S02_RFQ 36C25724Q0480-Transcription v4.docx

36C25724Q0480

1. REQUISITION NO.

2. CONTRACT NO.

3. AWARD/EFFECTIVE DATE

4. ORDER NO.

5. SOLICITATION NUMBER

6. SOLICITATION ISSUE DATE

a. NAME

b. TELEPHONE NO. (No Collect Calls)

8. OFFER DUE DATE/LOCAL

TIME

9. ISSUED BY

CODE

10. THIS ACQUISITION IS

UNRESTRICTED OR

SET ASIDE:

% FOR:

SMALL BUSINESS

HUBZONE SMALL

BUSINESS

SERVICE-DISABLED

VETERAN-OWNED

SMALL BUSINESS

WOMEN-OWNED SMALL BUSINESS

(WOSB) ELIGIBLE UNDER THE WOMEN-OWNED

SMALL BUSINESS PROGRAM

EDWOSB

8(A)

NAICS:

SIZE STANDARD:

11. DELIVERY FOR FOB DESTINA-

TION UNLESS BLOCK IS

MARKED

SEE SCHEDULE

12. DISCOUNT TERMS

13a. THIS CONTRACT IS A

RATED ORDER UNDER

DPAS (15 CFR 700)

13b. RATING

14. METHOD OF SOLICITATION

RFQ

IFB

RFP

15. DELIVER TO

CODE

16. ADMINISTERED BY

CODE

17a. CONTRACTOR/OFFEROR

CODE

FACILITY CODE

18a. PAYMENT WILL BE MADE BY

CODE

TELEPHONE NO.

UEI:

EFT:

PHONE:

FAX:

17b. CHECK IF REMITTANCE IS DIFFERENT AND PUT SUCH ADDRESS IN OFFER 18b. SUBMIT INVOICES TO ADDRESS SHOWN IN BLOCK 18a UNLESS BLOCK BELOW IS CHECKED

SEE ADDENDUM

19.

20.

21.

22.

23.

24.

ITEM NO.

SCHEDULE OF SUPPLIES/SERVICES

QUANTITY

UNIT

UNIT PRICE

AMOUNT

(Use Reverse and/or Attach Additional Sheets as Necessary)

25. ACCOUNTING AND APPROPRIATION DATA

26. TOTAL AWARD AMOUNT (For Govt. Use Only) 27a. SOLICITATION INCORPORATES BY REFERENCE FAR 52.212-1, 52.212-4. FAR 52.212-3 AND 52.212-5 ARE ATTACHED. ADDENDA

ARE

ARE NOT ATTACHED.

27b. CONTRACT/PURCHASE ORDER INCORPORATES BY REFERENCE FAR 52.212-4. FAR 52.212-5 IS ATTACHED. ADDENDA

ARE

ARE NOT ATTACHED

28. CONTRACTOR IS REQUIRED TO SIGN THIS DOCUMENT AND RETURN _______________

29. AWARD OF CONTRACT: REF. ___________________________________ OFFER

COPIES TO ISSUING OFFICE. CONTRACTOR AGREES TO FURNISH AND

DATED ________________________________. YOUR OFFER ON SOLICITATION

DELIVER ALL ITEMS SET FORTH OR OTHERWISE IDENTIFIED ABOVE AND ON ANY

(BLOCK 5), INCLUDING ANY ADDITIONS OR CHANGES WHICH ARE

ADDITIONAL SHEETS SUBJECT TO THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS SPECIFIED

SET FORTH HEREIN IS ACCEPTED AS TO ITEMS:

30a. SIGNATURE OF OFFEROR/CONTRACTOR 31a. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (SIGNATURE OF CONTRACTING OFFICER) 30b. NAME AND TITLE OF SIGNER (TYPE OR PRINT) 30c. DATE SIGNED 31b. NAME OF CONTRACTING OFFICER (TYPE OR PRINT) 31c. DATE SIGNED

AUTHORIZED FOR LOCAL REPRODUCTION

(REV. NOV 2021)

PREVIOUS EDITION IS NOT USABLE

Prescribed by GSA - FAR (48 CFR) 53.212

7. FOR SOLICITATION

INFORMATION CALL:

STANDARD FORM 1449

SOLICITATION/CONTRACT/ORDER FOR COMMERCIAL PRODUCTS AND COMMERCIAL SERVICES

OFFEROR TO COMPLETE BLOCKS 12, 17, 23, 24, & 30

04-01-2024 Stephanie Reeves 254-778-4811 ext 46252 04-05-2024 12:00pm

CDT

Department of Veterans Affairs Central Texas Veterans HCS 1901 Veterans Memorial Dr. Building #171 Temple TX 76504

X

561410 $19 Million

N/A

North Texas Veterans Health Care System

4500 South Lancaster Road Dallas TX 75216

Central Texas Veterans HCS 1901 Veterans Memorial Dr. Building 171 Temple TX 76504

This is accomplished through the Tungsten Network located at:

http://www.fsc.va.gov/einvoice.asp This is mandatory and the sole method for submitting invoices.

(877) 353-9791

(512) 460-5540

See CONTINUATION Page This solicitation shall be utilized to establish a single award contract for Medical Transcription Services for the North Texas Veterans Health Care System (NTXVAHCS) as outlined in the Statement of Work (SOW).

See CONTINUATION Page

Table of Contents

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: Name:____________________________________________ Address: __________________________________________ City/State/Zip: _____________________________________ POC Name: _______________________________________ POC Phone: _______________________________________ POC Email: _______________________________________

SAM UEI: ________________________________________

TIN: _____________________________________________

b. GOVERNMENT: Contracting Officer 36C257

Contract Specialist 36C257 Stephanie Reeves stephanie.reeves@va.gov Department of Veterans Affairs NCO 17 Contracting Office Regional Procurement Office West (RPO-W) 5441 Babcock Road Ste. 302 San Antonio, TX 78240

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.

http://www.fsc.va.gov/einvoice.asp

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

Page 1 of Page 1 of

B.2 STATEMENT OF WORK (SOW)

TITLE: North Texas VA Healthcare System MEDICALTRANSCRIPTION SERVICES

SECTION 1 - STATEMENT OF WORK

1.1 North Texas VA Healthcare System (VANTHCS) has a requirement for digital dictation, traditional and correction editing medical transcription services using vendor-supplied dictation equipment. The Prime vendor awarded the contract shall be responsible for 100% computer storage, security and management of all dictation received from the Agency and shall be able to access information and records kept on this system at all times. Under no circumstances will this part of contract performance be subcontracted. Currently North Texas VA Healthcare System uses a variety of dictation equipment, including telephone lines, Dictaphone equipment and IPAQs. The awarded contractor(s) shall provide all management, personnel, security clearance, space and equipment (supplies, tools, materials, parts, hardware, software and toll-free telephone numbers) to all facilities for which services are awarded for purposes of performing medical transcription services as stated herein. Services shall be performed at the contractor's place of business, outside of the premises of participating VA Medical Centers. The contractor is not to subcontract the work or any portion of the work to another firm without prior approval from the CO. The contractor will meet the standards of the Joint Commission (JC) during the period of the contract, to include any option years that may be exercised.

1.1.1 Contractor shall ensure that VA authorized staff receive the necessary training in the appropriate use of all telephone lines, portable dictation equipment and computer programs and software necessary to provide successful transcription services.

1.1.2 Contractor shall be required to understand and utilize specialized terminology, vocabulary and acronyms for dictated reports from all the fields of medicine, surgery, psychiatry, and dentistry. Dictation includes a high incidence of clinical terminology and requires the transcriber to possess the skills, knowledge, and abilities to perform the tasks described herein.

1.1.3 The Government shall not be required to alter, replace, upgrade, or purchase any systems, applications, computer hardware/software, or telephone equipment in order to accommodate any contractor offered systems, applications or processes/procedures. Contractor shall be fully responsible for ensuring compatibility with Governments existing systems, equipment, computer programs, protocols and telephone systems.

1.1.3.1 VISTA System: The Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture (VISTA) system is each medical center's data processing network, which includes multiple Ethernet-linked, M (MUMPS) language-based microcomputer systems on which VISTA clinical, financial and administrative software applications are run.

1.1.3.2. The operating system consists of multiple layered software products (e.g. VMS (Virtual Memory Server), DSM (Digital Standard Mumps), Digital TCP/IP Services and Kernel.

1.1.3.3 The VISTA imaging system utilizes the Microsoft operating system NT4.0 that supports VISTA imaging display, capture, storage and the interface for imaging to the VISTA system.

1.1.3.4 The Computerized Patient Record System (CPRS) and the RPC broker are utilized to allow the images to be displayed at the workstation.

1.1.3.5 The VISTA information system is designed around a set of core programs referred to as Kernel. VISTA is an umbrella term for all software/hardware that is utilized by the facility. The Kernel program includes a device handling system, VA Fileman Database System, electronic mail, system security, a set of tools to manage user access and a set of tools to schedule report production and system maintenance functions.

1.1.3.6 Integrated systems aggregate data generated by individual subsystems for use by authorized internal and external customers. The integrated portion of the database includes (clinical): patient demographic information, prescriptions, lab results and data relating to an episode of care (administrative/financial): personnel and accounted data, accounts receivable, fee basis, integrated billing, control point activity, accounting and procurement, etc.

1.2 REPORTS:

The type of reports dictated for transcription by the Contractor shall include:

Discharge Summaries Transfer Summaries Surgery report and Operative Procedures Compensation & Pension Reports Cardiac Catheterization Reports Progress Notes Electroencephalogram Reports Pathology Reports STAT Reports - All History & Physicals Consultations Social Work reports Follow-up notes Procedures and tests Agent Orange/Persian Gulf Mental Health reports Radiology reports

1.2.1 Dictation: The Contractor shall be responsible for receiving dictation of properly formatted documents over conventional telephone lines. All transmitted documents shall contain accurate information as provided by each individual author. Contractor shall provide all communication hardware/software and utilize the TCP/IP file transfer protocol, or another protocol agreed and approved by the VA. Contractor shall be able to receive dictated reports via telecommunication lines or by handheld digital devices provided by the Contractor.

1.2.2 Customer Support: Contractor shall provide complete customer support which includes an off-site transcription system managed by the contractor and complete transcription support for dictated Medical documents 24 hours per day 365 days per year, including Federal holidays. The contractor shall also provide a point of contact for VA facilities to contact 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for "over the phone" live support.

1.2.3 Transmission: The Contractor shall electronically transmit all required reports into the Hospital's mainframe, i.e., Veterans Information Systems & Technology Architecture (VISTA). The Transmission and upload shall be done either from remote microcomputers, using ASCII or KERMIT protocol upload, or from Host Files (e.g., DOS, or VMS ASCII files) on the host system. Connect charges shall be at the contractor's expense. The Contractor shall be required to upload and download directly into the VISTA/CPRS (Computerized Patient Record System) TIU (Text Integration Utility) Package.

1.2.4 Upload Header & Footer Format: The Contractor shall transcribe reports utilizing headers and footers and appropriate formats. It is the Contractor's responsibility to assure all header required text information complies with the dictation.

1.2.5 Header Information: Each document shall include the specified header conforming to the standard provided by VA for that type of document. This header includes the document type, patient social security number, date of encounter (date of surgery, date of admission), work type, the document author, dictation date and time, job number, and the transcriptionist identifier.

1.2.6 Text Information: The format for transcribed documents shall include the job number, patient's name, name of author, the date and time dictated, date transcribed, date and time uploaded to VA, contractor's name and transcriptionist initials.

1.2.7 Each dictation shall consist of required information as described in the Department of Veterans Affairs, Health Information Management and Health Records (VHA Handbook 1907.01, dated July 22, 2014).

1.2.8 View Alerts: Contractor shall be responsible for processing and clearing all View Alerts. The contractor shall clear uploading errors by verifying and editing header information as necessary (ex: SSN, visit, date, author, title and location) and successfully upload each document to the correct patient's medical record. The contractor shall notify the Contracting Officer's Representative (COR) or Transcription Unit Coordinator via encrypted e-mail of all un-resolvable uploading problems within 24 hours of completed transcription.

1.2.9 Destination of Transcribed Documents: Each facility may elect to have transcribed documents, which may include Pathology and Nuclear Medicine reports, uploaded directly to each individual electronic patient record or batch transmitted to the VA VISTA system.

1.2.10 Upload Standards: VA staff are not to correct Contractor uploading errors; all upload errors are to be corrected by the contractor and contractor's employees and confirm reports are available for authentication in VISTA without charge to the U.S Government. However, if errors were found in dictated reports preventing uploading into VISTA, the contractor shall notify the COR.

1.2.11 Method of Verification of Upload: The Contractor shall stipulate, within its quote, its method for verifying that all uploaded cases are available in VISTA and ready for electronic authentication. Verification of all uploads shall be the responsibility of the contractor regardless of the manner in which transcribed documents are received in VISTA. For all reports, the Contractor shall be responsible for identification and correction of all upload errors.

1.2.12 Length of Reports: The length of each report may vary according to the type of medical report required. The reports will be created and saved as ASCII text with only printable characters, single spaces, and carriage returns and line feeds. The text is single spaced with double space between paragraphs. No report shall include any text other than what was dictated. Instructions to the transcriptionists shall not be included in the body of the report. Comments or questions shall be sent as separate correspondence referencing the dictation system job number. Typed comments or questions shall not be billable or paid by the Government.

1.2.13 Report Formats: Specific report formats provided by the VA shall be followed. Revised formats will be provided to the Contractor as necessary. When revised formats are provided, the Contractor shall make revisions to format within 24 hours. Files to be sent to VISTA by the Contractor shall be sent with field names and delimiters, and then merged at VISTA to fit the appropriate form. The VA shall furnish the Contractor with appropriate formats for the transcription of dictation. Sample report formats are provided in attachment D.3.

1.2.14 Abbreviations: The Contractor shall confine abbreviations that are recognized by the medical community. A list of inappropriate abbreviations shall be provided to the Contractor by the COR that must not be used. This list will be updated periodically as needed. Symbols and abbreviations shall not be used when documenting final diagnoses and procedures or discharge summaries.

1.2.15 Retention of Reports

1.2.15.1 Written Reports: The Contractor shall retain these reports on appropriate medium for approximately six months after expiration of the contract and shall re-transmit, free of charge, all requested reports, including reports that have been returned due to errors in spelling, verbiage, grammar, punctuation or that are of unsatisfactory quality.

1.2.15.2 Voice Reports/Recordings: The Contractor shall retain voice reports on appropriate medium for a minimum of six months after the date of transmission and shall re-transmit, free of charge, all requested reports, including reports that have been returned due to errors in spelling, verbiage, grammar, punctuation or that are of unsatisfactory quality.

1.2.16 Retransmission of Reports: Retransmission of reports requiring correction shall be returned to the COR or designee within 24 hours from the time of return to the Contractor for correction, at no additional charge; all returned reports shall be accompanied by an explanation of the deficiency provided by the Contractor.

1.2.17 VA Information Custodial Requirements: The contractor will not destroy information received from VA or gathered or created by the contractor in the course of performing this contract without prior written approval by the VA Information Security Officer. Any data destruction done on behalf of VA by a contractor must be done in accordance with VA approved information destruction methods and requirements as outlined in VA Handbook 6500.

1.2.18 VA Obtaining Voice Files upon Request: The contractor shall provide the COR with voice files stored on the contractor's voice servers upon VA request. The contractor shall store the voice files on encrypted CD/DVD media and send by traceable mail method to VA.

1.2.19 Print Type: Courier-12 characters per inch.

1.3 CONTACTOR STAFFING REQUIREMENTS:

1.3.1 Medical Transcriptionist Staffing: The contractor shall provide all staff personnel necessary to perform all transcription requirements contained in this contract. The contractor shall provide information to verify staff adequacy. This information may be a list of medical transcriptionist, without names, but with individual qualifications (years of experience, credentials, previous education and training, work location and work hours) or a summary per location of the number of medical transcriptionists, the number or summary percentage of those who are certified medical transcriptionists or otherwise credentialed, or the FTE per work-hour designation.

1.3.1.1 The Contractor shall maintain the resources necessary to ensure that transcription services are uninterrupted regardless of contingency or circumstance. In the event of VISTA failure preventing uploading, transcribed documents in an electronic format shall be provided by the Contractor.

1.3.1.2 The contractor shall provide a plan as to how staff will be qualified, selected, and supported with initial training and continuing education.

1.3.1.3 The contractor shall be responsible for all personnel working under this contract. If there are emergent circumstances that may require the prime contractor to seek sub-prime assistance, the prime contractor must seek VA approval prior to utilizing the services from the subprime contractor. The contractor shall at no time authorize, disseminate dictations, allow dictations to be disseminated, or performed outside of the United States or its territories by any foreign contractor or other contractor operating outside of the United States or its territories.

1.3.1.4 Qualifications of Transcriptionists: All dictation and transcription shall be in the English language. Material will be dictated by physicians and other health care professionals and shall require the ability of the contractor and contractor personnel to accurately decipher and transcribe material containing variations in accents, speech, tone, voice, volume, delivery, pronunciation and enunciation.

1.3.1.5 The Contractor shall employ a highly skilled staff of medical transcriptionists possessing industry appropriate certification(s) and training.

1.3.1.6 The Contractor shall be responsible for providing all services required under this contract.

1.3.1.7 The Contractor shall be responsible for ensuring services are provided by qualified and competent personnel in accordance with the terms and conditions of this contract.

1.3.1.8 Any subcontractors furnishing services under this contract shall provide services in accordance with the terms and conditions of the contract.

1.3.2 Quality Assurance (QA) Personnel: Contractor shall provide a list and summary of administrative and technical QA personnel, including position and credentials, office location, hours available and telephone numbers.

1.3.3 Administrative and Management Personnel: The Contractor shall provide a list and summary outlining the position and authority of all administrative and management personnel, including position and credentials, office location, hours available and telephone numbers.

1.3.4 Support Staff: The Contractor shall ensure that a designated responsible individual is available for the participating VA Medical Facility to provide telephone support, service and error correction services 24 hours per day seven days per week, excluding Federal holidays, at no additional expense to the Government.

1.4 HOURS OF SERVICE:

1.4.1 The Contractor shall perform all transcription services to include electronic transmission of all transcribed reports to the VA on a daily basis, 24 hours per day, seven days per week, including Federal holidays. The 10 holidays observed by the Federal Government are as follows:

New Year's Day Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's Birthday Presidents' Day Memorial Day Independence Day Labor Day Columbus Day Veteran's Day Thanksgiving Day Christmas Day

1.5 REPORTING AND BILLING

1.5.1 Daily Transmission Reports: The Contractor shall provide to the COR or designee a daily report, either electronically or by fax, a listing of the transmissions upload for the day which shall include the total lines transmitted and shall include the following:

Report Type Patient name (full) Patient Social Security Number Event date (i.e. date of discharge, date of exam, etc).

Transcriptionist's identification.

Date Transcribed.

Name of Dictator.

Dictation date.

Number of lines transcribed (per report).

Date and Time Uploaded to VISTA This report shall be alphabetized by patient's last name and will be by work type, e.g. Discharge Summaries separate from Operative Reports, etc.

1.5.2 Daily Dictation Reports: The contractor shall describe within its quote it's method for providing to the COR or designee a daily report of total lines dictated and delivered to the VISTA system. This report shall include the same information as the transmission report.

1.5.3 Monthly Report: The Contractor shall provide to the COR or designee upon request, or at a minimum, by the fifth working day each month, a monthly report via encrypted e-mail or made available on a secure web site which shall include total lines transmitted for the month. This report shall also include a daily line count identified by the Transcriptionist's initials with a total count of lines completed by each transcriptionist on a daily basis.

1.5.4 Billing Format: Billing shall be presented to VA on a monthly basis. A billable line shall equal 65 visible black characters in accordance with the line count methodology herein (see 1.5.5.1).

1.5.5.1 Line Count Methodology: Line count is based on 65 Visible Black Characters equaling a VBC line.

A Visible Black Character (VBC) is defined as strike-able and visible characters and includes any printed letter, number, symbol, and/or punctuation mark excluding any or all formatting (e.g., bold, underline, italics, table structure, formatting codes, spaces or returns). All visible black characters can be seen with the naked eye as a mark, regardless of whether viewed electronically or on a printed page. The following chart illustrates visible black characters.

1.5.5.2 The VBC Line or the American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) no Spaces Line: A VBC line is defined as the total number of characters, printed or visible, that’s part of the final transcribed document. This includes any character contained in a header or footer. Spaces between words or sentences, carriage returns, hidden format instructions, such as bold, underline, text boxes, printer configurations, spell check, etc., are not included in the total character count. A VBC line is calculated by counting all visual characters and dividing the total number of characters by 65 to arrive at the number of defined lines.

1.5.5.3 The billing line count methodology and the overall error rate, by month, shall be provided with the monthly invoice, along with types of dates and corrective action. A monthly report shall be provided to the VA Transcription COR or designee.

1.6 TURN AROUND TIME (TAT)

1.6.1 TAT Time Frames: All dictation shall be transcribed and uploaded into VISTA in accordance with the following time frames:

1.6.2 STAT Reports TAT: Discharge summaries, transfer summaries, operative reports, and nuclear medicine reports may be dictated as STAT reports at the discretion of the clinician dictating the report.

1.6.3 Calculation of TAT: TAT will be calculated by the COR of each facility. Calculation of TAT will occur for all work performed by the contractor, including Federal holidays. This method accounts for 100% of reports and will be run at least monthly by the COR.SECTION - 2 DEFINITIONS As used throughout this contract, the following terms shall have the meaning set forth below.

2.1 Where "as directed", "as required", "as permitted", "acceptance", or words of a similar import are used, it shall be understood that direction, requirement, permission, approval, or acceptance of the Contracting Officer is intended unless stated otherwise.

2.2 Automated Information System (AIS) - An assembly of computer hardware, software and/or firmware configured to collect, create, communicate, compute, disseminate, process, store, and/or control data or information.

2.3 Authentication - Process of (1) verifying authorship, for example, by written signature, identifiable initials, or computer key or (2) verifying that a document is what it is purported to be, such as comparison with other records, or both (AAMT E1959-98, p.1).

2.4 Author - The person responsible and accountable for the creation, content, accuracy, and completeness of each dictated and transcribed event or health record entry (ASMT E2117-00, pg 1).

2.5 Concurrent review - Quality review of transcribed reports performed while listening to dictation and comparing transcribed document content. Concurrent review is generally performed before reports are delivered to a patient's record, either in print form or electronically, and before they are made available for author signature (ASMT E2117-00, pg. 1).

2.6 Contracting Officer (CO) - The Contracting Officer is a person with the authority to enter into, administer, and terminate contracts and make related determinations and findings. This includes certain authorized representative of the Contracting Officer acting within the limits of their authority as delegated by the Contracting Officer.

2.7 Contracting Officer's Representative (COR) - Individual(s) who furnishes technical guidance and advice or generally supervises the work performed under the contract. Designations will be in writing from the Contracting Officer and will define the authorities and limitation of the representatives' authority.

2.8 Contractor - The term contractor as used herein refers to both the prime contractor and any subcontractors. The prime contractor shall ensure that his/her subcontractors comply with the provision of this contract.

2.9 Electronic Authentication - Verification of authorship of a document or verification that a document is what it is purported to be, or both, accomplished by electronic means or in an electronic format (ASMT E95998, pg. 1).

2.10 Federal Holiday - Legal holidays recognized by the Federal Government in accordance with 5 U.S.C. 6103, Executive Order 11582 and Public Law 94-97 or any other by the President of the United States to be a national holiday.

2.11 ISO - Information Security Officer

2.12 Quality Assurance (QA) - A method used by the Government to provide some measure of control over the quality of purchased goods and services received.

2.13 Quality Assurance Evaluator (QAE) - The Government employee designated the Contracting Officer to control the quality of goods and services produced.

2.14 Quality Assurance for Medical Transcription - The process of review that is intended to provide adequate confidence that dictated patient care documentation is transcribed in a clear, consistent, accurate, complete, and timely manner and that it satisfies stated or implied requirements for dictated and transcribed documentation or patient care (ASMT 2117-00).

2.15 Quality Control (QC) - A method used by the contractor to control the quality of goods and services produced.

2.16 Regular Working Hours - For purposes of this contract 24 hours per day seven days per week.

2.17 Retrospective review - Quality review of transcribed reports performed after documents have been released for author signature and delivered to a patient's record. The dictation may no longer be available for comparison with the transcribed documents (ASMT E2117-00. pg. 1).

2.18 Turn-around-time (TAT) - Elapsed time beginning with the availability of dictation or voice file for transcription and ending when the transcribed document is delivered and available for authentication (ASMT E2117-00, pg. 1-2).

2.19 VAMC, VA or Health Care System - Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center

2.20 VISTA - Veterans Information Systems & Technology Architecture. The VA's proprietary computer system is running on Alpha computers utilizing Windows NT and Open M by Inter-Systems; formerly called Decentralized Hospital Computer Program (DHCP).

SECTION- 3 GOVERNMENT- OWNED EQUIPMENT AND SERVICES

3.1 Installation Costs: VANTHCS will absorb all expenses associated with in-house (facility) telephone jacks and telephone numbers for return data transmission.

3.2 Provision of Dictated Reports: The VA will provide the contractor with dictation via Contractor-owned; digital equipment transmitted via telephone lines, or through hand held digital dictation systems.

3.3 Staff Lists: The VA COR at each facility shall provide a complete and current VA listing of staff clinicians who dictate. The listing will be updated every month and periodically as needed.

SECTION - 4 CONTRACTOR-FURNISHED EQUIPMENT AND SEREVICES

4.1 Contractor Furnished Equipment:

4.1.1 The Contractor shall provide all equipment, communications software, toll free telephone number for the facility and all accessories to connect to the facility's VISTA system to download and upload dictations/transcription on a continuing basis throughout each working day. All expenses related to the purchase/rental/lease, set-up, use and maintenance of such, shall be responsibility of the Contractor. Equipment (i.e. voice services) shall be directly maintained and controlled by the primary contractor, not the subcontractor. The Contractor shall provide a toll-free long-distance line for all transmission of dictations at no cost to the VA.

4.1.2 The contractor shall notify all VA facility COR/Point of Contact of any technical problems impacting the flow of dictation, transcription, and uploading (telephone line outage, voice service issues, etc.).

4.1.3 The contractor shall provide all equipment, communication software, toll free telephone number for the facility and accessories necessary to connect North Texas VA Healthcare System participating in-house staff to contractor's system and contractor shall be responsible for distribution of appropriate workload to VA's in-house staff members.

4.1.4 In accordance with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended 29 U.S.C. § 794 (d), the contractor shall provide all equipment, communication software, toll free telephone number for the facility and accessories necessary to allow connection and operation by VA in-house staff, to include employees with disabilities to contractors system at no additional cost to VA.

4.2 Installation Time Frame: All Contractor-owned equipment shall be fully installed and operational within 30 calendar days from date of award. The Contractor shall coordinate with a designated Information Resource Management Service (IRMS) representative at the contracted facility to ensure that equipment is operational.

4.3 Installation Costs: The Contractor shall be liable for all costs associated with the installation of Contractor-owned equipment with the exception as provided in Section 3 Government Furnished Property and Service.

4.4 Equipment Maintenance and Repair: The Contractor shall be responsible for maintenance and repair of all contractors owned equipment. On-site response time for equipment repair or replacement shall be 4 hours after notification by the COR.

4.4.1 Minimum Requirements for Equipment Maintenance: Contractor shall be required to demonstrate abilities to meet minimum requirements by:

4.4.1.1 Submitting equipment maintenance policies and procedures to include a plan for backup systems in the event of emergency repairs to Contractor-owned equipment AND

4.4.1.2 Submitting documentation on proposed equipment to be utilized in the performance requirements ensuring compatibility with the VA VISTA and telephone digital dictation systems.

4.5 Contractor Furnished Items: The Contractor shall provide sufficient toll free telecommunication lines to allow access for participating facilities. Additional telephone lines or dictation ports shall be added if there is a significant increase in volume. A minimum of four separate STAT lines, per facility, shall be available to digitally identify STAT dictations.

4.6 Communications Package Software: Contractor's software shall be compatible with the VA's VISTA system, which enables the user to upload transcribed reports into VISTA.

In cases in which transcribed reports cannot be uploaded because of errors, the contractor shall provide an error-list that shall include social security numbers (SSN), provider names, dates and locations of visits and other commensurate data.

4.7 Technical and Service Contracts for Hardware and Software: A listing of the technical service contracts for hardware and software provided by the Contractor shall be furnished to the COR.

4.8 Re-route Requirements: The Contractor shall be responsible for all re-record hardware and software necessary to route work to their staff at no expense to the Government.

4.9 TRAINING

4.9.1 Initial Training: The Contractor shall provide training on site for authorized VA staff at each facility. Training shall include staff from, HIMS and IRMS services to ensure that the technical aspects of the digital dictation system are in place. Training shall also include appropriate clinical staff as necessary. Training shall be of sufficient length to cover all aspects of the dictation system with a minimum of three days on site at the participating facility. Contractor shall provide an additional two days of training for each facility at the request of the facility. A qualified member of the contractor's staff shall conduct training at no additional expense to the facility. The location of the training shall be coordinated with the COR at each VA Medical Facility.

4.9.2 Annual Training: If required, the contractor shall provide annual training on site to each requesting facility. Training shall be a minimum of one day. A qualified member of the contractor's staff shall provide training at no expense to the facility. The location of training shall be coordinated with the COR of each facility.

4.9.3 Training Materials: The contractor shall provide appropriate educational materials, brochures, or reminder cards explaining the dictation process in detail. Contractor provided training material shall be provided at no cost to the VA.

4.9.4 Security Training: Contractor personnel working under the contract shall receive the following training annually: VA Privacy and Information Security Awareness and Rules of Behavior Training, and Privacy & HIPAA Training. Certificates of completion will be forwarded to COR within 1 week of contract award and annually thereafter. The link for training will be provided to the contractor by the COR. Certificates and all related documentation, such as completed competency checklists or educational training records, shall be maintained by the contractor and be available for review upon request. Documentation and record keeping shall be in accordance with VA policies and procedures. Confidentiality, security and integrity of data shall be maintained at all times. This requirement is in addition to any other training that may be required of the contractor and subcontractor(s) employees.

4.9.5 All contractor employees and subcontractor employees requiring access to VA information and VA information systems shall complete the above and the following before being granted access to VA networks and shall repeat the training on an annual basis:

4.9.5.1 Sign and acknowledge understanding of and responsibilities for compliance with the attached National Rules of Behavior (ROB) relating to access to VA information and information systems. The ROB may be found as attachment G of VA Handbook 6500.

4.9.5.2 Successfully complete VA Cyber Security Awareness training and annual refresher training as required. This training may be found at: VA TMS 2.0 .

4.9.5.3 Successfully complete VA General Privacy training and annual refresher training as required. This training may be found at: VA TMS 2.0 .

4.9.5.4 The contractor shall provide to the contracting officer a copy of the training certificates for each applicable employee within 1 week of the initiation of the contract and annually thereafter, as required.

4.9.5.5 Failure to complete this mandatory training within the timeframe required will be grounds for suspension or termination of all physical and/or electronic access privileges and removal from work on the contract until such time as the training is completed.

SECTION - 5 SPECIFIC TASKS SURVEILLANCE METHODOLOGIES

95%/month

Direct Observation and Random Sampling

95%/month

Direct Observation and Random Sampling

Section 1.5.2

and Random Sampling

Monthly Invoices

(FSC & VA)

SECTION - 6 APPLICABLE TECHNICAL ORDERS, SPECIFICATIONS, REGULATIONS, AND MANUALS

6.1 SECURITY

6.1.1 Privacy: Contractors and any subcontractors must adhere to the provisions of Public Law 104-191, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996. This includes both the Privacy and Security Rules published by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

6.1.2 As required by HIPAA, HHS has promulgated rules governing the use and disclosure of protected health information by covered entities, Veterans Health Administration (VHA). In accordance with HIPAA, the contractor may be required to enter into a Business Associate Agreement (BAA) with VHA.

6.1.3 Business associates must follow VHA privacy policies and practices when applicable. All contractors and business associates must receive privacy training annually.

6.1.4 For contractors and business associates who do not have access to VHA computer systems, this requirement is met by completing VHA National Privacy Policy training, other VHA approved privacy training or contractor furnished training that meets the requirements of the HHS Standards for Privacy of Individually Identifiable Health Information as determined by VHA.

6.1.5 For contractors and business associates who are granted access to VHA computer systems, this requirement is met by completing VHA National Privacy Policy training or other VHA approved privacy training. Proof of training is required upon request.

6.2 The medical reports described in this solicitation are irreplaceable medical information that must be safeguarded at all times. The contractor shall adhere to the Privacy Act Notification (FAR 52.224-1) and Privacy Act Clause (FAR 52.224-2) as found in the clauses section of this solicitation for explanation of the Privacy Act requirements within this contract. Contractor shall develop and maintain a method of tracking all dictated and transcribed documents.

6.2.1 Access to VA Systems: The contractor shall request logical (technical) and/or physical access to VA information and VA information systems for employees, subcontractors, and affiliates only to the extent necessary: (1) to perform the services specified in the contract, (2) to perform necessary maintenance functions for electronic storage or transmission media necessary for performance of the contract, and (3) for individuals who must satisfy the same conditions, requirements and restrictions that comparable VA employees must meet in order to have access to the same type of VA information.

6.2.3 Remote access to VA systems that contain sensitive information must be done through the One-VA Virtual Private Network (VPN). After contract award and prior to VA granting VPN access, the contractor is required to complete all security requirements.

6..2.4 In cases where VA owns and operates their own dictation or transcription equipment, system privileges should be defined, outlining what access the contractor will have to provide transcription services while meeting VA security requirements.

6.3 Records Management:

6.3.1 Contractor shall comply with all national and applicable records management laws, regulations, and guidelines for security and privacy as well as National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) records policies, including but not limited to the Federal Records Act (44 U.S.C. chs. 21, 29, 31, 33), NARA regulations at 36 CFR Chapter XII Subchapter B, Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) as amended (44 U.S.C. §§ 3541 et seq.), the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) (Public Law 104-191), it’s implementing regulations, the Privacy, Security and Breach Notification rules located at 45 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), Part 160 and subparts A and E Public Law 93-579, any additional Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) or VHA directives or requirements for compliance, as well as those policies associated with the safeguarding of records covered by the Privacy Act of 1974 (5 U.S.C. 552a). These policies include the preservation of all records, regardless of form or characteristics, mode of transmission, or state of completion.

6.3.2 In accordance with 36 CFR 1222.32, all data created for Government use and delivered to, or falling under the legal control of, the Government are Federal records subject to the provisions of 44 U.S.C. chapters 21, 29, 31, and 33, the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) (5 U.S.C. 552), as amended, and the Privacy Act of 1974 (5 U.S.C. 552a), as amended and must be managed and scheduled for disposition only as permitted by statute or regulation.

6.3.3 In accordance with 36 CFR 1222.32, Contractor shall maintain all records created for Government use or created in the course of performing the contract and/or delivered to, or under the legal control of the Government and must be managed in accordance with Federal law. Electronic records and associated metadata must be accompanied by sufficient technical documentation to permit understanding and use of the records and data.

6.3.4 VA North Texas (VANTX) and its contractors are responsible for preventing the alienation or unauthorized destruction of records, including all forms of mutilation. Records may not be removed from the legal custody of VANTX or destroyed except for in accordance with the provisions of the agency records schedules and with the written concurrence of the Head of the Contracting Activity. Willful and unlawful destruction, damage or alienation of Federal records is subject to the fines and penalties imposed by 18 U.S.C. 2701.

In the event of any unlawful or accidental removal, defacing, alteration, or destruction of records, Contractor must report to the Contracting Officer (CO). The agency must report promptly to NARA in accordance with 36 CFR 1230.

6.3.5 The Contractor shall immediately notify the appropriate Contracting Officer upon discovery of any inadvertent or unauthorized disclosures of information, data, documentary materials, records or equipment. Disclosure of non-public information is limited to authorized personnel with a need-to-know as described in this contract. The Contractor shall ensure that the appropriate personnel, administrative, technical, and physical safeguards are established to ensure the security and confidentiality of this information, data, documentary material, records and/or equipment is properly protected. The Contractor shall not remove material from Government facilities or systems, or facilities or systems operated or maintained on the Government's behalf, without the express written permission of the Head of the Contracting Activity. When information, data, documentary material, records and/or equipment is no longer required, it shall be returned to VANTX control or the Contractor must hold it until otherwise directed. Items returned to the Government shall be hand carried, mailed, emailed, or securely electronically transmitted to the Contracting Officer or address prescribed in the this contract. Destruction of records is EXPRESSLY PROHIBITED unless in accordance with Paragraph (6.1.3.45.3).

6.3.6 The Contractor is required to obtain the Contracting Officer's approval prior to engaging in any contractual relationship (sub-contractor) in support of this contract requiring the disclosure of information, documentary material and/or records generated under, or relating to, contracts. The Contractor (and any sub-contractor) is required to abide by Government and VANTX guidance for protecting sensitive, proprietary information, classified, and controlled unclassified information.

6..3.7 The Contractor shall only use Government IT equipment for purposes specifically tied to or authorized by the contract and in accordance with VANTX policy.

6.3.8 The Contractor shall not create or maintain any records containing any non-public VANTX information that are not specifically tied to or authorized by the contract.

6.3.9 The Contractor shall not retain, use, sell, or disseminate copies of any deliverable that contains information covered by the Privacy Act of 1974 or that which is…