Attachment D.3_Secure File Transfer and Electronic Data Interchange.docx

Attachment D.2 Secure File Transfer & Electronic Data Exchange

The Denver Logistics Center (DLC) will manage the procurement of artificial limbs and products used in the fabrication of artificial limbs for the Clinical Orthotics specialty of the National VA Prosthetic & Sensory Aids Service (PSAS)Program. These products include, but are not limited to, artificial limbs, artificial joints, and other products, parts, and materials used in the fabrication of artificial limbs.

The DLC has collaborated with the VA PSAS program to integrate management of these services within the DLC centralized order entry and order fulfillment systems. At inception of the contract, all requests for artificial limbs- upper extremities parts and services are routed to the DLC for authorization and creation of an authorizing purchase order for the services. At inception of the contract, all requests for artificial limb parts and materials are entered by clinical staff using ordering functionality of the DLC Remote Order Entry System (ROES). ROES is a software application that allows clinicians and service providers at VA and DoD medical facilities to order products and services through the DLC.

The DLC will be responsible for processing requests, creating purchase orders for each approved order/request, conveying to the contractor their respective purchase as requests are received, and initiating payment actions to the contractor for orders filled and invoiced appropriately and in a timely manner.

This document and associated documents referenced within describe the specifications for the exchange of commercial transactions between the DLC and the contract supplier of artificial limbs- upper extremities products.

Purchase Orders:

Purchase order(s) is/are generated for each line item/package request. The purchase order establishes legal authorization for the contractor to provide products and/or service to the government. Routine and Priority purchase orders will be sent throughout the day on a real-time transactional basis as they are processed in ROES.

All POs will be exchanged via file transfer (see ‘Method of Exchanging Transactions’ at the end of this document). The file layout and file transfer method will be the same for all PO transactional types (routine/priority). The contractor shall have internal processes to check their secure FTP server for transmissions on a regular basis throughout the day.

Transactional PO (routine/priority) files will be named as follows:

Contractor_Name_”AL”_”PO”_date_time.TXT – spaces in the contractor name will be replaced with underscores.

Date = mmddyy format Time = military time (up to 4 significant digits) Example:

ARTIFICIAL_LIMB_COMPANY_INC_AL_PO_ 092223_04.TX

VA DLC purchase orders are always in the following format:

1 alpha 1 numeric (the fiscal year reduced to one digit, e.g., 2016 reduces to 6) 4 numerics 1 dash 4 numerics For example, S63009-0325

No PII (personally identifiable information) or PHI (personal Health Information) will be included in the purchase order files since only clinic-specific information will be relayed. No patient-specific information will be relayed in the purchase order.

The document referenced below (to be provided separately) lists the data elements as they are included in a PO. Explanations and examples of each data element are included.

Reference document: Artificial Limbs Uppers Purchase Order Record Layout

Purchase Order Acknowledgements:

The contractor shall provide acknowledgement of receipt for all purchase orders as identified by the PO number and item name. This acknowledgement will serve as confirmation to the DLC that the order was received and has entered the contractor’s order fulfillment cycle.

Acknowledgements for transactional routine/priority orders will be returned on a corresponding real-time basis, or on a schedule agreed upon by the contractor and DLC.

Purchase order acknowledgements will be exchanged via file transfer as described in ‘Method of Exchanging Transactions’.

Purchase order acknowledgement files will be named as follows:

Contractor_Name_”AL”_”PO”_”ACK”_date_time.TXT – spaces in the contractor name will be replaced with underscores Date = mmddyy format Time = military time (up to 4 significant digits) Example:

ARTIFICIAL_LIMB_COMPANY_INC_AL_PO_ACK_092623_1005.TXT

The document referenced below lists the data elements as they are included in a purchase order acknowledgement. Explanations and examples of each data element are included.

Reference document: Artificial Limbs Uppers PO Ack Record Layout Purchase Order Cancels - Returns:

Purchase orders may be cancelled and/or items from a PO may be returned. VA sites may elect to cancel POs if order fulfillment cannot be accomplished in a timely manner because items are backordered. VA facilities may return items for up to 60 days from the original PO date if the item is not usable and/or has not been opened or fitted to the patient. The reason for the return will be supplied in this transaction when item(s) flagged for return.

All PO cancel-returns shall be exchanged via file transfer (see ‘Method of Exchanging Transactions’ at the end of this document). The contractor shall have internal processes to check their secure FTP server for transmissions on a regular basis throughout the day.

Purchase order cancel-return files will be named as follows:

Contractor_Name_AL_PO_CR_date_time.TXT – spaces in the contractor name will be replaced with underscores Date = mmddyy format Time = military time (up to 4 significant digits) Example:

ARTIFICIAL_LIMB_COMPANY_INC_AL_PO_CR__093023.1345.TXT

The document referenced below lists the data elements as they are included in a purchase order cancel – return file. Explanations and examples of each data element are included.

Reference document: Artificial Limbs Uppers PO Cancel-Return Record Layout

Return Authorizations:

The contractor shall transmit return authorization numbers for all returned items as identified by the PO number and item name. Return authorization numbers shall be returned within 48 hours of cancel-return transaction receipt. (Return authorization numbers shall not be supplied for cancelled items.)

Return authorizations shall be exchanged via file transfer as described in ‘Method of Exchanging Transactions’.

Return authorization files will be named as follows:

Contractor_Name_AL_RA_date_time.TXT – spaces in the contractor name will be replaced with underscores Date = mmddyy format Time = military time (up to 4 significant digits) Example:

ARTIFICIAL_LIMB_COMPANY_AL_RA_100123_0627.TXT

The document referenced below lists the data elements as they are included in a return authorization file. Explanations and examples of each data element are included.

Referenced document: Artificial Limbs Return Authorization Record Layout

Invoices:

All purchase orders will be invoiced to VA in a batch format; one original invoice file per day will be accepted from the contractor. The batched daily invoice file will include invoices for both routine and priority transactional PO’s. (See also ‘Corrected Invoices’ below.)

Contractors shall create original invoice files that comply with the document referenced below. The file will be placed on the contractor’s secure FTP server by 10 am (Mountain Time) for automatic retrieval by the DLC. If there is nothing to invoice, no file shall be placed on the FTP server that day (do not place an empty or ‘null’ file on the server).

Original Invoice files will be named as follows:

Contractor_Name_”AL”_”INV”_ ”ORIG”_date_time.TXT – spaces in the contractor name will be replaced with underscores Date = mmddyy format Time = military time (up to 4 significant digits) Example:

ARTIFICIAL_LIMB_COMPANY_INC_ AL_ INV_ ORIG_ 092523_1453.TX

The document referenced below (to be provided separately) lists the data elements as they are included in an invoice file. Explanations and examples of each data element are included.

Reference document: Artificial Limbs Uppers Invoice Record Layout

In addition, and following contract award, contractors will receive a set of Invoice Business Rules that dictate which invoice records and data elements are required and how each data element will be edited for acceptance or rejection.

The DLC will electronically process the invoice file and create a file of rejects (see below) for any invoices that cannot be processed. The reject file will be placed on the contractor’s secure FTP server for correction. The DLC will look for corrected invoice files daily (more information below).

The contractor shall provide confirmation when a fulfilled order(s) has/have been shipped from the contractor’s manufacturing or distribution facility to the delivery destination specified in the order. This shipping confirmation is provided in the Invoice by providing the Date of Shipment and the Shipping Tracking Number (“IVS” record in the Invoice Record Layout). The date of shipment shall coincide with the Invoice Date, i.e., date invoice file is generated.

Invoice Rejects:

Invoice records that contain errors will be returned to the contractor’s secure FTP server in a separate file (see ‘Method of Exchanging Transactions’ at the end of this document).

The invoice reject file for original invoice files will be named as follows:

Contractor_Name_”AL” _”REJ” _”ORIG”_date_time.txt – spaces in the contractor name will be replaced by underscores and the date_time in the file name is the same as the date_time on the contractor’s invoice file

Reject files will be designated as original (ORIG) or corrected (COR) Date = mmddyy format Time = military time (up to 4 significant digits) Example:

ARTIFICIAL_LIMB_COMPANY_INC _AL_ REJ_ ORIG _092523_1453.TX

The invoice reject file for corrected invoice files will be named as follows:

Contractor_Name_”AL”_”REJ”_”COR”_date_time.txt – spaces in the contractor name will be replaced by underscores and the date in the file name is the same as the date_time on the contractor’s corrected invoice file.

Example:

ARTIFICIAL_LIMB_COMPANY_INC_AL _ REJ_ COR _092623_1138.TXT

Prior to processing the rejects, the contractor must ensure that the number of rejected invoices in the file corresponds to the invoice count in the header record of the file.

The document referenced below lists the data elements as they are included in an invoice reject file. Explanations and examples of each data element are included.

Reference document: Artificial Limbs Uppers Invoice Reject Record Layout

Corrected Invoices:

The contractor shall create corrected invoices that comply with the document referenced below. Invoices can be corrected depending upon the reject reason/error code returned in the invoice processing. DLC will provide guidance on which rejects can be corrected and the appropriate method for correction. Corrected invoice files shall be separate from the regular invoice files.

The corrected invoice file will be placed on the contractor’s secure FTP server by 10 am (Mountain Time) for automatic retrieval by the DLC. If there is nothing to correct, no file shall be placed on the FTP server that day

Corrected Invoice files will be named as follows:

Contractor_Name_”AL”_ “INV”_ ”COR”_ date_time.TXT – spaces in the contractor name will be replaced with underscores Date = mmddyy format Time = military time (up to 4 significant digits) Example:

ARTIFICIAL_LIMB_COMPANY_INC_AL _ INV_ COR _ 092623_1138.TX

Note: Corrected invoices can be rejected for the same reasons that original invoices are rejected if corrections are not made. Those rejects will be returned in the same manner as original invoice rejects.

The document referenced below (to be provided separately) lists the data elements as they are included in a corrected invoice file. Explanations and examples of each data element are included.

Reference document: Artificial Limbs Uppers Invoice Record Layout

Contracted Item List:

The contractor will submit all their product data to the DLC described in the referenced document below. Contractors are encouraged to submit their data file as soon as possible but no later than (date) to the DLC IRM Division.

· Item names should match the items on the contract exactly, including case.

· Data entered into price fields should not contain commas or dollar signs.

· The word “SHELL” causes problems with Department of Defense computer systems. Please abbreviate “SHELL” to “SHLL”.

· The word “OPEN” causes problems with Department of Defense computer systems. Please abbreviate “OPEN” to “OPN”.

The following characters are not allowed in feature names:

· Semicolon ;

· Double quotation “”

· At sign @

· Ampersand &

· Tilde ~

· Grave accent `

· The maximum number of characters allowed for a segment must be adhered to

· NOTE: Extra spaces before or after words make a difference! Make sure you are entering data into the correct piece of the string.

The document referenced below (to be provided separately) lists the data elements as they are included in the contracted item list. Explanations and examples of each data element are included.

Reference document: Artificial Limbs Uppers Contracted Items List Record Layout

ELECTRONIC DATA INTERCHANGE / SECURE FILE TRANSFER PROTOCAL:

SECURE FILE TRANFER PROTOCAL (SFTP)

1. This EDI requirement must be implemented within six (6) months of the contract effective date. Contractors subjected to this sFTP requirement in previous VA contracts must meet this sFTP requirement within six (6) months of the contract effective date.

1. The DLS reserves the right to consider and suggest alternative EDI methodologies as technology advances and VA capabilities warrant, for example, future X.12 version upgrades, enhanced security methodologies, expanded use of these transaction sets, implementation of additional transaction sets if needed, as well as alternatives to X.12.

1. A Memorandum of Understanding / Interconnection Security Agreement (MOU/ISA) is required to be approved and in place when two or more information technology (IT) systems are requested to exchange/share data and other information resources between the VA and the Contractor. Please see the MOU requirements “Interconnection Security Agreement with MOU” template provided (Attachment D.4) Submitted request is reviewed/approved by VA IT via MOU/ISA and is reviewed annually.

1. Purchase orders, invoices, invoice rejects, and PO acknowledgements are exchanged via file transfer. Due to the content of these files, the method of exchange must meet applicable security requirements (see VA Handbook 6500.6). The files are to be transferred using File Transfer Protocol over secure sockets (FTP/SSL) or secure shell over FTP (SFTP). The contractor shall implement a server configured for FTP/SSL or SFTP using industry-standard 128-bit encryption. This server is the file repository for purchase order, invoice, and invoice reject files. The DLC will deliver purchase order files and invoice reject files to the contractor by placing them on the server. Similarly, upon contractor generation of invoice (original/corrected) and PO acknowledgement files, the DLC will retrieve those files from the server. Once implemented, the server fully qualified domain name (FQDN) is to be provided to the DLC IRM Division. Passwords needed to access the secure FTP site shall also be provided.

B.20.1 CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT PORTAL

The Customer Engagement Portal (CEP) enables designated employees in your company to view purchase order and payment activity. The CEP meets VA’s rigorous security requirements. For all new/update vendor requests, vendors will use this portal to submit VA Form 10091 (Vendor Setup/Update Form) electronically (see attachment D-11 Customer Engagement Portal).

Following is the URL for the CEP: https://www.cep.fsc.va.gov/ .

By enrolling with the CEP the contractor will be able to:

· Access the website 24 hours a day/365 days of the year

· Obtain payment information for paid medical claims or commercial invoices

· Query medical claims for status and reject/denial reasons

· Identify payments that were offset by an unsettled Federal debt

· Request access for up to 100 tax IDs at a time *1 request per tax ID

· Receive systematic approvals for quicker access

· View information on claims processed in VA’s new claim processing system