36C24818Q0326-002.docx

Postal Address Verification Services VA Caribbean Healthcare System, San Juan, PR 36C24818Q0326

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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

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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

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20.

21.

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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

672-18-1-1071-0116

36C24818Q0326 02-13-2018

AMERICA QUINONES-GONZALEZ

787-641-7582 X 34969 03-07-2018

1400 AST-PR

00672 Department of Veterans Affairs VA Caribbean Healthcare System Administrative Building #10 Calle Casia Suite #4M440 San Juan PR 00921-3201

X

561499 $15 Million

X

N/A

See Delivery Schedule

00672 Department of Veterans Affairs VA Caribbean Healthcare System Administrative Building #10 Calle Casia Suite #4M440 San Juan PR 00921-3201

Department of Veterans Affairs Financial Services Center P.O. Box 149971

Austin TX 78714-9971

The VA Caribbean Healthcare System, San Juan, Puerto Rico is seeking a contractor to provide postal address verification and validation with the CASS Certification (Coding Accuracy Support Systems). Work shall be accomplished as per Performance Work Statement and Schedule of Services in the contract document.

ONE-1

America Quinones-Gonzalez

NCO815L2-1440

Table of Contents

SECTION B - CONTINUATION OF SF 1449 BLOCKS

B.1 CONTRACT ADMINISTRATION DATA

(continuation from Standard Form 1449, block 18A.)

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

a. CONTRACTOR:

b. GOVERNMENT:

Contracting Officer and Administrator América Quiñones-González Department of Veterans Affairs VA Caribbean Healthcare System Administrative Building #10 Casia Street, Suite #4M440 San Juan PR 00921-3201 E-mail: AQG@va.gov

Contracting Officer Representative Ms. Maritza Rovira Department of Veterans Affairs Mayaguez Outpatient Clinic Mayaguez, PR Email: Maritza.Rovira@va.gov

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 P.O. 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 LIMITATIONS ON SUBCONTRACTING-- MONITORING AND COMPLIANCE (JUN 2011)

This solicitation includes FAR 52.219-6 Notice of Total 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 SUBCONTRACTING COMMITMENTS--MONITORING AND COMPLIANCE (JUN 2011)

This solicitation includes VAAR 852.215-70, Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned and Veteran-Owned Small Business Evaluation Factors, and VAAR 852.215-71, Evaluation Factor Commitments. Accordingly, any contract resulting from this solicitation will include these clauses. The contractor is advised in performing contract administration functions, the CO may use the services of a support contractor(s) to assist in assessing contractor compliance with the subcontracting commitments incorporated into the contract. To that end, the support contractor(s) may require access to the contractor's business records or other proprietary data to review such business records regarding contract 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 compliance with the subcontracting commitments.

B.4 PERFORMANCE WORK STATEMENT

Requirement: Postal Address Verification Service Vision Statement To Improve the Patients Postal Address in our Patient's Record System to reduce the returned correspondence.

1. Background The VA Caribbean Healthcare System (VACHS) is currently processing a high volume of correspondence, medication and equipment that are mailed to patients and being returned to sender due to incomplete and/or incorrect address. Our goal is to improve the Patients Postal Address in our Patient's File System to reduce by 20% the returned correspondence by the end of Fiscal Year (FY) 2018. The VACHS wants to reduce and/or avoid patients’ loss of health, by not receiving their medications, equipment, or appointments on time via mail. It is important to reduce the waste of valuable resources, due to non-receipt of returned mail. For the Veterans Affairs, it is very important to maintain patient/customer health & satisfaction to the highest standards.

2. Description of Services The VA Caribbean Healthcare System needs specialized services to correct postal address in our patients’ file system. The contractor shall be able to accomplish this electronically, but not limited to:

1. Provide postal address verification and validation with CASS Certification (Coding Accuracy Support Systems)

2. Provide a data file with the correct and validated information

3. Report systems to assist the tracking of validated information and costs savings because of the validation process.

3. Period of Performance The period of performance shall be for six (6) months. If required, the Government will exercise the Option to Extend Services – FAR 52.217-8; the same will be evaluated and included in the contract on the Schedule of Services. The expected award and period of performance date is:

April 1, 2018 to September 30, 2018 If required, FAR 52.217-8 – Option to Extend Services

4. Definitions

a. Contracting Officer (CO): Contracting Officer (CO) has the overall responsibility for the administration of this contract. The CO alone, without delegation, is authorized to take actions on behalf of the Government within his/her authority to: amend, modify, or deviate from the contract terms, conditions, requirements, specifications, details and/or delivery schedules. However, the CO may delegate certain responsibilities to authorized Government representatives. The term includes certain authorized representatives of the Contracting Officer acting within the limits of their authority as delegated by the Contracting Officer.

b. CONTRACTING OFFICER’S REPRESENTATIVE (COR): Is responsible to furnish technical guidance and advice or generally monitor the work performed under the contract.

Contracting Officer's Representatives (COR) shall be appointed by letter from the CO. CORs will be the primary Government representatives for the administration of Contract, shall have proper training and experience in inspecting contracts, but will not have the authority to modify the contract. Representatives will not be authorized to make any commitments or changes, which will affect the price, quantity, and quality or delivery terms. (A Contracting Officer must authorize all changes to a contract.)

c. CONTRACTOR: Reference to ―Contractor throughout the PWS even for those references to subcontracted type tasks shall mean the responsibility of the contract service provider.

d. ACCEPTANCE: Constitutes acknowledgment that the supplies or services conform to applicable contract quality and quantity requirements.

e. ENVIRONMENTALLY PREFERABLE: Products or services that have a lesser or reduced effect on human health and the environment when compared with competing products or services that serve the same purpose. This comparison may consider raw materials acquisition, production, manufacturing, products and chemicals, packaging, distribution, reuse, operation, maintenance, or disposal of the product or service.

f. CONTRACT MODIFICATION: Any written change in the terms of a contract. Contract modifications are either bilateral or unilateral. A bilateral modification (Supplemental Agreement) is a contract modification that is signed by both the contractor and the contracting officer. A unilateral modification is a contract modification that is signed only by the contracting officer.

g. PERFORMANCE BASED SERVICE CONTRACTING: The procurement strategy that seeks to issue technical requirements that set forth outcomes for performance instead of specific requirements on how to perform the service. This strategy shifts the risk of performance to the Contractor by allowing the Contractor to design the methods of achieving desired results as defined by the performance quality standards established by the Government.

h. QUALITY ASSURANCE SURVEILLANCE PLAN (QASP): The Government’s surveillance method of monitoring and evaluating the Contractor's performance.

i. QUALITY CONTROL PLAN (QCP): The Quality Control Plan is a system for identifying and correcting deficiencies in the quality of services before the level of performance becomes unacceptable. Preparation of this document is the responsibility of the Contractor.

j. SHALL vs. MUST: Throughout this solicitation, the terms ―shall and ―must are used. ―Shall and ―must denote the imperative. They indicate an obligation to act. In this solicitation, and any resulting contract, ―shall and ―must have the same meaning.

5. Federal Holidays In accordance with 5 U.S.C. 6103, Executive Order 11582 and Public Law 94-97 the following national holidays are observed and for this contract is defined as "Legal Federal, official holidays" as follows:

The eleven (11) holidays observed as per Department of Labor (DOL) Wage Determination: Wage Determinations will be included on the Attachments, Section D of this contract. Contractor will be responsible to address the changes, as applicable, when the Government determines to exercise option periods.

Or any other day specifically declared by the President of the United States to be a national holiday.

6. General Requirements

6.1 Non-Personal Services

The Government shall neither supervise contractor employees nor control the method by which the contractor performs the required tasks; however, the contractor shall have a Quality Control Plan in accordance with the Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan provided by the Government on this solicitation, and further contract. Under no circumstances shall the Government assign tasks to, or prepare work schedules for, individual contractor employees. It shall be the responsibility of the contractor to manage its employees and to guard against any actions that are of the nature of personal services, or give the perception of personal services. If the contractor believes that any actions constitute, or are perceived to constitute personal services, it shall be the contractor's responsibility to notify the Contracting Officer (CO), the Contracting Officer Representative (COR), or any other government designee immediately.

6.2 Business Relations

The contractor shall successfully integrate and coordinate all activities needed to execute the requirement(s) on this solicitation, and further contract. The contractor shall manage the timeliness, completeness, and quality of the assigned tasks to clean the address file. The contractor shall be responsible of identifying any arising problem. He/she must assure the correction of the 90,000 active patients’ addresses in a reasonable time- Not to exceed (NTE) six (6) months from award date. If any delay occurs on the contractor’s fault, he/she must ensure the final delivery of required services as per Performance Work Statement (PWS) requirements is satisfactorily delivered and completed. The contractor shall provide corrective action plans, offer submittals, timely identification of issues, and effective management of subcontractors, if any. The contractor shall seek to ensure customer satisfaction and professional and ethical behavior of all contractor personnel.

6.3 Contract Administration and Management

The following subsections specify requirements for contract, management, and personnel administration.

7. Contract Management The contractor shall establish clear organizational lines of authority and responsibility to ensure effective management of the resources assigned to the requirement. The contractor must maintain continuity between the support operations at VACHS and the contractor's corporate offices.

7.1 Contract Administration as a Performance Work Statement

The contractor shall establish processes and assign appropriate resources to effectively administer the contract. The contractor shall respond to Government requests for contractual actions in a timely fashion. The contractor shall have a single point of contact between the Government and Contractor personnel assigned to support the awarded contract. Immediately after award, the contractor shall submit to the CO and COR and organizational chart of the employees dedicated to the contract. The same must include their name, title of position as per contract tasks, telephone number, and e-mail. It is very important to identify the Team Leader or Supervisor for that contract performance. In addition, the information of that Team Leader/Supervisor shall be given always to the CO and COR. The contractor shall assign work effort, and maintain proper and accurate time keeping records of personnel assigned to work on the requirement.

7.2 Location and Hours of Work

Contractor performance will take place outside the VA Caribbean Healthcare System facility. The contractor will visit the Facility routinely to deliver the Compact Disk, Universal Serial Bus (USB), or agreeable device with the corrections, as per stipulated in the Schedule of Services and/or PWS.

8. Performance Requirements The Contractor shall provide, at a minimum, all tasks and deliverables described within this document, and further awarded contract. All deliverables shall be submitted to the local Contracting Officer Representative (COR), in accordance with each individual task. Unless otherwise stipulated, written deliverables shall be phrased in plain English. Statistical and other technical terminology, as described in this PWS, shall not be used without providing a glossary of terms. The Contractor shall provide all management, labor, and resources needed for task(s) completion.

When the Contractor cannot meet the specified deadline, they must inform the local facility COR within five (5) business days. If the Contractor is uncertain concerning a policy or procedure, the Contractor shall consult with the local facility CO, COR, or government designee for clarification. The Contractor is responsible for the management of its staff, and the Contractor is responsible for training its staff on VA policy and procedures, with the assistance of the Health Information Management (HIM) Department.

The contractor shall perform all deliverables to the Facility. The Contractor is responsible for performing quality reviews of work to be delivered. The Contractor shall bear the cost of any re-work and/or corrections and take corrective action when services are found deficient or substandard. If deficiencies are found repeatedly, as per Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan (QASP) a deduction on payment can be done at invoicing.

The Contractor shall attend a kick-off meeting after award date. The post-award meeting will be coordinated by the CO. The COR shall be present or via teleconference on the post-award meeting; as well as the contractor and/or contractor’s supervisor or lead. The Contractor shall perform the task(s) and complete the associated deliverables by the scheduled dates within the overall period of performance.

9. Address verification and validation of current patient's postal address The contractor shall be able to convert an address into a standard format by correcting the address, and adding missing information, such as a zip code, to produce a complete address containing a street address, city sate, and zip code, as in agreement with the U.S. Postal Service. The contractor shall be certified as Coding Accuracy Support System (CASS Certification).

The contractor shall be able to use the following methods to archive the most accurate address possible.

a. Abbreviation: USPS approved abbreviations will be used whenever possible to clarify and shorten the address.

b. Spelling corrections: Correct misspelled words that result in an undeliverable address.

c. Uniform city names: Use only CASS-certified software to standardized any "preferred" or "acceptable" city for the five-digit ZIP code.

d. Completion: Validation for complete address format. This means that is must have a street, city, state and ZIP code.

10. Patient's Postal address data format The government will submit in plain text format, the address data for all active patients’ postal addresses. The amount of addresses to be provided will be approximately 90,000 of their active patients. The contractor will be responsible for validating that updated data is current.

The government and the contractor will exchange the data electronically via email, CD, USB or other device agreed on the post-award meeting, in compliance with government regulations. The government and the contractor must ensure the data exchanged is FIPS 140-2 encrypted and contractor shall protect all private and sensitive information always during the exchange.

The first exchange of data will be performed within one (1) week after the post-award kick off meeting.

The electronic data for subsequent exchanges will be done on a weekly basis until purging and validating process is complete. The completion time for this task must not exceed six (6) months. Any additional addresses in excess of those 90,000 shall be priced on the schedule of services, as included and requested on it.

11. Handling Patient's postal address data by the contractor The contractor shall be able to process plain text data format or any other data format the government consider appropriate to handle sensitive information. The contractor shall be able process FIPS 140-2 encrypted information. The contractor could use innovation, technology, and other means and methods to perform this task in a most efficient manner up to completion.

12. Reporting Services shall include detailed reports to the COR for all transactions processed, and work completed.

The reports shall include but not limited to:

a. Amount of records transmitted or delivered as corrected to the COR

b. Amount of records processed

c. Amount of records validated

d. Amount of records not validated, out of those rendered by VA

e. Each report will include not only the amount but also, detailed information about the records, completion, findings, but not limited to.

13. Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan (QASP):

Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan is designed to provide an effective surveillance method of monitoring and evaluating the Contractor performance. Upon contract award, the COR or COR Designee, with the assistance of the CO will establish a complete Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan (QASP) to ensure that the requirements of this contract are being met by the Contractor.

The objective of the QASP is to reduce the risk to both the Government and the Contractor when problems arise, and provide a disciplined process for evaluating the Contractor’s performance to determine conformity with the requirements of the contract. The system also helps to ensure that contract awards and deductions are executed in accordance with the contract requirements.

Performance based contracting methods are intended to ensure that the required performance quality levels are achieved and that the total payment is related to the degree that services performed or outcomes achieved meet contract standards. The COR or Designee periodically validates the execution of the Contractors' quality control programs by reviewing such areas as the Contractors' inspection forms, submittals, and the timeliness of corrective actions.

Roles and Responsibilities of the VA Caribbean Healthcare System (VACHS): The Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) or their designated alternate COR, will serve as the Contracting Officer’s (CO) on site representative to ensure that the Contractor is meeting the quality expectations of the contract. For locations where the COR is not located at the building, the on-site VA representative should keep the COR informed on the level of service.

a. The CO will have the overall responsibility of overseeing the Contractor’s performance in the areas of contract compliance, contract administration, reviewing the COR assessment of the Contractor’s performance; and resolving all issues between the Contractor and the COR. The CO will be the final authority for approval, disputes, negotiations, modifications, compliance, and enforcement of the contract.

b. When administrative responsibility is not clearly spelled out in the contract, program/functional area personnel should coordinate with the CO to assure that roles are clearly defined and understood, that contract obligations will be satisfactorily performed.

The quality assurance process:

a) Shall not interfere with the Contractor’s process.

b) Evaluates the results against the standard, not the process.

c) Focuses on quality, quantity, and timeliness.

d) Fosters effective communications and management controls.

Methods of Surveillance: The method of surveillance is based on the performance criteria of the contract terms and specifications. Each requirement will describe the tasks to be performed and the standard for successful performance. The Government intends to monitor and evaluate the Contractor’s performance based on any or all the following surveillance methods:

a) Periodic Surveillance Inspections: This method consists of selected surveillance tasks by the Government that do not require 100% inspection, or are performed on a random basis to determine if the level of performance is acceptable. The COR will evaluate the Contractor submittals, frequency of services, accuracy on submittals, etc. on a weekly, biweekly, monthly or quarterly basis.

b) Service Call Documentation: This method of surveillance will provide information to the COR such as, identification of the types of service calls received, the frequencies, the corrective action taken, the timeliness of completion and any other pertinent data.

c) Validated Customer Complaints: Alternative surveillance method used to assist in evaluating the level of performance.

d) Customer Interviews: All customer concerns received through the COR will be documented and evaluated on a planned schedule developed by the COR. This method may help the COR focus on areas that may require further action form the CO.

13.1 Performance Requirements Summary:

Performance standards define desired services. The Government performs surveillance to determine if the contractor exceeds, meets or does not meet these standards.

The Performance Requirements are listed below. The Government shall use these standards to determine contractor performance and shall compare contractor performance to the Acceptable Quality Level (AQL).

95%

Disincentive: An e-mail or written notification will be issued on the first instance of failure to provide the acceptable level of service.

Three (3) or more issued notifications may result in reduction of the monthly invoice of 5%.

Disincentive: An e-mail or written notification will be issued on the first instance of failure to provide the acceptable level of service.

Two (2) or more issued notifications may result in reduction of the monthly invoice of 5%.

Disincentive: A Contract Discrepancy Report (CDR) will be issued on the first instance of failure to provide the acceptable level of compliance.

Three (3) or more issued CDRs may result in reduction of the monthly invoice of 5%.

Incentives/Disincentives:

The Government shall use favorable contractor performance evaluations as incentives. The Government shall use unfavorable contractor performance as disincentives. Disincentives shall include documentation of any performance issues. If repetitive or consistent, the Government shall take further corrective action or begin termination procedures. Incentives/Disincentives shall be based on exceeding, meeting, or not meeting performance standards.

Documenting Performance:

a. Acceptable performance The Government shall document positive performance. Any report may become a part of the supporting documentation for any contractual action.

b. Unacceptable performance When unacceptable performance occurs, the COR shall inform the Contracting Officer (CO), or the Administrative Contract Specialist (CS). This will normally be in writing unless circumstances necessitate verbal communication. In any case the COR and the CO/CS shall document the discussion and place it in their respective file.

When the COR determines, formal written communication is required, the COR shall prepare a Contract Discrepancy Report (CDR), and present it to the CS or the CO. The CS or the CO will, in turn, review and submit to the contractor for corrective action.

The Contractor shall acknowledge receipt of the CDR in writing. The CDR will specify if the contractor is required to prepare a corrective action plan to document how the contractor shall correct the unacceptable performance and avoid a recurrence. The CDR will also state how long after receipt the contractor must present this corrective action plan to the COR. The Government shall review the contractor’s corrective action plan to determine acceptability. Any CDRs may become part of the supporting documentation for any contractual action deemed necessary by the CO.

14. Quality Control The Contractor shall develop a Task/Delivery Order QCP and maintain an effective quality control program to ensure services are performed in accordance with the IDIQ contract and this PWS. The Contractor shall develop and implement procedures to identify, prevent, and ensure non-recurrence of defective services. The Contractor's QCP is how she/he assures himself that her/his work complies with the requirement of the contract. The finalized QCP will be accepted by the Government at the time of the award of the Task/Delivery Order. The Contracting Officer may notify the Contractor of required modifications to the plan during the period of performance. The Contractor then shall coordinate suggested modifications and obtain acceptance of the plan by the Contracting Officer. Any modifications to the program during the period of performance shall be provided to the Contracting Officer for review no later than ten (10) working days prior to effective date of the change. The QCP shall be subject to the Government's review and approval. The Government may find the QCP "unacceptable" whenever the Contractor's procedures do not accomplish quality control objective(s). The Contractor shall revise the QCP within five (5) working days from receipt of notice that QCP is found "unacceptable."

15. Meetings During the term of the contract, it may be necessary to schedule meetings between the Contractor and the Government for contract information exchanges, performance and contract compliance matters. Some of the meetings would only be required if issues could not be resolved via telephone (conference calls) or in writing. Location of meeting will be at the VA Caribbean Healthcare System, San Juan, Puerto Rico. Attendees shall include, but may not be limited to, the Contracting Officer, Contracting Officer's Representative, the Contractor, and Contractor’s Key personnel.

16. Contractor and Government responsibilities The security risk level assigned for the services required herein is considered Low Risk (LR) equating to non-sensitive defined, as "These positions are positions with limited potential for adverse impact involving duties of limited relation to a program or VA’s mission". The Contractor shall certify that all personnel performing under this contract have the necessary clearance to meet this level of security risk and provide required supporting documentation. As per PDAT Background investigation T1 for 01113-General Clerk III (Maintains a wide variety of records stored both manually and electronically) is SF85 required, Non-sensitive positions.

25.2 The contractor shall prescreen all personnel requiring access to the computer systems to ensure they maintain a U.S. citizenship and can read, write, speak and understand the English language.

25.3 The delegated Contracting Officer Representative (COR), VA Program Manager, or other designee shall serve as a VA Sponsor for Contractor or Contract Employee personnel.

17. Security

VA INFORMATION AND INFORMATION SYSTEM SECURITY/PRIVACY LANGUAGE

17.1 VA INFORMATION CUSTODIAL LANGUAGE:

a. 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.

b. 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- Acquisition of Commercial Items, FAR Part 13 – Simplified Acquisition Procedures, and FAR 52.212-4 Contract Terms and Conditions-Commercial Items.

c. 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.

d. 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.

17.2 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.

17.3 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.

17.4 SECURITY CONTROLS COMPLIANCE TESTING:

On a periodic basis, VA, including the Office of Inspector General, reserves the right to evaluate any or all the security controls and privacy practices implemented by the contractor under the clauses contained within the contract. With 10 working-days’ notice, at the request of the government, the contractor must fully cooperate and assist in a government-sponsored security controls assessment at each location wherein VA information is processed or stored, or information systems are developed, operated, maintained, or used on behalf of VA, including those initiated by the Office of Inspector General. The government may conduct a security control assessment on shorter notice (to include unannounced assessments) as determined by VA in the event of a security incident or at any other time.

17.5 TRAINING:

a. All contractor employees and subcontractor employees requiring access to VA information and VA information systems shall complete VA Privacy and Information Security Awareness and Rules of Behavior Training 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 Rules of Behavior before being granted access to VA information and its systems.

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

c. 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.

The Certification and Accreditation (C&A) requirements do not apply and a Security Accreditation Package is not required for this PWS.

Based on above information, if so determined by the government security and privacy personnel, the Contractor shall comply with VACHS mandatory trainings for all contract employees, as applicable. Contractor employees shall access the following website to take the VHA mandatory trainings on the VA Talent Management System (TMS) at https://www.tms.va.gov Mandatory training shall include, but may not be limited to the following:

VA Privacy and Information Security Awareness and Rules of Behavior Privacy Awareness VA Cyber Security Awareness

B.5 SCHEDULE OF SERVICES

Period of Performance – One-time Job – Not to Exceed Six (6) Months April 1, 208 to September 30, 2018

· Automatic correction & National Change of Address (NCOA) per record, plus

· Manual Corrections per record-Including the standardization as per CASS (Coding Accuracy Support Systems) Program.

Price per 100 additional addresses, ONLY if needed.

TOTAL: __________________________

OPTION TO EXTEND SERVICES-FAR 52.217-8

October 1, 2018 to March 31, 2019 _________________________ 52.217-8 Option to Extend Services.

As prescribed in 17.208(f), insert a clause substantially the same as the following:

OPTION TO EXTEND SERVICES (NOV 1999)

The Government may require continued performance of any services within the limits and at the rates specified in the contract. These rates may be adjusted only as a result of revisions to prevailing labor rates provided by the Secretary of Labor. The option provision may be exercised more than once, but the total extension of performance hereunder shall not exceed 6 months. The Contracting Officer may exercise the option by written notice to the Contractor within _____ [insert the period of time within which the Contracting Officer may exercise the option].

(End of clause)

AGGREGATE TOTAL AMOUNT: _______________________

Postal Address Verification Services

36C24818Q0326

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SECTION C - CONTRACT CLAUSES

C.1 52.212-4 CONTRACT TERMS AND CONDITIONS—COMMERCIAL ITEMS (JAN 2017)

(a) Inspection/Acceptance. The Contractor shall only tender for acceptance those items that conform to the requirements of this contract. The Government reserves the right to inspect or test any supplies or services that have been tendered for acceptance. The Government may require repair or replacement of nonconforming supplies or reperformance of nonconforming services at no increase in contract price. If repair/replacement or reperformance will not correct the defects or is not possible, the Government may seek an equitable price reduction or adequate consideration for acceptance of nonconforming supplies or services. The Government must exercise its post-acceptance rights—

(1) Within a reasonable time after the defect was discovered or should have been discovered; and

(2) Before any substantial change occurs in the condition of the item, unless the change is due to the defect in the item.

(b) Assignment. The Contractor or its assignee may assign its rights to receive payment due as a result of performance of this contract to a bank, trust company, or other financing institution, including any Federal lending agency in accordance with the Assignment of Claims Act (31 U.S.C. 3727). However, when a third party makes payment (e.g., use of the Governmentwide commercial purchase card), the Contractor may not assign its rights to receive payment under this contract.

(c) Changes. Changes in the terms and conditions of this contract may be made only by written agreement of the parties.

(d) Disputes. This contract is subject to 41 U.S.C. chapter 71, Contract Disputes. Failure of the parties to this contract to reach agreement on any request for equitable adjustment, claim, appeal or action arising under or relating to this contract shall be a dispute to be resolved in accordance with the clause at FAR 52.233-1, Disputes, which is incorporated herein by reference. The Contractor shall proceed diligently with performance of this contract, pending final resolution of any dispute arising under the contract.

(e) Definitions. The clause at FAR 52.202-1, Definitions, is incorporated herein by reference.

(f) Excusable delays. The Contractor shall be liable for default unless nonperformance is caused by an occurrence beyond the reasonable control of the Contractor and without its fault or negligence such as, acts of God or the public enemy, acts of the Government in either its sovereign or contractual capacity, fires, floods, epidemics, quarantine restrictions, strikes, unusually severe weather, and delays of common carriers. The Contractor shall notify the Contracting Officer in writing as soon as it is reasonably possible after the commencement of any excusable delay, setting forth the full particulars in connection therewith, shall remedy such occurrence with all reasonable dispatch, and shall promptly give written notice to the Contracting Officer of the cessation of such occurrence.

(g) Invoice.

(1) The Contractor shall submit an original invoice and three copies (or electronic invoice, if authorized) to the address designated in the contract to receive invoices. An invoice must include—

(i) Name and address of the Contractor;

(ii) Invoice date and number;

(iii) Contract number, line item number and, if applicable, the order number;

(iv) Description, quantity, unit of measure, unit price and extended price of the items delivered;

(v) Shipping number and date of shipment, including the bill of lading number and weight of shipment if shipped on Government bill of lading;

(vi) Terms of any discount for prompt payment offered;

(vii) Name and address of official to whom payment is to be sent;

(viii) Name, title, and phone number of person to notify in event of defective invoice; and

(ix) Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN). The Contractor shall include its TIN on the invoice only if required elsewhere in this contract.

(x) Electronic funds transfer (EFT) banking information.

(A) The Contractor shall include EFT banking information on the invoice only if required elsewhere in this contract.

(B) If EFT banking information is not required to be on the invoice, in order for the invoice to be a proper invoice, the Contractor shall have submitted correct EFT banking information in accordance with the…