J_A_Redacted.pdf

VA-26-00026887

LIMITED-SOURCES JUSTIFICATION

1. Contracting Activity: Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Office of Procurement, Acquisition, and Logistics

Technology Acquisition Center 23 Christopher Way Eatontown, NJ 07724

2. Description of Action: The proposed sole source action is for a firm-fixed-price effort for the renewal of CensiTrac Instrument Tracking System (ITS) software subscriptions inclusive of maintenance and support at Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN) 6 sites with Censis Technologies, Inc. (Censis), 830 Crescent Centre Drive, Suite 610, Franklin, Tennessee 37067.

3. Description of Supplies or Services: The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has a requirement to renew the existing CensiTrac ITS software currently installed at fourteen

(14) locations within VISN 6 and includes services required for software support, clinical telephone support, and software upgrade and updates. The VISN 6 facilities are using a Real-Time Location System (RTLS) to improve the workflow of their Sterile Processing Services (SPS) departments and to track Reusable Medical Equipment (RME) throughout its operational cycle from sterilization, to surgery, and back. Censis� ITS, CensiTrac, is currently a component of the enterprise RTLS solution and is used for tracking RME through the workflow of Sterile Processing Workflow (SPW). CensiTrac works by scanning 2-Dimensional (2D) barcodes that are electro-chemically marked into the RME to identify instrument containers, case carts, peel packs, endoscopes and their locations. All VA facilities within VISN 6 currently use CensiTrac for SPW. Nomenclature standards are tagged and tracked in RTLS (across several VISNs VA-wide). This standardization promotes patient safety as it provides a proven way to track medical instruments used in surgeries. This ensures that physicians have what they need for Veterans during surgery and that medical instrument sterilization is tracked accurately.

CensiTrac operates as a standalone software package with the capabilities to integrate its data into existing VA ecosystems (Operating Room scheduling, sterilizers, washers and disinfectors).

The Government requires the renewal of the CensiTrac ITS which is comprised of the core capability, Instrument Trac, which tracks usage and compliance of surgical instruments, as well as additional CensiTrac solution modules such as ScopeTrac for tracking endoscopes. The Government requires the renewal of the following subscription, licenses and modules: 7 CensiTrac Gov Cloud Subscription Renewals, 7 Service + Subscription Renewals, 6 Scope Track Advanced Subscriptions, and 12 Instrument Trac Subscriptions. The period of performance will be 12-months. The total estimated value of the proposed action is

Statutory Authority: This acquisition is conducted under the authority of the Multiple- Award Schedule Program. The specific authority providing for a limited source award is

CensiTrac VA-26-00026887

General Services Acquisition Manual/Regulation (GSAM/R) 538.7104-4 (a), �Items peculiar to one manufacturer.�

5. Rationale Supporting Use of Authority Cited Above: Based on the market research, as described in Section 8 of the document, CensiTrac software is the only ITS that meets all of the Government�s requirements. Furthermore, Censis products are proprietary and Censis is the only authorized provider of the required CensiTrac ITS.

The CensiTrac ITS subscription, modules, and licenses interface with the existing CensiTrac system used by VA. The additional solution module ScopeTrac only operates with the core CensiTrac software and cannot integrate with any other software.

The Censis ITS is currently deployed throughout VA and is used in VISN 6. The software subscription renewals allow for continuity of service with the current Censis ITS. The subscription renewals are required to continue using the CensiTrac ITS. All VISN 6 instruments are currently marked with a 2D electrochemical barcode used to track the instrument through the RME process. No other ITS product, or its modules, would be compatible or interoperable with the existing Censis solution due to the proprietary constraints within the currently fielded hardware and software. Specifically, another ITS product would not be able to communicate with the existing Censis infrastructure. VA requires software that is interoperable with the existing infrastructure protocols and functionality for continued operational availability and is not requiring the replacement of the current ITS system. Another source would need access to Censis proprietary data and software code in order to ensure that the software is properly configured and patched. This code ensures that the software will allow the Censis products to remain fully operational and work in the current CensiTrac based environment. There are no products that are currently compatible and interoperable with the existing VA infrastructure. Additionally, no other source other than Censis can provide the technical support services due to the proprietary constraints. Additionally, if the requirement was competed, it would require replacing the current Censis software, hardware and server infrastructure. Therefore, the use of any other ITS solution would require all new instrument tracking equipment, installation, configuration, interface development, acceptance testing, and resource training at all 12 sites within VISN 6.

These duplicative costs estimated at $3,000,000.00, are based on the initial deployment of the previous solution for VISN 6 and would not be recovered through competition.

Additionally, any alternative ITS would require a minimum of 15 months to complete the integration and obtain the required Authority to Operate in the VA network. Furthermore, the Censis ITS is part of the enterprise RTLS solution and is fully interoperable with other facets of RTLS technology deployed by the Veterans Health Administration (VHA).

Although, other tracking systems may be compatible with the enterprise RTLS solution, the RTLS solution is currently only configured to work with Censis. To enable any new ITS to communicate with the existing RTLS solution, additional changes will be required to the enterprise solution in addition to the changes to VISN 6 sites resulting in further costs and delays. Finally, since VISN 6 cannot operate without an ITS, VA would require renewal of the existing solution until a new alternative solution is deployed, further duplicating costs.

CensiTrac VA-26-00026887

Failure to renew the existing CensiTrac ITS software subscriptions would negatively impact VA�s ability to ensure proper traceability of medical instruments, ensuring that physicians use sterilized medical instruments and have the needed supply of medical instruments required for surgeries. The inability to renew the software subscriptions would adversely impact Veteran/patient care as these medical facilities would not be able to perform patient surgeries timely with the same standard of care. The software provides a proven way to track medical instruments used in surgeries and ensures that the medical instrument sterilization is tracked accurately. Not being able to track the sterilization of the medical instruments used in surgery would compromise the Veteran/patient�s health through risk of infection and increases risk for patient safety.

6. Efforts to Obtain Competition: Market research was conducted, details of which are in the market research section of this document. This effort did not yield any additional sources that can meet the Government�s requirements. There is no competition anticipated for this acquisition. In accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR)

5.301 and GSAM/R 538.7104-3(b)(3) the award notice for this action will be synopsized on the Contracting Opportunities website and this justification will be made publicly available for 14days.

7. Actions to Increase Competition: The Government will continue to conduct market research to ascertain if there are changes in the marketplace that would enable future actions to be competed.

8. Market Research: The Government�s technical experts conducted market research between February 2024 through December 2025 by reviewing acquisition history, conducting an industry status review, and consulting with the VA National Instrument Tracking Workgroup for information on the CensiTrac system and service. Additionally, VA technical personnel conducted a review of similar software, including the following:

Becton-Dickinson's Impress Surgical Instrument Management System, Aesculap's Instrument Tracking Software partnering with Microsystems, Microsystems as a standalone product, and SynergyTrak's Surgical Instrument Management System. The research revealed that none of these vendors can offer a solution that is interoperable with the existing Censis ITS currently installed across the VA enterprise and part of the RLTS. Therefore, no other contractor has the capability of providing the required technical services. The Government�s market research effort did not yield any additional sources that can meet its requirements. As a result of the market research, the technical experts have determined that Censis is the only source that can provide the required services. A proprietary source letter dated December 10, 2025, was submitted by Censis stating that Censis Technologies, Inc. is the sole authorized provider of CensiTrac for the North American Market. The letter from Censis Technologies Inc was placed in the contract file. Due to the proprietary software, Censis is the only vendor that can provide the software subscription renewal and support.

9. Other Facts: N/A