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WCMBP OFFEROR QUESTIONS SUBMISSION
| Identifier |
| Question Title |
| Section Number |
| Question Detail |
| Government Comment |
| A unique identifier for the question |
| Identifies the question posed (short title) |
| Identifies the section number of the document in question (identify bulleted or numbered item, as appropriate) |
| Discuss the need for clarification or information regarding the identified document section |
| 1 |
| Clarification for non-production environment (1) |
| Section C, 1.3.3, "Implementation" |
| Requirement R0017 states, "The test environment(s) used for System Integration Test, Performance and Volume Test and Parallel Test shall exactly replicate the production environment." Must non-production environments exactly match the same hardware and configurations for production, or can they be logically the same to satisfy the requirement? |
| For the purposes of system integration, performance, volume, parallel, and acceptance testing, OWCP expects the test environments to exactly replicate the production environment in terms of the hardware and software installation, implementation, and configurations. OWCP recognizes that the test system data will vary from the production system data. |
| 2 |
| Encrypted disks |
| Section C, 1.3.3, "Implementation" |
| Is it a requirement that DOL be on its own set of encrypted disks, or can they share encrypted disks with other federal agencies? |
| There is no mention of “encrypted disks” in Section C, paragraph 1.3.3. Section C.3 of the RFP contains WCMBP Information Security Standards requirements. |
| 3 |
| Clarification of requested project schedule |
| Section C, 2.1.1, "Transition-In" |
| Requirement R0046 asks for a "fully loaded Project Schedule.” Is the DOL expecting this as part of the RFP response or once the award is granted and the Contractor has met with the DOL SMEs to develop all the requirements? |
| OWCP expects the Offeror’s draft project schedule, delivered with the proposal, will include the tasks required to meet all requirements based on the Offeror’s work breakdown structure (WBS). Each task will have an effort estimate and a resource list with availability for each resource. OWCP expects the final project schedule to be fully resource-loaded and delivered to the Government for review and approval 60 days after contract award. The Government will work with the awardee to baseline the project schedule within 60 days after contract award. |
| 4 |
| Clarification of "user-friendly" |
| Section C, 2.1.2, "Requirements Analysis" |
| Requirement R0054 states, "The Contractor shall propose “user friendly” features and characteristics as part of the requirements capture process.” Can the DOL clarify or expand on this requirement? |
| For all parts of the WCMBP system user interface (UI) that OWCP users, web portal users, and call center users access, the controls, inputs, and transitions should be intuitive, clearly labeled and supported by field-level and mouse-over explanations and help. The web portal is also expected to comply with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, as amended |
| 5 |
| Claim file customization |
| Section C, 2.1.3, "Customization" |
| Regarding requirement R0060, Is it the DOL’s expectation that the contractor shall use the DOL existing Claim file layouts/format and translate these as required into the format that the contractors WCMBP systems use and also return these files to the respective DOL entities, in the format that the DOL entities systems can accept? |
| Yes. OWCP expects the Contractor to accept the existing program interface files for both inputs from and outputs to the OWCP programs. |
| 6 |
| File layout requested |
| Section C, 2.1.3, "Customization" |
| Can the DOL provide the file layout for each of the entities from whom we will receive a daily file? |
| These ASCII formatted file layouts will be provided to the awardee as a portion of Government-Furnished Information during the requirements elaboration activities. |
| 7 |
| Proposal of SFTP |
| Section C, 6.3.1, "OWCP Imaging Services," Data Transmission |
| Requirement R0279 states, "Image and index data shall be pulled from the contractor site via a VPN connection using standard File Transfer Protocol (FTP)." Will the DOL accept SFTP (Secured File Transfer Protocol)? |
| No, standard FTP should be used. |
| 8 |
| Clarification for non-production environment (2) |
| Section C, 26.2, "Implementation" |
| Requirment R0850 states, "The Contractor shall provide isolated environments that exactly replicate the Production processing environment and functionality, to be used to develop, test, and train for the changes made to the WCMBP." Must non-production environments exactly replicate the same hardware and configurations for production, or can they be logically the same to satisfy the requirement? |
| Refer to the answer for Question #1. |
| 9 |
| Discrepancies in Conformance Matrix |
| Section J Attachment 4, "Conformance Matrix" |
| Lines are included for L.4.3 (Revised Proposals, lines 229 and 230) and L.4.4 (Protests, lines 231 to 232), but Section L stops at L.4.2. Please clarify. |
| The Conformance Matrix is updated in Amendment 3. |
| 10 |
| Clarify volume |
| Section J Attachment 18 and 18.1 |
| We have questions about volume. Please refer to the document accompanying this template. It includes calculations that could not be expressed in this template. |
| No document was provided. |
| 11 |
| Separate binders |
| Section L, 3.1.4, "Delivery" |
| Doe the DOL require separate binders for each volume? |
| Yes. |
| 12 |
| Clarification of Instructions to Redact |
| Section L, 3.1.4, "Delivery" |
| L.3.1.4 asks for redacted copies that do not include company names, POCs, and/or logos. Could we use black “highlighting” to cover such information and submit PDFs on the CD? This would eliminate the possibility of accidentally removing the opaque marks before printing a redacted file. |
| Yes. |
| 13 |
| Clarification of POC |
| Section L, 3.1.4, "Delivery" |
| What does “POC” refer to? |
| Point of Contact. |
| 14 |
| Confirmation of Volume Names |
| Section L, 3.2, "Proposal Organization" |
| Please confirm the names of Volume 1 and 2. Table 2 under L.3.2 calls them “Proposal” and “Technical Proposal,” respectively, but L.3.2.1 and L.3.2.2 calls them “Technical Proposal” and “Technical Proposal Volume,” respectively. |
| Volume I: Technical |
Volume II: Prior Experience Volume III: Past Performance Volume IV: Price
| 15 |
| Instructions for Section B |
| Section L, 3.2, "Proposal Organization" |
| Table 2 instructs us to complete and return Section B, but we do not see a questionnaire, items to complete, etc. Please clarify what to do with Section B. |
| Section B is included as information only. Please refer to Section J Attachment 1 for the pricing schedule format. |
| 16 |
| Clarification of Item Location Matrix |
| Section L, 3.2.1.6, "Review Item Location Matrix" |
| An Item Location Matrix is requested as part of a revised proposal. Please clarify what we are expected to return at this time. |
| The Item Location Matrix document would be submitted with a revised proposal, not the initial proposal. |
| 17 |
| Award without Discussion |
| Section M.5.1 |
| The RFP states: "If no discussions are warranted or needed in the sole discretion of the Government, the procedures described in Section M.5.2 are skipped and the procedures in Error! Reference source not found, are initiated." Please confirm that the reference for procedures is M.6 - Award Contract. |
| The reference is M.6 – Award Contract –This is updated in Amendment 3. |
| 18 |
| CLIN Structure |
| Section J - Attachment 1 "CLIN Structure" worksheet, Tab 2 |
| Please confirm the "CLIN Structure" worksheet in Attachment 1 is for informational purposes only and cost should not be included in this worksheet. |
| Yes, the “CLIN Structure” worksheet in Attachment 1 is for informational purposes only and cost should not be included in this worksheet. It is the Government's intent that the Excel workbook labled Section J - Attachment 1 be used to submit proposed pricing. |
| 19 |
| Mailroom XXX7 Worksheet |
| Section J - Attachment 1 "Mailroom XXX7" Worksheet, Tab 9 |
| Table 1 in Section B.2 of the RFP identifies the CLIN groups 001-006 and does not include 007. Please clarify whether the "Mailroom XXX7" worksheet in Attachment 1 is a duplicate of "Mailroom XXX5" or if the government intended to include an additional CLIN. |
| Mailroom xxx7 is a duplicate. DOL corrected Section J Attachment 1 in Amendment 3. |
| 20 |
| Section J |
| Operational Volumes |
| Could the government please provide a breakdown of the operational volumes by medical versus pharmacy in the following categories: Bills Processed, Bills Returned, Call Center Calls, Call Center Minutes, and Authorizations Processed? |
| This information was added to Section J - Attachment 18.2 in Amendment 3. |
| 21 |
| Section C, 4.4.1 |
| Program Manager |
| The RFP states: "During the Implementation phase, the Operations Manager is responsible for managing (planning, directing, monitoring and correcting) the personnel and activities supporting overall WCMBP design, development, and implementation. The Operations Manager interfaces with the Government PM and COR. The Operations Manager has authority to hire and terminate employees and make operational decisions that have financial impact." In the Description of Duties section, the RFP makes reference to the Operations Manager. Please confirm that the referenced position title should be Program Manager. |
| Yes, the referenced position title should be Program Manager. This is updated in Amendment 3. |
| 22 |
| Section 1.3.2 - Requirement R0003 |
| Historical Audit Numbers & Mandated Audit |
| "The Contractor shall participate in audits (including adhoc audits) performed by DOL and its independent auditors, which may include IT security, financial statements and FISCAM, among others." Could DOL provide some historical data on the number of audits that are performed annually, as well as any recurring audits that we would be expected to support? |
| An annual SSAE-16 audit is conducted in the spring. In addition there are occasional FISMA audit requests normally less than once per year. These audits are separate from the security requirements for annual self-assessments. |
| 23 |
| Section C, 4.4.3 |
| Deputy Program Manager |
| In the Description of Duties, the RFP references the "Implementation Manager." Please confirm that the referenced position title should be Deputy Program Manager. |
| Yes, the referenced position title should be Deputy Program Manager. Amendment 3 includes the corrected PWS section. |
| 24 |
| Section C, 4.4.4 |
| Technical Manager |
| Under Description of Duties, the RFP references the Technical Operations Manager, who is to assist the Operations Manager. Please confirm that all references to Technical Operations Manager should be Technical Manager, and all references to Operations Manager should be Program Manager. |
| Yes, all references to Technical Operations Manager should be Technical Manager, and all references to Operations Manager should be Program Manager. Amendment 3 includes the corrected PWS section. |
| 25 |
| Section C, 1.3.3, R0021 |
| Deliverables |
| The requirement states: "The Contractor shall develop and maintain all documentation for each functional and operational area, and provide the most current versions of that documentation to the Government." Please provide a list of documentation required outside of the formal deliverables defined in Section F. |
| Documents/reports developed as a result of the Contractor’s proposed Fraud and Abuse program/approach will be required and have been added to this table in Amendment 3. |
| 26 |
| Section C, 1.3.4, R1009 |
| Number of Templates |
| The requirement states: The Contractor shall generate all external correspondence based on the Government-approved templates for all OWCP programs." How many government approved templates exist currently? |
| There are currently 102 government-approved letter templates. |
| 27 |
| Section C, 1.3.5, R1130 |
| Size of Existing Data |
| The RFP states: "Existing data, provided by the incumbent (with Government oversight), shall be converted by the Contractor and migrated to the test environment before this end-to-end test period begins." Please provide the size information for the data to be converted per the following: |
1. What is the total size of the 7 years of bill information that is online?
2. What is the total size of all data for life?
3. What are the total number of images and the size of image database?
1. Total size of online bill data is approximately 150GB
2. Total size of bill data and image data is approximately 6.5 PB (petabytes) 3.Total number of images is approximately 171 million
| 28 |
| Section C, 2.1.5, R0116 |
| Phone Line Transition |
| The requirement states: "The Contractor shall coordinate transitions from existing to new phone line services when required." Please confirm if the transition is referring to the Call Center phone numbers? Are there any other phone lines as part of this contract that need to be transitioned? |
| Transition refers to all toll free numbers that can be transitioned. All current telephone numbers are listed in Section C.27.3 Table 3. |
| 29 |
| Section C, 2.1.5, R0116 |
| Responsibility of Brochure |
| The RFP states: "The Contractor shall coordinate the development and dissemination of Government-approved informational brochures to all affected parties prior to transition." Who is responsible for developing and disseminating the informational brochure? If the Contractor, is the dissemination expected by mail and other means? |
| The programs develop the transition information and the contractor is responsible for disseminating these materials via mail. |
| 30 |
| Section C, Requirement R0068 |
| Provider Re-enrollment |
| The RFP states: "The Contractor shall develop, submit, for Government approval and maintain comprehensive Provider and Claimant Outreach Plans that detail plans to educate providers and claimants about the transition to new WCMBP services, re-enrollment processes, and ongoing WCMBP operations." Please detail the provider re-enrollment requirement. Do all the providers need to re-enroll as part of this transition to the new system. If not, which providers need to re-enroll, when, and how many? |
| OWCP does not require a blanket provider re-enrollment with operational implementation of the awardee's system. Provider re-enrollment is addressed in Section 15 of the PWS. |
| 31 |
| Section B.2.3, Service Enhancements |
| Service Enhancements Pool |
| The RFP states: "Service Enhancements: A pool of 12,000 hours per operational year to cover enhancements requested by the Government. The total pool of enhancement hours will be prorated based on the number of months of operations during years of mixed implementation and operation." For contract years where less than 12,000 hours has been used for service enhancements, will the remaining balance roll forward to the next year? |
| The Government intends that any unused hours from the pool of 12,000 per operational year shall roll forward to the next operational year. |
| 32 |
| L.3.2.7.3 - Subcontracting Goals |
| Subcontracting Goals - Second Tier Subcontractors |
| May second tier subcontractors (e.g., subcontractors to subcontractors) count toward the Prime Offeror's small business subcontracting goal? |
| Yes, as long as the prime contractor ensures it is reflected in the ESRS reports. |
| 33 |
| L.3.2.7.3 - Subcontracting Goals |
| Subcontracting Goals |
| The RFP states: "The contractor shall decide how much opportunity will be available for subcontractors, then apply the percentile against the subcontracting opportunity." As a graduate of the 8a program, we understand the value of small business subcontracting goals. The way the requirement reads, it would allow contractors to not subcontract any dollars to small businesses by self-performing all of the work. Will the government consider revising the subcontracting goal to focus on total dollars subcontracted rather than mandating a percentage of dollars subcontracted to small business? |
| No. The Small Business Administration mandates subcontracting requirements for all Federal Agencies. The Department of Labor establishes its subcontracting goals to ensure meeting the SBA’s requirements. Please be advised that the contractor selects the amount of subcontracting opportunity available. |
| 34 |
| F.2 - Periods of Performance |
| Option Periods |
| The RFP states: "The Government anticipates this contract to be effective for a 12-month period from the date of contract award, with the Government's unilateral right to exercise up to six (6) option periods. Award Terms 1 and 2 are based on contract performance during Option Periods 1 through 4." Will the Government please identify the criteria for the execution of the option periods? |
| Consistent with the applicable FAR provisions, the Government will exercise the options listed in the contract if it is in the best interest of the Government to do so. |
The Government will determine whether to award the final performance periods - Award Terms 1 and 2 - based on the award term plan in Section H.
| 35 |
| Section C, 1.3.3, R1005 |
| Bill Data for Migration |
| a) How many years of bill history data is available for migration? |
b) Is the Government aware of any data layout changes in the system over the years since CBP has been in production?
a) Approximately 11 years of bill history data
b) Yes. There have been some layout changes in various files over the years since CBP has been in production. The government does not maintain statistical data on the exact numbers and types of data layout changes over the years. Approved changes to data files have been applied to the whole database at the time of approval.
| 36 |
| Section C, 1.3.3, R1013 |
| Audio Data |
| Are we expected to convert audio data ? |
| Yes, if the audio data is convertible. Please see updated R1013 in Amendment 3. |
| 37 |
| Section C, 1.3.4, R 1010 |
| Legacy Images |
| a) What's the current format of images to be converted? If the image format is proprietary, will the incumbent provide converted images in industry standard format as part of their transition out? If not, how does the Government anticipate having these images converted? |
b) Are all images in the system indexed and tied to claim number?
a. Tagged Image File Format (TIFF) Group IV format at 200 x 200 dots per inch (DPI)/pixels per inch (PPI) which is an open standard.
b. Yes
| 38 |
| Section C, 2, R1130 |
| End-to-End |
| The requirement refers to an end-to-end test period. Please confirm that this is also referred to previously in R1125 as the System Integration Test period. |
| Yes, R1130 refers to the System Integration Test period. |
| 39 |
| Section C, 2.1.2, R0058 |
| RTM |
| The requirement states "The Contractor shall develop and submit a requirements traceability matrix (RTM), as part of its requirements specification that includes all Government-approved requirements," and goes on to say that the RTM contains traceability to test cases and is also used to develop test cases. Please confirm our understanding that initial RTM delivery at time of requirements specification deliverable will not include test cases until such time that they are created as part of the test process per R0058 bullet #4. |
| Yes. The Government agrees that the RTM may be updated in alignment with system implementation tasks, however acceptance and approval of the RTM will not occur until it is complete. The Government expects to review the template with the Contractor and then provide reviews as interim updates are made available. |
| 40 |
| Section C, 2.1.4, R0070 |
| Testing |
| Please clarify that "integration" test methods listed refers to testing performed in the previously mentioned "System Integration" test period per R1125. |
| Yes. This requirement includes both Implementation and Operations phases, so the reference to R1125 is correct as far as Implementation is concerned. During the Operations phase, system changes will also require integration testing, depending upon the scope, prior to migration to the Production system. |
| 41 |
| Section C, 2.1.4, R0086 |
| Volume and Performance |
| Please define volume test and performance test. Is volume to refer to testing of production level volumes of bills (load, process, payment) and performance test the verification that the screen response times of the system under load (some # of users performing activities to support proposed volumes) is acceptable? |
| Volume and performance tests focus on “how much” load the system can handle. Volume tests collect performance-related metrics for variety of loads and major activities that a system is expected to encounter in Operations. |
Volume testing is used to analyze performance (response time under different loads; resource utilization) and scalability (throughput) of the system.
Volume and Performance testing is used to determine the CBP system’s behavior under both normal and anticipated peak load conditions, as well as to measure the response time of transactions and verify that performance requirements are met for the load conditions.
| 42 |
| Section C, 8 - Bill Scan/Data Entry |
| Historical Index Data |
| What format is the historical index data for the images coming from the outgoing contractor? |
| Refer to the answer to Question 37. |
| 43 |
| Section C, 27 - Communications; Section J, Attachment 18.1 |
| IVR Call Volume |
| Do the Call Center Calls identified in 18.1 include IVR calls, and if so, what is the volume of IVR calls? |
| This information is provided in Section J Attachment 18.3 of RFP Amendment 3. |
| 44 |
| Section C, 27 - Communications; Section J, Attachment 18.1 |
| IVR Call Volume Detail |
| Please provide the IVR Average Handle Time or the IVR call volume and minutes. |
| Refer to the response to question 43. |
| 45 |
| Section C, 2 - Project Planning and Control |
| FTE Count |
| Please provide an FTE count by project phase and sub phase of OWCP personnel who will be available to the contractor for the purposes of requirements validation, design reviews, testing, and operations readiness. |
| Government subject matter experts will be provided depending upon the implementation task and awardee’s project management plan, particularly the Government-approved project schedule. There will be at least one SME from each program and three members of the OWCP Project Management Office available for most tasks. |
| 46 |
| Section C, 2, Requirement R1130 |
| File Formats |
| To properly plan the tools and environments, it is necessary to know the possible file formats and structure of the converted data. Please describe the file formats that will be provided for existing data. |
| Existing data will be transferred in ASCII file format, or other standard text format. |
| 47 |
| Section C, 2, Requirement R1027 |
| List of Deliverable Templates |
| Requirement R1027 states that required deliverables are listed in Section F and that templates provided by the government are identified in Section J. Section J has a list of attachments that are part of the RFP. None of the documents listed in Section J correspond directly to Section F. |
Please confirm and provide a list of the deliverable templates that will be provided by the Government.
This information has been updated in Section J Attachment 28 in Amendment 3. This attachment lists the deliverable templates that will be provided to the awardee as GFI.
| 48 |
| Section C, 2, Requirement R0053 |
| User Friendly Definition |
| Please confirm that the reference to "user friendly features and characteristics" is about the system functionality and intended to convey a web-based solution. |
| This reference concerns user interfaces, which may be web-based depending on the Offeror’s technical solution. |
| 49 |
| Section C, 2, Requirement R0053 |
| Requirements Analysis |
| Our understanding is that the RFP and the RSDs provide the complete set of functional and non-functional requirements to be met by the system. Does OWCP anticipate an additional period of time to identify additional requirements or to derive / decompose the current requirements? |
Please clarify the statement "as a baseline for developing detailed WCMBP requirements" in requirement # R0052.
The RFP sections list the high level functional and non-functional requirements to be met by the system, with the highest concentration of these requirements in Section C, Performance Work Statement (PWS). Section F, Deliveries and Performance also contains functional and non-functional requirements. The RSD’s attached to the RFP are clearly marked as “DRAFT” and “Legacy Version” and are not complete or specific to the Contractor’s system solution. The Contractor is expected to revise and update the RSDs with fully elaborated and detailed requirements as part of a well-organized requirements capture process, following award.
The Government intends these DRAFT RSDs as templates for the Contractor’s completed RSDs.
| 50 |
| Section F |
| Bi-Monthly Definition |
| Clarification of the term Bi-Monthly. It typically means one every two months, however, it can also be interpreted as twice per month. Please confirm Bi-Monthly is defined as one every two months |
| In terms of the “bi-monthly functional demo”, OWCP defines this to be every two months. |
| 51 |
| Section C, 2, Requirement R0191 |
| Certification Tests |
| Please provide additional information regarding certification tests. |
| The contractor is responsible for development of these tests, with OWCP review and approval. |
| 52 |
| Section C, 2, Requirement R0192 |
| Staff Requiring Certification Tests |
| The requirement states that the contractor shall "ensure that all specified staff has successfully completed all required certification tests prior to being assigned to the WCMBP." Please identify the staff members that will be required to undergo certification tests. |
| Call center agents, resolution/adjustment staff, mailroom staff performing adjustment processing are examples of staff requiring certification tests. |
| 53 |
| Section C, 2, Requirement R0193 |
| Monitoring Administration of Certification Tests |
| Contractor staff may be located at various locations within the United States. The requirement for the Government to monitor the administration of the certification tests may have operational impacts since personnel may not assume a job position until the tests are administered. |
Will the Government consider revising or removing requirement R0193 due to the potential impact on operations?
R0193 has been updated in Amendment 3. The government does not intend to physically monitor the administration of all certification tests.
| 54 |
| Section C, 4.4.4 TECHNICAL MANAGER |
| Clarification of Title for Technical Manager |
| Please confirm that the Technical Operations Manager discussed in the description of duties for the Technical Manager (Implementation) is supposed to be the Technical Manager (Implementation). |
| Yes, all references to Technical Operations Manager should be Technical Manager. This has been corrected in Amendment 3. |
| 55 |
| Section C, 4.4 |
| Clarification of Key Personnel Titles |
| Please review and confirm the description of duties for each position is accurate. For a number of positions, the name of the position being described is not the same as the title of that section. |
| This has been corrected in Amendment 3. |
| 56 |
| Section C, 1.3.3 |
| HIPAA |
| Is the expectation that the new system will be HIPAA compliant? |
| Yes, the Contractor’s system shall be HIPAA compliant. |
| 57 |
| Section 8, 1.1.7 |
| Adjustment |
| How many adjustment request forms are received per year? |
| For 2013, the number of adjustment forms received in the central mailroom was: DFEC 132,298 ; DEEOIC 12,748 ; DCMWC 234 |
| 58 |
| Section 8, 7.7 |
| Carrier Form |
| How many NALC Carrier forms are received per year? |
| The Government does not have statistics specific to NALC Carrier forms. The volume of NALC Carrier forms received per year are included in the HCFA 1500 document count volumes listed in Section J Attachment 18.2. |
| 59 |
| Section C, Requirement R0437 |
| Distinction between Probable and Possible Duplicate Edits |
| The current requirement reads as follows: "The Contractor shall research and propose for government review and approval a methodology for distinguishing differences in “duplicates” and implement Government-approved disposition processing for these “duplicates”. The duplicate check shall be performed across Bill Types for each Program. Duplicate checking shall accommodate distinctions between exact, probable, and possible duplicates. Upon receiving government approval of the proposal, the Contractor shall incorporate the changes into the appropriate RSDs and FSDs and submit for government review and approval." |
What is the criteria used to make the distinction between probable and possible duplicates?
OWCP regards “probable” and “possible” duplicates to be the same—i.e. “probable-possible”. The Contractor is expected to research and propose the criteria and approach for making this distinction, as stated in the requirement. The requirement has been updated in Amendment 3.
| 60 |
| Section C, Requirement R0538; Section 15, Business Rule B1-15-BR009 |
| Category of Service Mapping |
| For the NPI Transition Plan preparedness in Section 15 "1) The Contractor will obtain Taxonomy information from providers as part of the enrollment process, and will use this information for future analysis in conjunction with Category of Service processing." |
Is the current system using a taxonomy to COS mapping or a proprietary provider type(s) to COS mapping? Who is responsible for maintaining the procedure/service code to Category of Service mapping?
The current system uses OWCP provider types to COS mapping. OWCP maintains this mapping.
| 61 |
| Section C.1.3.4/R1100 |
| Division of Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation support |
| There are multiple references in the PWS to providing support to the DLHWC at the request of OWCP. Please clarify that at the time of the request, OWCP and the vendor will engage in contract change discussions to incorporate the additional programmatic support and requirements. |
| The government has decided to incorporate DLHWC bill processing as part of the implementation effort rather than via CSR. All references to providing DLHWC support at the request of the government have been updated to require the contractor to provide DLHWC support at Go-Live. |
| 62 |
| Section C.2.1.4/R0104 - R0108 |
| Training Requirements |
| R0104 - R0108 outline training requirements during implementation. However, given that these requirements fall under the Comprehensive Testing Program, it is not clear if they are related solely to preparing Government and Contractor staff to support testing or are more broadly related to training staff to prepare for operations in addition to supporting testing. For example, please clarify the scope of the referenced Training Plan in R0104. |
| The training requirements are related to training Government and Contractor staff to prepare for operations in addition to testing. |
| 63 |
| Section C; Section L |
| Delivery Services |
| Based on the instructions provided in Section L, in conjunction with the Performance Work Statement of Section C, it is clear that the Technical Narrative requires a discussion about the solution capability and architecture. It is also clear that the Management Narrative requires a description of the key staff and management methodology. But what is not clear is where the Government expects offerors to address the approach to providing operations support services. Will the Government provide more detailed guidance? |
| The proposed approach to providing operations support services should be included in the Technical Narrative. |
| 64 |
| Section L.3.1 |
| Questions |
| Will the Government consider providing additional time to submit questions? Though the draft PWS, along with many of the RFP documents were released, there are subtle changes which are not identified and require a thorough review to make sure they are all captured. Additionally, sections L and M were not released, and they also have had a significant impact on the response structure around which additional questions may arise. |
| Yes. The Government will provide an additional round of questions. Sections L and M were published with the RFP on 1/14/14 and have been updated for Amendment 3. |
| 65 |
| Section L.3.1 |
| Follow-on Questions |
| Will the Government consider a second round of questions to address any issues resulting from the answers the Government provides to the first round? |
| See response to question 64. |
| 66 |
| Section L.3.2.3.1 |
| Technical Narrative |
| Please confirm that the Government is not expecting a requirement-by-requirement response to Section C, Performance Work Statement. Rather, the Government is expecting responses to address requirements as rolled up in a comprehensive yet concise narrative response. |
| The Government wishes the Offeror to provide a succinct narrative demonstrating understanding of and describing their approach to satisfying the requirements, while specifically addressing the topics of particular interest to the Government, as identified in section L.3.2.3.1 and L.3.2.4.1. The Government will be verifying that between the Technical and Management narratives, all Technical and Management requirements have been addressed. The RFP sections list the high level functional and non-functional requirements to be met by the system, with the highest concentration of these requirements in Section C, Performance Work Statement (PWS). Section F, Deliveries and Performance also contains requirements to be met by the system. It is up to the Offeror’s discretion as to which requirements to address in which narrative where a specific instruction is not provided in Section L. |
| 67 |
| Section L.3.1.3, Media |
| Media Label |
| The RFP provides specific instructions for identifying or labelling the media. One of the identifiers is the "classification label." Will the Government please define what that terms means? |
| Please label in accordance with the offeror’s data rights ie, source selection information only, proprietary data. The classification level of Offeror proposals is For Official Use Only. |
| 68 |
| L.3.2.1.2 |
| Submission of Word Files |
| The table provided in section L.3.2.1.2 shows .doc files. Will the Government accept searchable pdf files? By so doing, the redaction process will be more secure. |
If Word/Excel files are required, will 2007/2010 be acceptable or is 97/2003 required?
Searchable .pdf files as well as Word/Excel 2007/2010 files are acceptable.
| 69 |
| Section L.3.2.1.4 |
| Past Performance |
| Is a past performance reference required for every line in the Proposal Compliance Matrix response? Is N/A an acceptable response? |
| The Offeror should complete the form with accurate information—if information doesn’t exist for a particular line, N/A is acceptable. |
| 70 |
| L.3.2.1.6 |
| Review Item Location Matrix |
| The RFP states: "The Offeror shall prepare the “Review Item Location Matrix”, when submitting a revised proposal, using the 'Review Item Location Matrix Template' in Section J." In the third paragraph, however, the RFP states: "The Offeror shall submit the completed Review Item Location Matrix as part of the Proposal Volume (see Table 2)." Please confirm that this document is to be submitted if there are proposal revisions. |
| The Review Item Location Matrix should be submitted with revised proposals not initial proposals. |
| 71 |
| L.3.2.3.1, Technical Narrative; L.3.2.4.1, Management Narrative |
| Proposal Response |
| The RFP states: "The Offeror shall organize the Technical Narrative by the subsections of Section C; addressing all requirements in a way that communicates the Offeror’s understanding of the requirements and approach in satisfying the requirements." Additionally, for the Management Narrative, the RFP states "The Offeror shall organize the Management Narrative by the subsections of Section C; addressing all requirements in a way that communicates the Offeror’s . . . understanding of the requirements and approach in satisfying the requirements." Is the Government expecting Offerors to address every PWS section in both the management and technical narratives? If not, could you please identify which PWS elements you are expecting to see in which narrative piece? If not, given that the PWS is more than 300 pages, would you please consider increasing the page count for the combined narratives to 300 pages? |
| The Government wishes the Offeror to provide a succinct narrative demonstrating understanding of and describing their approach to satisfying the requirements, while specifically addressing the topics of particular interest to the Government, as identified in section L.3.2.3.1 and L.3.2.4.1. The Government will be verifying that between the Technical and Management narratives, all requirements have been addressed. The RFP sections list the high level functional and non-functional requirements to be met by the system, with the highest concentration of these requirements in Section C, Performance Work Statement (PWS). Section F, Deliveries and Performance also contains functional and non-functional requirements. It is up to the Offeror’s discretion as to which requirements to address in which narrative where a specific instruction is not provided in Section L. OWCP cannot expand the size of the combined narratives beyond the current 180 pages and complete the proposal evaluation effort within a reasonable time. |
| 72 |
| Section C, Requirement R0970 |
| Social Security Number |
| Based on a number of requirements in which the SSN has been removed, did the Government intend for it to be addressed in Requirement R0970? |
| Yes, the requirement stands. |
| 73 |
| L.3.1.4 |
| Redacted Copies |
| The RFP states: "The Offeror shall deliver one (1) complete original and three (3) redacted electronic media copies. Additionally, the Offeror shall deliver one (1) original and ten (10) redacted hard copies of its proposal by courier, hand delivery, or priority mail." Please confirm that, as with the electronic media copies, the original hard copy should be complete and not redacted. |
| The original hard copy and the original electronic copy shall be complete and not redacted. Please review section L for the most current information. |
| 74 |
| L.3.1.3; L.3.1.4 |
| Redacted Copies - Identification |
| The RFP states that "Offeror shall include the following information on each submission: Offeror's name." In section L.3.1.4, however, the RFP states: "Redacted, for th purpose of this solicitation, means company names, POCs, and/or logos or any other information that can be traced to the identity of the company." Is the Government excluding identifiers on the boxes, packaging, media labels, and binder covers? Is the redacted information only for what is on the media or in the binders versus the outside labels? |
| Redacted, for the purpose of this solicitation, means company names, POCs, and/or logos or any other information that can be traced to the identity of the company. This includes media labels, binder covers and labels. Company names, logos, POCs and/or logos may be placed on shipping/mailing boxes and packaging materials. |
| 75 |
| L.3.1.2.7 |
| Text Size |
| Will the Government consider allowing graphics to have a text size of 8 point font? This is still legible and will enable offerors to present the level of detail required of this complex a proposal. |
| This is acceptable. This change is included in Amendment 3. |
| 76 |
| Section C, 9 - Bill Processing |
| Print Mail Volume |
| Please provide the volume of print mail to be sent from the contractor, by type of mailing, including, 1099s, RVs/EFTs, RTPs/RTCs/RTDs, or other types of mailings to be generated and mailed. |
| Section J Attachment 18.6 in Amendment 3 shows historical total volumes for 1099 forms from 2009-2012. Section J Attachment 18.4 in Amendment 3 shows 2013 monthly RTP volumes by reasons by program. |
| 77 |
| L.3.2.7.1 - Schedule of Supplies or Services and Prices/Costs |
| Labor Mix |
| The RFP states: "The offeror shall include a labor mix for every CLIN. This information is required for informational purposes only. The offerors price proposal shall include a detailed pricing table, with the labor hours by skilled category that will be applied to the completion of the PWS tasks. The Offeror shall submit price build-up information for each CLIN in the price build-up tab of Attachment 1, associated with that CLIN. The Offeror shall use the predefined fields and formulas in the price build-up tab for each CLIN. The Offeror shall verify that all submitted prices link properly to all CLIN grand totals and the Summary tab." |
The RFP requests offerors to include a labor mix for every CLIN along with labor hours by skilled category. In which B table are offerors to provide this information?
See Section J Attachment 1
| 78 |
| B.2.6 - Transition-Out |
| Transition-Out Duration |
| The RFP states: "This CLIN group reports the price of activities for Transition-Out during the transfer of operations to a subsquent contractor." Will the government please confirm the duration offerors should price for the transition-out CLIN? |
| Section C.2.2.2 notes that Transition-Out activities are expected to last 24 months. |
| 79 |
| Section J - Attachment 1 |
| Option Year 1 - Primary Cost Components |
| The primary cost components in the option year 1 table are authorizations, bill processing and other primary cost components. Our understanding is that the primary cost components in option year 1 should be the same as the base year - transition-in activities, implementation activities and other primary cost components. Please confirm our understanding and, if confirmed, please provide updated pricing tables. |
| Yes, Correct. DOL updated Section J Attachment 1 in Amendment 3. |
| 80 |
| Information to claimants & providers |
| 1.3.3 Implementation |
| Re: R0025: What information has been submitted to claimants and providers via messaging and email previously? Can examples be provided and frequency of requests via messaging and email be provided. Assumes secure email solution is required? |
| This requirement is new to this procurement so no data exists. The requirement details will have to be resolved by the Contractor during the requirements phase of implementation. |
| 81 |
| Existing data to be provided by incumbent for testing |
| Section 2: Project Planning & Control |
| Please elaborate on what quantities/types of test data, if any, will be available for testing the various areas of the system: |
a) Image Processing (existing images, paper, etc), b) EDI, c) Edits / Rules / Treatment Suites, d) IVR, e) Etc.
We are asking if you can elaborate on what test data is available and when. For example, the requirement says that awardee will migrate existing data to a test environment. What state is that data in? Are there original images for bills that came in or just the data that has been and transformed?
The Contractor is expected to identify all required test data to meet all test requirements. The Government will work with the Contractor to determine availability of test data.
Hard copies of original bills received within the last 59 days, bill history data, image data, eligibility data, provider data, etc. will be available for testing. Data may be provided in ASCII, TIFF, or other standard file formats as required.
| 82 |
| Comprehensive Testing Program Requirements |
| Section 2: Project Planning & Control [2.1.4 (Comprehensive Testing Program)] |
| For requirements R0073, R0092, R0865, R0866, R0867 that refer to separate systems for testing and training, is it expected that a single test system can accommodate internal contactor system tests as well as Government testing and training via coordinated time periods of dedicated use or does the Government expect that the frequency and duration of their acceptance testing/training activities would drive the need for additional test systems. If the latter, can the Government specify the number of separate systems that are expected in addition to the internal contractor test system and the production system. |
| It will depend on the vendor’s proposed schedule for training and testing to determine if a separate Government Acceptance Test environment is required, or if another test environment can serve a dual purpose. The Government expects the Acceptance Test environment to be dedicated to the Acceptance Test effort while it is underway. |
| 83 |
| Information Security Standards |
| Section 3: Information Security Standards : 3.2.1 |
| Re: 0147: Will the DoL allow HomeWorkers for OCR Correction / KFI indexing functions or do all resources need to work at a physical production processing center? |
| No. All resources need to work at a physical production processing center. |
| 84 |
| Staffing and PMP credential |
| Section 4: Staffing |
| Re: R0215, R0216, R1033, R1034, R1035, R1036, R0223, R1037: Does this requirement for PMP really apply to the key personnel sections listed or should this only be applicable to certain key personnel roles e.g. Operations and Deputy Ops Manager? Please advise if experience and qualifications may be substituted. |
| DOL revised these requirements to permit management positions to obtain the PMP certification within one (1) year of contract award in Amendment 3. Experience and qualifications may not be substituted for PMP certification. |
| 85 |
| Position requirements for implmentation Phase |
| Section 4 Staffing: 4.4 Key Position Requirements for Implementation Phase |
| Re: R0025: What information has been submitted to claimants and providers via messaging and email previously? Can examples be provided and frequency of requests via messaging and email be provided. Assumes secure email solution is required? |
| This question was addressed in the response to Question 80. |
| 86 |
| Imaging Services |
| Section 6: Document Imaging: 6.3.1 DFEC Imaging Services |
| Re: R0252: What is the method used for "electronically forwarding" being referenced? |
| The Offeror is free to propose their own technical solution—typically this is a reference to messaging via workflow. R1092 may be a helpful reference. |
| 87 |
| Imaging Services |
| Section 6: Document Imaging : 6.3.1 |
| Re: R0291: Does the storage facility need to be NARA compliant? |
| Yes, the storage facility will need to comply with NARA standards in CFR 36 CFR 1234.10 – 1234.14. Requirements R0142 and R0291 have been revised in Section C for Amendment 3. |
| 88 |
| Imaging Services |
| Section 6: Document Imaging: Operations |
| Re: R0255: Do you have an estimated volume of unscannable material for DFEC? |
| The Government does not maintain statistics on unscannable materials. If unscannable materials are received in the mailroom, they are forwarded to the appropriate program district office. |
| 89 |
| Estimated Volumes for checks and W9's |
| Section 6: Document Imaging: Operations |
| Re: 1107: Do you have an estimated volume of paper checks & W9's received? |
| Approximately 12,500 paper checks were received in 2013. W9’s are specific to provider enrollment, one (1) W9 per provider enrollment. In 2013, approximately 30,000 provider enrollments were received—hence 30,000 W9s were received. |
| 90 |
| Estimated Volumes for EN-20 forms |
| Section 6: Document Imaging: Operations |
| Re: R1110: Do you have an estimated volume of EN-20 forms and non-scannable items? |
| The Government estimates thirty (30) EN-20’s (per year) would erroneously be sent through Central Mail to be out-sorted to the respective DEEOIC District Office. |
| 91 |
| Estimated Volumes |
| Section 6: Document Imaging: Operations |
| Re: R1112: Do you have volumes for the items listed in this requirement? |
| The Government does not maintain statistics specific to this requirement, Because these items are supposed to be sent directly to the District Offices, volumes for DCMWC central mailroom outsorts are expected to be very small. |
| 92 |
| Estimated time for case look up |
| Section 6: Document Imaging: Operations |
| Re: R0266: What is the estimated time to look up a case? |
| The Government doesn’t collect data on the time to look up a case number. The answer to this question depends upon the Contractor’s solution and the overall performance requirements listed by the Government in the PWS. |
| 93 |
| Estimated volume returned claimant bills |
| Section 7: Claimant Bill Development: 7.2 Implementation |
| Re: R0298: What is estimated volume or % of returned claimant submitted bills? |
| Volumes for claimant submitted bills are included in the overall RTP Volumes in Section J Attachment 18.4 in Amendment 3 - 2013 monthly RTP volumes by reasons by program. |
| 94 |
| Clarification of Re: 0330 |
| Section 8: Bill Scan/Data Entry |
| Re: 0330: states "skipped" Was this intentional? |
Draft stated "The Contractor shall transmit DEEOIC and DCMWC attachment images via a workflow to the Government and also make images of DEEOIC and DCMWC bills and associated attachments available to validated users."
Offeror is using an obsolete version of the Section C -- PWS. This requirement is actually R0329 in the PWS published with RFP DOL141RP21903.
| 95 |
| Original Hardcopy submission |
| Section 8: Bill Scan/Data Entry : Implementation, Operations & Maintenance |
| Does the DoL require 'original' hard copy submissions be returned or are copies acceptable? |
| A legible copy from the image of the bill is acceptable except for returns of claimant-submitted “original” bills and attachments as required in R0298. |
| 96 |
| Frequency of edits, audits etc. |
| Section 13: Edits & Audits |
| In order to estimate ongoing maintenance, how frequently does the Government expect updates to government provided Edits, Audits, and any other configuration items? Can you describe an average degree of change? 10% 20% etc. |
| Edits and Audits are continually being evaluated and changes to small numbers of these processing rules may be expected daily. Twice yearly changes to CPT and HCPCS codes would affect more edits/audits than daily tweaks. Total annual edits and audits changes are estimated to affect less than 10% of the population. |
| 97 |
| Prescription rate structure |
| Section 19: Pharmacy |
| What prescription rate structure is the DEEOIC, DCMWC, and the DFEC paying under current program for point of sale transactions? electronic submissions? paper bill prescriptions? |
| All pharmacy bill submissions are currently priced using AWP fee schedule pricing data from Medispan (R0705). NDCs formulary data are provided by First Databank.. |
| 98 |
| Call Center Operations |
| Section 27: Communications: Call Center |
| How many days per year is the call center operational? |
| Requirement R0719 lists the operational hours for the Pharmacy Call Center. Requirement R0895 lists the operational hours for the Medical Bill Process Call Center. |
| 99 |
| Call Center Payment information |
| Section 27: Communications: Call Center |
| Does the call center providing information to callers regarding the status of a payment once the payment has been submitted to treasury for payment? If so, what data will we get back from Treasury? |
| The call center can notify callers that a request for payment has been sent to the Treasury. The call center will not receive any data directly from Treasury |
| 100 |
| Call types |
| Section 27: Communications: Call Center |
| Are the calls from the three identified constituencies 1) Claimants, 2) Providers and 3) Agencies substantially different? |
a. Is a different skill set required to address each of these calls?
b. Are their substantial differences in call length depending on the source?
c. What variability (if any) exists across the different programs 1) Federal Employees, 2) Energy and 3) Mine for theses…
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