J_A_Redacted.pdf

VA-26-00057201

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 (FFP) Task Order (TO) for brand name Data Innovations, LLC (DI) laboratory middleware platform Instrument Manager (IM) Autoverification (AV) services at six (6) of the eleven

(11) VA Medical Centers (VAMC) within Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN)

10. This order is to provide broad support for the integration of the existing DI AV systems within VISN 10 to the Cerner/Oracle Health Federal Electronic Health Record (EHR). A single task order under GSA MAS Contract GS-35F-389DA to Data Innovations, LLC., 463 Mountain View Dr Ste 305, Colchester, VT 05446-5952.

3. Description of Supplies or Services: The proposed action is to provide services to migrate currently completed AV workflows from Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture (VistA) / Computerized Patients Record System (CPRS) to Oracle/Cerner during the upcoming EHR Deployment(s). The Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN) 10 AV, Licensing, Maintenance and Support contract (NNG15SD22B 36C10B23F0083) was executed in early 2023, prior to the national Electronic Health Record Modernization (EHRM) pause. VISN 10 laboratories moved forward with AV; the process of using computer-based rules to evaluate and validate laboratory results without human interaction to help streamline laboratory processes.

This was essential with current staffing shortages, helped alleviate staffing burden, and improved laboratory efficiencies. VA announced the end of the EHRM pause and would resume new EHRM deployments in 2026. This resulted in an additional twenty-six (26) AV workflows to be completed in VistA that would have been completed in Oracle if it were not for the National Pause.

This effort is to contract for the 26 AV workflows that were completed in VistA during the national EHRM pause that need to be migrated to Oracle for the VISN 10 EHR deployments during the 2026 calendar year. VISN 10 is pursuing a resource saving approach to include the integration of its existing DI laboratory middleware platform IM AV workflows to be migrated from VistA/CPRS to the Cerner/Oracle Health Federal her (FEHR). These migrations will utilize existing AV workflows as a base and each workflow is designed for one instrument configuration using one DI driver. The AV workflows currently utilize DI software which transmits results from laboratory instrumentation to Vista/CPRS. These AV workflows do not copy and paste into Oracle/Cerner FEHR, there are complex changes to the rule sets, test codes, test code mapping, along with instrument connections in IM aligned with resources on the Oracle/Cerner side. Without DI support for migrating these AV workflows into Oracle/Cerner this information cannot be manipulated to flag results, hold abnormal results, or transmit required test information from instrumentation to the new FEHR. The

VISN 10 Data Innovations Support and Integration VA-26-00057201 contractor shall provide services and support for the duration of the deployment of the FEHR and for the two-week time period after deployment. The total estimated value of the proposed action is .

4. 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 Revolutionary Federal Acquisition Regulation (RFO) Overhaul VA Deviation 8.401(b) and General Services Acquisition Manual/Regulation (GSAM/R) 538.7104-3(b)(1)(ii) �Only one source is capable of providing the products, services or solution required at the level of quality required because the products, services or solutions are unique or highly specialized.�

5. Rationale Supporting Use of Authority Cited Above: Based on market research, as described in Section 8 of the document, Data Innovations is the only source capable of meeting all of the Government�s requirements. Furthermore, DI products are proprietary, and DI is the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM). The AV workflows currently utilize DI software interface with the existing DI laboratory middleware platform which is currently used by all VISN 10's sites.

The DI software is currently used by all VISN 10's sites for interfacing common laboratory equipment with the VistA laboratory platform. No other software is currently able to provide the required interface with VistA and is compatible with Cerner as the VISN 10 sites transition their Electronic Medical Record from VistA to Cerner. VISN 10 is comprised of 11 facilities: Northern Indiana, Dayton, Cleveland, Indianapolis, Detroit, Battle Creek, Ann Arbor, Saginaw, Cincinnati, Chillicothe and Columbus. Each of these sites currently utilize proprietary DI software and are in various phases to achieve AV.

VISN 10's infrastructure consists of the DI Software and the procurement of another vendor's systems and software would require a completely new infrastructure and impose significant technical risk as VA would have to implement that brand's entirely new software suite.

Due to proprietary constraints, the use of any alternative software solution would require the replacement of existing infrastructure including light poles, serial cables, and servers that have been specifically configured to work only with brand name DI software. The replacement of this hardware would produce estimated duplicative costs of approximately $945,000. This estimate of duplicative cost is based on previous acquisition history. Additionally, many of the sites within VISN 10 have also procured additional hardware that has been configured to work with DI which would also need to be replaced.

Further, based on historical efforts, any alternative vendor would require a significant development effort of 2-3 years to develop the software interfaces in both production and live environments, conduct connectivity testing, validation testing with equipment, redevelop AV workflows, and develop additional add on features that facilities currently operate. More specifically, any alternative vendor would need to duplicate 26 workflows that have already been completed. Based on previous acquisition history, VA technical experts estimate that this significant redevelopment effort would produce additional duplicative costs of $1M in addition to the duplicative hardware costs identified above.

Additionally, DI is the only software which has completed the New Service Request process to be approved by the EHRM Integration Office (EHRM IO) and VHA to have interface capabilities with Cerner. Historically, this is a lengthy process that requires between 15-18 months for new software to be approved. DI is currently the only vendor with this type of software that has been approved to work with Cerner. This process could not be accomplished concurrently with the development effort discussed above.

Therefore, no alternative vendor can avoid the duplication of effort and time and cost as detailed herein.

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 could `meet the Government�s requirements. There is no competition anticipated for this acquisition. In accordance with RFO 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 30 days.

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 completed.

8. Market Research: The Government�s technical experts conducted market research between December 2025 and March 2026, by researching similar products via internet catalog research and reviews including those from Oracle and Orchard Software. Based on this analysis, the VA technical experts determined that no other brand name software would be able to communicate and function with the currently fielded DI software licenses due to proprietary constraints within the software and its integration with the current DI system. Additionally, no other vendors can provide the required software required to interface with VistA. VA technical experts reviewed similar products from alternative vendors including those from Oracle and Orchard Software to determine whether any other sources can provide DI installation, configuration, workflow and AV rules development, training, and maintenance. After review, it was determined that no other vendor can provide the required brand name DI installation, configuration, workflow and AV rules development, training, project management and maintenance due to the proprietary source code, no other source is able to provide access to the Customer Web Portal for drivers, upgrades, patches, along with access to the DI Support Line to the proprietary DI software. Each software developer offers a proprietary system and associated services that will only operate with its respective hardware and software. Based on this market research, only DI or resellers of DI can meet VA technical requirements.

The General Services Administration (GSA) Database Query was searched as part of this market research effort. The result of this effort was that DI, the OEM of the Data Innovations (DI) laboratory middleware platform IM AV services, is the only vendor capable of providing the necessary license and maintenance support. There is an existing GSA Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) contract available for this vendor. As a result of the above market research, it was determined that only DI can meet VA�s requirements and a sole source solicitation will be prepared for release on the GSA MAS Schedule to Data Innovations, LLC, 463 Mountain View Dr. Ste 305, Colchester, VT 05446, under schedule contract GS-35F-389DA.

9. Other Facts: N/A