be approved by the COR prior to use.

Contractor shall conduct a warm transfer; that is when transferring incoming call to an extension, operator will ensure the party on the other end answers and accepts the incoming call; to exclude COR designated cold transfers to ACD lines.

The contractor shall be fully operational no later than two weeks after contract award. The customer shall not pay for services that are not being rendered by the contractor.

The contractor shall have no more than 1 substantiated switchboard operations complaint per 1000 calls.

5.0 CONTRACTOR PERSONNEL

5.1 Program Manager (PM)

The contractor shall assign a Program Manager (PM) for the purposes of supervising and training contract personnel and ensuring compliance with all provisions of this contract.

The PM shall be dedicated to serve solely in the Medical Facility during administrative working hours and at all other times will be available, by telephone or pager, for any problems which may occur, including staffing problems. After normal duty hours, the PM or designated alternate shall be available within 60 minutes.

The contractor shall provide the names of alternates who can provide coverage when the PM is unavailable.

5.1.1 Absences:

When the PM plans to be absent for more than one 8-hour shift, the contractor shall notify the COR in writing or email. Include the name of the PM who will be providing coverage during the absence.

When the PM is absent for more than three consecutive working days, the contractor shall provide replacement PM during the absence. The COR shall be notified in advance, in writing, of this substitution.

If the PM plans to be absent for a planned amount of time, the COR shall be notified prior and the name of the alternate shall be provided.

5.1.2 Qualifications:

Program Manager must have at least two years switchboard operating experience, of which one year involved substantial responsibility for placing a variety of special calls (e.g., conference calls, long distance calls, etc.) over varied circuits or routings or performing information operator work which required a knowledge of organizational units and major functions of a large multi-division organization, and must have had one or more year of experience of supervising, which involved organizing, directing and controlling staff. Must be experienced in maintaining discipline, devising work methods and assignments, establishing performance requirements and arranging work schedules to conform to peak telephone requirements for adequate service and have the ability to communicate, comprehend, use correct grammar, punctuation, and understand instructions, as well as write legibly.

5.1.3 Program Manager (PM) Duties:

The contractor shall provide a Program Manager for the purposes of supervising and training contract personnel and ensuring compliance with all provisions of this contract. The PM and alternate shall have switchboard operations background and experience e.g., computer operations, management, supervision, lead operator, chief operator, and all other aspects of switchboard operations.

5.2 Program Coordinator (PC)

The contractor shall provide a Program Coordinator (PC) responsible for managing and implementing contract requirements. The PC shall organize, direct, coordinate planning, and implement all program support activities. The PC shall be responsible for compliance, legal requirements and overall business objectives; analyze workflow and assignments to ensure efficient and cost effective operations, develop and implement processes, program or service improvements to meet such needs, and provide interpretation of data and advice to management, serving as a primary contact for problem resolution and data gathering. The PC shall coordinate activities to meet quality standards; monitor and advise on the performance of the quality management system and produce data and reports on performance. Where appropriate, the PC shall advise on changes and their implementation and provide input on training, tools and techniques to enable others to achieve quality.

5.3 Switchboard Operators

The selection, assignment, transfer, supervision, management and control of contractor employees in performance of this work statement will be the responsibility and prerogative of the contractor. However, the contractor shall comply with the general intent and specific policies set forth in this performance work statement, concerning conduct of employees as referenced therein. When the Government directs, the contractor shall remove from performance on the contract any person who is identified as a potential threat to the health, safety, security, general well-being, or operational mission of the activity and its population. Contractor's personnel shall wear Hampton VAMC provided identification badges, which shall include employee's name, and assignment throughout tour of duty. The contractor shall not employee any person who is an employee of the United States Government, if employment of that person would create a conflict of interest.

5.4 Switchboard Operator Qualifications

Switchboard operators must be able to assume the responsibility for placing a variety of special calls (e.g., conference calls, long distance calls, etc.) over varied circuits or routings, or performing information operator work, which requires knowledge of the organizational units and major functions of a large multi-division organization. Operators must have the ability to speak and deal with people from a variety of backgrounds, with varying levels of understanding, work under pressure and stressful conditions and adapt to changing working conditions. Program Manager shall not allow new personnel to perform duties alone until he/she has received at least one full 7-day week of on-the-job training on each tour of duty.

6.0 LOGS/REPORTS/DELIVERABLES

The contractor shall be required to maintain the following reports and logbooks:

· Unusual Event Log

· Telephone Trouble Report

· Code Blue/Cardiac Arrest Log books

· Weekly Status Report

· Monthly Status Report

· Daily Code Pager Testing Results

The Contractor shall provide the COR Weekly and Monthly Status Reports electronically. Microsoft Word and Excel formats or Adobe PDF are acceptable forms.

Monthly Status Reports shall include customer complaints: total number of complaints, total number of resolved complaints and total number of unresolved complaints. These reports shall also identify any problems that arose and a description of how the problems were resolved. If problems have not been completely resolved, the contractor shall provide an explanation including their plan and timeframe for resolving the issue It is expected that the contractor will keep in communication with COR accordingly so that issues that arise are transparent to both parties to prevent escalation of outstanding issues.

7.0 GOVERNMENT FURNISHED PROPERTY AND SERVICES

The Government shall provide, without cost to the Contractor, the facilities, and telephone console equipment required for the use of the Contractor in performance of their duties.

B.4 SPECIAL CONTRACT REQUIREMENTS

1.0 NO SMOKING

Per VHA Directive 1085 Dated 3/15/19 All VA Health Care Facilities shall be smoke free. This directive applies to all patients, visitors, contractors, volunteers, and vendors.

2.0 KEY PERSONNEL

Key personnel will be identified in the proposal and shall be considered key personnel essential for the successful completion of the work performed under the contract. The contractor agrees that such personnel shall not be removed, diverted, or replaced from the work without prior written approval of the Contracting Officer. The contractor shall submit written notice of proposed personnel changes to the Contracting Officer for approval at least thirty (30) business days in advance.

3.0 CONTRACTOR EMPLOYEES.

Contractor shall ensure that their personnel identify themselves as Contractors when attending meetings, answering government telephones, providing any type of written correspondence, or working in situations where their actions could be construed as official government acts.

The Contractor must also provide at a minimum annual safety in the workplace training, and provide certificate upon request. The CO may authenticate the training requirements, request training certificates or credentials from the contractor at any time for any personnel who are servicing or installing the Medical Center’s equipment.

4.0 BACKGROUND INVESTIGATIONS

All contractor employees are subject to the same level of investigation as VA employees who have access to VA Sensitive Information. The level of background investigation commensurate with the level of access needed to perform the statement of work is: Low Risk, National Agency Check with Written Inquiries (NACI).

The contractor shall bear the expense of obtaining background investigations. If the investigation is conducted by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) through the VA, the VA facility will pay for investigations in advance. The cost of the investigation is $267.00 per individual.

In the event an individual has a reciprocal background investigation on file, the contractor shall reimburse the VA facility $27.00 per individual for processing of Special Agreement Checks (SAC) (fingerprinting).

All cost of investigation will be withheld from the first invoice submitted by the contractor.

Upon notice of award, the CO shall provide the contractor with detailed instructions on fulfilling security requirements.

5.0 QUALITY ASSURANCE SURVEILLANCE PLAN

The Government intends to utilize a Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan (QASP) to monitor the quality of the contractor’s performance. The oversight provided for in the order and in the QASP will help to ensure that service levels reach and maintain the required levels throughout the contract term. Further, the QASP provides the COR with a proactive way to avoid unacceptable or deficient performance, and provides verifiable input for the required Past Performance Information Assessments. The QASP will be finalized immediately following award and a copy provided to the Contractor after award. The QASP is a living document and may be updated by the Government as necessary.

6.0 BILLING AND PAYMENT

The contractor shall submit payment requests in electronic form via VA’s Electronic Invoice Presentment and Payment System. (See Web site at http://www.fsc.va.gov/einvoice.asp.)

Invoices shall be submitted monthly, in arrears, and shall include at a minimum:

· Date of Invoice

· Invoice Number

· Contract Number

· Obligation Number

· Vendor Name

· CLIN & Date of Service

7.0 CONTRACTOR PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT REPORTING SYSTEM (CPARS)

(a) FAR 42.1502 direct all Federal agencies to collect past performance information on contracts. The Department of Veterans Affairs has implemented use of the Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS) to comply with this regulation. One or more past performance evaluations will be conducted in order to record your contract performance as required by FAR Subpart 42.15 Contractor Performance Information.

(b) The past performance evaluation process is a totally paperless process using CPARS. CPARS is a web-based system that allows for electronic processing of the performance evaluation report. Once the report is processed, it is available in the Past Performance Information Retrieval System (PPIRS) for Government use in evaluating past performance as part of a source selection action.

(c) Please furnish the Contracting Officer with the name, position title, phone number, and email address for each person designated to have access to your firm’s past performance evaluation(s) for the contract no later than 30 days after award. Each person granted access will have the ability to provide comments in the Contractor portion of the report and state whether or not the Contractor agrees with the evaluation, before returning the report to the Assessing Official. The report information must be protected as source selection sensitive information not releasable to the public.

(d) When your Contractor Representative(s) (Past Performance Points of Contact) are registered in CPARS, they will receive an automatically-generated email with detailed login instructions. Further details, system requirements, and training information for CPARS are available at www.cpars.gov. The CPARS User Manual, registration for online training for Contractor Representatives may be found at this site.

(e) Within 60 days after the end of a performance period, the Contracting Officer will complete an interim or final past performance evaluation and the report will be accessible at www.cpars.gov Contractor Representatives may then provide comments in response to the evaluation, or return the evaluation without comment. Comments are limited to the space provided in Block 22. Your comments should focus on objective facts in the Assessing Official’s narrative and should provide your views on the causes and ramifications of the assessed performance. In addition to the ratings and supporting narratives, blocks 1-17 should be reviewed for accuracy, as these include key fields that will be used by the Government to identify your firm in future source selection evaluations. If you elect not to provide comments, please acknowledge receipt of the evaluation by indicating, “No Comment” in Block 22, and then signing and dating Block 23 of the form. Without a statement in Block 22, you will be unable to sign and submit the evaluation back to the Government. If you do not sign and submit the CPAR within 30 days, it will automatically be returned to the Government and will be annotated: “The report was delivered/received by the contractor on (date). The contractor neither signed nor offered comment in response to this assessment.” Your response is due within 30 calendar days after receipt of the CPAR.

(f) The following guidelines apply concerning your use of the past performance evaluation:

(1) Protect the evaluation as “source selection information.” After review, transit the evaluation by completing and submitting the form through CPARS. If for some reason you are unable to view and/or submit the form through CPARS, contact the Contracting Officer for instructions.

(2) Strictly control access to the evaluation within your organization. Ensure the evaluation is never released to persons or entities outside of your control.

(3) Prohibit the use of or reference to evaluation data for advertising, promotional material, pre-award surveys, responsibility determination, production readiness reviews, or other similar purposes.

(g) If you wish to discuss a past performance evaluation, you should request a meeting in writing to the Contracting Officer no later than seven days following your receipt of the evaluation. The meeting will be held in person or via telephone or other means during your 30-day review period.

(h) A copy of the completed past performance evaluation will be available in CPARS for your viewing and for Government use supporting source selection actions after it has been completed.

8.0 CONTRACT ADMINISTATION

Notwithstanding the Contractor's responsibility for total management during the performance of this contract, the administration of the contract will require maximum coordination between the Government and the Contractor.

The Contracting Officer (CO) is the only person authorized to approve changes or modify any of the requirements of this contract. The Contractor shall communicate with the Contracting Officer on all matters pertaining to contract administration. Only the Contracting Officer is authorized to make commitments or issue changes that shall affect price, quantity, or quality of performance of this contract.

The COR shall be responsible for the overall technical administration of this contract as outlined in the COR Delegation of Authority.

In the event the Contractor effects any such change at the direction of any person other than the Contracting Officer without authority, no adjustment shall be made in the contract price to cover an increase in costs incurred as a result thereof.

POINTS OF CONTACT

Contracting Officer:

Diane Stoskopf Department of Veterans Affairs Network Contracting Office (NCO) 6 100 Emancipation Drive, Building 27 Hampton, Virginia 23667 757-728-3449 Diane.stoskopf@va.gov

Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR):

TBD

B.5 VA INFORMATION AND INFORMATION SYSTEM SECURITY/PRIVACY

1. GENERAL

Contractors, contractor personnel, subcontractors, and subcontractor personnel shall be subject to the same Federal laws, regulations, standards, and VA Directives and Handbooks as VA and VA personnel regarding information and information system security.

2. ACCESS TO VA INFORMATION AND VA INFORMATION SYSTEMS

a. A contractor/subcontractor shall request logical (technical) or physical access to VA information and VA information systems for their employees, subcontractors, and affiliates only to the extent necessary to perform the services specified in the contract, agreement, or task order.

b. All contractors, subcontractors, and third-party servicers and associates working with VA information are subject to the same investigative requirements as those of VA appointees or employees who have access to the same types of information. The level and process of background security investigations for contractors must be in accordance with VA Directive and Handbook 0710, Personnel Suitability and Security Program. The Office for Operations, Security, and Preparedness is responsible for these policies and procedures.

c. Contract personnel who require access to national security programs must have a valid security clearance. National Industrial Security Program (NISP) was established by Executive Order 12829 to ensure that cleared U.S. defense industry contract personnel safeguard the classified information in their possession while performing work on contracts, programs, bids, or research and development efforts. The Department of Veterans Affairs does not have a Memorandum of Agreement with Defense Security Service (DSS). Verification of a Security Clearance must be processed through the Special Security Officer located in the Planning and National Security Service within the Office of Operations, Security, and Preparedness.

d. Custom software development and outsourced operations must be located in the U.S. to the maximum extent practical. If such services are proposed to be performed abroad and are not disallowed by other VA policy or mandates, the contractor/subcontractor must state where all non-U.S. services are provided and detail a security plan, deemed to be acceptable by VA, specifically to address mitigation of the resulting problems of communication, control, data protection, and so forth. Location within the U.S. may be an evaluation factor.

e. The contractor or subcontractor must notify the Contracting Officer immediately when an employee working on a VA system or with access to VA information is reassigned or leaves the contractor or subcontractor’s employ. The Contracting Officer must also be notified immediately by the contractor or subcontractor prior to an unfriendly termination.

3. VA INFORMATION CUSTODIAL LANGUAGE

a. Information made available to the contractor or subcontractor by VA for the performance or administration of this contract or information developed by the contractor/subcontractor in performance or administration of the contract shall be used only for those purposes and shall not be used in any other way without the prior written agreement of the VA. This clause expressly limits the contractor/subcontractor's rights to use data as described in Rights in Data - General, FAR 52.227-14(d) (1).

b. VA information should not be co-mingled, if possible, with any other data on the contractors/subcontractor’s information systems or media storage systems in order to ensure VA requirements related to data protection and media sanitization can be met. If co-mingling must be allowed to meet the requirements of the business need, the contractor must ensure that VA’s information is returned to the VA or destroyed in accordance with VA’s sanitization requirements. VA reserves the right to conduct onsite inspections of contractor and subcontractor IT resources to ensure data security controls, separation of data and job duties, and destruction/media sanitization procedures are in compliance with VA directive requirements.

c. Prior to termination or completion of this contract, contractor/subcontractor must not destroy information received from VA, or gathered/created by the contractor in the course of performing this contract without prior written approval by the VA. Any data destruction done on behalf of VA by a contractor/subcontractor must be done in accordance with National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) requirements as outlined in VA Directive 6300, Records and Information Management and its Handbook 6300.1 Records Management Procedures, applicable VA Records Control Schedules, and VA Handbook 6500.1, Electronic Media Sanitization. Self-certification by the contractor that the data destruction requirements above have been met must be sent to the VA Contracting Officer within 30 days of termination of the contract.

d. The contractor/subcontractor must receive, gather, store, back up, maintain, use, disclose and dispose of VA information only in compliance with the terms of the contract and applicable Federal and VA information confidentiality and security laws, regulations and policies. If Federal or VA information confidentiality and security laws, regulations and policies become applicable to the VA information or information systems after execution of the contract, or if NIST issues or updates applicable FIPS or Special Publications (SP) after execution of this contract, the parties agree to negotiate in good faith to implement the information confidentiality and security laws, regulations and policies in this contract.

e. The contractor/subcontractor shall not make copies of VA information except as authorized and necessary to perform the terms of the agreement or to preserve electronic information stored on contractor/subcontractor electronic storage media for restoration in case any electronic equipment or data used by the contractor/ subcontractor needs to be restored to an operating state. If copies are made for restoration purposes, after the restoration is complete, the copies must be appropriately destroyed.

f. If VA determines that the contractor has violated any of the information confidentiality, privacy, and security provisions of the contract, it shall be sufficient grounds for VA to withhold payment to the contractor or third party or terminate the contract for default or terminate for cause under Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) part 12.

g. If a VHA contract is terminated for cause, the associated BAA must also be terminated and appropriate actions taken in accordance with VHA Handbook 1600.01, Business Associate Agreements. Absent an agreement to use or disclose protected health information, there is no business associate relationship.

h. The contractor/subcontractor must store, transport, or transmit VA sensitive information in an encrypted form, using VA-approved encryption tools that are, at a minimum, FIPS 140-2 validated.

i. The contractor/subcontractor’s firewall and Web services security controls, if applicable, shall meet or exceed VA’s minimum requirements. VA Configuration Guidelines are available upon request.

j. Except for uses and disclosures of VA information authorized by this contract for performance of the contract, the contractor/subcontractor may use and disclose VA information only in two other situations: (i) in response to a qualifying order of a court of competent jurisdiction, or (ii) with VA’s prior written approval. The contractor/ subcontractor must refer all requests for, demands for production of, or inquiries about, VA information and information systems to the VA contracting officer for response.

k. Notwithstanding the provision above, the contractor/subcontractor shall not release VA records protected by Title 38 U.S.C. 5705, confidentiality of medical quality assurance records and/or Title 38 U.S.C. 7332, confidentiality of certain health records pertaining to drug addiction, sickle cell anemia, alcoholism or alcohol abuse, or infection with human immunodeficiency virus. If the contractor/subcontractor is in receipt of a court order or other requests for the above mentioned information, that contractor/ subcontractor shall immediately refer such court orders or other requests to the VA contracting officer for response.

l. For service that involves the storage, generating, transmitting, or exchanging of VA sensitive information but does not require C&A or an MOU-ISA for system interconnection, the contractor/subcontractor must complete a Contractor Security Control Assessment (CSCA) on a yearly basis and provide it to the COR.

4. INFORMATION SYSTEM HOSTING, OPERATION, MAINTENANCE, OR USE

a. For information systems that are hosted, operated, maintained, or used on behalf of VA at non-VA facilities, contractors/subcontractors are fully responsible and accountable for ensuring compliance with all HIPAA, Privacy Act, FISMA, NIST, FIPS, and VA security and privacy directives and handbooks. This includes conducting compliant risk assessments, routine vulnerability scanning, system patching and change management procedures, and the completion of an acceptable contingency plan for each system. The contractor’s security control procedures must be equivalent, to those procedures used to secure VA systems. A Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) must also be provided to the COR and approved by VA Privacy Service prior to operational approval. All external Internet connections to VA’s network involving VA information must be reviewed and approved by VA prior to implementation.

b. Adequate security controls for collecting, processing, transmitting, and storing of Personally Identifiable Information (PII), as determined by the VA Privacy Service, must be in place, tested, and approved by VA prior to hosting, operation, maintenance, or use of the information system, or systems by or on behalf of VA. These security controls are to be assessed and stated within the PIA and if these controls are determined not to be in place, or inadequate, a Plan of Action and Milestones (POA&M) must be submitted and approved prior to the collection of PII.

c. Outsourcing (contractor facility, contractor equipment or contractor staff) of systems or network operations, telecommunications services, or other managed services requires certification and accreditation (authorization) (C&A) of the contractor’s systems in accordance with VA Handbook 6500.3, Certification and Accreditation and/or the VA OCS Certification Program Office. Government-owned (government facility or government equipment) contractor-operated systems, third party or business partner networks require memorandums of understanding and interconnection agreements (MOU-ISA) which detail what data types are shared, who has access, and the appropriate level of security controls for all systems connected to VA networks.

d. The contractor/subcontractor’s system must adhere to all FISMA, FIPS, and NIST standards related to the annual FISMA security controls assessment and review and update the PIA. Any deficiencies noted during this assessment must be provided to the VA contracting officer and the ISO for entry into VA’s POA&M management process. The contractor/subcontractor must use VA’s POA&M process to document planned remedial actions to address any deficiencies in information security policies, procedures, and practices, and the completion of those activities. Security deficiencies must be corrected within the timeframes approved by the government. Contractor/ subcontractor procedures are subject to periodic, unannounced assessments by VA officials, including the VA Office of Inspector General. The physical security aspects associated with contractor/subcontractor activities must also be subject to such assessments. If major changes to the system occur that may affect the privacy or security of the data or the system, the C&A of the system may need to be reviewed, retested and re-authorized per VA Handbook 6500.3. This may require reviewing and updating all of the documentation (PIA, System Security Plan, and Contingency Plan). The Certification Program Office can provide guidance on whether a new C&A would be necessary.

e. The contractor/subcontractor must conduct an annual self-assessment on all systems and outsourced services as required. Both hard copy and electronic copies of the assessment must be provided to the COR. The government reserves the right to conduct such an assessment using government personnel or another contractor/subcontractor. The contractor/subcontractor must take appropriate and timely action (this can be specified in the contract) to correct or mitigate any weaknesses discovered during such testing, generally at no additional cost.

f. VA prohibits the installation and use of personally-owned or contractor/subcontractor-owned equipment or software on VA’s network. If non-VA owned equipment must be used to fulfill the requirements of a contract, it must be stated in the service agreement, SOW or contract. All of the security controls required for government furnished equipment (GFE) must be utilized in approved other equipment (OE) and must be funded by the owner of the equipment. All remote systems must be equipped with, and use, a VA-approved antivirus (AV) software and a personal (host-based or enclave based) firewall that is configured with a VA-approved configuration. Software must be kept current, including all critical updates and patches. Owners of approved OE are responsible for providing and maintaining the anti-viral software and the firewall on the non-VA owned OE.

g. All electronic storage media used on non-VA leased or non-VA owned IT equipment that is used to store, process, or access VA information must be handled in adherence with VA Handbook 6500.1, Electronic Media Sanitization upon: (i) completion or termination of the contract or (ii) disposal or return of the IT equipment by the contractor/ subcontractor or any person acting on behalf of the contractor/ subcontractor, whichever is earlier. Media (hard drives, optical disks, CDs, back-up tapes, etc.) used by the contractors/subcontractors that contain VA information must be returned to the VA for sanitization or destruction or the contractor/subcontractor must self-certify that the media has been disposed of per 6500.1 requirements. This must be completed within 30 days of termination of the contract.

h. Bio-Medical devices and other equipment or systems containing media (hard drives, optical disks, etc.) with VA sensitive information must not be returned to the vendor at the end of lease, for trade-in, or other purposes. The options are:

(1) Vendor must accept the system without the drive;

(2) VA’s initial medical device purchase includes a spare drive which must be installed in place of the original drive at time of turn-in; or

(3) VA must reimburse the company for media at a reasonable open market replacement cost at time of purchase.

(4) Due to the highly specialized and sometimes proprietary hardware and software associated with medical equipment/systems, if it is not possible for the VA to retain the hard drive, then;

(a) The equipment vendor must have an existing BAA if the device being traded in has sensitive information stored on it and hard drive(s) from the system are being returned physically intact; and

(b) Any fixed hard drive on the device must be non-destructively sanitized to the greatest extent possible without negatively impacting system operation. Selective clearing down to patient data folder level is recommended using VA approved and validated overwriting technologies/methods/tools. Applicable media sanitization specifications need to be pre-approved and described in the purchase order or contract.

(c) A statement needs to be signed by the Director (System Owner) that states that the drive could not be removed and that (a) and (b) controls above are in place and completed. The ISO needs to maintain the documentation.

5. SECURITY INCIDENT INVESTIGATION

a. The term “security incident” means an event that has, or could have, resulted in unauthorized access to, loss or damage to VA assets, or sensitive information, or an action that breaches VA security procedures. The contractor/subcontractor shall immediately notify the COR and simultaneously, the designated ISO and Privacy Officer for the contract of any known or suspected security/privacy incidents, or any unauthorized disclosure of sensitive information, including that contained in system(s) to which the contractor/subcontractor has access.

b. To the extent known by the contractor/subcontractor, the contractor/subcontractor’s notice to VA shall identify the information involved, the circumstances surrounding the incident (including to whom, how, when, and where the VA information or assets were placed at risk or compromised), and any other information that the contractor/subcontractor considers relevant.

c. With respect to unsecured protected health information, the business associate is deemed to have discovered a data breach when the business associate knew or should have known of a breach of such information. Upon discovery, the business associate must notify the covered entity of the breach. Notifications need to be made in accordance with the executed business associate agreement.

d. In instances of theft or break-in or other criminal activity, the contractor/subcontractor must concurrently report the incident to the appropriate law enforcement entity (or entities) of jurisdiction, including the VA OIG and Security and Law Enforcement. The contractor, its employees, and its subcontractors and their employees shall cooperate with VA and any law enforcement authority responsible for the investigation and prosecution of any possible criminal law violation(s) associated with any incident. The contractor/subcontractor shall cooperate with VA in any civil litigation to recover VA information, obtain monetary or other compensation from a third party for damages arising from any incident, or obtain injunctive relief against any third party arising from, or related to, the incident.

6. LIQUIDATED DAMAGES FOR DATA BREACH

a. Consistent with the requirements of 38 U.S.C. §5725, a contract may require access to sensitive personal information. If so, the contractor is liable to VA for liquidated damages in the event of a data breach or privacy incident involving any SPI the contractor/subcontractor processes or maintains under this contract.

b. The contractor/subcontractor shall provide notice to VA of a “security incident” as set forth in the Security Incident Investigation section above. Upon such notification, VA must secure from a non-Department entity or the VA Office of Inspector General an independent risk analysis of the data breach to determine the level of risk associated with the data breach for the potential misuse of any sensitive personal information involved in the data breach. The term 'data breach' means the loss, theft, or other unauthorized access, or any access other than that incidental to the scope of employment, to data containing sensitive personal information, in electronic or printed form, that results in the potential compromise of the confidentiality or integrity of the data. Contractor shall fully cooperate with the entity performing the risk analysis. Failure to cooperate may be deemed a material breach and grounds for contract termination.

c. Each risk analysis shall address all relevant information concerning the data breach, including the following:

(1) Nature of the event (loss, theft, unauthorized access);

(2) Description of the event, including:

(a) date of occurrence;

(b) data elements involved, including any PII, such as full name, social security number, date of birth, home address, account number, disability code;

(3) Number of individuals affected or potentially affected;

(4) Names of individuals or groups affected or potentially affected;

(5) Ease of logical data access to the lost, stolen or improperly accessed data in light of the degree of protection for the data, e.g., unencrypted, plain text;

(6) Amount of time the data has been out of VA control;

(7) The likelihood that the sensitive personal information will or has been compromised (made accessible to and usable by unauthorized persons);

(8) Known misuses of data containing sensitive personal information, if any;

(9) Assessment of the potential harm to the affected individuals;

(10) Data breach analysis as outlined in 6500.2 Handbook, Management of Security and Privacy Incidents, as appropriate; and

(11) Whether credit protection services may assist record subjects in avoiding or mitigating the results of identity theft based on the sensitive personal information that may have been compromised.

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 $37.50 per affected individual to cover the cost of providing credit protection services to affected individuals consisting of the following:

(1) Notification;

(2) One year of credit monitoring services consisting of automatic daily monitoring of at least 3 relevant credit bureau reports;

(3) Data breach analysis;

(4) Fraud resolution services, including writing dispute letters, initiating fraud alerts and credit freezes, to assist affected individuals to bring matters to resolution;

(5) One year of identity theft insurance with $20,000.00 coverage at $0 deductible; and

(6) Necessary legal expenses the subjects may incur to repair falsified or damaged credit records, histories, or financial affairs.

7. TRAINING

a. All contractor employees and subcontractor employees requiring access to VA information and VA information systems shall complete the following before being granted access to VA information and its systems:

(1) Sign and acknowledge (either manually or electronically) understanding of and responsibilities for compliance with the VA Privacy and Information Security Awareness and Contractor Rules of Behavior;

(2) Successfully complete the VA Cyber Security Awareness training and annually complete required security training; and

(3) Successfully complete the appropriate Prevention of Workplace Harassment,…