36C24718R0633-001.docx

36C24718R0633

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

36C24718R0633 07-12-2018 Valeria Murray 334-725-2624 07-23-2018 12 Noon EST Department of Veterans Affairs Central Alabama Veterans Health Care 215 Perry Hill Road Montgomery AL 36109-3798 X X Y 561320 $27.5 Million X N/A X WJB Dorn VA Medical Center 6439 Garners Ferry Road Columbia SC 29209 Department of Veterans Affairs Central Alabama Health Care System East Campus 2400 Hospital Road Tuskegee AL 36083-5001

Department of Veterans Affairs

FMS-VA-2(101)

Financial Services Center PO Box 149971 Austin TX 78714-9971 See CONTINUATION Page Contractor shall provide BC/BE physicians to provide a full range of critical care for surgical services IAW enclosed Performance Work Statement (p. 6).

Base Period of Performance: Sep 1, 2018 thru Feb 28, 2019.

See CONTINUATION Page X X Valeria Murray Table of Contents

SECTION B - CONTINUATION OF SF 1449 BLOCKS

NO TEXT

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 36C247 Valeria Murray Department of Veterans Affairs Central Alabama Veterans Health Care 215 Perry Hill Road Montgomery AL 36109-3798

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

FMS-VA-2(101)

Financial Services Center PO Box 149971 Austin TX 78714-9971

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

5. SECURE FAX: Contractor shall add the following language when faxing information: This fax is intended only for the use of the person or office to which it is addressed and may contain information that is privileged, confidential, or protected by law. All others are hereby notified that the receipt of this fax does not waive any applicable privilege or exemption for disclosure and that any dissemination, distribution, or copying of this communication is prohibited. If you have received this fax in error, please notify this office immediately at the telephone number listed above.

6. HHS/OIG: To ensure that the individuals providing services under the contract have not engaged in fraud or abuse regarding Sections 1128 and 1128A of the Social Security Act regarding federal health care programs, the contractor is required to check the Health and Human Service – Office of Inspector General, List of excluded individuals/entities on the OIG Website (www.hhs.gov/oig) for each person providing services under this contract. Further the contractor is required to certify in its proposal that all persons listed in the contractor’s proposal have been compared against the OIG list and are not listed. During the performance of this contract the Contractor is prohibited from using any individual or business listed on the List of Excluded Individuals/Entities.

7. HIPAA COMPLIANCE: - Contractor must adhere to the provisions of Public Law 104-191, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996 and the National Standards to Protect the Privacy and Security of Protected Health Information (PHI). A business associate agreement is not required in this case.

8. POST AWARD ORIENTATION: The Contracting Officer will schedule a post award orientation conference for contract orientation purposes.

B.2 LIMITATIONS ON SUBCONTRACTING-- MONITORING AND COMPLIANCE (JUN 2011)

This solicitation includes VAAR 852.219-10 VA Notice of Total Service- Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business Set-Aside. Accordingly, any contract resulting from this solicitation will include this clause. The contractor is advised in performing contract administration functions, the CO may use the services of a support contractor(s) retained by VA to assist in assessing the contractor's compliance with the limitations on subcontracting or percentage of work performance requirements specified in the clause. To that end, the support contractor(s) may require access to contractor's offices where the contractor's business records or other proprietary data are retained and to review such business records regarding the contractor's compliance with this requirement. All support contractors conducting this review on behalf of VA will be required to sign an “Information Protection and Non-Disclosure and Disclosure of Conflicts of Interest Agreement” to ensure the contractor's business records or other proprietary data reviewed or obtained in the course of assisting the CO in assessing the contractor for compliance are protected to ensure information or data is not improperly disclosed or other impropriety occurs. Furthermore, if VA determines any services the support contractor(s) will perform in assessing compliance are advisory and assistance services as defined in FAR 2.101, Definitions, the support contractor(s) must also enter into an agreement with the contractor to protect proprietary information as required by FAR 9.505-4, obtaining access to proprietary information, paragraph (b). The contractor is required to cooperate fully and make available any records as may be required to enable the CO to assess the contractor's compliance with the limitations on subcontracting or percentage of work performance requirement.

B.3 PRICE/COST SCHEDULE

ITEM INFORMATION

Contract Period: Base POP Begin: 09-01-2018 POP End: 02-28-2019

Contract Period: Option 1 POP Begin: 03-01-2019 POP End: 08-31-2019

B.4 DESCRIPTION/SPECIFICATIONS/WORK STATEMENT

1. GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF POSITION:

1.1. The contractor’s physician(s) shall provide a full range of critical care for beneficiaries of surgical services at the WJB Dorn VA Medical Center. Work will be performed in the intensive care units (ICU) at WJB Dorn VAMC, 6439 Garners Ferry Rd, Columbia, SC 29209. Contract physicians shall have experience in critical care and certification from the American Board of Surgery in accordance with the standards of The Joint Commission, and the professional standards of WJB Dorn VAMC. Services specified in this statement of work shall be performed in accordance with established principles and ethics of the medical profession, VA directives, and any other publications listed in this contract.

1.2. Duties include but are not limited to the following: Serve as the attending for inpatient and outpatient services on a 24-hour basis, perform evaluations involving complete history and physical examinations, treatment, consultation and the ordering of laboratory studies relevant to the patient’s medical problem, and provide education, supervision of residents, house staff and midlevel providers, assist with their evaluation and management of patients. Perform specialty specific procedures including but not limited to: Arterial/venous blood sampling, thoracentesis, arterial and venous catheter placement, placement of central venous lines/acute dialysis catheters/PA catheters, intubation, fiber-optic bronchoscopy, lumbar puncture, joint aspiration, placement of NG/feeding tubes, aspiration of subcutaneous fluid collections, bladder catheterizations, and performing portable ultrasound. Services will be rendered in the following patient care areas: Medical Intensive Care Unit, Surgical Intensive Care Unit and Coronary Care Unit. Consultative services will be provided in other inpatient and outpatient areas throughout the facility including Emergency Department, Surgical Intensive Care Unit, Medical Intensive Care Unit, Progressive Care Unit, General Medicine and Surgical Units, and outpatient Pulmonary Clinics. For critically ill patients with a significant change in their status or course, the critical care provider will also be available to provide bedside care twenty-four (24) hours per day, seven (7) days per week. The physician must be proficient in the use of the CPRS, V/ISTA and Essentris computer operating systems for charting and ventilator management.

1.3. It is expressly agreed and understood that the services rendered by the Contractor and contract employees are rendered as non-personal service with the Department of Veterans Affairs. This contract contains provisions to allow the Government to evaluate the quality of service provided. All persons performing services under this contract shall remain employees of the Contractor and be evaluated by the Chief of Surgery Service for WJB Dorn VAMC.

2. WORK HOURS:

The Contractor’s physician(s) shall provide coverage as scheduled in critical care units. Critical care is provided 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, 365 days per year. The number of weekends, nights, and holidays hours contractor’s physician(s) will be required will vary depending on the needs of the Surgery Critical Care Units. The estimated number of hours over this six (6) month period is 1100, inclusive of an estimated 100 hours of call back coverage. Any hours that deviate from the tour of duty stated herein shall be approved in advance by COR or designee. A record keeping system of contractor hours worked will be established by contract sending “In and Out” email in Outlook to COR. The payments for any leave, including sick leave, holiday or vacation time, are the responsibility of the Contractor.

*NOTE: FEDERAL HOLIDAYs – The 10 holidays observed by the Federal Government include New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King’s Birthday, Washington’s Birthday, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Thanksgiving Day, Veterans Day, Christmas Day, and any other day specifically declared by the President of the United States to be a National Holiday.

3. CONTRACT TERMS:

The contract period of performance is identified in Block 20 of the SF1449. The contract is subject to the availability of VA funding. No service shall be performed by the contractor beyond the contract expiration date unless specifically authorized to do so (in writing) by the Contracting Officer.

4. LOCATION OF WORK:

The Surgery Critical Care Physician will perform all duties in the intensive care units of WJB Dorn VA Medical Center in Columbia, SC.

5.4. OTHER REQUIREMENTS:

5.4.1. All services shall be performed in accordance with standards of The Joint Commission, WJB Dorn VAMC, SC policies and procedures, VA regulations, and Rules and Bylaws of the medical staff.

5.4.2. The services specified herein may be changed by written modification to this contract. The modification will be prepared by the Contracting Officer, and will not become effective until after execution by both the Contractor and the Contracting Officer.

5.4.3. Orientation: Contract Providers will be oriented to the WJB Dorn VAMC, Columbia, SC, prior to the start of this contract. Orientation will be properly documented and the competency of the Contract Providers will be assessed.

5.4.4. The Contractor’s physician(s)shall be present and performing services at the WJB Dorn VAMC, Columbia, SC, throughout the entire tour of duty.

5.4.5. Contract Providers performing services under this contract shall not be considered VA employees for any purpose, and shall be considered employees of the Contractor or subcontractor. Payment for any holidays and leave, including sick leave, shall not be paid by the VA. In addition, the Contractor or subcontractor shall be required to provide their own worker’s compensation, liability insurance, health examinations, and immunizations (NOTE: prior to performing work, contractor shall provide copy of current PPD (within one year, proof of chicken pox – positive Varicella titer, proof of measles, mumps, rubella – positive MMR titer, hepatitis B vaccine series or a signed declination), income tax withholding, and social security payments.

5.4.6. The services to be performed by the contractor will be under the direction of the Chief of Surgery, WJB Dorn VAMC, Columbia, SC.

6. QUALIFICATIONS/CREDENTIALING:

6.1. Contract Providers proposed by the contractor to perform the services covered in this contract shall possess an unrestricted license in a State, Territory, or Commonwealth of the United States of the District of Columbia. The qualifications of such personnel shall be subject to review by the VA Chief of Staff, or designee, and approval by the VA Facility Director. The government specifically reserves the right to reject any of the Contractor’s personnel and refuse them permission to provide services under this contract.

6.2. Contract Physicians shall be 1) Board Certified or 2) Board Eligible 3) and have current certification in Basic Life Support and Advanced Cardiac Life Support.

6.3. Contract Providers providing services at the VA shall meet all qualifications outlined in the VA Credentialing and Privileging regulations in accordance with VHA Handbook 1100.19. Contract providers may not begin seeing patients until credentialing and privileging requirements according to TJC requirements and VA procedures have been met and necessary documents signed by the VA Facility Director.

6.4. Offers will be considered only from offerors who are regularly established in the business called for and who, in the judgment of the Contracting Officer, are financially responsible and able to show evidence of their responsibility, ability, experience, equipment, facilities, and personnel directly employed or supervised by them to render prompt and satisfactory service in the volume required for all items under this contract. By the signing of this offer, the offeror is certifying that he/she shall meet all requirements of Federal, State, or local laws, codes, and/or regulations regarding the operation of this type of service.

6.5. Any sub-contractor(s) utilized by the contractor(s) for the provision of services required under this contract must meet the same qualifications specified herein for the contractor(s). The contractor(s) must obtain approval from the Contracting Officer with input from the COR (based on the selection process) for any sub-contractor(s) to be utilized for the provision of services required under this contract.

6.6. The Contractor’s physician(s)shall possess basic proficiency in spoken and written English.

6.7. The Contractor’s physician(s)shall participate in quality management and utilization review activities, as needed clinical conferences for staff, and shall attend medical staff and service-level meetings as specified by the Service Chief.

6.8 The contractor shall hold a Doctor of Medicine Degree from an accredited college or university approved by the Department of Education.

6.9 The contractor shall possess a current, full, and unrestricted license to practice medicine in a State, Territory, or Commonwealth of the United States. Former adverse actions against a license shall be considered grounds for determining the Contractor to be unacceptable for the contract.

6.10 Board Certified/Board Eligible. The Contractor shall be responsible for obtaining and maintaining the necessary re-certifications.

6.11 Contract health care providers performing services under this contract shall have sufficient experience to adequately perform the medical procedures appropriate to critical care and pulmonology.

7. OFFEROR’S REQUIREMENTS:

7.1. The Offeror/Contractor is required to furnish and maintain current documentation for all persons performing under the contract necessary for credentialing and privileging.

7.2. Contractor must provide information to the Veterans Affairs with quotation.

7.3. The offeror shall provide, with the quotation, a written certification that all practitioners who perform under the contract shall be mentally and physically able to fulfill responsibilities of the work to be performed.

7.4. The Contractor shall assume full responsibility for the protection of its personnel furnishing services under this contract. To carry out this responsibility, the contractor shall provide worker’s compensation, Professional Liability Insurance, malpractice insurance, employee health/infection control program and appropriate immunizations, income tax withholding and social security payments for these personnel. The parties agree that the contractor, its employees, agents and subcontractors shall not be considered VA employees for any purpose. Although, in accordance with FAR 37.401(b), “The Government may evaluate the quality of professional and administrative services provided,” the government retains no control over the medical, professional aspects of services rendered (e.g., professional judgments, and diagnosis for specific medical treatment). The Contractor shall maintain during the term of his contract liability insurance issued by a responsible insurance carrier of not less than $1,000,000 per specialty occurrence (see VAAR clause 852.237-7). At the request of the Contracting Officer, the Offeror shall furnish evidence of its insurability concerning this medical liability insurance requirement.

8. PERFORMANCE MEASURES:

8.1. Outcome. The contractor shall provide qualified personnel who shall fulfill the requirements of the contract to provide services that meet or exceed currently recognized standards as established by the JCAHO.

8.2. Standards. Acceptable measures include: Fill rate of not less than 95%, Substantiated patient complaints- Max 2 per year, per provider; No physician initiated cancellations of treatments except as medically required by patient. Other performance evaluation factors will be monitored that are not quantified by numerical measurements which include: contractor providing personnel exceeding the minimum qualification standards; no inappropriate prescriptions; patient customer service comments; provider and contractor relationship with VA hospital staff/government contracting personnel; compliance with VA hospital policy and procedures related to patient care.

8.3. How Measured. VA department supervisory personnel will monitor provider performance through government information systems and records, patient records, customer service information and contractor reports. Performance reports will be evaluated to determine successful performance.

9. SPECIFIC TASKS:

9.1. A full range of critical care shall be included for the coverage under this contract, to include serving as the attending for inpatient and outpatient services on a 24-hour basis. Perform evaluations involving complete history and physical examinations and the ordering of laboratory studies relevant to the patient’s medical problem. Supervise and assist midlevel providers, residents, physicians and ancillary health personnel in their evaluation and management of patients. Perform acquisition of material from all orifices from venous blood, fluid collection, and localized abscesses presenting to the skin. Perform venous and arterial puncture. Perform peer reviews as requested. Services will be rendered in the following patient care areas: Surgical Intensive Care Unit, Medical Intensive Care Unit, and Coronary Care Unit. Consultative services will be provided in other inpatient and outpatient areas throughout the facility including Emergency Department, Surgical Intensive Care Unit, Progressive Care Unit, General Medicine and Surgical Units.

9.2. The Contractor shall document all care according to appropriate medical care standards and where applicable to Joint Commission regulations. The physician must be proficient in the use of CPRS and VISTA.

9.3. The Contractor shall participate in teaching programs affiliated with the VA and University of South Carolina School of Medicine.

10. QUALITY CONTROL:

10.1. QUALITY ASSESSMENT AND IMPROVEMENT (QA&I). WJB Dorn VAMC will evaluate the Contractor’s performance under this contract using the quality assessment and improvement procedures established by Dorn. The Contractor and contract employees shall be required to participate in the WJB Dorn VAMC Quality Improvement Program as specified in the WJB Dorn VAMC QA&I Plan.

10.2. QUALITATIVE STANDARDS. Contract employees shall participate in, and be subject to, the WJB Dorn VAMC and Medical Department Quality Improvement Standards/Program. These quality important standards are consistent with current TJC monitoring and evaluation of the quality and appropriateness of medical care.

10.3. The Contractor shall furnish a statement in writing to the contracting officer at close out of contract/expiration to include a summary of the contractor’s actions and statement that all requirements of the contract were fulfilled as agreed. A summary evaluation of contract performance based upon the compliance or non-compliance of contract requires as evidenced under the monitoring procedures shall be forwarded by the VA monitoring official to the contracting officer prior to exercising any option year. See the Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan (QASP) for information

11. PAYMENT

11.1. Payment will be made monthly in arrears for services rendered after receipt of a proper invoice. The VA Medical Center will establish and maintain a record keeping system that will record the hours worked by the contractor’s employee. A Contractor’s employee must be present at the VA facility and must be actually performing the required services in accordance with contract specifications in order to receive compensation. Monitoring of Contractor’s time will be demonstrated through sign-in/sign-out sheets.

Please contact OB10 at the phone number or email address listed below to begin submitting your electronic invoices to the VA Financial Services Center (FSC) for payment processing, free of charge. If you have questions about the e-invoicing program or OB10, please contact the FSC.

OB10 e-Invoice set-up information: 1-877-489-6135 OB10 e-Invoice email: VA.REGISTRATION@OB10.COM FSC e-Invoice Contact: 1-877-353-9791 FSC e-Invoice email: VAFSCCSHD@VA.GOV

Web Address: HTTP://WWW.FSC.VA.GOV/EINVOICE.ASP

11.2. Invoices must contain the following information:

a. Contract Number

b. Invoice Number

c. Contractor’s Name and Address

d. Accurate Purchase Order Number

e. Total Amount Due

f. Dates of Services

g. Names of Physicians and tour of duty worked

h. Invoice must mirror the contract line items

11.3 Payment Adjustments

11.3.1 Invoices will be submitted for hours worked. The contractor shall be paid only for actual work performed onsite. Contract providers shall be responsible for reporting time worked accurately. The Contract shall be paid for actual hours performed. In the event that a contractor work a fraction of an hour caused by either reporting to work late or having to stay past the end of the shift, such time fractions will be rounded to the nearest hour.

The contract shall be adjusted at the end of the period of performance (base or option year) in accordance with actual performance.

11.3.2. Payments in full/no billing VA beneficiaries: The Contractor shall accept payment for services rendered under this contract as payment in full. VA beneficiaries shall not under any circumstances be charged nor their insurance companies charged for services rendered by the Contractor, even if VA does not pay for those services. This provision shall survive the termination or ending of the contract.

11.3.3. To the extent that the Veteran desires services which are not a VA benefit or covered under the terms of this contract, the Contractor must notify the Veteran that there will be a charge for such service and that the VA will not be responsible for payment.

11.3.4 The Contractor shall not bill, charge, collect a deposit from, seek compensation, remuneration, or reimbursement from, or have any recourse against, any person or entity other than VA for services provided pursuant to this contract. It shall be considered fraudulent for the Contractor to bill other third party insurance sources (including Medicare) for services rendered to Veteran enrollees under this contract.

11.4. The WJB Dorn VAMC will pay only for services actually performed and in strict accordance with the Schedule of price/costs shown in the contract.

11.5. Invoices rendered by the Contractor to the VAMC for services furnished a VAMC patient or beneficiary shall be billed under the terms of this contract. Neither the beneficiary, his insurer nor any third party shall be billed

11.6. The Contractor shall provide timely (within 30 days) invoicing to the Department of Veterans Affairs, Financial Services Center, P.O. Box 1449971, Austin, TX 78714-8971.

12. DATA SECURITY-INFORMATION GATHERED OR CREATED IN PERFORMANCE OF SERVICES

12.1. Information, including, but not limited to, veteran individually-identifiable information (iii) and personal healthcare information (PHI), gathered or created by the Contractor in the performance of this contract is the exclusive property of VA and must be received, gathered, stored, backed up, maintained, used, disclosed and disposed of in accordance with the terms of this contract and applicable federal and VA information confidentiality and security laws, regulations and policies, including VA Directive and Handbook number 6500.

12.2. The Contractor shall provide access to VA information only to employees, subcontractors, and affiliates only: (1) to the extent necessary to perform the services specified in this contract, (2) to perform necessary maintenance functions for electronic storage or transmission media necessary for performance of this contract, and (3) only to individuals who first satisfy the same conditions, requirements and restrictions that comparable VA employees must meet in order to have access to the same VA information. These restrictions include the same level of background investigations, where applicable.

12.3. ALL VA III AND PHI INFORMATION STORED ON BOTH VA AND NON-VA EQUIPMENT MUST BE ENCRYPTED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE FEDERAL INFORMATION SECURITY MANAGEMENT ACT (FISMA). Federal standards established by U.S. Department of Commerce apply, including Federal Information Processing Standard 200 (FIPS200), and National Institute of Standards and Technology Special Publication 800-37, Guide for the Security, Certification and Accreditation. Contractors and subcontractors shall document compliance and make the document available upon request of the Contracting Officer or COR. Contractor and subcontractors shall allow physical inspection by VA personnel to assess its physical and environmental security controls.

12.4. Contractor and its subcontractors must ensure that VA III and PHI is secure at all times and will ensure proper security is used on contractor or subcontractor computers with VA III or PHI information is stored. To avoid risk of loss or theft, VA III and PHI shall NOT be transferred by contractor or its subcontractors to paper, diskettes, CDs, DVDs, USB flash drives, external computer drives, computer notebooks, home computers or any other medium, and shall NOT be removed from the contractor for subcontractor site under any circumstances without specific written authorization of the VA Information Security Officer. The authorized VA III or PHI recipient shall back up files to protect their loss. Back-ups shall be locked and secured. VA III and PHI shall NOT be transferred between contractor or subcontractor computer unless permission is granted by VA for such transfer of data and secure encrypted transmission methods approved by the VA Information Security Officer are utilized. Contractor employees shall be required to sign VA National Rules of Behavior before they can be authorized access to VA information systems.

12.5. The Contractor shall immediately (on the date of discovery of the incident) report any incident of theft, loss or comprise of VA sensitive information to the Contracting Officer, the Contracting Officer’s Technical Representative and any other VA Official designated by the Contracting Officer. This report shall be in writing and contain the fullest explanation possible and all the details of the incident available to the contractor. VA must receive notice from the c6ontractor on the date contractor discovers incident.

13. Designation of Contracting Officer’s Technical Representative: A VA Medical center representative of the Contracting Officer shall be designated to represent the Contracting Officer in furnishing technical guidance and advice regarding the work being performed under this task order. The foregoing is not to be construed as authorization to interpret or furnish advice or information to the Contractor relative to the financial or legal aspects of the task order. Enforcement of these segments is vested and is the sole responsibility of the WJB Dorn VAMC Contracting Officer.

14. HIPPA COMPLIANCE:

14.1. The Contractor must adhere to the provisions of Public Law 104-191, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996 and the National Standards to Protect the Privacy and Security of Protected Health Information (PHI). A business associate agreement is not required in this case.

15. LIABILITY

15.1. VA beneficiaries shall not under any circumstances be charged nor their insurance companies charged for services rendered by the contractor even if VA does not pay for those services. This provision shall survive the termination or ending of the contract.

16. MEDICAL RECORDS

16.1. Contractor shall provide health care to patients seeking such care from or through VA. As such, contractor is considered part of the Department health activity for purposes of the following statues and the VA regulations implementing these statues: the Privacy Act, 5.U.S.C. § 552a, and 38 U.S.C. §s 5701, 7705 and 7332. Contractor and its employees may have access to VA patient medical records to the extent necessary for the contract or to perform this contract. Notwithstanding any other provision of this contract, contractor and its employees may disclose patient treatment records only pursuant to explicit disclosure authority from VA. Contractor and its employees are subject to the penalties and liabilities provided statutes and regulations for unauthorized disclosures of such records and their contents.” “Records created by the contractor in the course of treating VA patients under this agreement are the property of the VA and shall not be accessed, released, transferred or destroyed except in accordance with applicable federal law and regulations.” Upon the expiration of this contract or termination of the contract, the contractor will promptly provide the VA with the individually identified VA patient treatment records.

17. STANDARD OF CARE

17.1. The standard of care, at a minimum, should be equal to the care provided by the VA.

18. TRAINING

1. 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 Contractor Rules of Behavior, Appendix E relating to access to VA information and information systems;

1. Successfully complete the VA Cyber Security Awareness and Rules of Behavior training and annually complete required security training;

1. Successfully complete the appropriate VA privacy training and annually complete required privacy training; and

1. Successfully complete any additional cyber security or privacy training, as required for VA personnel with equivalent information system access [to be defined by the VA program official and provided to the contracting officer for inclusion in the solicitation document – e.g., any role-based information security training required in accordance with NIST Special Publication 800-16, Information Technology Security Training Requirements.]

1. The contractor shall provide to the contracting officer and/or the COR a copy of the training certificates and certification of signing the Contractor Rules of Behavior for each applicable employee within 1 week of the initiation of the contract and annually thereafter, as required.

1. Failure to complete the mandatory annual training and sign the Rules of Behavior annually, within the timeframe required, is grounds for suspension or termination of all physical or electronic access privileges and removal from work on the contract until such time as the training and documents are complete.

19.5 IT CONTRACT SECURITY

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 on site 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. 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.

7. 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…