Q and A to DRAFT RFP 75H1125R00001.pdf

Department of Health and Human Services

Indian Health Service Oklahoma City Area Office

701 Market Dr Oklahoma City, OK 73114

PRE-SOLICITATION

OCAO HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS IDIQ

75H71125R00001 11/06/2024

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS TO DRAFT SOLICITATION

QUESTION 1: Page 91 L.9 Page Limitation - Does the 20-page limit include key personnel resumes and/or appendices? Will the government consider increasing the page count?

RESPONSE: The Government intends to adjust the page count for the volumes. The total page count for all volumes will be 40 pages.

QUESTION 2: Page 93-98 M Evaluation criteria and weighting factors - The government describes Evaluation criteria and Weighting factors will be used to evaluate proposals. Although Criterion are identified, no weighting of the Criterion is provided other than Technical/Management is more important than Past Performance and cost/price.

RESPONSE: The Government will clarify the weighting. The weighting is in order of importance on subfactors with the first listed being the most important and the bottom being least important.

QUESTION 3: Page 10 6.1.1 Clarification of Medical Boards - Acceptable boards have been ABMS and AOA for recently credentialled OKC-Area providers, while NBPAS has not been acceptable. Please clarify if AOA is an acceptable board certification.

RESPONSE: The Government accepts ABMS and its osteopathic equivalents.

QUESTION 4: Page 93 section a. subcontracts - Solicitation reads “The offeror shall provide a list of active locums partners or direct locum staff available with the ratio of in-house to locums” Can you please elaborate the IHS definition of “direct locum staff”, “ratio of in-house to locums” and “locums”. These are very subjective, hence the question.

RESPONSE: The Government will define the following in the final solicitation. “Direct locum staff” and “in-house locums” are defined as staff belonging to the prime contractor. Additional verbiage will reflect as “subcontracted locums” to show which partners and subcontracted staff are provided.

QUESTION 5: Page 93 section b. Key personnel – Solicitation reads two key personnel. Can you confirm the two key personnel are the program manager and a program director?

Indian Health Service Oklahoma City Area Office

701 Market Dr

RESPONSE: The required staff are the program manager and a program director. The inconsistencies will be removed.

QUESTION 6: Page 93 last paragraph on insurance policy - Typically, most of the insurance policies are claims made and a tail is purchased at the end. Lately most insurance providers have not issued occurrence policies. We request IHS to change the requirement to claims-made with capability to purchase a tail at the end.

RESPONSE: The reference will be removed and the Government will add the required liability insurance requirements in Section I, Clauses, FAR 52.237-7 Indemnification and Medical Liability Insurance (Jan 1997). The tentative per occurrence is $1,000,000.

QUESTION 7: Page no 91 – last but one paragraph – Proposal Instructions reads No more than 20 pages per volume. We request IHS to increase the technical management proposal to 25-30 pages as past performance is typically only 3-5 pages. Alternative option is technical management, and past performance shall not exceed 40 pages combined.

RESPONSE: The Government intends to adjust the page count for the volumes. The total page count for all volumes will be 40 pages.

QUESTION 8: Point 6.2.1 reads “The contractor personnel must be able to be credentialed and privileged in accordance with the specific facilities accrediting body (TJC or AAAHC) and the IHS Manual. The credentialing process can take up to 90 days from submission of a complete package” Does any of the hospital sites intend to expedite privileges for hospital-based physician labor categories?

RESPONSE: The Government will take every opportunity to process applications in a timely manner, but the expectation should be up to 90 days from submission of a complete package. This should also be clearly noted that process is distinct from the security clearance process which has its own submission and time requirements.

QUESTION 9: Will there be an Opportunity to ask questions once the final solicitation is released next week?

RESPONSE: There will be a question and answer time frame for the solicitation.

QUESTION 10: The solicitation states, "The contractor shall provide the healthcare provider, a project manager, a program manager, monthly reporting on hiring and funds utilization, insurance, and all other supporting systems to complete the IDIQ." We do not see LCATs on Part I Section B for Project Manager and Program Manager. Can you please add the LCATs for those two positions?

Indian Health Service Oklahoma City Area Office

701 Market Dr

RESPONSE: The program manager and a program director will not have separate labor categories in the pricing schedule as their costs should be included in the rates for the providers.

QUESTION 11: What are the Insurance requirements for this opportunity?

RESPONSE: The Government will add the required liability insurance requirements in Section I, Clauses, FAR 52.237-7 Indemnification and Medical Liability Insurance (Jan 1997). The tentative per occurrence is $1,000,000.

QUESTION 12: Page 9, Section 3.3 Hours states, "While work hours for certain task assignments may vary depending on the requirements of the assigned work, in general, the Contractor’s staff shall provide support during IHS core work hours of 9:00AM to 3:00PM, Monday through Friday (local time) except local or national emergencies, administrative closing, and other IHS or Government directed facility closures. Time worked in excess of 80 hours in a two-week period and hours worked in excess of 12 hours per day shall be approved by the Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) in advanced with pre-written approval." Are the positions full-time equivalent?

RESPONSE: The needs of facility vary and they could be part time or full-time.

QUESTION 13: What is the minimum contract length for a resource?

RESPONSE: There is no minimum length for a resource.

QUESTION 14: Can you please provide the breakdown of the expected number of open positions by resource type and location?

RESPONSE: This is a new requirement.

QUESTION 15: Page 35 Section H.03 d) states, "The Contractor, at its own expense, may train employees assigned to the contract for any reason. Non-reimbursable training of a longer duration than one consecutive workweek must be concurred in writing by the COR no later than two workweeks prior to the start of the training. IHS does expect contract employee coverage in critical work areas during the length of training at no additional expense to IHS." What are the reimbursable and non-reimbursed trainings?

RESPONSE: The Government pays for the time or cost of trainings for onboarding and new requirements past the initial requirements. Non-reimbursable trainings are training the contractor are required to be qualified or remain qualified or training that are not required by the Government.

The intent of the paragraph is that the contractor supplies another resource if the existing resource will be gone for the non-reimbursable trainings.

Indian Health Service Oklahoma City Area Office

701 Market Dr

QUESTION 16: Please provide the incumbent(s) information and their contract number(s).

RESPONSE: This is a new requirement.

If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to myself at 918-342-6424 or Shelton.bruce@ihs.gov