36C25220Q0080-0002000.docx

36C25220Q0080 Amendment 0002

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 NUMBERED CONTRACT/ORDE

R 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 amendment, and is rece ived 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) 12-03-2019 None 36C252 Department of Veterans Affairs Great Lakes Acquisition Center (GLAC) 115 S 84th Street, Suite 101 Milwaukee WI 53214-1476 36C252 Department of Veterans Affairs Great Lakes Acquisition Center (GLAC) 115 S 84th Street, Suite 101 Milwaukee WI 53214-1476 To all Offerors

36C25220Q0080 11-18-2019

X X X

X See Attachment 1 for specific questions and corresponding answers/clarifications.

The Closing Date for this Solicitation remains the same at Monday, December 9, 2019, 11:59 p.m. local time

Jeffrey Statz Contracting Officer

Attachment 1

1. What are the options for access to virtual servers? (General Requirements Question 2); Citrix, RDWeb or physical clients?

Answer: The Contractor could work with local technical staff to gain remote access to the virtual servers via screen sharing applications (Skype, Webex, etc.) The Contractor would also have the option to onboard their staff with the VA in order to acquire local VA network accounts. They would then have the option to use Citrix for remote access to the virtual servers. See https://vaww.va.gov/VHASERVICECENTER/Security.asp

2. When will we be receiving the Technical Reference Model (security document)? (General Requirements Question 3) We assume this is for software that will be installed on the virtual server(s) and workstations, if applicable.

Answer: This is only in reference to software installed on OIT clients. Software installed on the servers do not need to follow TRM, as long as the servers are behind the Medical Device Isolation Architecture (MDIA).

3. I-STAT devices require DE Software to connect to a middleware system. This device does not connect directly to middleware systems. (General Requirements Question 5) This is just an FYI for all middleware vendors, including Abbott.

Answer: Noted.

4. What do you mean by “remote upload of data?” (General Requirements Question 7B)

Answer: This refers to the use of docking stations at outreach facilities and clinics.

5. Is December 1st the contract renewal or support renewal date?

Answer: December 1st is the contract renewal date for each Option Year.

6. Is the expectation that we reply to any questions under General Requirements?

Answer: The quote should encompass the General Requirements, but it does not need to do so on a line-by-line item.

7. Per Section B – Continuation of SF 1449 Blocks, section 3 Invoices (page 2 of S02 36C25220Q0080-010.pdf) states that invoices shall be submitted in arrears. We invoice support on an annual basis at the beginning of the term, is that acceptable? Or do we need to determine a way to bill in arrears?

Answer: The VA does not pay for services prospectively. You may bill on a monthly basis, or bill at the end of the year.

8. If we use Tungsten, do we need to provide EFT information, and would EFT even be applicable?

Answer: You will work with Tungsten directly regarding provision of EFT information.

9. Section 2b. of Security & Privacy Control (page 6 of S02 36C25220Q0080-010.pdf) states, “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.” Is this something that the contractor needs to complete or is the VA conducting this on behalf of the contractor?

Answer: The level of security needed would be determined by if the vendor were to choose direct VA network access.

10. Is Section 2c. (page 6 of S02 36C25220Q0080-010.pdf), applicable to this relationship?

Answer: This Section is not applicable to this contract.

11. Are the following Attachments simply for reference purposes? Or do they require any action on the contractor’s part?

· Attachment 1

· Attachment 2

· Attachment 3

· Attachment 4

· Attachment 5

· Attachment 6

· Attachment 7

Answer: These attachments are Department of Labor Wage Determination standards for each county where a VA facility is located. These Wage Determinations set the minimum that someone can be paid who is working on fulfilling the terms of this contract, per the Service Contract Labor Standards Act. These references will be updated for each Option Year. See FAR Subpart 22.10 for further information.

12. Are there any amendments for the contractor to acknowledge for the Acknowledgment of Amendments on page 3 of S02 36C25220Q0080-010.pdf? There are not currently any listed.

Answer: Any Amendments will be issued separately, which will be acknowledged on a case-by-case basis.

13. Is CLIN interchangeable with Item Number? For example, is reference to CLIN 0001 equal to Item Number 0001 – POC Middleware Implementation: Abbott I-STAT (Total Facilities: 6, Total Devices: 47)?

Answer: Yes, CLIN stands for Contract Line Item Number.

14. E.1 52.212-1 INSTRUCTIONS TO OFFERORS—COMMERCIAL ITEMS (OCT 2018) (j) (page 51 of S02 36C25220Q0080-010.pdf states “The Offeror shall enter, in the block with its name and address on the cover page of its offer, the annotation ‘‘Unique Entity Identifier’’ followed by the unique entity identifier that identifies the Offeror’s name and address. Our unique entity identifier is still our DUNS number per sam.gov, will that suffice for these purposes?

Answer: That is exactly what is required.

15. Are exceptions/negotiations allowed? Essentially, if a contractor would like to negotiate a part of the solicitation, is that possible?

Answer: Per FAR 52.212-1(g) (page 49 of the Solicitation):

(g) Contract award (not applicable to Invitation for Bids). The Government intends to evaluate offers and award a contract without discussions with offerors. Therefore, the offeror's initial offer should contain the offeror's best terms from a price and technical standpoint. However, the Government reserves the right to conduct discussions if later determined by the Contracting Officer to be necessary. The Government may reject any or all offers if such action is in the public interest; accept other than the lowest offer; and waive informalities and minor irregularities in offers received.

16. Are we able to extend the response-time within section (6) a. (page 18 of S02 36C25220Q0080-010.pdf) from thirty minutes to two hours?

Answer: No; this is an essential element of this requirement.

17. To confirm, this Solicitation/Contract/Order will become the agreement between the parties, correct? Or will there be additional contracts/documents?

Answer: This Solicitation will become the Contract. The Administrative data on the first two pages and the Price Schedule will be completed, and everything after page 47 will be deleted because those provisions apply to the Solicitation only.

18. Regarding the HL7 interface to VistA:

a. Is this truly an unsolicited result interface? If so, is VistA selecting the appropriate provider upon receipt of the results or is VistA expecting the sending system to provide the appropriate provider based on the ADT interface/information at the time of the result?

Answer: The option to have Vista select the provider or have a provider associated with an area or facility depends on the instrument type. We currently utilize both within VISN12.

b. Will VistA accept multiple NTE segments following an OBR?

Answer: Yes.

c. Is a single segment with notes separated by the Repeat Delimiter required?

Answer: No.

d. QML will never populate the comment source?

Answer: Yes.

e. The specification states the Placer Order Number is a composite element of the Order Number (placer or filler) and the application ID. The example does not include the application ID. Is it required?

Answer: Yes.

f. OBX 7: We could send a range formatted <100. Will this cause any issues in VistA?

Answer: Yes.

g. OBX 11: If VistA was to receive a corrected result, please describe your processing.

Answer: Vista will not accept a corrected result from the POC interface. Questionable results must be held/caught in middleware using rules or comment codes, edited and forwarded to Vista.

h. OBX 16: QML sends the operator in the first OBX following an OBR. Is this acceptable?

Answer: The operator ID must be in OBX-16 and must be the DUZ of the Vista user.

i. OBX 18 (Equipment Identifier) is required. The description is <entity identifier>^<name space>^<universal ID>^<universal ID type>. The example does not match this description. It is: ^^UJ32018960^Roche TS/HQ/Inform where 18.3 appears to be a serial number and 18.4 is a device description.

Answer: Noted.

j. Is page 19 correct or is the example correct? Is the equipment description required?

Answer: Yes, it is required.

k. OBX 19 (Date/Time of Analysis): QML sends this in the first OBX record following each order. Is this acceptable?

Answer: It should be in each OBX segment.

19. Page 17: The Contractor shall provide complete documentation of all services performed. Other than an invoice of completed items ready for invoicing, what are you looking for?

Answer: This is a Phase II requirement post-implementation. If an additional cost is identified post-implementation, the invoice would specify the exact billable items or services.

20. Page 18: The eLearning interface will not be provided at no cost – should it be?

Answer: Yes; providing an eLearning interface at no additional cost is an essential element of this requirement.

21. Can we add an item number for components that need to be quoted but are unrelated to specific device types?

Answer: Price should include any necessary components for achieving connectivity for the devices listed; we do not need prices broken down further than what is listed on the Price Schedule.

22. Do the VISN 12 testing sites have DE or any other middleware in place for the Abbott i-STATs?

Answer: An option must be available whereby our VISN can connect to Abbott DE to perform configuration and upgrades.

1. If so, what middleware is currently in place and do you intend on keeping it place?

Answer: The intent of this Solicitation is the connectivity and management of all listed devices.

1. If so, do you have one instance of the middleware in place for all six sites or a separate instance for each of the sites?

Answer: Not applicable to this requirement.

1. If not, do you expect the vendor to provide DE for the Abbott i-STATs?

Answer: See the answer to subparagraph 22a.

23. Are the CBOCs going to be connected with the larger facilities, or are they stand-alone entities? If stand-alone, will they need their own POC middleware solution?

Answer: They do not need their own system as the CBOC instruments are included in our counts and monitored virtually by us.