FY21 JA SilverCloud FE.pdf

DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS

Office of Procurement, Acquisition and Logistics (OPAL) Strategic Acquisition Center (SAC)

5202 Presidents Ct, Suite 103 Frederick, MD 21703

Justification and Approval for Other than Full and Open Competition

6.302-5 -- Authorized or required by statute

1. Identification of the agency and the contracting activity.

This Justification and Approval (J&A) for Other Than Full and Open Competition is executed by the Strategic Acquisition Center (SAC), on behalf of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), (VHA) Innovators Network (iNET).

2. Nature and/or description of the action being approved.

VHA iNET has a requirement to procure SilverCloud (SaaS) that operates as a way to expend self-management approaches for mental and behavioral health care for Anxiety, Depression, Co-Morbid Anxiety and Depression, increasing resilience, and managing sleep and stress among Veterans. SilverCloud (Small Business) offers individual licenses that provide Veterans with self-guided information to manage common mental and behavioral health symptoms without having to physically visit a VA location.

SilverCloud enables Veterans to access specific “course work” from anywhere to better manage common mental and behavioral health conditions. This program is uniquely qualified to expand services to Veterans who are unable or unwilling to visit a physical VA location, but would like to participate in self -management of their mental and behavioral health care. In order to obtain SilverCloud licenses, there is a $20,000.00 implementation fee and each individual user license costs $1,000.00. The estimated value of this Firm-Fixed Price purchase order is $520,000.00 and the period of performance would be a 12-month base with four 12-month option periods.

3. A description of the supplies or services required to meet the agency’s needs (including the estimated value).

This Sole Source justification is for the acquisition of digital mental and behavioral health services as Software as a Service (SaaS) from a commercial provider of mental and behavioral health platform services and software, SilverCloud. The primary goal of this acquisition is to provide the solution and services necessary to transition access to mental and behavior health skills to an online platform which will result in improvements in access, efficiency, innovation, and potential cost savings in mental and behavioral health care. The mental and behavioral health platform will meet industry performance standards, offer the necessary redundancy and contingency features to meet VA needs, and provide state-of-the-art technology enhancements to improve user experience and minimize gaps in mental and behavioral health care. The contractor shall provide all equipment, labor, personnel, supervision, and all other industry and required resources to deliver the required

Strategic Acquisition Center (SAC) services; an online mental and behavioral health platform to improve access to mental health care services through technology, which reduces face-to-face contact and also the spread of COVID-19. The contractor will also provide the server on which the platform will be accessed, and hosting of the servers will last for the duration of the contract. The work will involve providing access to an existing online platform that can be accessed through a web browser on a personally owned device that is connected to the internet, and no additional software will need to be downloaded.

4. An identification of the statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition.

The statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition is 41 U.S.C.3304(a)(1) as implemented by the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Subpart 6.302-1 entitled, “Only One Responsible Source and No Other Supplies or Services Will

Satisfy Agency Requirements” when there is a reasonable basis to conclude that the agency's minimum needs can only be satisfied by unique supplies or services available from only one source or only one supplier with unique capabilities

5. A demonstration that the proposed contractor’s unique qualifications or the nature of the acquisition requires use of the authority cited.

SilverCloud is the leading digital mental and behavioral health platform that helps organizations improve patient outcomes and reduce costs, with 65% of users demonstrating clinically significant reduction in symptoms of anxiety and depression.

SilverCloud offers a series of programs (SaaS) that provide therapy programs to support Veterans in self-management of care related to depression, anxiety and other common mental and behavioral health concerns. SilverCloud, accessed online, is based in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and delivers evidence-based content to users.

The existing SilverCloud materials were developed and are hosted by SilverCloud.

SilverCloud possesses the original code of the SilverCloud program, and the modifications that will be made for VA application users. The proprietary content, created and owned by SilverCloud, is modular in nature, allowing users to view the content whenever it is convenient to them without assistance from a mental health provider. This represents a departure from traditional models of mental and behavioral health care and expands access to content that will help Veterans manage mental and behavioral health conditions more independently.

6. A description of efforts made to ensure that offers are solicited from as many potential sources as is practicable, including whether a notice was or will be publicized as required by Subpart 5.2 and, if not, which exception under 5.202 applies.

Strategic Acquisition Center (SAC)

Queried the following: Procurement List maintained by the Committee for Purchase From People Who Are Blind or Severely Disabled; Contacted knowledgeable individuals in Government and industry regarding market capabilities to meet requirements;

Participated in interactive, on-line communication among industry, acquisition personnel, and customers; Reviewed catalogs and other generally available product literature published by manufacturers, distributors, and dealers or available on-line or reviewing contractor websites; Vendor Information Page (VIP); GSA e-library; and

Dynamic Small Business Search (DSBS).

Additionally, an internet, search engine-based (i.e. Google) review was conducted.

Comparable products and competitors were searched based on the following term, “mental and behavioral digital health.” Initial research yielded 8 potential digital products, including: Calm, Simple Habit, Headspace, Woebot, Muse, Vida Health, Lark Health, Wysa, Quartet, and AbleTo. Upon further investigation, these products were deemed non-comparable/non-competitors for the following reasons: subscription based

(Calm, Simple Habit), mindfulness only (Calm, Simple Habit, Headspace), messenger delivered content (Woebot, WysA), need specific digital device (Muse), for chronic medical disease (Lark Health), or must connect with companies’ network of therapists (Vida Health, Quartet, AbleTo).

7. A determination by the Contracting Officer that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable.

No award shall be made until the Contracting Officer determines the cost to the Government to be fair and reasonable. This determination will be based on a comparison of current contract pricing, past proposal submissions (if available), other information made available, and an Independent Government Cost Estimate.

8. A description of the market research conducted (see Part 10) and the results or a statement of the reason market research was not conducted.

Based on information obtained from queries into Vendor Information Page (VIP), GSA e-library, Dynamic Small Business Search (DSBS), and Federal Procurement Data System-Next Generation (FPDS), no sources were found to meet the requirement.

Searches were unsuccessful either due to lack of relevant results or relevant, but incapable products. Searched keywords included individual and combined variations of the following: depression, anxiety, sleep, mental health. Results were only filtered by:

NAICS code 511210. The VIP, GSA, and FPDS searches produced no relevant results.

The DSBS search produced three companies with options that offer a related type of treatment for depression, anxiety and sleep treatment via web or app (Prevail Health Solutions, NeuroFlow, and Synergistic Creations). However, they are all treatment platforms that require the involvement of a provider and/or integration into a full online

Strategic Acquisition Center (SAC) healthcare delivery system, rather than stand-alone, self-guided treatment options. As such, and in the interest of veterans’ continuity of care across multiple VA Medical Centers, VHA is considering a sole-source procurement.

9. Any other facts supporting the use of other than full and open competition.

SilverCloud developed and tested the content (e.g., the content is proprietary and solely owned by SilverCloud). SilverCloud also continues to host the program, and they are the sole company that offers licenses to this program.

10. A listing of the sources, if any, that expressed, in writing, an interest in the acquisition.

Name: Silvercloud Health Inc.

Address: 7 Carthay Cir, Newton, MA, 02461-1106

11. A statement of the actions, if any, the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers to competition before any subsequent acquisition for the supplies or services required.

All future requirements will be handled on a case-by-case basis. Toward the expiration of this contract, should this concept solution be proven effective, market research will be conducted in order to determine if there are other capable vendors who can provide the required services and consideration will be given as to whether the future acquisition should be competitive

Strategic Acquisition Center (SAC)

12. Certifications / Signatures.

Technical Representative Certification:

I certify that the foregoing justification is complete and accurate to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Julianna Hogan Date Research Health Science Specialist

Contracting Officer Certification:

Pursuant to (FAR 6.303-2(a)(12)), I certify that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Melissa Maloy Date Contracting Officer Strategic Acquisition Center- Frederick (SAC-F)