36C77619R0003-0003001.pdf

Vendor Questions to Solicitation – RFP_36C77619R0003 (Amendments 1 & 2)

1. Is the subject-line solicitation restricted to SDVOBs that are currently listed in the VIP database? If so, can two SDVOBs team for this effort? Yes, if both SDVOSB’s are listed in the VIP web portal.

2. Amendment 2 Evaluation Plan, pg 2., The "Quote File" description Section a. the Government revised the page limit to 20 pages. The Part c. Table shows the page limit for Tech.doc to be forty (40) pages. We agree that 20 pages is adequate for this requirement. Is it the government's intent to change the limit to 20 pages? Yes, the page limit will be set to 20 pages under the new modification.

Amendment 2 Evaluation Plan, Quote File, Technical Factor, 3) Staffing Plan: Resumes are required with the technical approach staffing plan. These are typically not included with the page count. Can you remove resumes from page count so that we have the flexibility to be as detailed as possible with personnel experience? Yes, the resumes can be removed.

36C77619R0003-0002002 Estimated Quantities: The estimated quantities reflect the historical estimates. We would like to have an accurate idea of the exact current workload for transition purposes. Is the current workload consistent with the historical estimates? We currently receive approximately 1400-1800 identity trait change requests/month, and 300-400 duplicate requests/month.

3. AMENDMENT 2, SECTION A AND SECTION C: IT IS NOTED IN SECTION A THAT THERE IS A 20 PAGE PROPOSAL LIMIT. IT IS NOTED IN THE TABLE IN SECTION C THAT THERE IS A 40 PAGE TECHNICAL PROPOSAL LIMIT. CAN THE GOVERNMENT CLARIFY WHICH IS CORRECT? The page limit will be set to 20 pages under the new modification.

Amendment 2, Volume III requirements, 7): Can the government clarify what the offeror should provide for the Vets 100 Compliance requirement? Verification that the Offeror has completed the VETS 100 with Department of Labor

Amendment 2, Volume III, 10): It is noted that the vendor should “Complete and return the attached S02 – ATTACHMENT 24 VHA BAA Template”. We do not see an attachment with this template. Can the government provide it? Attachment #24 - HCIdM Training Schedule is listed and attached to the solicitation. The BAA Template is listed as Attachment #25 in the published solicitation.

4. The PWS adequately details the scope and requirements of the work to be accomplished and Section 5.5 provides historical workload data. Can the Government provide additional performance information, such as the average per unit resolution time for each of the workload items listed? Identity trait changes and duplicate requests usually require 20 to 45 min to resolve.

36C77619R0003-0002001, Evaluation Plan, under D. Quote Submission, letter a. Format, states that “The maximum page count for the Offeror’s quote shall be 20 pages*.” Under letter c.

Content Requirements, for Volume I the table states “Forty (40) pages”. Does the 20* pages under letter a. refer to Volume I Technical or another file? The page limit will be set to 20 pages under the new modification.

Section 2.0: APPLICABLE DOCUMENTS of 36C77619R0003-002 lists and the government provided as attachments many policy, process and directive documents; however, these documents are five or more years old. Are these the most current version of the documents?

Can the government provide updated versions of these documents? These were the most current versions available.

Section 2.0: APPLICABLE DOCUMENTS of 36C77619R0003-002 lists and the government provided as attachments many policy, process and directive documents; however, several of the referenced directives have expired (such as attachments 4 or 5). Have these directives been updated or superseded? Does the government intend for the vendor to adhere to expired directives? These were the most current versions available and the vendor is expected to adhere to the published directives in the solicitation.

36C77619R0003-002 states that “Tasks under this PWS shall be performed in VA facilities located in the Birmingham, AL, Office of Health Information Field Office and the Tuscaloosa, AL, Office of Health Information Field Office.” Can additional staff be located at contractor sites to allow for more flexible operations? Must all work be provided by staff located at the VA facilities in Birmingham and Tuscaloosa or can the contractor perform the work remotely through a VA secure VPN network? All work shall be performed in VA facilities located in the Birmingham, AL, Office of Health Information Field Office and the Tuscaloosa, AL, Office of Health Information Field Office.

36C77619R0003-002 states that “Coverage shall be provided during the Business hours from 7:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.; Central Time; Monday through Friday.” Are contractor resources required to provide 10.5 hours of services (coverage) between these hours each day, or are these the hours the VA offices are open for contractor resources to perform a typical eight-hour work day? Are there core hours, such as 9am to 4pm, that the government requires or prefers? Contractor resources are expected to work a standard 40 hour week, but those hours should be between 730am-6pm cst. At least 2 staff should be available daily throughout those hours.

5. There are references to positions in Tuscaloosa - is it optional to staff positions in Tuscaloosa? We prefer they be located in Birmingham but may be able to house a few in Tuscaloosa.

Can elements 1 through 10 of volume IV be submitted in one document, or does the government prefer they each be separate? These should be submitted as one (1) document.

6. Will VA consider a one week extension for the due date to April 17th, 2019? Yes, due to unforeseen government delays and amendments required the closing date will be revised to April 17th, 2019.

Will any special consideration be given for businesses that are both SDVOSB and HUBZone? No.

7. What is the identity platform strategy to prevent duplicate record generation on the front end of the VA patient engagement? We have standard processes in place to reduce the number of duplicates generated, and to detect them when they are. This contract is not to change those, but instead to provide resources who can support the manual resolution processes currently in place.

A patient verification solution that binds a patient’s ID via a biometric to the Master Veterans Index? This solution would eliminate duplicate records, provide deduplication services and provides interoperability and standardization at all points of care. We would also leverage your existing Veterans db. that currently has fingerprint and facial images in it already. Not applicable to this effort.

Do you have a patient experience program? Are you interested in improving patient throughput by reducing check-in times? Not applicable to this effort.

With a patient identity verification solution, the current duplicate records and identity trait anomaly resolution and change/verification requests as presented in the Healthcare Identity Management Support bid could be significantly reduced. Can we provide an alternate bid response for this capability? No.

Is the assumption that this repository management contract to be for on-going duplicate record management? This is to provide resources to manually resolve duplicate records and to process ID trait changes.

Understanding that this RFP scope is for an individual VISN, How will this be address from a notional/worldwide perspective? This work is at the National not VISN Level.

Will it be the responsibility of the vendor to analyze the potential duplicates and resolve the merger to the EHR in real-time? Yes. The vendor staff will work these from a pre-established queue while live in the production system.

Will the initial cleanup of the MVI database in its current state include all 42 million records, and if not, how many records are within the scope of this PWS? The vendor will be expected to resolve the number of duplicates specified within the PWS.

Is the initial contract term for the onsite remote Contractors for 5 consecutive years or for 5, 1 year terms that renew each year? This is for one (1) Base Year and four (4) Option Years, at the discretion of the VA.