JA-VETSNET AMA Certified Physicians_Redacted.pdf

VA-24-00020016

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

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 action is to award a Firm-Fixed Price (FFP) contract on a sole-source basis to the American Medical Association (AMA) located at 330 N Wabash Ave Ste 39300, Chicago, IL 60611 for renewal of a licensing agreement of the Brand Name AMA Physician Master File software.

3. Description of Supplies or Services: VA Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA), Compensation and Pension (C&P) Service requires renewal of its existing licensing agreement with AMA for their Physician Master File data which is installed on the VBA Corporate Enterprise System (SUN E10K) at the Austin Automation Center, which provides quarterly updates to the AMA Physician Master File data and continued access of the AMA credentialing products. The AMA Physician Master File data supports the VBA C&P Service nationwide with Veterans' claims benefits adjudication to assist in claim development processing. The AMA Physician Master File software data search feature is incorporated within the VBA Modern Awards Processing-Development (MAP-D) application, which is a component of Veterans Service Network (VETSNET). Each user of MAP-D (VBA claims developer) has the ability (i.e. "license") to use the AMA data search. This feature assists the VBA claims examiners at the nationwide regional offices who process Veterans' claims for compensation and pension assistance for disability, compensation and eligibility by confirming or refuting medical information in support of claims against AMA credentialing data. The period of performance for this proposed action is 12-months with three (3) subsequent 12-month option periods, if exercised. The total estimated value of the proposed action, inclusive of all options, is

4. Statutory Authority: 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) 6.302-1 entitled, “Only One Responsible Source and No Other Supplies or Services Will Satisfy Agency Requirements.”

5. Rationale Supporting Use of Authority Cited Above: Based on Market Research, VA has determined that AMA is the only source capable of providing the required licensing agreement and that the licensing agreement is the only source that meets the VBA C&P Service requirements. The AMA Physician Master File software is the only product capable of providing nationwide medical information certification for physicians. The VBA has been utilizing this critical service nationwide in reviewing claims for over 10 years, since 2013. The AMA Physician Master File is a flat data file that is wholly owned and licensed by AMA as a proprietary software product.

The AMA Physician Master File is the health care industry’s authoritative reference file. It is the only source that begins collecting data on physicians from the time they

VETSNET- AMA Physician Master File Software License Renewal VA-24-00020016 enter medical school and is proprietary and copyrighted property of the AMA.

Therefore, not having data sources from AMA, physicians would not be able to access the new claims. There are no other vendors that provide the data needed to communicate with AMA Physician Master File software. Thus, no other vendor’s data file can serve the same function. In addition, there are no plans to replace this platform and unless VBA reconstructs the current Information and Technology architecture or the AMA allows other companies to develop a similar type of service, no other product is able to meet VA’s needs.

As noted above, failure to procure the licensing agreement as proposed would introduce unacceptable risk to the Government, as it would lose a critical piece of its claims processing capability, and thereby severely hinder VA’s ability to care for the Veteran.

6. Efforts to Obtain Competition: Market Research was conducted, the details of which are in section 8 of this justification. The market research conducted did not yield any potential sources, other than AMA, who could meet all of the Government’s requirements. There is no competition anticipated for this acquisition. Additionally, the proposed action will be synopsized on the Federal Business Opportunities (FBO) website in accordance with FAR Part 5.201. Any proposals that are received shall be evaluated.

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 VA Program Manager and VETSNET team reviewed the current commercial market in October 2023. Based on their expertise and the research of other vendors, the existing Brand Name AMA Physician Master File software is the only product that can meet the Government’s requirements, that justifies renewal of the software licensing agreement for VBA.

Additional market research was conducted in October 2023, wherein a Request for Information (ID # 289557) was submitted to all contract holders on the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Solutions for Enterprise-Wide Procurement V Governmentwide Acquisition Contract to inquire if a solution could meet VA’s needs and no responses were received. Market research was also performed by contacting AMA who confirmed in an email dated October 25, 2023, that AMA does not allow any other vendor to sell their data for purposes of this application and AMA credentialing products.

9. Other Facts: None

VETSNET- AMA Physician Master File Software License Renewal VA-24-00020016

10. Technical and Requirements Certification: I certify that the supporting data under my cognizance, which are included in this justification, are accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

11. Fair and Reasonable Cost Determination: I hereby determine that the anticipated price to the Government for this contract action will be fair and reasonable based on price analysis to include comparison of negotiated prices to the Independent Government Cost Estimate and historical pricing.

12. Procuring Contracting Officer Certification: I certify that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief. As this contract action does not exceed $700,000, the certification below required by FAR 6.303- 2(b)(12) serves as approval.