Brand Name Justification - MiPACs redacted.pdf

JUSTIFICATION

FOR AN EXCEPTION TO FAIR OPPORTUNITY

1. Contracting Activity: Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Office of Procurement Acquisition and Logistics

Technology Acquisition Center 23 Christopher Way

Eatontown, NJ 07724

2. Description of Action: The proposed action is for a brand name firm-fixed-price delivery order to be issued under the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Solutions for Enterprise-Wide Procurement (SEWP) V Governmentwide Acquisition Contract (GWAC) for brand name Medicor Imaging Picture and Archival Communication System (MiPACS) Dental maintenance and support.

3. Description of the Supplies or Services: Veterans Health Administration (VHA) has a requirement for a maintenance and support of its deployed brand name MiPACS solution, currently in use within Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN) 10. VISN 10 is responsible for providing health care to Veterans in the states of Indiana, Ohio (OH), and Michigan. The newly integrated VISN 10 is comprised of 10 medical centers and the independent Columbus, OH Ambulatory Care clinic and a network of 63 Community Based Outpatient Clinics. VISN 10 is in the midst of moving from its legacy Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture Electronic Medical Record and moving to an Enterprise Electronic Health Record Modernization (EHRM) solution. This move will require legacy systems to have its existing medical and laboratory devices interfaced and configured to communicate with VA EHRM. The brand name MiPACS solution is currently utilized by VISN 10 sites for dental imaging.

For this action, the Contractor shall provide maintenance and support services of the MiPACS solution at the VISN 10 VA Medical Centers (VAMC). The period of performance of this effort shall be for one base year with four option years. The total estimated price of the proposed action is $296,195.70.

4. Statutory Authority: Pursuant to Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Subpart 16.505(a)(4), the following brand name requirement is being justified and approved as an exception to fair opportunity under the statutory authority of Section 41 U.S.C.

4106(c)(2) as implemented by FAR Subpart 16.505(b)(2)(i)(B), entitled “Only one awardee is capable of providing the supplies or services required at the level of quality required because the supplies or services ordered are unique or highly specialized.”

5. Rationale Supporting Use of Authority Cited Above: Based on market research, as described in Section 8 of this justification, it was determined that only the upgrade of the existing brand name MiPACS Solution and services provided by the Original Software Developer (OSD) would meet all the Governments requirements. Specifically, VISN 10 currently utilizes the MiPACS Solution for its dental image archiving. Under this proposed action, VA intends source a maintenance and support contract for the existing dental software. Additionally, as part of this effort which supports VISN 10, VA requires that vendor perform interface support services so that the existing solution can interface

VISN 10 MiPACS (VA-25-00003644) seamlessly with the VA EHRM. In order to do this, a capable source must have access to the deployed solutions proprietary source code. Only Medicor Imaging or its reseller(s) can provide the required integration services as the required access is limited to the OSD or its authorized reseller(s). Without access to this source code, the software would not be properly configured which would thus render the software inoperable and patient records unable to share with the EHRM. Further, access to this proprietary software code is critical in completing the required software maintenance of the MiPACS solution. This source code is required for troubleshooting, testing, and resolving any software configuration issues. VA required that all repair and maintenance services be performed by a Field Representative with adequate training and certification by the OSD of the MiPACS solution to validate access to this code. Should these services not be procured as proposed, VISN 10 VAMCs would not be able to properly support its MiPACS Solution which could cause a patient safety issue as images would not be able to be transferred to the patients record.

6. Efforts to Obtain Competition: Market research was conducted, details of which are in section 8 of this justification. This effort did not yield any additional sources that can meet the Government’s requirements. However, the undersigned VA technical representative determined that limited competition is available among authorized resellers for brand name MIPACS. In accordance with FAR 16.505(a)(4)(iii)(A)(1), this justification will be provided with the solicitation to all appropriate NASA SEWP V GWAC holders. Furthermore, in accordance with FAR 5.301, 16.505(b)(2)(ii)(D), and 16.505(a)(4)(iii), the award notice for this action will be synopsized on the Contract Opportunities website and this justification will be made publicly available within 14 days of award.

7. Actions to Increase Competition: In order to remove or overcome barriers to competition in future acquisitions for requirements described herein, the Government’s technical experts will continue to conduct market research to learn if there are changes in the marketplace that would enable future actions to be competed.

8. Market Research: The Government’s technical experts continuously conducted market research through May 2024 by researching websites for products comparable to the deployed MiPACS software. Specifically, the Government's technical experts reviewed the software products offerings available from Planmeca (Romexis PACs) and INFINNIT North America. Based on the market research conducted by the Government’s technical experts, it was determined that no other brand of maintenance and support will meet VA’s technical requirements as outlined in section 5 of this justification, only MiPACS or its resellers are able to meet all of the Government’s technical and timeliness requirements. Additionally, the Technology Acquisition Center conducted market research in August 2024 through the use of the Provider Lookup Tool on the NASA SEWP V GWAC web site. The research revealed that there are 44 resellers of the brand name MiPACS maintenance and support including 14 verified Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses (SDVOSB). In conjunction with VA technical experts, the Contract Specialist conducted market research in September of 2024 which consisted of a request for information (RFI) that was posted on the NASA

NEWP V website. One RFI response was received from a SDVOSB and was found technically capable. Additionally, NASA SEWP V has a dynamic catalog where line items can be added based on customer requests; therefore, as long as the required item or service is within scope of the NASA SEWP V contract, items and services can be added to the catalog on a daily basis. Based on the results of the market research, there is reasonable expectation that sufficient competition exists among NASA SEWP V SDVOSBs.

9. Other Facts: None.

10. Technical and Requirements Certification: I certify that the supporting data under my cognizance, which are included in this justification, are accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Jordan Boland Date: ______________________

Program Manager Signature: ___________________

11. Fair and Reasonable Cost Determination: I hereby determine that the anticipated price to the Government for this contract action will be fair and reasonable based on anticipated competition and discounts among NASA SEWP V GWAC holders.

Additionally, NASA SEWP determines that all catalog prices on its GWAC’s are fair and reasonable. Additional price analysis may be performed in accordance with FAR 15.404-1(b).

Debra Clayton Date: ______________________

Procuring Contracting Officer Signature: __________________

12. Procuring Contracting Officer Certification: I certify that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief. This contract action exceeds the simplified acquisition threshold, but does not exceed $750,000, therefore, the certification required by FAR 16.505(b)(2)(ii)(A) serves as the Contracting Officer’s approval.

Debra Clayton Date: ______________________

Procuring Contracting Officer Signature: __________________