CBP Medical Services RFI GOV Questions and Responses Updated.xlsx
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This document is a Request for Information (RFI) for Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Medical Services covering pre- and post-employment medical examinations. The RFI seeks market research for recompeting an existing Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract, with services including medical exams, fitness tests, drug testing, and laboratory services across approximately 600 duty stations including 328 ports of entry, 20 border patrol sectors, and 70 locations in 40 countries. Key requirements include utilizing HHS-certified laboratories, providing automated self-scheduling capabilities, offering medical examination appointments at least six days per week between 7:00 am and 7:00 pm, and supporting potential high-volume exam requests that may reach several thousand per day.
The RFI solicits comprehensive capabilities statements from potential contractors, with responses due by 12:00 pm EDT on March 24, 2025. The medical services contract anticipates increasing exam volumes, particularly in southwestern U.S. regions, with specific needs including detailed medical history capture, physician consultations, audiometry testing, and supporting CBP's federal hiring processes. Contractors must demonstrate expertise in forensic law enforcement or military hiring/screening, with key personnel requirements including a Laboratory Director with significant experience. The government emphasizes flexibility in scheduling, comprehensive medical screening, and the ability to support surge requirements in candidate medical evaluations across diverse geographical locations.
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| File | Type | Posted |
|---|---|---|
| RFI_Med Services Recompete -FINAL.pdf | ||
| SOW_Medical_Services - DRAFT.pdf |
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Sheet1
| RFI Section | Page Number | Comment / Question | Government Response |
| File: RFI_Med+Services+Recompete+FINAL.pdf | |||
| Laboratory Requirements (DFWP) | 8 | The RFI states “Must be HHS-certified laboratory” and have “Evidence of a minimum of five years of experience providing day-to-day management of a clinical laboratory and a minimum of three years providing day-to-day management of an HHS- certified laboratory within the last three years of this RFI.” It is our assumption that the laboratory can be part of the offeror’s proposed team and is not required to be owned and operated by the offeror (i.e., the prime contractor). Is this assumption correct? If not, request reconsideration as this would notably constrain the number of viable offerors. | The offeror must only utilize HHS-certified laboratories, which shall be part of the offeror's proposed team. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) notifies Federal agencies of the laboratories and Instrumented Initial Testing Facilities (IITFs) currently certified to meet the standards of the Mandatory Guidelines for Federal Workplace Drug Testing Programs (Mandatory Guidelines) using Urine and the laboratories currently certified to meet the standards of the Mandatory Guidelines using Oral Fluid. This notice is also available on the internet at |
https://www.samhsa.gov/workplace/drug-testing-resources/certified-lab-list.
| Pre-Employment Medical Services | 10 | The RFI states “The volume of requests sent by CBP to the Contractor shall vary widely by day – CBP may send up to several thousand requests in one day, which will need to be completed within the timelines, specified.” The number of resources required to perform several thousand requests compared to a typical volume is significant. Requiring surge performance within the specified timelines increases the necessary staffing level and prices. It is understood that surges will occur; recommend adding the ability to relax the timelines during surges as agreed upon in order to provide more competitive pricing and acceptable performance levels. | CBP and the Contract Program Manager will have daily interactions including current and expected order volumes to provide as much advance notice as possible. Hiring surges are dependent upon Congressional hiring mandates, and may vary year to year. |
| Pre-Employment Medical Services | 10 | It is our assumption that the specified timelines do not apply to overseas exam requests that are not an identified contract location for services. Is this assumption correct? If not, please clarify. | The 60-mile radius requirement does not apply to overseas exam requests; however, the timelines specified throughout the SOW are a requirement of both CONUS and its territorites, and OCONUS exam requests. |
| A. Pre-employment medication exam services | 12-Nov | The table indicates the number of requested medical exams nearly doubled from FY 2023 to FY 2024. Does the government anticipate such surges in the future and are these increases distributed across the U.S. or more heavily concentrated in specific areas? How much lead time is provided in notifying the contractor to prepare for the significant increased need? | The volume of exams is expected to increase in future years. The increase is likely to be nationwide; however the volume is expected to be highest in the southwestern areas of the US. CBP and the Contract Program Manager will have daily interactions including current and expected order volumes to provide as much advance notice as possible. |
| First Page and Section 1 Instructions | 1 and 18 | The RFI states, “Interested Parties are encouraged to provide a comprehensive capabilities statement on how they would provide CBP/HRM with the services noted herein.” It is our understanding that Section 2 of the RFI response (i.e., the answers to the 13 questions on page 18), constitutes a capabilities statement. Please confirm this is correct or clarify if the government is requesting a separate capabilities statement, in addition to the Section 2 response. | Yes, the RFI responses constitutes a capabilities statement. |
| Requested Information | 16 | Please confirm that there are no specific requirements for margins, font, font size, or provide instructions for these items. | There are no specific requirements for margins, fonts etc. |
| Requested Information | 17 | It is our understanding that Table 2 is limited to one page for all three customer references. Please confirm this is correct or clarify if each table/reference can be one page, for a total of three pages. | Yes, each table can be one page for a total of three pages. |
| Requested Information NOTE | 18 | It is our understanding that cover page, tables of contents, and glossary are not included in the page limitations. Please confirm this is correct or provide clarification. | Yes, this is correct. |
| Question 13 | 18 | To improve the accuracy of our response to question 13, where are the 600 duty stations located with respect to the 328 ports of entry, 20 border patrol sectors, and 70 locations in 40 countries; plus any other? | https://www.cbp.gov/about/contact/ports |
At the time of RFP release, the Government intends to provide historical duty station zip codes.
| File: SOW_Medical_Services+-+DRAFT.pdf | |||
| 2.5 and 7.1.2.3 | 9 and 60 | Recommend adjusting the requirement for the contractor to “have the ability to provide automated self-scheduling capabilities to allow candidates to elect date, time, and location for medical examination, fitness test, and drug test appointments.” This capability is not the industry standard, as it is not feasible when administering and managing a private provider network to deliver medical services encompassing all SOW requirements. | This capability is a requirement as outlined in this SOW to facilitate candidate- and employee-friendly scheduling and completion of appointments. |
| 4.1.5.3 | 18 | Please clarify the two timelines for scheduling appointments in the first sentence (within two business days of receipt of the initial FFDE request package) and the last sentence (within 15 business days of written request). | The difference is that the 15 day timeframe is pertinent when the agency is requesting the contractor to provide appointment details on a specific date. |
| 4.2.3.3 | 21 | The section states that the Lead Reviewing Physician Consultant is required to contact the employee via telephone. Are alternate contact methods such as secure text or email also acceptable for contacting the employee in order to ensure a telephonic connection is made? | Yes, alternate contact methods are acceptable. |
| 4.2.1 and 4.3.2 | 22 and 23 | Recommend that cancellations and reschedules be separate from the price of the IME (i.e., separate CLINs) in order to reduce the price of the IME itself due to variations in assumptions by offerors. | The Government will take this suggestion into consideration. |
| 4.2.3.6 and 4.2.1 and 4.2.2 | 22 and 23 | Recommend clarifying the paragraph numbering, as it is not sequential with 4.2.1 and 4.2.2 following 4.2.3.6 and also appearing on pages 19-20. | Typo, will update. |
| 4.6.4 | 29 | Recommend invoicing travel for onsite testing be separate from the price of the drug test(s) as travel expenses vary by location and would inflate test prices. | Agree, this could be a helpful edit. |
| 4.6.4.1 | 29 | The hours of the majority of collections will be between 6:00 am and 7:00 pm local time, which is longer than a standard eight hour work day. Recommend that the price structure support the use of shifts and/or overtime. | Agree, this could be a helpful edit. |
| 6.1.2.3 | 56 | Can boothless audiology equipment be used for audiometry testing? This supports offering more locations for testing as audiology booths are expensive and not always available in all locations to support convenient scheduling. | Dependent upon the standards set forth by American National Standards Institute (ANSI), this may potentially be considered. Further review of the ANSI requirements and standards will be needed. |
| 6.1.2.19 | 58 | The ability to schedule a medical examination and/or fitness test and the drug test for the same appointment date and facility is very constrained based on the existing, available facilities and practices. In addition, the fitness test facility has defined requirements per SOW Section 9.5.2.9.2 as do drug testing locations. Examinee convenience is important and can be addressed in scheduling “combination” appointments. Recommend revision from “same appointment date and facility” to “convenient appointment dates and locations for the examinee.” | Will consider potential revision to include the requirement for same appointment date and facility, as well as convenient appointment dates and locations for the examinee. |
| 7.1.2.2.1.1 | 60 | Recommend having the candidate complete the Medical History questions in an online portal to ensure it is captured and provided to the examiner to avoid the use of hardcopy records or a candidate forgetting to bring it to the exam. | Agree the online completion option would be helpful. The SOW requirement does not constrain method of completion. |
| 7.1.2.7.2 | 62 | The ability to “offer medical examination appointments a minimum of six (6) days per week between the hours of 7:00 am and 7:00 pm in all time zones” is constrained by the realities of the healthcare industry, especially in certain geographies. Recommend revising to offering appointments in the early evening and weekend as available. | The requirement in the SOW is broad enough to capture early evening and weekend appointments within the minimum of six days per week between hours of 7:00am and 7:00pm as available. The requirement does not specify which days during the week need to be included in the minimum of six per week. Early evening and weekend appointments are welcome. |
| 12.1.3.1, 13.7.2.2.1, and 13.7.2.4 | 111, 140, and 141 | Please provide details on the required background investigation (BI), which are to be completed within the 90 business day transition-in period. BIs are currently backlogged up to seven months, in our experience on other programs. If the BIs are not completed in this timeframe, can staff start with the acceptance of the required BI documents? | Performance under this contract is considered sensitive but unclassified and a security clearance is required. |
| 12.4.3, 12.4.5 | 115, 116 | Recommend adding a statement that CBP will accept the contractor’s vulnerability scan reports of contractor IT resources. | Will take this suggestion into consideration. |
| 12.7.5.5 | 118 | The section contains a bulleted list of requirements for the web service including: | Will take this suggestion into consideration. |
| · The web service shall execute requests within one second | |||
| · The web service shall execute against and return current, up to date data in real time | |||
| · The web service shall be available for use at all times, twenty-four (24) hours per day, seven (7) days per week | |||
| Recommend revision of the response time and availability to avoid a costly infrastructure that would increase price. For example, within 10 seconds, near real time, and available with the exception of planned system maintenance windows outside of typical work hours. | |||
| 12.9 | 120 | Clarify if contractor is authorized to perform a self-assessment report or engage with a 3rd party to provide an Independent Verification and Validation report to obtain an Authorization to Operate (ATO). | Contractor is authorized to perform a self-assessment. An ATO is not required. |
| 13.2.4 | 130-131 | It is our assumption that the Laboratory Director can be part of the offeror’s proposed team and is not required to be employed by the offeror (i.e., the prime contractor). Is this assumption correct? If not, request reconsideration as this would notably constrain the number of viable offerors. | Yes, the contractor may have a proposed Laboratory Director to utilize HHS-certified laboratories. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) notifies Federal agencies of the laboratories and Instrumented Initial Testing Facilities (IITFs) currently certified to meet the standards of the Mandatory Guidelines for Federal Workplace Drug Testing Programs (Mandatory Guidelines) using Urine and the laboratories currently certified to meet the standards of the Mandatory Guidelines using Oral Fluid. |
| 13.2 | 133-134 | Recommend revision of the five years of experience demonstrating knowledge of forensic law enforcement and/or military hiring/screening experience and knowledge of the Office of Personnel Management’s policies about federal hiring to a lower number of years of experience to enhance the viable pool of candidates for the position outside of the incumbent. | The Government will take this into consideration, however at this time the Government still feels the five year experience is appropriate for the level of expertise needed for review. |
| 13.3.1.1.2 | 134 | Recommend the addition of other specialties to broaden the pool of qualified physicians. For example, Emergency Medicine, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, and General Medicine. | Agree with this suggestion |
| 13.5.3.1 | 138 | It is our assumption that the laboratory can be part of the offeror’s proposed team and is not required to be owned and operated by the offeror (i.e., the prime contractor). Is this assumption correct? If not, request reconsideration as this would notably constrain the number of viable offerors. | The assumption is correct that the laboratory is not required to be owned and operated by the offeror. |
| 13.10.2.1.8 | 147 | Recommend that legal consultation and testimony be priced as an hourly rate as each case is unique and there can be a wide range of time required. Also recommend that travel, when necessary, is reimbursed separately. | Agree with this suggestion |
| Per question 9., "What type of IT Security measures does your business provide to ensure security of data? Is your business FEDRAMP compliant?" | Question: Please confirm the IT Security requirements will include FEDRAMP high, CMMC-2 and IL-4 certifications? | IT requirements are under review and most likely does not include FEDRAMP high, CMMC-2 or IL-4 certifications. However, an internal IT security review, prior to RFP release, will determine the outcomes if this would be required. |
https://www.cbp.gov/about/contact/portshttps://www.samhsa.gov/workplace/drug-testing-resources/certified-lab-list
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