DHA_Cognitive Monitoring Tool RFI_HT001527RFI1015.pdf

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION

Defense Health Agency (DHA)

Enterprise Medical Services - Contracting Division (EMS-CD) Cognitive Monitoring Tool

HT001527RFI1015

THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) AND DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A

SOLICITATION. This RFI is solely issued for informational and planning purposes.

Responses are not offers and cannot be accepted by the government to form a binding contract.

The U.S. Government will not pay for any information or administrative costs incurred in responding to this RFI. The Government reserves the right to use the information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate. The Government does not plan to provide feedback or answer questions.

Background: Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and Blast Overpressure (BOP) are severe medical risks prevalent in modern combat environments due to continuous exposure to heavy weapons, blasts, and enemy fire. Undetected mild TBI or cumulative BOP exposure can lead to severe cognitive degradation and catastrophic secondary brain injuries if a Service Member is prematurely returned to combat. Recognizing the severity of these threats to the Joint Force, Congress enacted Section 735 of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year (FY) 2023, Public Law 117-263, mandating the Department of War to implement comprehensive monitoring and mitigation strategies for blast overpressure exposure, known as the Warfighter Brain Health Initiative (WBHI).

Pursuant to this statutory mandate, on August 8, 2024, the Deputy Secretary of Defense issued a memorandum recognizing the "adverse health and cognitive performance impacts" from acute exposures to BOP and directing all currently serving high-risk Active-Duty Service members (ADSMs) to receive baseline cognitive assessments by the end of Fiscal Year 2025.

Historically, the Department procured the incumbent Automated Neuropsychological Assessment Metrics (ANAM) system to conduct routine, pre-deployment and Initial Military Training (IMT) baselines in controlled, clinic-bound garrison environments. Operation Epic Fury, however, generated a fundamentally different and distinct operational need. Because the primary mechanism of injury in this high-intensity theater is continuous concussive force and Blast Overpressure (BOP) from advanced weaponry-rather than exclusively penetrating trauma-the medical requirement shifted immediately from garrison baselining to a more scalable and operationally aligned solution.

The new unique operational reality and the inability of the legacy ANAM architecture to function outside of a controlled clinic immediately generated a critical, life-saving requirement to conduct mass, unsupervised, point-of-injury cognitive screening. This new capability is required to rapidly support the triage of warfighters for undetected mild Traumatic Brain Injury

(mTBI) at the tactical edge-using any available device without medical supervision-before they are subjected to compounding blast exposures.

To meet this need, the Defense Health Agency (DHA) formally established mandatory Minimum Viable Capabilities (MVCs) for the required Cognitive Monitoring Tool (CMT) in a Functional Requirements Document (FRD) on April 8, 2026. The FRD established three critical architectural requirements: "zero-client footprint" (MVC-1), meaning the solution must be entirely device-agnostic, accessible via a web browser, and strictly not download-dependent;

"unsupervised self-administration" (MVC-2), eliminating the need for trained medical proctors;

and "proven enterprise scalability" (MVC-3), requiring documented proof of the platform's ability to support mass, simultaneous assessments (minimum 50,000 sessions) across the deployed force. These specific requirements were deemed strictly necessary because the austere tactical environment cannot support the logistics of deploying specialized hardware, nor can the Government pull frontline medics away from life-saving trauma care to proctor routine cognitive exams.

While ANAM provided an early foundation for cognitive baseline collection, the operational requirements, and technological landscape have advanced significantly. The Department’s sustained research investments, combined with emerging clinical insights and the evolution of neurocognitive and neurobiological assessment capabilities, now support a transition from ANAM to a more modern, scalable, and operationally aligned solution. Accordingly, DoW is initiating a rapid implementation of an improved capability that will replace the use of ANAM as the Department’s cognitive monitoring tool.

Anticipated Implementation Strategy:

Effective immediately, DoW will execute a rapid implementation of the improved capability to replace ANAM for cognitive baselining, periodic monitoring, pre-deployment screening and clinical evaluations, and post-deployment assessment, when indicated. During this implementation, ANAM will continue to be used to meet cognitive monitoring requirements until the improved capability is fielded across the Total Force. Any services or platforms must be compliant with Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), Department of War (DoW) cybersecurity standards, and applicable clinical guidelines.

STATEMENT OF OBJECTIVES

1. Program Objective The Defense Health Agency (DHA), Enterprise Medical Services - Contracting Division (EMS- CD) has a requirement to execute rapid implementation of an improved cognitive monitoring tool that will replace ANAM for cognitive baselining, periodic monitoring, pre-deployment screening and clinical evaluations, and post-deployment assessment, when indicated.

2. Operational Capability Objectives The solution must include the following Minimum Viable Capabilities (MVCs):

• MVC-1: ZERO CLIENT FOOTPRINT: The solution MUST be delivered to end-users via a single, secure web URL accessible from any modern web browser on any device (government or personnel), with no client-side software installation required.

• MVC-2: UNSUPERVISED SELF-ADMINISTRATION: The solution MUST be designed for and proven to support unsupervised, self-administered testing by the Service member, eliminating the need for a trained proctor.

• MVC-3: PROVEN ENTERPRISE SCALABILITY: The solution MUST be a currently fielded, "battle-tested" platform with documented proof of its ability to support enterprise-level user loads (minimum 50,000 simultaneous sessions).

The solution must meet all functional requirements for Full Operational Capability (FOC) described in section 3.2 of the attached Functional Requirements Document (FRD) dated April 2026.

The solution must meet all technical requirements (TR-1 through TR-4) described in section B.2. of this RFI document.

3. Support Capability Objectives

• The solution provider shall provide software support to maintain and update system software.

• The solution provider shall provide initial and periodic user training that aligns with user roles and permissions within the provided solution.

• The solution provider shall provide customer support 24 hours per day, 7 days per week.

4. Cybersecurity Capability Objectives:

The provided solution must meet all applicable requirements outlined in:

• 48 CFR § 252.204-7012, “Safeguarding covered defense information and cyber incident reporting,” December 31, 2019.

• DoD Instruction 8500.01, “Cybersecurity,” March 14, 2014

• DoD Instruction 8510.01, Risk Management Framework for DoD Systems, July 19, 2022

• 48 CFR § 252.239-7010, “Cloud Computing Services”, September 2022.

• DODI 8528.01 “Security of Non-DOD Information systems processing unclassified non public information”, 9 Dec 2019

The provided solution must meet the administrative, technical, and physical safeguards and controls with the security level and services required as outlined in:

• National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Special Publication (SP) 800-145

"The NIST Definition of Cloud Computing"

• Cloud Computing Security Requirements Guide (SRG) found at https://public.cyber.mil/dccs/dccs-documents/

The provided solution must meet compatible security impact level and technology stack requirements suitable for hosting on GSA’s Platform as a Service (PaaS), cloud.gov (https://cloud.gov/ ).

End of Statement of Objectives

PLEASE INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING IN YOUR RESPONSE:

A. Company Information

1. Company name, address, website.

2. Point of contact name, title, email, phone.

3. Business size and socio-economic status under NAICS Code 513210 (Software

Publishers). You may also suggest another NAICS if appropriate.

B. Capabilities Describe your ability to provide a comprehensive cognitive monitoring tool to multiple geographically dispersed, user interfaces.

1. Assessment Catalog: Provide a comprehensive list of the specific proprietary and nonproprietary cognitive, psychological, and neuropsychological assessment instruments your company publishes and/or is authorized to provide on your platform.

a. The minimum specific cognitive domains the Government is seeking assessments for are listed under FOC-2.2 of the attached Functional Requirements Document.

Indicate which assessments your company can provide access to and/or provide the name of an alternative assessment that you believe to be functionally equivalent.

2. Technical Requirements: Describe how your solution meets each Technical

Requirement (TR) described below.

a. TR-1 (Interoperability/API): The solution MUST provide a secure, standardized Application Programming Interface (API) to enable integration and exchange of cognitive assessment data with authorized Department of War (DoW) operational, public health, and clinical systems, including the Military Health System (MHS) Electronic Health Record (EHR) hosted on secure DoW infrastructure.

b. TR-2 (Regulatory, Cybersecurity, and Authorization Compliance): The solution MUST comply with applicable federal healthcare privacy requirements, clinical evidence-based practices applicable to cognitive assessment aids, and DoW cybersecurity and cloud information-assurance requirements. The solution

MUST obtain and maintain a DoW Risk Management Framework (RMF) authorization to operate (ATO), or an equivalent system accreditation decision, as applicable.

c. TR-3 (Cloud Footprint and User Access): The solution MUST be a cloud-native platform accessible through standard web browsers and general-purpose desktop and mobile endpoints, without requiring specialized or proprietary hardware. The solution MUST use responsive design to support appropriate display scaling and functionality across common desktop and mobile screen sizes.

d. TR-4 (Capacity, Data Scalability, Performance, Availability, and Resilience):

i. Concurrent-User Capacity: The solution MUST support at least

[50,000] concurrent active user sessions without material degradation of system performance.

ii. Data Scalability: The solution MUST securely manage cognitive assessment data for approximately 3.5 million individuals, including uniformed personnel, supporting government civilians, and contractors.

iii. Performance: The solution MUST maintain a median system latency of less than 2.0 seconds during active cognitive testing.

iv. Availability and Resilience: The solution MUST employ a redundant, active-active, multi-region cloud architecture that enables seamless transition of users and services to a healthy region in the event of a cloud-region failure. Combined service availability across active regions MUST be at least 99.99 percent.

3. Functional Capabilities:

a. Describe how your solution meets each MVC described in section 3.1 of the attached Functional Requirements Document.

b. Describe how your solution meets each FOC described in section 3.2 of the attached Functional Requirements Document.

4. Version Control and Inventory Transition: Describe how your platform handles the release of new, updated software. If the Government has an inventory of data on the current platform, describe your policy for transitioning, converting, or rolling over that data to the new version.

C. Pricing:

Describe your standard commercial pricing models (e.g., flat enterprise subscriptions, tiered per-user subscriptions, per-test administration fees). Explain how your pricing structure easily accommodates bulk purchasing by a central office for distribution across a large enterprise.

D. Cybersecurity:

1. Describe your approach to complying with the security requirements prescribed in the

DFARS clause 252.204-7012, “Safeguarding Covered Defense Information and Cyber

Incident Reporting”.

2. Describe your approach to complying with the Cybersecurity Maturity Model

Certification (CMMC) requirement as required by DFARS clause 252.204-7021, “Contractor Compliance with the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification Level Requirements”.

3. Describe your approach to adhering with the DoW Risk Management Framework (RMF).

4. Describe your ability to operate in a DoW IL5 cloud environment.

5. Describe your approach to adhering to HIPAA rules.

6. Describe your approach to complying with DODI 8528.01 “Security of Non-DOD

Information systems processing unclassified nonpublic information”, 9 Dec 2019

E. Past Performance Briefly identify your history of performance with large or geographically dispersed organizations, particularly in providing and managing cognitive assessment tools or similar clinical resources. Customer names are not required.

F. Innovations and Recommendations

1. Identify any value-added or innovative approaches (e.g., adaptive testing, automated interpretation, longitudinal outcome tracking) that could improve the timeliness, quality, or clinical utility of cognitive assessments.

2. Identify any concerns, risks, or issues you foresee with executing these services for multiple, geographically dispersed locations within a multi-vendor framework.

Submission Instructions:

1. Submit responses to Contracting Officer joseph.a.preusser.civ@health.mil AND Contract Specialist brianne.c.richardson.civ@health.mil and by 5:00PM CST 29 October 2026

2. Response documents must be in Adobe PDF Format.

3. Subject Line “RFI Response – DHA Cognitive Assessment Tools”.

4. Do not include proprietary, classified, confidential, or sensitive information.

5. Submit a narrative response with a maximum of ten (10) pages, plus assessment catalog.

Attachments:

1. Cognitive Monitoring Tool FRD (April 2026)_[redacted] mailto:joseph.a.preusser.civ@health.mil mailto:brianne.c.richardson.civ@health.mil