36C77619R0006-0002001.docx

Health Exchange & Direct Secure Messaging RFP 36C77619R0006 Q&A:

1. Item 3 of the Technical Volume proposal instructions indicates a requirement to submit key personnel resumes. Resumes consume significant page-count volume. We ask the Government to confirm that resumes should be provided as an addendum to the Technical Volume, and will not be included within the 40-page limit?

Answer: Resumes are not included in the 40-page limit.

2. In the Instructions to Offerors, the table of volumes indicates that Volume II is Price and Volume III is Past Performance. But the instructions that follow show Volume II as Past Performance and Volume III as Price. Please clarify.

Answer: Volume II is Past Performance, Volume III is price.

3. Question about 3.0 Scope of Work. “This support includes educating Veterans about VHIE Health Information Exchange, collecting and processing Veteran Consents,…" The question is: What is the expected number of “Veterans Consents” that the contractor will collect?

Answer: Current contract staff supports approximately 5,000 monthly across 18 VISN’s

4. Question about Travel. “The estimated number of trips are 60 to the VMAC or VISN Location.

The question is: Could the Government list the exact 60 locations so we can accurately price travel? Who is expected to travel? Is it more appropriate for the Government to include a travel “plug number” based on historical travel estimates for the program to simplify this cost reimbursable item?

Answer: Travel costs are for contract staff and could be to any VAMC nationwide with a Cost Reimbursable Contract Line Item Number for travel. Travel details must be provided to and approved by the Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) or the Government designee prior to the commencement of travel. All travel shall be billed and reimbursed at Government rates in accordance with the Federal Travel Regulation.

5. Question about 2.0. Applicable Documents.

The question is: Can VA provide the following documents referenced in 2.0 of the PWS now, so they can be used in preparation of the proposal?

1. VAMC VHIE Health Implementation Guide

1. VHIE Health Implementation Task List

1. Exchange Partner Business Survey

1. Exchange business and technical requirements

1. Exchange Partner Milestones

1. Direct work flow map

1. Direct Business Requirements Document

1. VA Medical Centers List Answer: See attached documents.

6. Question regarding an extension. The government stated questions will be answered by June 17th. The current due date is June 20th. This does not allow for time to answer follow on questions and/or to recover changes based on answers.

The question is: Will the government consider pushing the due date of the proposal out a few days to allow companies to ask follow on questions and recover their documents. As small businesses, it is essential to allocate resources as efficiently as possible and providing an extension now would be very much appreciated.

Answer: No, due to time restraints we are unable to provide any extensions for this solicitation.

7. Section C – Contract Clauses, C.4 Supplemental Insurance Requirements, paragraph (d) (page 25 of 85) states, “The successful bidder must present to the Contracting Officer, prior to award, evidence of general liability without any exclusionary clauses for asbestos that would void the general liability coverage.” If evidence is required to be included in proposals, please confirm its location in the volumes.

Answer: Clause was removed in accordance with Amendment 0002.

8. Section E.5 Proposal Submission, paragraph 2 – Proposal Files, (i) – VOLUME I – Technical Factor, subparagraph 2) (RRQ page 56 of 85) states, “At a minimum the contractor must provide a list of all contracts performed within the last (3) years, as it relates to the following areas: Verification and Validation of Personal Identifiable Information (PII).” Please confirm the focus of the corporate expertise section is to demonstrate PII. Will the Government evaluate any other elements of the PWS in addition to PII? If so, what are they?

Answer: The Government will evaluate in accordance with Section E.

9. Section E.5 Proposal Submission, paragraph 2 – Proposal Files, (ii) – VOLUME II – Past Performance Factor, subparagraph, second sentence (page 57 of 85) states, “Areas of relevance: research and advisory services relating to either technology management and/or business management (depending on how the offeror is proposing).” Will the Government please confirm this is the primary evaluation factor?

Answer: Past performance will be evaluated in accordance with Section E.

10. Section E.5 Proposal Submission, paragraph 2 – Proposal Files, (ii) – VOLUME II – Past Performance Factor, paragraph b – Past Performance Content Structure (pages 57 – 59 of 85) outlines 3 sections to include: Section 1 – Contract Description; Section 2 – Performance; and Section 3 – New Corporate Entities. Guidance includes, “Data concerning the prime Offeror shall be provided first, followed by each proposed teammate and/or subcontractor, in alphabetical order.” Will the Government please confirm that presentations (Sections 1, 2 and 3) for each reference should be presented together as opposed to an aggregate presentation of Section 1 material including all references, followed by Section 2 material for each reference and finally, section 3 material?

Answer: Confirmed

11. Section E.5 Proposal Submission, paragraph 2 – Proposal Files, (iii) – VOLUME III – Price Factor (page 59 of 85), first paragraph includes the statement, “The contractor shall explain the estimating processes and methodologies used in estimating the quantities of labor hours required for successful performance.” Are Offerors permitted to present items like “explain the estimating process” in a Word or PDF versus including the information on the Excel file? If so, what should this file be titled?

Answer: Basis of Estimate

12. E.4 states that the VA will be evaluating an additional 6 month option period, however C.3 52.217-9 states the total duration shall not exceed 3 years. We recommend the Government change this provision to read 42 months (36+6).

Answer: Changed to 42 months.

13. We recognize that the Price Schedule deliverable IDs refer to the PWS deliverables. But there are errors between the Price Schedule and the PWS that require remediation, as follows:

· Price schedule refers to PWS 5.2 deliverable D, but in PWS section 5.2 this is identified as deliverable C

· Price schedule refers to a deliverable B for PWS 5.3, but PWS section 5.3 only identifies a single deliverable: A

· Under PWS 5.5, deliverables B and D are out of order in the Price Schedule. In PWS 5.5, Deliverable B is the Health Data Exchange Community Tactical Plans, Deliverable C is the Quarterly “VLER” [should be VHIE] Health Status Report for all 18 VISNs, and Deliverable D is the Weekly VHIE “VLER” [should be VHIE] Health Performance Statistics Report.

· The Price Schedule shows a deliverable B for PWS 5.6, but this deliverable is not called out in the PWS 5.6 deliverables list.

· Price Schedule refers to PWS section 6.3.3 and Deliverable A, but the correct PWS reference is section 6.2.2 and no Deliverable A is called out in the PWS

Answer: Price schedule has been updated and attached to amendment. PWS is used as a guide for deliverables, just because a deliverable is not spelled out under “Deliverables:” does not mean it is not listed in the respected section.

14. Given the pricing instructions, "The Offeror shall state that the Offeror has verified that the proposed rates meet or exceed the wages required under the Service Contract Labor Standards." We recommend checking off the following SCA provisions: 52.222-41. The only SCA provision checked was 52.204-14.

Answer: Provision 52.222-41 has been applied to this solicitation via amendment 0002.

15. Section E.7 stipulates award of a Firm Fixed Price (FFP) contract resulting from this solicitation. The Price Schedule in section B.2 also stipulates fixed Unit Price and Fixed Total Price for each Deliverable CLIN. But the Government fails to indicate the number of Units for each CLIN. Further, the PWS indicates “an average of three (3) new Direct or Exchange partners per month….” Further, many of the deliverable CLINs state that deliverables are due a given number of days “after community is specified,” signifying that the deliverable CLINs have unit variability outside a vendor’s control. This adds further uncertainty to the exact number of deliverable units required to be delivered at a fixed total price, and it makes it impossible to estimate the LOE for a resultant fixed total price.

Thus, a vendor is unable to determine a definitive level of effort (LOE) and a fixed total price. Given the uncertainty of unit quantities for fixed price deliverable CLINs, we recommend that the government modify the B.2 Price Schedule to establish priced CLINs for overall PWS task services that include invoice normalization (equal monthly payments), with deliverables being NSP SLINs. [We note that the predecessor task order utilized this Price Schedule structure.] Answer: All blank spaces on Price Schedule are intended that way and meant to be filled in by offerors.

16. The provided B2. Price Schedule lists the deliverables associated with each PWS task, but it does not provide the government’s desired CLIN structure / billing schedule that would typically be included. The quantity and units are generally provided for the CLIN’s in which the government typically wants to be billed, while specific deliverables are generally Not Specifically Priced (NSP). For example, all deliverables for PWS 5.2 in the base period could be rolled up into CLIN 0002 as one specifically priced item with a quantity of 12 months. This would make billing easier for all parties and is what we typically see on similar government solicitations. Would the government please consider updating the Price Schedule to include CLINs under which the specific PWS deliverables are required, rather than making each deliverable separately priced?

Answer: All blank spaces on Price Schedule are intended that way and meant to be filled in by offerors.

17. The two deliverables listed below were included in Schedule B but are not included in the PWS. Would the Government please clarify if these should have been included in the PWS as a deliverable, and if so, revise the PWS?

1. 5.3 B EXCHANGE AND DIRECT COMMUNITY COMMUNICATIONS

Update VHIE Health SharePoint Due five (5) days after milestone documentation, meetings, and other communications and updated weekly thereafter. Final is due five (5) days prior to end of PoP.

Electronic submission to: VA PM, COR, CO Inspection: destination Acceptance: destination Answer: Deliverable included in PWS

1. 5.6 B Exchange and Direct Analysis:

Health Data Exchange Operations and Security Analysis Report Draft plan is due thirty (30) days after community is specified; Final is due ten (10) days after receipt of Government comments and updated monthly thereafter.

Electronic submission to: VA PM, COR, CO Inspection: destination Acceptance: destination Answer: Deliverable included in PWS

18. PWS Version 2.0, Section 5.1.2 Monthly Program Reporting (page 9 of 37) requires the contractor to include multiple elements in a monthly Contractor’s Progress, Status and Management Report. Would the Government clarify which deliverable within B.2 Price Schedule includes a monthly Contractor’s Progress, Status and Management Report?

Answer: Included in Deliverable (A) Contractor Project Management Plan

19. PWS Version 2.0, Section 5.1.3 Technical Kickoff meeting (page 9 of 37) requires the contractor to hold a technical kickoff meeting. Would the Government clarify which deliverable within B.2 Price Schedule includes the Technical Kickoff Meeting?

Answer: Included in Deliverable (A) Contractor Project Management Plan

20. PWS Version 2.0, Section 5.2 Exchange and Direct Project Management (page 10 of 37), paragraph c) states, “Create and maintain a community profile for each VAMC on VA SharePoint and update Monthly.” Would the Government clarify which deliverable within B.2 Price Schedule includes the requirement to create and maintain a community profile for each VAMC on VA SharePoint and update monthly?

Answer: Included in Deliverable (B) Update VHIE Health Sharepoint

21. PWS Version 2.0, Section 5.4 Health Data Exchange Data includes multiple training related requirements. Would the Government please clarity which deliverable within B.2 Price Schedule includes the requirements to complete training assessments through surveys and one-on-one interview sessions, training via telephone or Skype and summarization of the training activities as an addendum in the Contractor’s Progress, Status and Management Report?

Answer: Included in Deliverable (A) Health Data Exchange Community Milestone Activity Report

22. For deliverable 5.5 D (Weekly VHIE Health Performance Statistics Report), would the Government please provide how many are anticipated per year?

Answer: 52 weeks per year

23. For deliverable 5.5 E (Lessons Learned Report), would the Government please provide how many are anticipated per year?

Answer: Approximately 36 combined Direct and Exchange new implementations each year.

24. For deliverable 5.7 A (Exchange and Direct Production Validation plans), would the Government please provide how many are anticipated per year?

Answer: Approximately 36 combined Direct and Exchange new implementations each year.

25. SF 1449 is required.

26. There is mention of 19 GFEs, does that mean VA expects a total of 19 full time employees as part of the contract?

Answer: Current contract staffing is 19 FTE