36C26225Q0962.docx

Sources Sought Notice Sources Sought Notice

GENERAL INFORMATION

SET-ASIDE

CONTRACTING OFFICE ADDRESS

Department of Veterans Affairs NCO 22 - Network Contracting 3601 S. 6th Avenue Tucson AZ 85723

POINT OF CONTACT*

Contracting Specialist Koby Thiel Koby.Thiel@va.gov (520)-792-1450 Ext 1-6273

PLACE OF PERFORMANCE

ADDRESS

Department of Veterans Affairs

NCO 22 - Network Contracting

3601 S. 6th Avenue

Tucson AZ

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

DESCRIPTION

This is a SOURCES SOUGHT ANNOUNCEMENT ONLY. It is neither a solicitation announcement nor a request for proposals or quotes and does not obligate the Government to award a contract. Requests for a solicitation will not receive a response. Responses to this sources sought must be in writing. The purpose of this sources sought announcement is for market research to make appropriate acquisition decisions and to gain knowledge of potential qualified Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Businesses, Veteran Owned Small Businesses, 8(a), HubZone and other Small Businesses interested and capable of providing the services described below. Documentation of technical expertise must be presented in sufficient detail for the Government to determine that your company possesses the necessary functional area expertise and experience to compete for this acquisition. Responses to this notice shall include the following: (a) company name (b) address (c) point of contact (d) phone, fax, and email (e) Unique Entity ID (f) Cage Code (g) Tax ID Number (h) Type of small business, e.g. Services Disabled Veteran Owned small Business, Veteran-owned small business, 8(a), HUBZone, Women Owned Small Business, Small disadvantaged business, or Small Business HUBZone business and (i) must provide a capability statement that addresses the organizations qualifications and ability to perform as a contractor for the work described below.

Responses to Sources Sought Notice: The Southern Arizona VA Health Care System (SAVAHCS) located at 3601 S. 6th Ave, Tucson, AZ 85723 is seeking a potential qualified contractor that can provide software maintenance for installed Alaris infusion systems. Vendors who are interested in this procurement are asked to provide a written response to this Sources Sought Notice. Documentation of technical expertise must be presented in sufficient detail for the Government to determine that your company possesses the necessary functional area expertise and experience to compete for this acquisition. Responses to this notice shall include the following:

(a) company name

(b) address

(c) point of contact

(d) phone, fax, and email

(e) Unique Entity ID (f) Cage Code

(g) Tax ID Number (h) Type of small business, e.g. Services Disabled Veteran Owned small Business, Veteran-owned small business, 8(a), HUBZone, Women Owned Small Business, Small disadvantaged business, or Small Business HUBZone business and

(i) must provide a capability statement that addresses the organizations qualifications and ability to perform as a contractor for the work described below.

Additionally, vendors interested in this procurement must submit with their Response an authorization letter or other documents from the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) that clearly states that the vendor itself is authorized by the OEM to provide the software maintenance services described in the Performance Work Statement attached to this Notice. Vendors who fail to submit evidence of OEM authorization to perform these services may be found to be “not capable” of providing the services required by this procurement for the purpose of making a set-aside determination. The OEM authorization must be dated no more than 90 days prior to the date that this Sources Sought Notice closes.

THIS IS A REQUIREMENT TO PROVIDE SOFTWARE MANAGEMENT AND PREVENTATIVE MAINTENANCE SERVICES FOR THE EXISTING ALARIS INFUSION SYSTEM INSTALLED AT THE TUCSON VAMC WHILE THE VAMC DEVELOPS ITS ACQUISITION STRATEGY FOR A REPLACEMENT INFUSION SYSTEM.

Important Information: The Government is not obligated to nor will it pay for or reimburse any costs associated with responding to this sources sought synopsis request. This notice shall not be construed as a commitment by the Government to issue a solicitation or ultimately award a contract, nor does it restrict the Government to a particular acquisition approach. The Government will in no way be bound to this information if any solicitation is issued. The VA is mandated by Public Law 109-461 to consider a total set-aside for Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business set aside. However, if response by Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business firms proves inadequate, an alternate set-aside or full and open competition may be determined. No sub-contracting opportunity is anticipated. The North American Classification System (NAICS) code for this acquisition is 811210 ($34.0 Million Dollars).

Required Registrations: All offerors who provide goods or services to the United States Federal Government must be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) at www.sam.gov. Additionally, all Service Disabled Veteran Owned Businesses or Veteran Owned Businesses who respond to a solicitation on this project must be registered with the SBA Veteran Small Business Certification (VetCert) Registry located at https://veterans.certify.sba.gov. All interested Offerors should submit information by e-mail to Koby.Thiel@va.gov. All information submissions to be marked Attn: Koby Thiel, Contract Specialist and should be received no later than 8:00 AM PST on June 19, 2025.

For a response to be considered for market research purposes, an authorization letter or other documents from the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) shall be submitted demonstrating the responding party’s authorized status that is dated no more than 90 days prior to the time of response. Non-authorized vendors will not be considered for market research purposes.

DRAFT – PERFORMANCE WORK STATEMENT SUBJECT TO CHANGE

SOFTWARE MANAGEMENT SERVICES

PERFORMANCE WORK STATEMENT

The purpose of this procurement is to acquire infusion pump software management services (SMS) for use at Southern Arizona VA Health Care System (SAVAHCS) within VISN 22. The Contractor shall provide all software management services required to maintain and operate the Alaris Infusion System from BD (formerly CareFusion) currently located at SAVAHCS.

BACKGROUND

Software management services for the Alaris Infusion System includes software enhancements to server-based Alaris Infusion System software components; services that include internet, webinar and on-site training and clinical education; support ranging from remote monitoring of the Alaris Systems Manager to technical support for the Alaris Infusion System; and includes collection of data and providing analytics tools and services. Software enhancements do not include software updates or version upgrades to infusion device hardware.

The following components comprise the Alaris Infusion System located at SAVAHCS for this requirement.

Table 1. Alaris Infusion System Components

Alaris Infusion System Description. Infusion system modules connect to an infusion controller (PCU). The PCU connects wirelessly to the VA network to transmit and receive data to and from the Alaris Systems Manger server. The Alaris Systems Manager resides on a physical server, Dell R630, in a VA data center. Users will access the Alaris Systems Manger server to manage system configuration, retrieve pump connectivity data, capture data analytics, and upload infusion drug libraries. Users will also access software applications such as Guardrails Editor and CQI Reporter to manage drug library configuration and analyze reports collected from infusion data.

The Contractor shall provide the SMS required under this contract for the following Alaris Infusion System equipment covered under this contract. All services performed shall support compatibility with the current infusion equipment.

Table 2. Supported Alaris Equipment and Software

Located in MDIA VLAN 729

Running Windows Server 2012

SCOPE OF WORK

The Contractor shall provide software management services for the Alaris Infusion System server and software components identified in Table 2 above. The services shall be in accordance with the tasks and deliverables as described in this Performance Work Statement (PWS). For those components of the system subject to software updates, the Contractor shall complete all system enhancements and patching with clear communication and preparation. The Contractor shall communicate all enhancements and support activations required to keep the system running effectively to the primary point of contact (POC) or the contracting officer representative (COR). All maintenance and updates shall be scheduled at least three (3) days in advance with the COR.

Information Security Considerations All VA sensitive information shall be protected at all times, in accordance with VA Local site guidelines. The Contractor shall report any known or suspected security/privacy incidents, or any unauthorized disclosure of sensitive information to the COR.

Any wireless connectivity to the VA network must be compatible with 802.11b/g/n and FIPS 140-2 compliant.

Any remote service support requires a Memorandum of Understanding/Interconnection Security Agreement (MOU/ISA) with the VA.

DELIVERABLES

The Contractor shall perform/provide the following services:

Training The Contractor shall include on-site nursing clinical support training for practice reinforcement that can be used for compliance rounds and hospital best practices.

One time during the base year of the contract period and any subsequent option year, the Contractor must provide one eight (8) hour day of on-site clinical consulting at each facility for every 500 infusion devices installed at that facility. The training must include nursing staff interactions with the devices and recommending improved practices for medication safety. The COR will provide the Contractor with requested training dates for each facility during the base year of the contract and any subsequent option year. The Contractor will work with the COR in good faith to reasonably accommodate the requested training dates.

The Contractor shall provide a written report to each facility for each practice reinforcement visit.

The Contractor shall include a workshop with clinical peers to support customer adoption of CQI Reporter software and enhance interpretation skills of CQI data.

Workshop shall be for a period of 2 days and hosted by the Contractor at SAVAHCS during the base year of the contract and each subsequent option year (annually). The COR will provide the Contractor with requested workshop dates for each facility during the base year of the contract and any subsequent option year. The Contractor will work with the COR in good faith to reasonably accommodate the requested workshop dates.

Workshop shall cover defining and creating a systematic approach to analyzing Guardrails Reporter software alerts and refine drug libraries, dose limits, and clinical advisories to achieve maximum impact for the organization.

The Contractor shall provide access to online education. Video content must be made available, upon request, to VA education staff and allowed to be uploaded by the VA to internal learning management systems.

The Contractor shall include Suite training sessions with clinical peers to refresh skills on the use of CQI Reporter and Editor training. The training sessions shall be available monthly and can be used as needed.

The Contractor shall provide tuition annually for up to two (2) VA representatives to attend the System Data Workshop.

Support The Contractor shall provide phone or email access to highly qualified Pharmacy Consultants and Clinical Infusion Data Consultants to address customer data set questions and concerns and assist with the interpretation of CQI data. The Contractor shall provide a resolution turnaround time of 48 hours from the initial phone call or email communicating a customer issue.

The Contractor shall provide access to qualified Pharmacy Consultants who hold the RPh credential and have at least 3 years’ experience working with BD Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) information to make recommendations for improved safety limits on specific pharmaceutical products.

The Contractor shall provide access to Clinical Infusion Data Consultants (formerly CQI Managers) who must have at least 3 years’ experience working with BD CQI information to make recommendations for improved safety limits on specific pharmaceutical products and other data set parameters.

The Contractor shall provide live technical telephone support with BD authorized support professionals who are based in the United States. The team must be ready to assist and provide support for equipment covered in this contract from 8:00am to 4:30pm, Monday through Friday.

The Contractor shall provide Clinical Infusion Data Consultant data support via phone or email from 8:00am to 4:30pm, Monday through Friday, for questions related to the use of the software and interpretation, review, and consulting of data.

Data & Analytics The Contractor shall provide real-time monitoring of the Alaris Systems Manager to ensure system uptime, functionality, optimization, and health in accordance with the national MOU/ISA between the Contractor and VA which is made part of this contract and is incorporated by reference herein.

The Contractor shall provide concise, actionable information on the hospital’s infusion management practices, without requiring analytical or reporting software installation or in-house technical resources. This includes unlimited access to a web-based portal defined by hospital with benchmarking tools and the ability to view all infusions. The Government can request a quarterly phone call or report with the data analyst to review the findings in this report.

The Contractor shall provide benchmarking tools and the ability to view all infusions (not just those outside of prescribed ranges). This information must be web-based and be accessible to an unlimited number of users per hospital. These services would require hosting on a vendor platform but must not contain any sensitive information, in accordance with the national MOU/ISA.

Software Updates & Maintenance If the Contractor releases updates to the applications or server identified in Table 2 to enhance the security or operation of the software, the Contractor shall deliver the enhancement to the Government in machine-readable form with instructions to assist the Government with installing the enhancement. These enhancements will be provided to the Government within 60 days of their issuance or data of first commercial availability, with no additional charge to the Government, for installed instances of the software. As applicable, the Contractor will install updates remotely through the Contractor’s remote access solution. The Contractor shall use commercially reasonable efforts to correct errors in the software that materially affect the functionality of the software.

All labor, time, materials, equipment, travel, service manuals, and supplies necessary to provide the services required under this contract shall be included in the contract price. One time during each annual period, the Contractor will perform one (1) on-site technical service visit for up to eight (8) hours for each 80 PC units to download CQI data and upload the Government’s drug library data set onto the licensed units. The Contractor shall provide telephone support to the Government regarding the operation of and potential errors in the software.

The Contractor shall provide enhancements to the Guardrails Suite MX and Guardrails Editor software when commercially available. This includes providing any updates to the Alaris Systems Manager that are required to install the newest version of Suite MX software.

The Contractor shall provide Alaris Systems Manager service patch management of the operating system, Systems Manager application, and other software components. The Contractor shall provide rigorous testing before deployment of software patches and updates, including customized patch cycles and notifications options. All software patches and updates shall be provided at no additional cost to the Government. Remote management of the server shall be delivered in accordance with the most current version of the national MOU/ISA between VA and the Contractor.

The Contractor shall provide CareFusion Coordination Engine (CCE) service patch management of the operating system, CCE application, and other software components. The Contractor shall provide rigorous testing before deployment of software patches and updates, including customized patch cycles and notifications options. All software patches and updates shall be provided at no additional cost to the Government. Remote management of the server shall be delivered in accordance with the most current version of the national MOU/ISA between VA and the Contractor.

The Contractor shall provide remote installation of server system patches, including the operating system, Alaris Systems Manager, and other system components which will be patched regularly.

Software update/enhancement installations shall normally be scheduled and performed outside normal business hours, 8:00am to 4:30pm, Monday through Friday, of coverage at no additional charge to the Government. The COR may approve software installations outside of these hours to meet facility needs.

Unscheduled Maintenance (Emergency Repair Service) The Contractor’s Field Service Engineer (FSE) shall respond via phone call to the COR or his/her designee immediately after receipt of telephoned emergency repair service notification twenty-four (24) hours per day. If the problem cannot be corrected by phone, the FSE will commence work (on-site or remote desktop response) within two (2) hours after receipt of the notification and will proceed progressively to completion without undue delay. This requirement for response time shall be the same for both service calls during the VA normal business hours and after-hour service calls. The COR will provide the Contractor with (a) an accurate description of the software error; (b) the steps necessary to reproduce the software error, if available; (c) if required, the data being processed at the time of the software error and associated log files; and (d) the severity of the software error, including the circumstances that lead to the software error. The COR and the Contractor will communicate and mutually agree on the severity level of the software error in writing.

Scheduled Maintenance The Contractor shall perform patches and enhancements to the software components identified in Table 2 to ensure the Alaris Infusion System equipment and software perform in accordance with the latest OEM maintenance procedures and protocols. Patching shall be provided for all environments: pre-production, production, and training environments. Scheduled software maintenance shall be scheduled at least three (3) days in advance with the COR. An outline of the scheduled software maintenance procedures shall be provided to the COR. The Contractor shall provide and utilize procedures and checklists with worksheet originals indicating work performed, as applicable. This documentation shall be provided to the COR at the completion of the scheduled software maintenance. The Contractor shall provide written description of scheduled software maintenance. This description shall include an itemized list of the procedures performed.

Scheduled software maintenance services shall include, but need not be limited to, the following:

Reviewing operating system software diagnostics to ensure that the system is operating in accordance with the manufacturer’s specifications Performing remedial software maintenance of non-emergent nature Returning the equipment to the operating condition, per OEM standards Providing documentation of services performed The Contractor shall perform scheduled maintenance services from 8:00am to 4:30pm, Monday through Friday. All exceptions to the scheduled software maintenance schedule shall be arranged and approved in advance with the COR.

Documentation & Reports The Contractor shall provide written reports detailing the software management services provided under the contract. The documentation shall include detailed descriptions of the scheduled and unscheduled software maintenance (i.e., emergency software repairs (ESR)) procedures performed, including updates and services required to maintain the software. The ESR shall consist of a separate report for the item(s) covered under this contract. Grouping reports of services performed under this contract with reports of services performed under other contracts on “one” ESR is prohibited. In addition, each ESR shall, at a minimum, document the following data legibly and in complete detail:

Contractor information:

Name of Contractor Contract Number Name of FSE who performed the services Contractor service ESR number/log number Date and time (starting and ending), software downtime, and hours on-site for service call VA purchase order numbers covering the call Description of problem reported by COR Identification of software to be serviced:

Software license and version number Inventory ID number Manufacturer name Device name, model number, and serial number Any other manufacturer identification numbers Itemized description of service performed:

Labor and travel Software patches Parts (with part numbers) Location of problem/corrective action Total cost to be billed, if applicable (i.e., service rendered after normal hours of coverage)* Signatures:

FSE performing services described Authorized VA employee who witnessed service described *Any additional charges for work performed outside the scope of this contract shall be coordinated with the CO (Contracting Officer) and COR before service is initiated.

Payments All invoices shall be submitted monthly in arrears. Invoices shall be properly prepared in accordance with FAR 52.212-4, shall contain sufficient detail, shall match with the service tickets for the work rendered, and shall match the contracting line-item numbers (CLINs). Invoices shall be sent electronically to the VA Financial Services Center for payment processing via their electronic e-Invoice system. At a minimum, invoices shall include the following details:

Contract number Purchase order number (Correct purchase order number which will be issued by the Contracting Officer after the contract is awarded. Invoices without correct purchase order number shall be rejected and returned to the Contractor.)

Item(s) covered (to include License numbers) Description of the services rendered Billing period in which the services were rendered Invoice number and date Competency and Certification of Personnel Servicing Equipment The Contractor shall provide fully qualified FSEs to perform the software maintenance and repair services required under this contract. “Fully qualified” is defined as having successfully completed OEM training required for the software components identified in Table 2 along with any associated equipment.

The FSEs shall be authorized by the Contractor to perform the maintenance services. All work shall be performed by fully qualified competent FSEs. Upon request, the Contractor shall provide copies of all OEM training certificates for FSEs showing types of software and equipment and dates of training for all software and equipment identified to be covered. When deemed appropriate, the COR reserves the right to prohibit Contractor personnel from working on VAMC software and equipment.

PERFORMANCE STANDARDS

Table 3. Performance Standards Deliverable Reference Paragraph

PERFORMANCE PERIOD

The period of performance (POP) shall be for SAVAHCS:

Base Year: 10/1/2025-9/30/2026 Option Year 1: 10/1/2026-9/30/2027 Option Year 2: 10/1/2027-9/30/2028 Option Year 3: 10/1/2028-9/30/2029 Option Year 4: 10/1/2029-9/30/2030

Normal hours of work are defined as Monday through Friday from 8:00am to 4:30pm, excluding Federal holidays or as otherwise arranged with the COR.

There are eleven (11) Federal holidays set by law (USC Title 5 Section 6103) that VA follows:

Under current definitions, five (5) are set by date:

If any of the above falls on a Saturday, then Friday shall be observed as a holiday. Similarly, if one falls on a Sunday, then Monday shall be observed as a holiday.

The other six (6) are set by a day of the week and month:

PLACE OF PERFORMANCE

Tasks under this PWS shall be performed remotely, when possible. The Contractor shall perform on-site work when required. Work may be performed at remote locations other than the Contractor’s facilities. If a problem requiring service cannot be resolved over the phone or remotely, then an authorized Contractor’s representative shall commence work on-site within the designated time identified and will proceed progressively to rectify the problem without undue delay without any additional cost to the Government with prior approval by the COR.

Table 4. Locations of Performance

Tucson, AZ 85723

REFERENCES

National MOU-ISA – CareFusion, LLC (A Becton Dickinson Subsidiary) (Pyxis, Alaris)

Sources Sought Notice