Attachment 1 - RFI Questions.docx

THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) ONLY (as defined in FAR 15.201(e));

this is not a solicitation. A formal solicitation is not available at this time. This notice does not constitute a commitment by the United States Government and does not obligate the Government to award a contract or pay for the information provided in response. Responders are solely responsible for all expenses associated with responding to this RFI.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR RESPONDING TO THIS RFI

Response Format/Page Limitations:

The overall total page limit for responses to this RFI has no limit; however, the Government recommends a clear and concise response to reduce the number of pages submitted to ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed. Interested parties should limit marketing material in order to allow sufficient space for adequately, directly, and substantively responding with the information of most interest to the Government.

When responding, please also confirm your company’s Socio-Economic Category and Unique Entity Identifier (UEI).

Submission: Responses to this RFI shall be submitted to William Milline and Lesa Duran via email William.Milline@va.gov and Lesa.Duran@va.gov no later than January 8, 2025 at 11:00 pm/ET.

52.215-3 Request for Information or Solicitation for Planning Purposes (Oct 1997)

(a) The Government does not intend to award a contract on the basis of this solicitation or to otherwise pay for the information solicited except as an allowable cost under other contracts as provided in subsection 31.205-18, Independent Research and Development and Bid and Proposal costs, of the Federal Acquisition Regulation.

(b) Although “proposal” and “offeror” are used in this Request for Information, your response will be treated as information only. It shall not be used as a proposal.

(c) This solicitation is issued for the purpose of: Information.

(End of provision)

Request for Information (RFI) Ambient Scribe (AS)

The purpose of this RFI is to seek industry feedback pertaining to the attached draft Performance Work Statement (PWS). Feedback may include but is not limited to: how the PWS could be improved, what obstacles may prevent companies from submitting proposals, company background and experience in the field of artificial intelligence, recommendations on possible solicitation structure, price schedule, rough order of magnitude, and any other considerations the Government should take into account.

Any responding contractor may respond to any number of questions posed in this RFI, and a submission does not mandate a response to each question asked.

Ambient Scribe

Introduction:

The scope of work is to provide a Commercial-Off-the-Shelf (COTS), cloud-based, ambient scribe solution, which utilizes AI techniques and technologies, and a Software as a Service (SaaS) delivery model, to transcribe clinical encounters and generate notes. The tool will integrate with the VA Electronic Health Record (EHR) and workflows such that providers can initiate encounter recording without manual entry of patient identifying information, and draft notes can be automatically inserted into the EHR without copy and paste manual effort.

The system shall run passively on Government equipment during clinical encounters and generate draft clinical documentation following the encounter in near real-time. The system should work in a variety of clinical settings, including those with poor wireless signals and/or poor cellular data, as well as in a variety of room sizes and setups. Providers shall have the opportunity to edit the note prior to signing it in the EHR. The tool shall be integrated with the EHR and workflows such that providers can initiate encounter recording without manual entry of patient identifying information, and draft notes can be automatically inserted into the EHR without copy and paste manual effort. See Attachment 2, Performance Work Statement for more information.

Previous RFI – Clinical Ambient Scribing See document attached for reference purposes only. Additional responses to the previous RFI will not be considered.

Questions to be answered in response to this RFI:

When responding, the following table must be populated.

1. The Government anticipates using a hybrid contract and CLINs, i.e., Firm Fixed Price, Cost Reimbursement, and Labor Hour; however, do you consider this feasible? See Attachment 3 Price Schedule for reference.

a. If yes, why?

b. If not, how would you recommend structuring the Base IDIQ CLINS?

2. What contract type should be used for this effort? Please explain your rationale.

a. Fixed Price

b. Labor Hour

c. Time and Materials

d. Cost Reimbursement

e. Other

3. If the Labor Categories provided in the PWS is not enough or too much, what labor categories do you believe are needed to support this effort?

a. Provide labor categories.

b. Provide estimated hourly rates.

c. If your organization has an existing Federal Supply Schedules, Government-wide acquisition contracts, multi-agency contracts, and any other procurement instruments intended for use by multiple agencies, please provide a copy for VA reference.

4. Based on the PWS and work required, the Government is seeking anticipated costs for an 18-month pilot. Do you have adequate information to provide a rough estimate of costs with your response? If so, the Government respectfully requests your rough estimate for the 18-month pilot.

5. Do you believe the PWS provides enough information to be incorporated into a contract?

a. If not, what should be included to clearly define the PWS?

b. Are the deliverables clearly defined?

i. If not, what recommendations should the Government consider?

6. Does your company have extensive experience supporting AI Use-case, Business Process Engineering, Project Support related to AI Healthcare in large-scale health systems and organizations in the healthcare industry, including the public sector?

a. If so, what is your level of experience in the private and public health sectors in the US and/or internationally? Please explain. NOTE: The Government is only considering healthcare experience at this time.

7. Does your company have the current resources or the ability to obtain the required resources and provide these robust services?

a. Briefly outline how your organization intends to resource, and partner with other companies to meet the PWS requirements.

b. If your organization already meets the requirements of the PWS (either public/private sector), briefly outline how it is currently resourcing and partnering with other companies.

8. Are there any other considerations the Government should be aware of? Please explain

***End of RFI***