36C25620Q0497.pdf

36C25620Q0497

SECTION A – COMBINED SYNOPSIS/SOLICITATION FOR

COMMERCIAL ITEMS

General Information

Document Type: Combined Solicitation/Synopsis

Solicitation Number: 36C25620Q0497

Posted Date: May 28, 2020

Questions Due Date/Time: June 5, 2020 / 10:00am (CST)

Response Due Date/Time: June 15, 2020 / 10:00am (CST)

Product or Service Code: R616 – Physical Records Management Services

Set Aside: Small Business

NAICS Code: 519120 – Libraries & Archives

Size Standard: $16.5M

Point of Contact: Tabitha Myers - Email: Tabitha.Myers@va.gov

Contracting Office Address

Department of Veterans Affairs

Network Contracting Office 16

ATTN: Tabitha Myers, Contract Specialist

Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center (MEDVAMC)

2002 Holcombe Blvd, Bldg. 100

Houston, TX 77030

Description:

This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format in

Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) subpart 12.6, “Streamlined Procedures for Evaluation and solicitation for Commercial Items,” in conjunction with FAR Part 13.5 for certain Commercial Items, as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; quotations are being requested, and a written solicitation document will not be issued.

This solicitation is a Request for Quotation (RFQ). The solicitation document and incorporated revisions and clauses are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) 2020-06 (effective

05/06/2020).

The associated North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) code for this procurement is

519120, with a small business size standard of $16.5 million.

Contractor is required to be actively registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) and Small

Business Administration (SBA). SDVOSB & VOSB contractors are also required to be active in and shall be verified in Vendor Information Pages (VIP). Quotes will be considered non-compliant and rejected if the Contracting Officer is unable to verify active registration status.

mailto:Tabitha.Myers@va.gov

The MEDVAMC is seeking a contractor to furnish all storage, transportation, management, and personnel required for pickup and delivery of record storage items between the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical

Center (MEDVAMC) and an offsite storage facility. Services shall consist of picking up records from the

MEDVAMC and delivering to the respective storage location, and services performed in accordance with the Performance Work Statement (PWS).

SECTION B - CONTINUATION OF SF 1449 BLOCKS

B.1 CONTRACT ADMINISTRATION DATA

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

a. CONTRACTOR:

Company Name: ____________________________________________________

POC Name: ________________________________________________________

Address: __________________________________________________________

Phone: ____________________________________________________________

Email: ____________________________________________________________

DUNS#: __________________________________________________________

Tax ID#: __________________________________________________________

GSA/FSS, NAC, SEWP Contract # (if applicable):

b. GOVERNMENT: Tabitha Myers, Contract Specialist

Department of Veterans Affairs

Network Contracting Office 16

Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center

2002 Holcombe BLVD

Houston TX 77030 4298

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

[X] 52.232-33, Payment by Electronic Funds Transfer—System For Award

Management, or

3. INVOICES: Invoices shall be submitted in arrears:

a. Monthly, within 30 days of conclusion of services.

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.

a. Include Purchase Order (PO) number on all invoices.

b. Facsimile, e-mail, and scanned documents are not acceptable forms of submission for payment requests. Electronic form means an automated system transmitting information electronically according to the accepted electronic data transmission methods.

c. VA’s Electronic Invoice Presentment and Payment System – The FSC uses a third-party contractor, Tungsten, to transition vendors from paper to electronic invoice submission.

Please go to this website: http://www.tungsten-network.com/US/en/veterans-affairs/ to begin submitting electronic invoices, free of charge.

http://www.tungsten-network.com/US/en/veterans-affairs/

5. Offeror shall complete the following located in Sections B, D, and E of this solicitation:

a. Section B – B.1 CONTRACT ADMINISTRATION DATA: Paragraph 1(a)

b. Section B – B.4 PRICE/COST SCHEDULE: Unit price, amount and grand total

c. Section D – Attachment 1 (QASP), Attachment 2 (Corporate Experience Form), Attachment 3 (Past Performance Questionnaire) and Attachment 5 – Business Associate Agreement (BAA)

d. Section E – 52.212-3 OFFEROR REPRESENTATIONS AND CERTIFICATIONS:

• Paragraph (c) Offerors shall complete, if not already completed through SAM

• Paragraph (q) Representation by Corporations Regarding Delinquent Tax Liability or a Felony Conviction under any Federal Law, if not already completed through SAM

e. Offeror shall submit certificates/certification and proof of capability to meet PWS requirements:

• National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) certification

• National Association for Information Destruction (NAID) certification

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

AMENDMENT NO DATE

(End of Contract Administration Data)

B.2 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. INFORMATION SYSTEM DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT

a. Information systems that are designed or developed for or on behalf of VA at non-VA facilities shall comply with all VA directives developed in accordance with FISMA, HIPAA, NIST, and related VA security and privacy control requirements for Federal information systems. This includes standards for the protection of electronic PHI, outlined in 45 C.F.R. Part 164, Subpart

C, information and system security categorization level designations in accordance with FIPS

199 and FIPS 200 with implementation of all baseline security controls commensurate with the

FIPS 199 system security categorization (reference Appendix D of VA Handbook 6500, VA

Information Security Program). During the development cycle a Privacy Impact Assessment

(PIA) must be completed, provided to the COR, and approved by the VA Privacy Service in accordance with Directive 6507, VA Privacy Impact Assessment.

b. The contractor/subcontractor shall certify to the COR that applications are fully functional and operate correctly as intended on systems using the VA Federal Desktop Core Configuration

(FDCC), and the common security configuration guidelines provided by NIST or the VA. This includes Internet Explorer 7 configured to operate on Windows XP and Vista (in Protected Mode on Vista) and future versions, as required.

c. The standard installation, operation, maintenance, updating, and patching of software shall not alter the configuration settings from the VA approved and FDCC configuration. Information technology staff must also use the Windows Installer Service for installation to the default

"program files" directory and silently install and uninstall.

d. Applications designed for normal end users shall run in the standard user context without elevated system administration privileges.

e. The security controls must be designed, developed, approved by VA, and implemented in accordance with the provisions of VA security system development life cycle as outlined in NIST

Special Publication 800-37, Guide for Applying the Risk Management Framework to Federal

Information Systems, VA Handbook 6500, Information Security Program and VA Handbook

6500.5, Incorporating Security and Privacy in System Development Lifecycle.

f. The contractor/subcontractor is required to design, develop, or operate a System of Records

Notice (SOR) on individuals to accomplish an agency function subject to the Privacy Act of

1974, (as amended), Public Law 93-579, December 31, 1974 (5 U.S.C. 552a) and applicable agency regulations. Violation of the Privacy Act may involve the imposition of criminal and civil penalties.

g. The contractor/subcontractor agrees to:

(1) Comply with the Privacy Act of 1974 (the Act) and the agency rules and regulations issued under the Act in the design, development, or operation of any system of records on individuals to accomplish an agency function when the contract specifically identifies:

(a) The Systems of Records (SOR); and

(b) The design, development, or operation work that the contractor/ subcontractor is to perform;

(1) Include the Privacy Act notification contained in this contract in every solicitation and resulting subcontract and in every subcontract awarded without a solicitation, when the work statement in the proposed subcontract requires the redesign, development, or operation of a

SOR on individuals that is subject to the Privacy Act; and

(2) Include this Privacy Act clause, including this subparagraph (3), in all subcontracts awarded under this contract which requires the design, development, or operation of such a

SOR.

h. In the event of violations of the Act, a civil action may be brought against the agency involved when the violation concerns the design, development, or operation of a SOR on individuals to accomplish an agency function, and criminal penalties may be imposed upon the officers or employees of the agency when the violation concerns the operation of a SOR on individuals to accomplish an agency function. For purposes of the Act, when the contract is for the operation of a SOR on individuals to accomplish an agency function, the contractor/subcontractor is considered to be an employee of the agency.

(1) "Operation of a System of Records" means performance of any of the activities associated with maintaining the SOR, including the collection, use, maintenance, and dissemination of records.

(2) "Record" means any item, collection, or grouping of information about an individual that is maintained by an agency, including, but not limited to, education, financial transactions, medical history, and criminal or employment history and contains the person's name, or identifying number, symbol, or any other identifying particular assigned to the individual, such as a fingerprint or voiceprint, or a photograph.

(3) "System of Records" means a group of any records under the control of any agency from which information is retrieved by the name of the individual or by some identifying number, symbol, or other identifying particular assigned to the individual.

i. The vendor shall ensure the security of all procured or developed systems and technologies, including their subcomponents (hereinafter referred to as "Systems"), throughout the life of this contract and any extension, warranty, or maintenance periods. This includes, but is not limited to workarounds, patches, hotfixes, upgrades, and any physical components (hereafter referred to as Security Fixes) which may be necessary to fix all security vulnerabilities published or known to the vendor anywhere in the Systems, including Operating Systems and firmware. The vendor shall ensure that Security Fixes shall not negatively impact the Systems.

j. The vendor shall notify VA within 24 hours of the discovery or disclosure of successful exploits of the vulnerability which can compromise the security of the Systems (including the confidentiality or integrity of its data and operations, or the availability of the system). Such issues shall be remediated as quickly as is practical, but in no event longer than 10 days.

k. When the Security Fixes involve installing third party patches (such as Microsoft OS patches or Adobe Acrobat), the vendor will provide written notice to the VA that the patch has been validated as not affecting the Systems within 10 working days. When the vendor is responsible for operations or maintenance of the Systems, they shall apply the Security Fixes within days.

l. All other vulnerabilities shall be remediated as specified in this paragraph in a timely manner based on risk, but within 60 days of discovery or disclosure. Exceptions to this paragraph (e.g.

for the convenience of VA) shall only be granted with approval of the contracting officer and the

VA Assistant Secretary for Office of Information and Technology.

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

a. For information systems that are hosted, operated, maintained, or used on behalf of VA at non-VA facilities, contractors/subcontractors are fully responsible and accountable for ensuring compliance with all HIPAA, Privacy Act, FISMA, NIST, FIPS, and VA security and privacy directives and handbooks. This includes conducting compliant risk assessments, routine vulnerability scanning, system patching and change management procedures, and the completion of an acceptable contingency plan for each system. The contractor's security control procedures must be equivalent, to those procedures used to secure VA systems. A

Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) must also be provided to the COR and approved by VA

Privacy Service prior to operational approval. All external Internet connections to VA's network involving VA information must be reviewed and approved by VA prior to implementation.

b. Adequate security controls for collecting, processing, transmitting, and storing of Personally

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

c. Outsourcing (contractor facility, contractor equipment or contractor staff) of systems or network operations, telecommunications services, or other managed services requires certification and accreditation (authorization) (C&A) of the contractor's systems in accordance with VA Handbook 6500.3, Certification and Accreditation and/or the VA OCS Certification

Program Office. Government- owned (government facility or government equipment) contractor-operated systems, third party or business partner networks require memorandums of understanding and interconnection agreements (MOU-ISA) which detail what data types are shared, who has access, and the appropriate level of security controls for all systems connected to VA networks.

d. The contractor/subcontractor's system must adhere to all FISMA, FIPS, and NIST standards related to the annual FISMA security controls assessment and review and update the

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

Office can provide guidance on whether a new C&A would be necessary.

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

f. VA prohibits the installation and use of personally owned or contractor/ subcontractor-owned equipment or software on VA's network. If non-VA owned equipment must be used to fulfill the requirements of a contract, it must be stated in the service agreement, SOW or contract. All of the security controls required for government furnished equipment (GFE) must be utilized in approved other equipment (OE) and must be funded by the owner of the equipment. All remote systems must be equipped with, and use, a VA-approved antivirus (AV) software and a personal

(host-based or enclave based) firewall that is configured with a VA-approved configuration.

Software must be kept current, including all critical updates and patches. Owners of approved

OE are responsible for providing and maintaining the anti-viral software and the firewall on the non-VA owned OE.

g. All electronic storage media used on non-VA leased or non-VA owned IT equipment that is used to store, process, or access VA information must be handled in adherence with VA

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

ISO needs to maintain the documentation.

6. 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 light of the degree of protection for the data, e.g., unencrypted, plain text;

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

(7) The likelihood that the sensitive personal information will or has been compromised

(made accessible to and usable by unauthorized persons);

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

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

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

Privacy Incidents, as appropriate; and

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

d. Based on the determinations of the independent risk analysis, the contractor shall be responsible for paying to the VA liquidated damages in the amount of $37.50 per affected individual to cover the cost of providing credit protection services to affected individuals consisting of the following:

(1) Notification;

(2) One year of credit monitoring services consisting of automatic daily monitoring of at least

3 relevant credit bureau reports;

(3) Data breach analysis;

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

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

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

8. SECURITY CONTROLS COMPLIANCE TESTING

On a periodic basis, VA, including the Office of Inspector General, reserves the right to evaluate any or all of the security controls and privacy practices implemented by the contractor under the clauses contained within the contract. With 10 working-day's 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.

9. TRAINING

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

(1) Sign and acknowledge (either manually or electronically) understanding of and responsibilities for compliance with the Contractor Rules of Behavior, Appendix E relating to access to VA information and information systems;

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

(3) Successfully complete the appropriate VA privacy training and annually complete required privacy training; and

(4) 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.]

b. 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.

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.

(End of Clause)

B.3 Performance Work Statement (PWS)

1. SCOPE

1.1 The Contractor shall provide all storage, transportation, management, and personnel required for pickup and delivery of record storage items between the Michael E. DeBakey VA

Medical Center (MEDVAMC) and an offsite storage facility. Services shall consist of picking up records from the MEDVAMC and delivering to the respective storage location.

1.2 Place of Performance:

Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center (MEDVAMC)

2002 Holcombe Boulevard

Houston, TX 77030

1.2 Period of Performance: The government estimates awarding a Base Year plus 4 (four) 1

(one) year option periods (at the government’s discretion).

2 OPERATIONAL COVERAGE

2.1 The Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center (MEDVAMC) will be open Monday through

Friday, from 8:00am to 4:30pm (CST) (excluding Federal Holidays).

2.2 Federal Holidays observed by the Government are: New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King’s

Birthday, President’s Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Veteran’s Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas; along with any other day specifically declared by the President of the United States to be a national holiday.

Note: If a holiday falls on a Saturday, it shall be observed on Friday. If a holiday falls on a

Sunday, it shall be observed on Monday. The MEDVAMC will not be open on these holidays.

3 GENERAL REQUIREMENTS

3.1 The Contractor shall pickup records that have been prepared by the government and are ready for transport (i.e., administrative paperwork) and deliver to the storage facility.

The Contractor shall arrange and manage all shipping activities of records to the Contractors

NARA-compliant facility(s) according to the proposed file transition schedule, approved by

COR and the current storage provider at the onset of the project. The Contractor’s shipping responsibilities include picking-up boxed and palletized records (shall be performed by the government) from the current site, transport in secured vehicles with appropriately licensed and trained drivers, real-time tracking capabilities, and unloading and intake of records at the new Contractor facility. The Contractor shall provide regular status updates to the

MEDVAMC on the initial transition progress and will immediately notify the MEDVAMC of any unplanned delays or changes to shipment status that deviates from the originally planned schedule.

3.2 The contractor shall transfer, store and service records that remain in the legal custody of

MEDVAMC. In carrying out its responsibilities to store and archive federal records 36 CFR part 1234 Subparts B, C, and D describe facility standards related to quality, effectiveness, durability, and safety; the handling of deviations from National Records Archives

Administration’s (NARA) facility standards; and facility approval and inspection requirements. These standards are applicable to all records storage facilities the federal agencies use to store, service, and dispose of records. To carry out these responsibilities, NARA developed an internal policy directive that outlines the procedures its officials should use to ensure the compliance of records storage facilities. The new facility (or facilities) shall be NARA-certified and meet CFR 36 part 1234 requirements.

The Contractor shall ensure careful handling of the records in accordance with established guidelines from compliance under federal laws and regulations governing records management stored off-site in a (NARA) compliant commercial facility.

3.3 The Contractor shall ensure the confidentiality of all patient information being transported and will be held liable in the event of breach of confidentiality. The Contractor shall comply with the provision of the Federal Privacy Act of 1974 (Public law 93-579), HIPAA (Public law 104-191), and the Comprehensive Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism Prevention, Treatment and Rehabilitation Act of 1972 (Public Law 93-255), as well as other statues regarding confidentiality of patient information during and after the execution of this contract. Because of the confidential medical record information that may be inadvertently accessible and/or visible to contractor employees during performance of their daily duties, the contractor shall obtain a signed "confidentiality certificate" from each employee prior to allowing them to start work under this contract. Any information about an individual that is maintained by the

VA, including, but not limited to, education, financial transactions, medical history, and criminal or employment history or any record that contains the person's name, or the identifying number, symbol, or other identifying particular assigned to the individual, shall be kept CONFIDENTIAL. A copy of this certification shall be provided to the COR upon request.

4 REQUIREMENTS FOR THE RECORDS RELOCATION, STORAGE, AND RECORDS

MANAGEMENT

4.1 Initial Transfer: The current estimated volume of MEDVAMC records is approximately

14,000 cubic feet of unclassified temporary records located in a NARA-compliant commercial storage facility in Jacksonville, Florida. MEDVAMC will exercise the right to manage the current record holdings as needed. In addition, all new record boxes will be shipped and stored in the contract awardees facilities.

The contract awardee shall submit a transition plan for approval within 14 days of award.

The transition plan shall include detailed schedules, and other logistical information that describes how, when and where the temporary legacy records shall be transferred over to the contractor awardee facility(s). The transition plan shall also include a description of how the

Contractor will remediate issues experienced during the initial transfer such as damaged materials, missing records or incorrect labels. The contractor facility shall be able to accommodate Next Day digital retrieval requests as well as same day, after hours, holidays or weekends for urgent retrieval requests.

The contract awardee may need to provide pallets (if necessary) for the incumbent government contractor, to load boxes onto. Any communication challenges shall be reported to the Contracting Officer Representative (COR) for immediate resolution. The COR shall then communicate to the Contract Specialist (CS)/Contracting Officer (CO) concerning communication challenges and the plan for immediate resolution. The successful contractor/vendor shall use and maintain existing box numbers, NARA transfer nomenclature.

4.2 Retrieval & Refile: Contractor is required to retrieve, package and physically deliver records to the MEDVAMC or any of designated MEDVAMC location in the Houston, TX area by

Next Day or within 4 hours for emergency requests from receiving a request.

The Contractor’s web-based inventory tracking system shall provide MEDVAMC the capability of placing orders for retrieving records and refiles at any time, 7 days per week.

The Contractor shall also be able to receive and process box requests by phone, email, or fax as required

If the Contractor elects to utilize their own vehicles, they shall adhere to the following:

The Contractor shall provide the COR with the number of drivers and a schedule of pickup and delivery times prior to performance.

The Contractor shall obtain COR approval to replace any boxes damaged prior to being retrieved from contractor’s storage location and before delivery to MEDVAMC locations.

4.3 Inventory Tracking System: The contractor shall provide a web-based inventory tracking system that will enable MEDVAMC personnel to order records stored in the contractor’s facility(s). The system shall be available to the MEDVAMC personnel 24 hours a day, 7 days per week/365 days per year. The system shall provide a tracking number for all shipments of records to be entered at the time of shipment and shall accommodate both scanned barcode entries and manual entries.

The Contractor’s web-based tracking system shall be capable of maintaining information regarding box contents, metadata and box/file activity indefinitely following the permanent removal or destruction of a box. This information shall be available to the MEDVAMC at any time through the contractor’s web-based system and be searchable by box or file identifier. The MEDVAMC must be able to edit fields contained in the contractor’s web-based tracking system.

The contractor shall maintain and make searchable by authorized MEDVAMC personnel through the web-based tracking system, a dashboard of total inventory, all transaction history in the aggregate by a given date range and transaction for each file and box. At a minimum, this transaction history shall include the following:

• The entry date of a new carton

• The retrieval date of a carton or file

• The return date of a carton or file

• The name of MEDVAMC employee and where the file was delivered to

• The permanent withdrawal date of a carton or file

• The destruction date of a carton or file

4.4 Archival Accession To NARA: MEDVAMC will require transfers of records from the Contractor’s facility to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).

Contractor is required to perform the following for each box to be transferred in accordance with NARA requirement described in the NARA Accessioning and Transfer resource links:

https://www.archives.gov/records-mgmt/accessioning/textual.htm and https://www.archives.gov/frc/records-transfer.html

• Retrieve requested boxes from secure storage and permanently remove them from

Contractor’s tracking system

• Number the boxes to be accessioned in accordance with NARA requirements https://www.archives.gov/records-mgmt/accessioning/textual.htm https://www.archives.gov/frc/records-transfer.html

• Palletize and shrink wrap all boxes

• Secure delivery to NARA

• Deliver appropriate documentation to MEDVAMC designated personnel

4.5 Disposition: The Contractor is required to have the capability to remove and destroy records/boxes stored in contractor facility(s) as records become eligible for authorized destruction. The contractor’s web-based inventory tracking system shall provide the necessary controls to enable only authorized users who are permitted by MEDVAMC to authorize destruction orders.

Following destruction, the contractor shall provide a certificate of destruction. The contractor shall ensure the destruction is enough to render the original source material incapable of reconstruction or use for identification of personal information or sensitive information. The contractor shall be certified, bonded, and insured according to the National Association for

Information Destruction (NAID). The Contractor must maintain a complete and auditable chain of custody of records being removed from contractor’s storage location(s) to the destruction facility.

4.6 Access Into Storage Facility: The Contractor shall control physical access into records facility(s) through all controlled entry point(s). The contractor will first need approval from the Contracting Office Representative (COR). Visitors are required to sign in and out at the entrance and state the purpose of their visit. A log shall be kept of all such visits. Persons that do not have a legitimate business need related to the facility operation shall not be allowed access.

4.7 Digital Transformation Services: MEDVAMC has established a goal to transition all records in electronic format by end of 2022. In support of this initiative, Contractor shall propose a combination of digitization services, which can be tailored and applied to

MEDVAMC in a variety of ways to help support the agency-wide digital transformation initiative:

• On-Site Day Forward Digitization Staffing: The Contractor shall come onsite and provide highly trained, experienced and VA-Cleared Preparation Technicians, Digital

Scanning Operators, Data Entry Operators, and Quality Assurance Inspectors to perform the digitization of incoming daily In-Network patient, administrative, and Non-

VA/NVCC/Fee records. The Contractor’s personnel shall be trained via the VA Training

Management System (TMS) and on VAMC scanning equipment, VistA Imaging, CPRS, and Fee Basis Claims Systems.

• Off-Site Back File Digitization Services: Records stored on-campus are designated as either “Active” medical-related files (three years or less of activity) or “Inactive” files

(more than three years of no activity). The Active Files are typically digitized into VistA

Imaging, while the Inactive Files are moved to long term storage at a NARA-compliant facility for the 75-year retention period. The Contractor shall provide support to come onsite, pack the active files into boxes, manifest, and securely transport the records to the

Contractor’s nearest Image Processing Center for digitization. The records shall be digitized, and the resulting database of digital images and associated indexes ingested directly into VA’s repository (CPRS). The original files shall be placed in long term

NARA-compliant storage.

• Predictive Scanning Services: The Contractor shall examine past usage/type patterns of retrieved records, identifying those records that qualify as “Active.” Active records would be digitized and electronically stored directly into VistA and CPRS repositories in advance, thus providing immediate access to mission-critical information.

• Off-Site Day Forward Indexing and Medical Record Validation Services: Many

VAMCs are establishing their onsite digitization services to prepare the…