JA-Vocera- Final_Redacted.pdf

Control Number VA-27-00000399

JUSTIFICATION

FOR AN EXCEPTION TO FAIR OPPORTUNITY

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 for a firm-fixed price task order to be issued under the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Solutions for Enterprise-Wide Procurement (SEWP) V Government-wide Acquisition Contract (GWAC) for renewal of brand name Vocera Premier Plus professional services, software licenses, and software maintenance.

3. Description of the Supplies or Services: Veterans Health Administration has a requirement for the brand name Vocera Premier Plus professional services, with the renewal of 850 existing Vocera software licenses, software maintenance and on-site support for the Hampton Veterans Administration Medical Center’s (VAMC) existing Vocera Communications System. The VA requires a solution that consists of Vocera servers and Vocera hands free, two-way, wireless communications badges, used by medical staff to document patient information and to communicate hands free with other end users. Vocera Premier Plus professional services entail support from one onsite Vocera administrator and include: data and device management; software management; deployment optimization;

new user training orientation management; issue escalation management; report management; end user satisfaction; messaging, and server administration. 850 Vocera software licenses are required to be renewed once a year which allow the badges to continue to communicate with the existing VA Vocera Servers. Vocera software maintenance shall provide all updates and patches and ensure the software is properly configured.

The period of performance shall include a 12-month base period which will commence November 1, 2026 through October 31, 2027, and also include two 12-month option periods. The total estimated value of the proposed action is which is inclusive of all option periods.

4. Statutory Authority: Pursuant to Revolutionary Federal Acquisition Regulation Overhaul (RFO) 16.507-7, the following brand name requirement is being justified and approved as an exception to fair opportunity under the statutory authority of Section 41 U.S.C. 4106(c)(2) as implemented by RFO 16.507-6(b)(2), entitled “Only one awardee is capable of providing the supplies or services required at the level of quality required because the supplies or services ordered are unique or highly specialized.”

5. Rationale Supporting Use of Authority Cited Above: Based on market research, as described in Section 8 of this justification, it was determined that limited competition is viable among resellers of Vocera products and services. The Vocera Communication System is currently installed and operational at the Hampton VAMC, and only Vocera or a Vocera reseller are able to provide the required professional services, software licenses and

Vocera Premier Support Services for Hampton VA Medical Center software maintenance. Specifically, Vocera is the only manufacturer of hands-free communication devices (HCD) for health care workers that offers voice activation. The HCD that Vocera currently provides are wearable, wireless, hands-free, voice activated communication badges which provide critical functionality necessary for the improvement of medical staff services to Veterans. Only the Vocera communication badge offers wireless voice activation, a feature which is unique to Vocera, and a critical functionality for the Hampton VAMC staff. The required 850 Vocera software licenses are required to allow the communication badges to continue to communicate with Vocera servers. The use of any other brand software license would require a complete replacement of the existing Vocera Communication System due to the proprietary nature of Vocera’s infrastructure. In addition to the loss of critical functionality of wireless voice activation provided by Vocera, the use of any other brand communication badge would also require procurement of a separate infrastructure network. This would require duplicative costs estimated to be $2.5 million dollars and approximately six to eight months to implement. This effort would require new hardware, such as badges, batteries, chargers, and cables, new servers to be built and maintained by the VA, new software, and a new round of integration with the VA network-wireless and wired. This effort would also include integrating the system with VISTA, CPRS, and the site’s Nurse Call system, ASCOM, which would incur additional costs due to bringing in the ASCOM representative to work on this new integration. A new maintenance and support agreement with the new vendor would have to be implemented as well.This estimate is based on previous procurement history and these costs would not be recovered through competition. Finally, Vocera software is a proprietary product. Therefore, only Vocera or its resellers can provide the required Premier Plus professional services and software maintenance for Vocera products. A proprietary code is required to ensure all Vocera software updates and patches are properly pushed through the fielded software and to ensure the software is properly configured. Access to this code is also required to ensure all services provided on the Vocera software is properly configured. Only Vocera and its resellers can provide the associated professional services, server maintenance, and software licenses for the Vocera Communication System solution as it requires access to required proprietary code and technical data.

Failure to provide Vocera professional services, software licenses, and software maintenance will inhibit Hampton VAMC's Vocera Communication System from functioning.

This will negatively impact the Hampton VAMC staff’s ability to maintain acceptable levels of communication and patient care. The lack of a wearable, hands-free, and voice activated communication badge will increase risk of contamination within the hospital. Additionally, response times for patient care will be negatively impacted as will response times to medical emergencies such as cardiopulmonary arrest, bomb threats, or active shooter scenarios which could cause unnecessary loss of life.

6. Efforts to Obtain Competition: Market research was conducted, details of which are in Section 8 of this justification. This effort did not yield any additional sources that can meet the Government's requirements. However, the undersigned VA technical representative determined that limited competition is available among resellers for brand name Vocera Communication System professional services, software licenses and software maintenance. In accordance with RFO 5.301 and 16.507-6(f)(1), the award notice for this action will be synopsized and justification will be made publicly available on the Contract Opportunities website within 14 days of award.

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

8. Market Research: Market research was conducted from November 2025 to January 2026 by VA technical experts to ascertain whether any other brand could meet the requirements. Government technical experts conducted thorough reviews of product information via web searches for similar solutions from Cisco Systems, MINITOR, Honeywell, and RMS Omega Healthcare Technologies. The Government technical experts determined that no other manufacturer offers hands-free communication devices (HCD) for health care workers that offers voice activation and due to the proprietary nature and the unique patented design, only Vocera technicians or resellers can provide support for Vocera devices which are critical for increasing patient care and safety. Further, only the Vocera communication technicians or resellers can provide support for the existing Vocera Communication System at the Hampton VAMC.

Therefore, only Vocera or its resellers can provide the aforementioned services to meet the Government’s requirements.

Based on the market research conducted, it has been determined that no other software license and service providers can meet the Government’s requirements due to the proprietary source code and other proprietary data required to perform the services. In addition, in January 2026, the Government directly contacted Vocera representatives and confirmed that Vocera's source code is proprietary.

Additional market research was conducted by the Contract Specialist utilizing the NASA SEWP Provider Lookup tool to determine whether the brand name Vocera is available from NASA SEWP V GWAC holders. It was determined that there are four prospective Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business GWAC holders in Group B and C of Vocera products and services. As such, limited competition is anticipated among Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Businesses.

9. Other Facts: None.

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 anticipated competition and discounts among NASA SEWP V GWAC holders.

Additionally, NASA SEWP determines that all catalog prices on its GWACs are fair and reasonable. Additional price analysis may be performed in accordance with FAR 15.404-1(b).

12. Procuring Contracting Officer Certification: I certify that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Approval

In my role as procuring activity Advocate for Competition, based on the foregoing justification, I hereby approve the acquisition of Vocera Premier Plus professional services, software licenses, software maintenance and on-site support services on an other than fair opportunity basis pursuant to the authority cited in Section 4 above, subject to availability of funds, and provided that the property and services herein described have otherwise been authorized for acquisition.