36C24822Q0576 0001.docx

36C24822Q0576 0001

5. PROJECT NUMBER (if applicable)

CODE

7.

ADMINISTERED BY

2. AMENDMENT/MODIFICATION NUMBER

CODE

6. ISSUED BY

8. NAME AND ADDRESS OF CONTRACTOR

4. REQUISITION/PURCHASE REQ. NUMBER

3. EFFECTIVE DATE

9A. AMENDMENT OF SOLICITATION NUMBER

9B. DATED

PAGE OF

PAGES

10A. MODIFICATION OF CONTRACT/ORDER NUMBER

10B. DATED

BPA NO.

1. CONTRACT ID CODE

FACILITY CODE

CODE

Offers must acknowledge receipt of this amendment prior to the hour and date specified in the solicitation or as amended, by one of the following methods:

The above numbered solicitation is amended as set forth in Item 14. The hour and date specified for receipt of Offers

E. IMPORTANT:

is extended,

(a) By completing Items 8 and 15, and returning __________ copies of the amendment; (b) By acknowledging receipt of this amendment on each copy of the offer submitted; or (c) By separate letter or electronic communication which includes a reference to the solicitation and amendment numbers. FAILURE

OF YOUR

ACKNOWLEDGMENT TO BE RECEIVED AT THE PLACE DESIGNATED FOR THE RECEIPT OF OFFERS PRIOR TO THE HOUR AND DATE SPECIFIED MAY is not extended.

12. ACCOUNTING AND APPROPRIATION DATA

(REV. 11/2016)

is required to sign this document and return ___________ copies to the issuing office.

is not, A. THIS CHANGE ORDER IS ISSUED PURSUANT TO: (Specify authority) THE CHANGES SET FORTH IN ITEM 14 ARE MADE IN THE CONTRACT ORDER NO. IN ITEM 10A.

15C. DATE SIGNED

B. THE ABOVE NUMBERE

D CONTRACT/ORDER IS MODIFIED TO REFLECT THE ADMINISTRATIVE CHANGES

SET FORTH IN ITEM 14, PURSUANT TO THE AUTHORITY OF FAR 43.103(b).

RESULT IN REJECTION OF YOUR

OFFER. If by virtue of this amendment you desire to change an offer already submitted, such change may be made by letter or electronic communication, provided each letter or electronic communication makes reference to the solicitation and this amendmen t, and is received prior to the opening hour and date specified.

C. THIS SUPPLEMENTAL AGREEMENT IS ENTERED INTO PURSUANT TO AUTHORITY OF:

D. OTHER

Contractor

16C. DATE SIGNED

14. DESCRIPTION OF AMENDMENT/MODIFICATION

16B. UNITED

STATES OF AMERICA

Except as provided herein, all terms and conditions of the document referenced in Item 9A or 10A, as heretofore changed, remains unchanged and in full force and effect.

15A. NAME AND TITLE OF SIGNER

16A. NAME AND TITLE OF

CONTRACTING OFFICER

15B. CONTRACTOR/OFFEROR

STANDARD FORM 30

PREVIOUS EDITION NOT USABLE

Prescribed by GSA - FAR (48 CFR) 53.243 (Type or print) (Type or print) (Organized by UCF section headings, including solicitation/contract subject matter where feasible.)

(Number, street, county, State and ZIP Code) (If other than Item 6) (Specify type of modification and authority) (such as changes in paying office, appropriation date, etc.)

(If required)

(SEE ITEM 11)

(SEE ITEM 13)

(X)

CHECK

ONE

13. THIS ITEM APPLIES ONLY TO MODIFICATIONS OF CONTRACTS/ORDERS,

IT MODIFIES THE CONTRACT/ORDER NO. AS DESCRIBED IN ITEM 14.

11. THIS ITEM ONLY APPLIES TO AMENDMENTS OF

SOLICITATIONS

AMENDMENT OF SOLICITATION/MODIFICATION OF CONTRACT

(Signature of person authorized to sign) (Signature of Contracting Officer) None 36C248 Department of Veterans Affairs Network Contracting Office 8 (NCO 8) 8875 Hidden River Pkwy Suite 525 Tampa FL 33637 36C248 Department of Veterans Affairs Network Contracting Office 8 (NCO 8) 8875 Hidden River Pkwy Tampa FL 33637 To all Offerors/Bidders

36C24822Q0576 03-30-2022

X X X ** HOUR & DATE for Receipt of Offers is EXTENDED to: 04-04-2022 AT 4:00PM EST.

X The purpose of this amendment 0001 is to extend solicitation, to change B.2 Schedule of Services, PWS, Section C.

Contract Clause, Section D. Contract Attachment Five (5) Past Performance Questionnaire, and to address the vendors Questions. (Reference pages 2 – 5).

Cyrouse Himid Houshyani Contracting Officer

CONTINUATION PAGE

SOLICTATION NUMBER 36C24822Q0576

AMENDMENT 0001

The purpose of this amendment is to make the following changes to the RFQ:

1) The due date for receipt of Request for Quotes is hereby changed from 04-01-2022 at 4:00PM EST. to 04-04-2022 at 4:00PM EST.

2) B.2 SCHEDULE OF SERVICES,

Period of Performance is hereby deleted and replace with Period of Performance: BASE PERIOD: 04/20/2022 to 04/19/2023.

3) Section 2.1.6 of the Performance Work Statement (PWS) is hereby deleted herein.

4) Section 4.5.1.3 of the Performance Work Statement (PWS) is hereby deleted herein.

5) Section 4.6: of the PWS is hereby deleted herein and replaced with the following:

4.6: Quality Management/Quality Assurance Surveillance: Contract personnel shall be subject to Quality Management measures, including Peer Reviews. Methods of Surveillance: Focused Provider Practice Evaluation (FPPE) and Ongoing Provider Practice Evaluation (OPPE). Contractor performance will be monitored by the government using the standards as outlined in this Performance Work Statement (PWS) and methods of surveillance detailed in the Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan (QASP). The QASP shall be attached to the resultant contract and shall define the methods and frequency of surveillance conducted.

6) SECTION C – CONTRACT CLAUSES

C.6 The Indemnification and Medical Liability Insurance was left blank on solicitation the following changes has been made to include per occurrence $250,000.00 and aggregate amount $750,000.00.

Vendor Questions Question 1. B.2.4: Work Hours. Need to clarify that the MDs will be interpreting ECGs on their own time and not according to the specified work hours.

Answer #1. The ECGS can read whenever the vendor prefers it does not need to be done during VA working hours. The business hours information is to ensure contractor is aware when VA staff will be available.

Q.2. Page 12, section2.1.6 (Qualifications): Need to clarify that this agreement seems to require ACLS, BLS, Etc training to interpret ECGs. This seems a bit excessive.

Answer #2. See response to number 3 above.

Q.3 Section 4: Contractor responsibilities:

4.1.1: the way this is written leads me to think that all MDs need an ID for the purposes of accessing MUSE at a VA site. Why else would an ID be required? Fingerprints/background screening?

Answer #3. Yes, each provider is required to get a PIV badge to access the VA’s network. To receive a PIV requires background check/fingerprinting.

Q.4 RE: 4.5.1.2: QA/QI documentation needs to be specified. Is there more documentation required beyond an ECG interpretation?

Answer #4. Documentation will only be the interpretation of the ECG, the physician will need to verify if the computer-generated interpretation differs from their interpretation.

Q.5 4.5.1.3: Is this really relevant?

Answer #5. See response to number 4 above.

Q.6 Section 4.6: How are performance standards and QA/QI improvements going to be specific to interpreting ECGs? This section refers to patient satisfaction surveys, completion of medical records, etc.

Answer #6. See response to number 4 above.

Q.7 4.6.4.5 refers to being required to complete all training per VAMC policy. Need to know what this refers to.

Answer #7. The VA requires completion of yearly computer training (Privacy, HIPAA, Ethics, etc.)

Q.8 Section C6: Need to know what the minimum liability insurance per occurrence amount is. This is left blank on page 70.

Answer #8. $250K/$750K. See changes to this clause included to number 6 above.

Q.9 Need to have a clear understanding of C.6.c with regards to the endorsement language.

Answer #9. The requirement is that prior to the commencement of services, the Contractor provide all the required insurance/polices. At that time (so prior to commencement of services) the policies must include an endorsement that says, “any cancellation – or material change – will not be effective for at least 30 days from when the Gov’t gets notice”.

Q.10 Section E.2:

Factor 1: Technical quality subfactor D: Need to have a better understanding of what constitutes productivity data related to ECG readings over the past year. Do they want to know how may ECGs were interpreted? How many were done in a 24-hour period? How many the MD can do per hour? Needless to say, this is quite vague.

Answer #10. The Contractor shall provide productivity data over the past one (1) year for any of the physicians that the Contractor is proposing. How many ECGs they can read per hour is preferred, or the number of ECGs the provider has read over the last year. This information will be used to figure out approximately how long it would take the providers to read each ECG and provide some information regarding the experience of the provider related to reading ECGs . Any data the Contractor has related to this is needed for evaluation purposes.

Q.11 Factor 2: Past Performance: The contractor is required to provide 3 past performance questionnaires. What is this???

Answer #11. Past performance information is one indicator of an offeror’s ability to perform the contract successfully. The currency and relevance of the information, source of the information, context of the data, and general trends in contractor’s performance shall be considered. Please see attachment five (5) under section D.

Q.12 The past performance evaluation attachment had phlebotomy on listed on the top - we changed to send to our client references ( attached updated) and wanted to confirm who the forms should be sent to at the VA, if the individual on the form is correct, and /or should we provide with the submission of the RFP?

Answer #12. See Attachment five (5) Past Performance Questionnaire Q.13 Could you confirm and provide the instructions for the submission of the RFP response? We see it is due Friday, April 1st at 4 EST. Is that able to be sent electronically and to whom? Apologies if that was included, we could not locate that information.

Answer #13. Yes, you can submit electronically to Rosettta.quinn@va.gov and Cyrouse.houshyani@va.gov, Due date on Monday, April 4, 2022 at 4 EST. based on this amendment - refer to changes section.

Q.14 RFQ states 515,000 ECG are to be read in a 12-month period. Will there actually be that many readings to be interpreted??

Answer #14. Yes, a total of 515,000 ECG’s Q.15 Do we bid on interpretation service fee for each ECG reading or a global cost?

Answer #15. The cost for each ECG reading.

Q.16 On pg 7 of RFQ states “ during the first 90 days of performance, the Contractor shall make NO substitutions of key personnel unless the substitution is necessitated by illness, death, or termination of employment. The Contractor shall notify the Contracting Officer, in writing, within 15 calendar days after the occurrence of any of these events and provide the information required by paragraph (c) …[for temporary substitution]; however, are contractors allowed to add in personnel to aid in interpretation service if panel has yet reached 10.

Answer #16. Preferably not, as we’d like to credential all the providers at the same time in bulk as our Credentialing process can sometimes take a very long time.

Q.17 Pricing - can we submit price per ECG vs hourly rate? We noticed one area asked about ECG rate and the form to fill in for pricing indicated hourly - our preference is per ECG since that is the best to provide for our highest quality and timeliness with delivery Answer #17. The cost for each ECG reading Q.18 Do we need to submit the individual cardiologists now with their signatures, or can that come if when the contract is awarded?

Answer #18. Yes. We’d prefer to have the individual cardiologists listed along with their productivity to verify that they’re experienced and qualified to read ECGs before awarding the contract.

Q.19 It looks like we might be missing the VA Information and Information System Security/Privacy document that’s referenced in the Addendum.

Answer #19. The addendum to 52.212-1 line 8 is hereby deleted herein.

Q.20 The below documents are referenced however not attached. Could you confirm they are not needed? Copy of Subcontracting Plan (as required) d Copy of Contractor Certification Statement if non-subcontracting possibilities exist Answer #20. The Subcontracting Plan and Copy of Contractor Certification Statement if non-subcontracting possibilities exist is not required because the solicitation is set aside for small business Q.21. Appreciate your response ( immediately below) with the question on the providers today we will provide the cardiologist qualification information. Would you mind confirming we don’t need their signatures for the RFP submission?

Answer #21. The Government cannot tell contractors how to submit their quotes.