Initial PIIA PWS.docx

Contract Number

B.3 PERFORMANCE WORK STATEMENT (PWS)

1. TITLE

VA’s Payment Oversight Program (POP) Support Services

2. INTRODUCTION

VA’s goal is to reduce improper and unknown payments by intensifying efforts to eliminate payment errors and identify potential Fraud, Waste, and Abuse, while continuing to ensure that it meets mission requirements and serves our nation’s Veterans as promised. VA is committed to reducing improper payments and increasing compliance with improper payments legislation as part of its Payment Oversight Program (POP). On March 2, 2020, the Payment Integrity Information Act of 2019 (PIIA) [Public Law 116-117], was signed into law, replacing and repealing prior legislation. The purpose of this legislation is to improve efforts to identify and reduce Government-wide improper payments. PIIA requires federal agencies to review and identify programs and activities that may be susceptible to significant improper payments (IP) and unknown payments (UP). Payments are considered improper if they should not have been made or were made in an incorrect amount under statutory, contractual, administrative, or other legally applicable requirements.

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-123, Appendix C provides guidance to agencies on implementing improper payments legislation and once revised will incorporate changes introduced in PIIA. OMB Circular A-136, Financial Reporting Requirements, which is updated and issued annually, also provides additional reporting guidance that VA must be responsive to. Generally, agencies are required to annually report improper payments information (to include payment errors where the agency is unable to discern whether payment was proper or improper as a result of insufficient of lack of documentation), conduct program specific risk assessments if required, publish improper payment estimates if required, publish corrective action plans, and publish reduction targets for high-risk programs. Additionally, agencies are required to demonstrate improvements and develop a plan to meet reduction targets and report an improper payment rate of less than 10 percent for each program reporting improper payments. VA reports PIIA activity results, corrective actions and reduction targets in the Agency Financial Report and on paymentaccuracy.gov through OMB data calls each fiscal year. VA OIG audits VA’s reported information to conduct an annual review to determine whether VA complied with PIIA requirements.

VA is comprised of three Administrations and a Central Office function. A brief description of the four components follows: (Communication Plans will be provided to the Contractor with Points of Contacts (POCs) to initiate communication with all levels of the VA from field staff to senior management.)

Contract Number

Staff Offices

The VA Central Office is comprised of eight “programs” for improper payment activities that serve as the managerial, policy, and administrative hub for VA activities. VACO Staff Office payments totaling approximately $12 billion annually are included in roughly 6 programs with VA also establishing payroll and travel as VA-wide programs for PIIA purposes. The Office of Management (OM) serves as the lead for the VA’s POP via the Improper Payments Remediation and Oversight (IPRO), Office of Finance (OF), ensuring a consistent, enterprise approach to the POP. IPRO leads VA’s activities by providing guidance and oversight to implement, monitor, and report on VA’s progress in reducing improper payments. This is accomplished through a variety of actions to include leading strategic improvement working groups, facilitating leadership awareness, consolidating all reporting for OMB, OIG, the Government Accountability Office (GAO), and Congress, representing VA in government-wide discussions and workgroups on improper payments, facilitating risk assessments, and reviewing sampling plans, testing plans, testing results, and corrective action plans.

Veterans Health Administration

The Veterans Health Administration’s (VHA) mission is to honor America’s Veterans by providing exceptional health care that improves their health and well-being. With 170 VA Medical Centers (VAMCs) nationwide, VHA manages one of the largest health care systems in the United States.

VAMCs, aligned within Veterans Integrated Service Networks (VISN), work together to provide health care to Veterans in their geographic areas. VHA currently has approximately 45 programs reporting under PIIA totaling $84 billion in outlays.

Veterans Benefits Administration The Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) manages four district offices and 56 regional offices to ensure necessary benefits and services are administered to service members, Veterans, their families, and survivors. VBA currently has approximately 47 programs reporting under PIIA totaling $249 billion in outlays.

National Cemetery Administration

The National Cemetery Administration (NCA) manages five Memorial Service Networks and 156 National Cemeteries in 42 states and Puerto Rico, as well as 35 soldiers’ lots and monuments. NCA provides Veterans and their families with the final resting places in national shrines and with lasting tributes that commemorate their service and sacrifice to our Nation. NCA currently has approximately 7 programs reporting under PIIA totaling $409 million in outlays.

3. PURPOSE

The purpose of this requirement is to support VA’s efforts to complete activities, including reporting, required by payment integrity legislation and applicable OMB Circulars. This acquisition will provide Payment Oversight Program support services to OM, VHA, and VBA. It is anticipated that services may extend to NCA during the performance period.

4. PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE

The period of performance for this effort shall be a 12-month base period with four, 12- month option periods, as follows:

June 1, 2027 - May 31, 2028 June 1, 2028 - May 31, 2029 June 1, 2029 - May 31, 2030 June 1, 2030 - May 31, 2031

Option Period One:

Option Period Two:

Option Period Three:

Option Period Four:

Option periods will be exercised at the discretion of the Government and upon availability of funding.

5. CHANGES TO THE PWS

Any changes to this PWS shall be authorized and approved only through written correspondence from the Contracting Officer. Costs incurred by the Contractor through the actions of parties other than the Contracting Officer shall be borne by the Contractor.

6. PLACE OF PERFORMANCE

It is anticipated that the majority of the work under this PWS shall be performed at Contractor facilities. The Contractor shall identify the Contractor’s place of performance in its proposal.

Contractors participating in meetings remotely are expected to be visible on camera whenever possible.

Temporary Duty (TDY) to a Government facility within the effort does not change the place of performance to the Government Site.

Services shall be performed during normal duty hours from 0830 hours through 1700 hours, Monday through Friday.

Federal law (5 U.S.C. 6103) establishes the public holidays for Federal employees. The list of holidays can be viewed by clicking the link below. Please note that most Federal employees work on a Monday through Friday schedule. For these employees, when a holiday falls on a non-workday -- Saturday or Sunday -- the holiday usually is observed on Monday (if the holiday falls on Sunday) or Friday (if the holiday falls on Saturday).

Visit http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/snow-dismissal-procedures/federal-holidays/ to see holidays for a specific year.

7. TRAVEL

The Government does not anticipate extensive travel under this effort to attend program-related meetings. Occasional travel within the United States may be necessary to accomplish contract tasks on an as- needed basis. Contractor travel will be in accordance with FAR 31.205-46, Travel costs. For purposes of calculating travel reimbursement, the Contractor shall use its provided facility as the duty station.

Local travel expenses will not be reimbursed. Non-local travel will require a 10-business day written authorization from the Contractor which will be sent to the Contracting Officer, a courtesy copy will be sent to the Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR). Authorized per approved expenses for travel will be reimbursed based on actual expenses incurred up to the limits authorized by the current General Services Administration’s (GSA) per diem rates published on the GSA website. Each Contractor invoice shall include copies of all receipts that support the travel costs claimed in the invoice. The Contractor is only entitled to actual cost spent while on travel that falls within the parameters as set forth within FAR 31.205-46.

Local travel within a 50-mile radius from the Contractor’s facility, assigned Government facility, or other approved location is considered the cost of doing business and will not be reimbursed. This includes travel, subsistence, and associated labor charges for travel time. Travel performed for personal convenience and daily travel to and from work at the Contractor’s facility will not be reimbursed. Travel, subsistence, and associated labor charges for travel time for travel beyond a 50- mile radius of the Contractor’s facility may be authorized on a case-by-case basis and must be pre- approved by the COR. General and Administrative for travel expenses is prohibited and will not be approved.

8. SPECIFIC TASKS AND DELIVERABLES

The Contractor shall perform the following:

All deliverables shall be written in the active voice, direct style and at the twelfth-grade comprehension level, as measured by the Flesch-Kincaid readability index and in uniformity with the Department of Veterans Affairs Executive Secretariat Style Guide. VA will provide templates in MS Excel and MS Word formats when appropriate for the Contractor’s use upon award of the task order. The Contractor shall upload and maintain all formal and informal notes, drafts, and final versions of all planning, fieldwork, and reporting documentation into VA designated locations only. All tasks and deliverables in the contract should be completed as early in the period of performance as possible, unless otherwise stated. This will allow VA programs as much time as possible to develop and begin implementing corrective actions within the fiscal year that errors are being reported in improper payment projections. The Contractor shall submit all FINAL deliverables by the date specified for each Contract Line Item Number (CLIN) by the Government. The Government may also request preliminary deliverables and drafts before the contractual CLIN deliverable dates to ensure content is accurate, relevant, and timely. Interim deliverable dates will be provided by the Government and accepted within the Contractor Project Management Plan (CPMP). The deliverable process shall include a DRAFT version and FINAL version. Deliverables shall be reviewed by a technical writer before submission as DRAFT and shall be free of grammatical, typographical, and formatting errors 95% of the time. The FINAL shall be free of grammatical, typographical, and formatting errors. The DRAFT will NOT be Section 508 compliance tested but the FINAL version WILL be Section 508 compliance tested. The FINAL shall be submitted by the articulated contractual deliverable date. The Contractor should be prepared to provide briefings, explanations, and/or respond to questions from VA (to include the OIG) on any deliverables provided to VA, this will not be billed as separate deliverable but considered an expectation for any deliverables submitted.

Task 1: Perform Project Management, Firm Fixed Price (FFP) Based on historical data, VA estimates work under this task will require 0.25 full time equivalent (FTE) personnel in the Project Manager and Subject Matter Expert labor categories throughout each period of performance. This historical data is provided for estimation purposes only. Most of the activities performed are related to project management to ensure VA accomplishes all required activities within timelines provided annually.

Subtask 1.1: Contractor Project Management Plan The Contractor shall deliver a CPMP within 10 calendar days after the technical kickoff meeting that lays out the Contractor’s approach, timeline, and tools used in execution of the contract. Key topics that shall be included in the CPMP are staffing plan, key tasks and sub-tasks, interim deliverables, final deliverables, and key milestones with an associated time-phased schedule. The Contractor shall conduct separate bi-weekly status meetings with VHA and VBA. Updates shall address at a minimum the following:

1. Provide a summary of work completed against each of the PWS tasks identified in sections herein to include a current status of sample testing per program and phase.

2. Provide a summary of the work planned for the subsequent reporting period.

3. Notify the VA Project Manager (PM) to address and resolve deviations from the CPMP and coordinate appropriate remediation.

4. Identify interim deliverable due dates as approved by the Government.

5. Identify risks and issues and describe the mitigation approach.

6. Staffing plan by PWS section to include staff for all Optional Work described herein.

7. Report scheduled start date, end date, percent complete, previous reporting period percent complete, required changes to date, information highlighted and accepted by the Government, and clarifying comments for CPMP milestones supporting the tasks identified in sections herein.

8. Provide a summary of the status of deliverables to include initial delivery date and clarifying comments. The CPMP will also include the CLIN number, unit price, qty, total price of the CLIN, date submitted, dates edits were received, resubmitted, accepted, and invoiced.

9. Monitor performance against the CPMP milestone dates and report any deviations. The Contractor shall keep in communication with VA accordingly so that issues that arise are transparent to both parties to prevent escalation of outstanding issues.

OM provides oversight over the entire contract, therefore for OM only, the contractor shall conduct a separate bi-weekly status meeting providing updates on all contract deliverables to include VHA and VBA’s deliverables. Support will include updates required above (1-9) as described and the following:

1. Provide a summary of the current status and work completed against each of the PWS tasks for OM, VHA, and VBA identified in sections herein to include:

a. VHA Program Identification Template

b. Evaluation of accuracy of responses and completion of Risk Assessments

c. Initial and Final Sampling Plans

d. Test Plans

e. Sample testing per program and phase

f. Testing Results

g. Annual Projections

h. End of Year Improper Payment Reporting

The Government will provide comments within 10 calendar days after the CPMP submission. The Contractor shall make adjustments based on the Government’s comments and submit the final CPMP within five (5) calendar days after receiving the Government’s comments.

The Contractor shall update and maintain the VA PM approved CPMP throughout the period of performance and submit deliverable monthly for invoicing. The Contractor shall provide formal CPMP updates as part of the monthly status reports for each month no later than the close of business (5:00 PM Central Time) on the fifth day of the next month. The format shall be determined by the government. Additional interim deliverable dates for tasks and sub-tasks may be provided by the Government and subject to change by the Government and accepted within the CPMP. Bi-weekly status meeting shall be scheduled at the convenience of the Government to ensure deliverables are on schedule with established interim and articulated contractual deliverable date.

Deliverable 1.1a: Contractor Project Management Plan for VHA and VBA Deliverable 1.1b: Contractor Project Management Plan for OM

Subtask 1.2: Kickoff Meeting

The Contractor shall hold a kickoff meeting within 10 calendar days after award (virtual meeting is acceptable). The Contractor shall present, for review and approval by the Government, the details of the intended approach, work plan, and project schedule to complete all tasks defined in this PWS. The Contractor shall provide a meeting agenda at least five days prior to the meeting and meeting minutes shall be provided to all attendees within three days after conclusion of the meeting. The Contractor shall invite the Contracting Officer, Contract Specialist, COR, and any other necessary VA personnel, to include OM, VHA, and VBA. The purpose of the meeting is to ensure alignment and agreement across applicable Administrations and Staff Offices and the Contractor on tasks and deliverables scheduled for the performance year.

Deliverable 1.2: Meeting Agenda, Presentation, and Minutes

Task 2: Complete Risk Assessment Surveys (FFP)

VA requires programs with annual outlays exceeding $10 million to complete an annual fraud and improper payment risk assessment to generate a fraud risk score annually, and an improper payment risk score once every three years. In addition, VA conducts off-cycle risk assessments when a significant change in legislation and/or a significant change in funding occurs as required by OMB. VA uses qualitative and quantitative risk assessment factors to identify those programs that may be highly susceptible to significant improper payments. Risk Assessment surveys are completed in a SharePoint site (currently PowerBI) by appropriate program personnel. The Contractor shall coordinate with VHA program management and senior leadership to ensure accurate and timely reporting to the annual VA risk assessment survey established in VA policy and utilize their specialized knowledge of VA programs, organizational structure, and operational processes to conduct deep dives into responses to ensure accuracy and consistency across all Department responses. For FY 2025, VHA completed 36 risk surveys.

Tasks include:

a. Draft survey responses and initial assessment; walk-thru surveys and draft responses with Senior Accountable Officials (SAO), reviewers and contributors. Evaluate the accuracy of Risk Assessment Survey responses and track progress of surveys until signed by the SAO.

Deliverable 2a: Risk Assessment Surveys

Task 3: Complete Program Identification and Provide Statistical Expertise (FFP)

The Contractor shall provide technical professional statistical expertise to assist VA in developing a VA- wide approach for estimating improper payments in accordance with OMB Circular A-123, Appendix C and prior VA program Sampling and Estimation Methodology Plans (sampling plan). The data universe consists of payments processed through VA systems of record for the previous FY. Data is obtained from record extracts for transactions recorded in certain standard general ledger accounts. Payments are mapped to a program on a quarterly basis based on payment attributes, such as fund, cost center, budget object code, and/or transaction code. Transactions are then pulled in, creating the sampling universe that are payments from in-scope categories and data extrapolation is performed to do the testing and identify the population of payments. VA data is consolidated to create the Program Identification Template on a quarterly basis, which reconciles the program’s system of record payments with the SF-133, Report on Budget Execution and Budgetary Resources. VA sampling plans utilize Probability Proportional to Size of stratified populations as well as 2-stage sampling for some programs with complex invoicing. Samples are selected across all quarters for each high-risk program and include performing program analysis to ensure the data source is complete and sample selections will result in an accurately represented transaction universe via stratification. Payments identified to have been misclassified will not be tested. The sample size will be designed to be sufficiently large enough to yield a valid estimate with the omission of these results. However, if the removal of misclassified payments impacts the validity or precision of the estimate, then management may select replacement samples. The Contractor shall also provide a tool that calculates real-time error rates and considers the impact of strata weighting on an estimate. The calculator utilizes the program stratification and sampling weights to estimate projected improper and unknown payments vs. a straight-line method, which mirrors the annual projection methodology. It shall account for two-stage sampling with subsamples; provide the most accurate results when a full quarter of samples have been tested; enable the testing team to understand the impacts of improper and unknown payments on the overall error rate to focus on samples that have the biggest impact; and provide both quarterly and overall error rates and can be updated by VA throughout the testing cycle with current testing results, which assists in providing timely and accurate information to Senior Accountable Officials and VA leadership. PIIA sampling and testing is designed to yield an estimate of the error rate as a percentage of the population. This estimate will be applied to the population total to yield the estimate of the IP and UP amounts. The statistical precision of the estimate will be derived from the confidence interval of the error rate estimate at 95 percent confidence. The upper and lower confidence limits of the error rate will be applied to the population total to report the confidence interval of the estimate in terms of dollars. The full annual projections for each PIIA program will be presented in a program’s detailed level projection workbook. The projection workbooks provide program-level error rate estimations and field-level improper and unknown payment estimations by selected attributes. These workbooks also provide a tabulated summary of the types of errors which drive a program’s error rate and estimate the improper and unknown payment dollars resulting from the various types of errors found in the testing results. The annual projections for the PIIA programs are summarized on paymentaccuracy.gov.

For VHA only, VHA began the transition process from the Financial Management System (FMS) to the Integrated Financial and Acquisition Management System (iFAMS) in June 2025. This transition impacts mapping and stratification as it is not a one-to-one identification strategy from the previous system of record to iFAMS. The Contractor shall perform appropriate research and analysis requiring specialized skill sets such as complex data analysis, data aggregation and integration, and data coding. The contractor will work with key stakeholders to ensure transactions in iFAMS map to the Presidential Budget and PIIA program specifications on a quarterly basis. As the iFAMS transition is an ongoing process, mapping revisions will continue to be made as additional information is made available. Additionally, the contractor will select and conduct a data validation review of 100 samples to ensure payments mapped in iFAMS are assigned to the appropriate VHA program and if not, the contractor will clearly document discrepancies and remap payments into the correct program.

The Contractor will be expected to provide briefings and discussion on results/deliverables for all tasks and respond to any questions from VA, OMB, VA OIG or Congress regarding the work performed for this task and deliverables. All tasks and deliverables associated with program identification and statistical support should be completed as early in the period of performance as possible, unless otherwise stated. This will allow VA programs as much time as possible to develop and begin implementing corrective actions within the fiscal year that errors are being reported in improper payment projections.

Tasks include:

a. For VHA, receive and prepare/map of the respective Administration/Staff Office payment universe from VA system of record(s) into correct program specifications on a quarterly basis for use in improper payment reporting and analysis using SAS, SQL, or other approved data querying methods.

b. For VBA, receive and prepare/map of the respective Business Lines payment universe from VA system of record(s) into correct program specifications on a quarterly basis for use in improper payment reporting and analysis using SAS, SQL, or other approved data querying methods.

c. Complete the Program Identification Template on a quarterly basis that reconciles data extract files to the Financial Statements or SF-133 outlays for VHA within an acceptable variance per VA Financial Policy.

d. For VHA and VBA, develop program sampling plans on an annual basis implementing estimation methods for producing statistically valid improper payment estimates in accordance with OMB guidance.

e. For VHA and VBA, Identifying/selecting samples in accordance with the sampling plan per program on a quarterly basis.

f. For VHA, annually provide a tool that provides real-time error rate estimates and improper and unknown payment estimates in MS Excel, that can be updated by VA throughout the testing cycle with current testing results.

g. For VBA, provide a tool that provides real-time error rate estimates and improper and unknown payment estimates in MS Excel, that can be updated on a quarterly basis by VA throughout the testing cycle with current testing results.

h. For VHA and VBA, obtain a statistically valid estimate of the annual amount of improper payments (to include monetary loss, underpayments, technically improper and unknown) as well as projections for individual root causes and provide a detailed analysis for required and management requested reporting per legislative and/or OMB guidance.

i. For VBA, prepare additional annual improper payments estimations based on programmatic changes. Additionally, brief management on detailed results via meetings and MS PowerPoint presentation.

j. For VHA, define program data mapping requirements between the previous system of record and the Integrated Financial Management System (iFAMS).

k. For VHA, conduct iFAMS data mapping validation review to ensure payments are assigned to the appropriate VHA program and clearly document discrepancies for reconciliation.

l. For VBA, prepare and deliver an annual Performance and Statistical Evaluation Report that provides a detailed analysis of final testing outcomes, historical error rate trends, compliance performance indicators, and corrective action strategies, as documented in the agency’s annual Improper Payment Report.

Deliverable 3a: Data Mapping for VHA Deliverable 3b: Data Mapping for VBA Deliverable 3c: Program Identification Template Deliverable 3d: Sampling Plans Deliverable 3e: Sample Selection Deliverable 3f: Real Time Error Rate Calculator for VHA Deliverable 3g: Real Time Error Rate Calculator for VBA Deliverable 3h: Annual Projections Deliverable 3i: Additional Projections for VBA Deliverable 3j: iFAMS Program Data Mapping Deliverable 3k: iFAMS Data Mapping Validation Review Deliverable 3l: Performance/Statistical Evaluation Report

Task 4: Perform Testing (FFP)

VA’s goal is to reduce improper and unknown payments by intensifying efforts to eliminate payment errors as close to when the error occurs as possible. Contractor support for required testing of high-risk programs enables VA to separate error determination responsibilities from those of field employees performing the work that directly impacts Veterans on a day-to-day basis vs focusing on satisfying legislative reporting requirements. The Contractor shall work with the program offices to update test plans that appropriately identify all attributes needed to ensure payments were proper in accordance with OMB Circular A-123, Appendix C, relevant OIG findings, and VA Direction. Each attribute established in the test plan should clearly describe what the regulatory or statutory compliance component being tested is; the scope of the area being tested; and the steps the reviewer should perform to determine if the criteria are met. The Contractor shall perform the initial testing with determinations in alignment with VA application of legislative and executive guidance. In addition, the Contractor shall perform validation testing in accordance with VA developed test plans. The Contractor will be expected to provide briefings and discussion on results/deliverables for all tasks and respond to any questions from VA, OMB, VA OIG or Congress regarding the work performed for this task and deliverables.

Annually, probe sampling and testing is completed on certain programs with the purpose of obtaining a deeper understanding of whether the program could be considered susceptible to significant payment errors and should be tested under PIIA as a high-risk program. For probe sampling, an unstratified sample is selected according to the established parameters of the population being analyzed. Following the selection of a random sample, the selected samples are tested to assess their compliance. The results of the sample testing are used to extrapolate an estimation of the program error rate to determine its level of risk and to be used in combination with or to support the risk assessment results.

Due to the nature of payment integrity guidance and timelines required to complete testing, at times, testing results related to one or more payment attributes may need to be updated after initial conclusions are drawn to align with programmatic changes, new guidance from OMB or OIG findings. All tasks and deliverables associated with testing should be completed as early in the period of performance as possible, unless otherwise stated. This will allow VA programs as much time as possible to develop and begin implementing corrective actions within the fiscal year that errors are being reported in improper payment projections.

Tasks include:

a. Update existing program test plans for payment accuracy in MS SharePoint or other approved electronic application and MS Excel for annual OIG submission.

b. For VHA and VBA, test each sample to identify improper and unknown payments and report the results real-time via MS SharePoint or other approved delivery method per program on a quarterly basis. Testing includes the following activities dependent upon the program being tested: setting up sample folders in MS SharePoint, requesting documentation from the field to include pricing documents from contracting or pulling documentation such as invoices and pricing from available VA/GSA systems, reviewing documentation for completeness, following-up or collecting missing documentation, selecting subsamples from large invoices when needed, initial testing of payment accuracy in accordance with statute and regulations related to contracting, eligibility, authorization, proof of receipt, and payment (performed by primary reviewer assigned to the program), peer review (by separate team member to ensure quality), concurrence with appropriate stakeholders, final decision/results, and attendance in technical calls with program leads to resolve more complex testing issues.

c. For VHA and VBA, perform probe sampling testing to support the accuracy of risk surveys in high profile or programs undergoing significant changes on an annual basis. Probe samples consist of sample selection of approximately 50 samples, collecting supporting documentation from the field, reviewing samples, and providing results.

d. For VBA, track Unknown payments found during testing by ensuring all Unknown payments are easily identifiable with sufficient information to enable reviewers to work on root-cause analysis and final resolution.

Deliverable 4a: Update Test Plans Deliverable 4b: Testing Results and Verification Deliverable 4c: Probe Sampling and Testing Deliverable 4d: Tracking of Unknown Payments

Task 5: Complete End of Year Improper Payment Reporting (FFP)

The VA currently publishes required improper payment activities though an OMB payment integrity data call, Agency Financial Report (AFR), or other required end-of-year reporting via Paymentaccuracy.gov on an annual basis. Payment integrity end-of-year reporting provided through the AFR and OMB data call provides an overview of the agency’s annual performance and financial information. The Contractor shall coordinate with VA program management and senior leadership to ensure accurate, timely, and complete reporting in compliance with PIIA reporting requirements. The contractors utilize their specialized knowledge of VA programs, organizational structure, and operational processes to conduct deep dives into responses to ensure accuracy and consistency across all Department responses.

Tasks include:

a. For VHA, coordination of Improper Payment Reporting with Program POCs and evaluate the accuracy of End of Year Improper Payment responses and track progress of templates until signed by the SAO and Senior Executive Leadership.

Deliverable 5a: End of Year Improper Payment Reporting

Task 6: SharePoint/Dashboard Build, Management, and Training (FFP)

The Contractor shall build, manage, and maintain SharePoint sites to meet the requirements for risk assessments and improper and unknown payment testing. The contractor will work directly with VA IT staff to troubleshoot and/or resolve any IT related requirements (i.e., space, speed, server outages, etc.) and/or requirements to migrate to any new platforms.

For OM, the Contractor shall manage and maintain the Risk Assessment MS SharePoint. This includes establishing and using a Test Site for making updates to questions, methodology for calculating fraud and improper payment risk ratings, and other updates needed and then incorporating into the Risk Assessment SharePoint once tested and determined complete. Risk assessment management/maintenance includes developing and updating lists, reports, documentation libraries, and SharePoint site permissions/access levels. The Contractor shall provide support to the government by answering any technical SharePoint specific questions during the live training session. If new programs are identified, risk surveys will be created for them. The development and administration of the platform requires a diverse skillset and direct coordination with VA infrastructure. This includes managing data architecture, configuring permissions, developing applications and dashboards, and ensuring secure integration with VA’s cloud infrastructure.

VHA leverages SharePoint as the central repository for all documentation related to VHA’s compliance with PIIA. SharePoint serves as the primary platform for storing, organizing and maintaining official records to ensure accessibility, version control, and compliance with federal requirements. In addition to document management, SharePoint is used to host embedded applications and dashboards that support program operations. These applications are integrated into the SharePoint environment to allow end-users the ability to interact with data, complete required tasks, and access relevant tools in a secure and user-friendly manner.

For VHA, the contractor shall build, manage, and maintain the Improper Payments MS SharePoint and Dashboard to include providing training on use/function of both the MS SharePoint sites and Dashboard. Building includes: establish new SharePoint site collections for all testing programs, document libraries, folders and lists as per organizational needs; develop custom JavaScript code to enable the end-user self-certification process for SharePoint site access and permission management; gather new requirements, desired functionality and necessary modifications for existing applications and dashboards from VHA stakeholders; create and update annual test plan applications within the Power Platform to ensure alignment with updated data sources and new requirements; develop annual dashboard within the Power Platform, integrating new data sources, building automated workflows, creating dataflows in the PowerBI workspace, and updating front-end visuals to reflect the latest data in near real time; integrate the Error Rate Calculator into the dashboard to project error rates across IPA samples, enabling near real-time analysis; and conduct QA testing on all applications and dashboards to ensure proper functionality and integration with new SharePoint environments. To manage and maintain the SP site, the contractor shall update existing SharePoint site collections, subsites, and list per organizational needs; enable or disable SharePoint features at the site level based on business requirements and security policies; implement and manage custom workflows to automate business process (scheduled dataflow refreshes, access and permission management, etc.); collaborate with VHA stakeholders to understand new requirements, desired functionality and necessary modifications within the SharePoint environment; implement new screens, data connections, formulas, and user/experience (UI/UX) improvements; develop new visualizations, measures, calculated columns and refine data models; integrate new or existing data sources securely; conduct performance testing to ensure applications, dashboards, custom solutions work as intended within the VA SharePoint environment; address user inquiries and resolve issues related to site access, document management, list functionality, application behavior, data refreshes, and general SharePoint/Power Platform usage; and implement and manage permissions at the site, list, library, folder, and item levels within SharePoint and manage access to applications and dashboards. Training will encompass all aspects of the SharePoint site to points of contact in the field responsible for uploading and monitoring documentation uploads and status of review determinations.

The Contractor will also provide training on the use of the dashboards and MS SharePoint sites for improper payment testing. Training has traditionally been provided to business line personnel, directors, SAOs, etc. for their understanding and utilization of the MS SharePoint sites and will include an overview of new updates to the site each year, completing required tasks, roles and responsibilities, and a timeline for the various tasks. The training will be provided once and recorded to ensure all program personnel have access to the training. Training may be conducted in the office or virtually.

Tasks include:

a. For OM, Management and maintenance of the OM Risk Assessment MS SharePoint site to include providing training on use/function of both the MS SharePoint and Dashboard, updating, and troubleshooting the SharePoint as needed and ensuring products (risk assessment ratings and dashboard) accurately read/manipulate data off the SharePoint site.

b. For VHA and VBA, Build, manage, and maintain the Improper Payments MS SharePoint and Dashboard to include providing training on use/function of both the MS SharePoint sites and Dashboard and troubleshooting the SharePoint as needed ensuring products accurately read/manipulate data off the SharePoint site.

Deliverable 6a: Manage / Maintain / Train on the OM Risk Assessment SharePoint Site Deliverable 6b: Build / Manage / Maintain / Train on the VHA and VBA MS SharePoint Sites and Dashboards

Task 7: OPTIONAL TASKS (FFP) Throughout the period of performance, VA may identify services that will be required within the overall PWS period of performance to include the base period as well as each option period. The Government will utilize the proposed firm fixed price (FFP) labor rates which shall be incorporated into the order at time of award as set forth in the Price Schedule. If the proposed approach and labor hours are approved by the VA PM, COR, and Contracting Officer, they shall be executed via a unilateral modification in the amount specified.

All optional tasks and deliverables should be completed as early in the period of performance as possible, unless otherwise stated. This will allow VA programs as much time as possible to develop and begin implementing corrective actions within the fiscal year that errors are being reported in improper payment projections.

Tasks may include, but not be limited to the following:

Task 7.1: New or Other Program Task (OPTIONAL) (FFP) In the event a new VA Program is identified as susceptible to significant improper payments or continued testing is needed to support PIIA compliance, the contractor shall design and implement appropriate statistical sampling and estimation methods to produce statistically valid improper payment estimates and testing procedures to include, but not limited to, developing test plans, creating sampling plans, conducting sample selection, testing each sample, producing a statistically valid estimated of projected improper and unknown payments, and creating corresponding SharePoint site and dashboard. The Contractor shall work with the program offices to develop test plans that appropriately identify all attributes needed to ensure payments were proper in accordance with OMB Circular A-123, Appendix C, relevant OIG findings, and VA Direction. Each attribute established in the test plan should clearly describe what the regulatory or statutory compliance component being tested is; the scope of the area being tested; and the steps the reviewer should perform to determine if the criteria are met.

Tasks include:

· See deliverables described in Tasks 3, 4, and 6 unless described otherwise below.

· Task 7.1d includes building an electronic form using PowerApps (or other approved electronic application). The contractor shall work with the program offices to develop test plans that appropriately identify all attributes needed to ensure payments were proper in accordance with OMB Circular A-123, Appendix C, relevant OIG findings, and VA Direction. The electronic test plan will be further enhanced with appropriate rules and business logic and will include dropdown lists to capture error categories such as cause of errors, OMB errors, and improper payment classification types.

· For OM, Task 7.1i includes establishing a new test site within the existing improper payment SharePoint using the electronic test plan developed under deliverable 7.1d. The test plan will be linked to each individual sample selected under deliverable 7.1c and will be the mechanism used to perform testing and store results. The contractor will create document libraries to store supporting documentation, build out appropriate permissions levels throughout the site; move and store information, documentation, and views as needed; answer questions from the field related to the site; and other tasks as needed to maintain/manage the SharePoint test site. The contractor will provide user acceptance testing and establish the test site for users.For OM, Task 7.1e includes testing each sample selected under deliverable 7.1c to identify improper payments and report results real-time via the SharePoint test site established under deliverable 7.1i. Testing includes the following activities: documentation call, review of documentation (from field or via system access), following-up on missing documentation with appropriate program office or points of contacts, performing initial testing (performed by primary reviewer assigned to the program), peer review (by separate team member to ensure quality and confirmation of results), concurrence with appropriate stakeholders, and final decisions/results.

Deliverable 7.1a: Data Mapping Deliverable 7.b: Sampling Plans Deliverable 7.1c: Sample Selection Deliverable 7.1.d: Develop Test Plans Deliverable 7.1e: Testing Results and Verification Deliverable 7.1f: Annual Projections Deliverable 7.1g: Probe Sampling and Testing Deliverable 7.1.h: AdditionalProjections

Deliverable 7.1i: For OM, SharePoint Site and Dashboard

Task 7.2: Labor-Hour Task (OPTIONAL) (T&M) The improper payment environment makes it impossible to accurately estimate the extent or duration of some of the work with any reasonable degree of confidence. This is chiefly driven by the changes required to VA’s POP because of new legislation, new guidance from OMB, or new findings from the Office of Inspector General, transition of SharePoint sites from their current platform, and requirement enhancements for the Risk Assessment SharePoint. As such, for support outside of the specific task and deliverable requirements defined herein, this PWS allows for a specific number of pre-determined Labor-Hours to support this work. The Labor-Hour ceiling price will be established based on the Government’s best estimate of the number of hours and amount of deliverables required to perform the services. Any change in the ceiling price will only be authorized upon a determination, documented in the Task Order file that it is in the best interest of the Government to make that change.

Deliverable 7.2 Labor-hour tasks

Task 7.3: VBA Ad-Hoc Requirements (FFP) The Contractor shall work with the program offices to track and monitor corrective action progress and report updates on a quarterly basis. The Contractor shall perform an effectiveness review on an annual basis to measure the effectiveness of the prior year corrective actions and communicate findings to the program office for remediation. Additionally, the Contractor shall work with stakeholders to track and monitor the recovery of identified overpayments via a database. The Contractor shall provide support transitioning the current PIIA review dashboard to a Power BI dashboard in an effort to move away from the old technology and to enhance user experience.

Tasks include:

a. Provide support for CAPs and assist programs in tracking and reporting updates to the plan for high-risk programs.

b. Evaluate VBA CAPs for effectiveness and assist programs with gap resolution for high-risk programs.

c. Provide support to track and monitor the recovery of VBA monetary loss payments identified in PIIA testing as well as overpayments identified outside of the review for accurate reporting in the annual OMB Data Call.

d. For End of Year improper Payment Reporting, the Contractor is responsible for ensuring that reporting is consistent, complete, and accurate based on that fiscal year’s required activities and results, addresses all legislatively required elements, is responsive to OMB guidance and prior findings from the OIG, and incorporates any lessons learned on previous year reporting.

e. Produce quick turn assignments that communicate results in the prescribed format (memorandum, white paper, etc.) on an accelerated timeline without advance knowledge/notification. Examples include but are not limited to, a consolidated agencywide response of recoveries made during a specific quarter, responses to Congress on questions related to improper payments in high risk programs, research of reporting at other Federal Agencies or informal guidance given by OMB of like scenarios to those identified late in testing. Create program factsheets for high-risk programs as a one-stop shop documenting key information to communicate year-over-year program results, payment types, outlays, common errors and corresponding corrective actions, etc.

Deliverable 7.3a: CAP Management Deliverable 7.3b: CAP Effectiveness Reviews Deliverable 7.3c: Monetary Loss Database Deliverable 7.3d: End of Year Improper Payment Reporting Deliverable 7.3e: Accelerated Deliverables

Task 7.4: VHA Ad-Hoc Requirements (FFP) Given the dynamic nature of the payment integrity environment (new legislation, executive guidance, questions from VA leadership and/or Congress) with heightened urgency, the Contractor shall perform ad-hoc requirements for VHA to include research and analysis requiring specialized skill sets such as complex data analysis, statistical analysis, data aggregation and integration. The contractor will not be determining agency policy in preparation of these deliverables. The contractor shall produce quick-term assignments on complex issues in accordance with VA direction. The Contractor shall work with VHA to analyze factors that contribute to VHA's improper payments. The type of analysis will depend on the topic and may include analyzing improper payment data, assessing corrective actions, determining where in the payment process the improper or unknown payment occurred, or deep dive reviews over systemic improper payments. Program factsheets will serve as a quick reference for stakeholders in communication with leadership as well as external parties displaying a snapshot of the program. Cause of Error factsheets will describe in detail the type of payment, processing system, and specific issues that occurred to aid in the creation of corrective actions. Factsheets are shared with the program offices to ensure the creation of effective corrective actions. Program process maps document the error cause at each process step as well as the corresponding corrective action(s) taken or planned, which support the program offices in creating effective corrective actions and assist in building effective internal controls within VA policy and payment systems. The contractor shall conduct deep dive reviews into common errors identified in high-risk programs and create training presentations to target specific audiences within VHA who are involved in the payment process to reduce improper and unknown payments on a national level. The Contractor shall perform an effectiveness review on an annual basis to measure the effectiveness of the prior year corrective actions and communicate findings to the program office for remediation as required by OMB and VA policy. Review includes metrics, conclusions on the effectiveness of each CAP, a gap analysis of any root causes of improper or unknown payments that have not been addressed, as well as recommendations to close the gaps.

The Contractor shall monitor the status of recovery of identified overpayments and identify…