JA WellHive Redacted.pdf

WellHive ION Control Number VA-20-00087118

JUSTIFICATION

FOR AN EXCEPTION TO FAIR OPPORTUNITY

1. Contracting Activity: Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Office of Procurement, Acquisition, and Logistics Technology Acquisition Center 1701 Directors Blvd, Ste 600 Austin, TX 78744

2. Description of Action: The proposed action is for the award of a brand name firm-fixed price delivery order issued under the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Solution for Enterprise-Wide Procurement (SEWP) V Government Wide Acquisition Contract (GWAC) for brand name WellHive Integrated Outside Network (ION) Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) subscriptions, maintenance, and support.

3. Description of the Supplies or Services: The VA, Veterans Health Administration (VHA), Veterans Integrated Service Network 8 (VISN 8), has a requirement for WellHive ION SaaS subscriptions with Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) compliant software maintenance and support for up to 900,000 enrolled patients to meet MISSION Act requirements. In order for VHA to comply with the MISSION Act, the following requirements must be satisfied: outside provider of Electronic Health Record (EHR) connections, outside provider network management, scheduling, record exchange, quality monitoring, and customizable agent workflows.

These subscriptions enable the VHA to improve management of Care Network of providers, establish direct connections to those providers, and utilize appointments, exchanging health records, and tracking quality of interactions. The period of performance includes a 12-month base period and two 12-month option periods. The total estimated price of this proposed action is , inclusive of all option periods.

4. Statutory Authority: Pursuant to Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Subpart 16.505(a)(4), 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.

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 for brand name Wellhive ION subscriptions, which includes maintenance and support. The required Wellhive ION subscription and associated maintenance and support are proprietary to Wellhive.

In Fiscal Year 2019, VA implemented the Advanced Medical Cost Management Solution (AMCMS) and with that purchased a software solution fulfilled by WellHive Wisdom software. Under AMCMS, Wellhive Wisdom software is currently providing healthcare actuarial and healthcare financial management services to support the identification, measurement and management associated with services provided and managed by the Office of Community Care (OCC).

Only WellHive ION software is interoperable and compatible with AMCMS as it is comprised of WellHive software and operated through WellHive proprietary code.

Without having the patient, provider, and Veteran information in one solution, VHA VISN 8 will not have the ability to ensure care provided by the community provider is scheduled, accessed, and paid for in a timely manner. By not procuring WellHive ION software and keeping all of these elements in a single solution, and instead procuring single/siloed solutions, VHA VISN 8 will not have this holistic view and therefore not be able to ensure care provided by community providers is scheduled, accessed, and paid for in a timely manner . Procuring other solutions for community scheduling will not be interoperable with the current AMCMS solution, and not meet the goals of the MISSION Act to empower Veterans with more healthcare options.

In addition to WellHive ION software being the only software that is compatible with the AMCMS solution, WellHive is the only Cloud Service Provider offering an outside network appointment scheduling Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) tailored for satisfying isting VA integrations through the AMCMS program and its direct connections to outside network provider EHR Systems provide the only closed-loop scheduling solution, starting with a referral to schedule an appointment, and tying a post-appointment records back to the referral for care coordination, as well as for providing claim processing.

Also, based on past experience, the use of another software system would require a significant data migration effort. This data consists of sensitive Veteran data, Personally Identifiable Information and Protected Heath Information, as well as a significant risk of such data becoming exposed or corrupted during any migration effort. Additional data migrations also increase risk, schedule, scope and costs in a re-platforming effort.

AMCMS represents one year of configuration and implementation work. Specifically, VA has invested approximately to develop and implement AMCMS. Re-platforming this solution would represent, at minimum, a similar timeframe and cost to setup an alternative solution. These costs would not be recovered through competition.

Exposure or corruption of sensitive Veteran data would negatively impact Veterans, the mission, expose VA to potential legal liability, and negatively impact the public did not find any other sources that could provide the aforementioned maintenance and support without access to the proprietary source code for the WellHive ION subscriptions. Unauthorized software providers do not have access to use the proprietary source code of the WellHive ION software and are not able to provide troubleshooting, updates, fixes, patches, and upgrades.

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, limited competition is available on NASA SEWP V among authorized resellers for brand name Wellhive ION subscriptions, as well as software maintenance and support. In accordance with FAR 16.505(a)(4)(iii)(A)(1), this justification will be provided with the solicitation to all appropriate NASA SEWP V GWAC holders. Furthermore, in accordance with FAR 5.301, 16.505(a)(4)(iii), and 16.505(b)(2)(ii)(D), the award notice for this action will be synopsized on the Contract Opportunities website at sam.beta.gov and will be made publicly available 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 marketplace that would enable future actions to be competed.

8. Market Research: Ongoing since April 2019, t have conducted market research by reviewing similar SaaS products and associated services. Most recently, in July 2020, VA technical experts researched and reviewed similar products which included . Based on the review of these similar products, technical experts determined that none of these products can meet all of MISSION Act requirements as previously discussed in Section 5 of this justification. There are no other products that are interoperable with AMCMS. did not find any other sources that could provide the aforementioned maintenance and support without access to the proprietary source code for the WellHive ION subscriptions. Unauthorized software providers do not have access to use the proprietary source code of the WellHive ION software and are not able to provide troubleshooting, updates, fixes, patches, and upgrades. VA technical experts contacted WellHive in August 2020 to ascertain if the proprietary software code was for sale by others. WellHive advised that its proprietary software code is not for sale and that usage of its proprietary code is only authorized through its resellers.

Additionally, market research conducted on August 12, 2020, by using the market research tool on NASA SEWP confirmed a single reseller, . On Aug 14, 2020, confirmed it would partner with eligible SDVOSBs under Group B(2) in NASA SEWP V GWAC. Twenty-two (22) SDVOSBs are on the NASA SEWP V GWAC.

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.

Health Systems Specialist Signature:

11. Fair and Reasonable Cost Determination: I hereby determine that the proposed contract action will represent the best value to the Government. NASA SEWP has already determined that the prices on the SEWP V GWAC contract are fair and reasonable. Further price analysis will be conducted.

Procuring Contracting Officer Signature:

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

Procuring Contracting Officer Signature:

13. Legal Sufficiency Certification: I have reviewed this justification and find it adequate to support an exception to fair opportunity and deem it legally sufficient.

Legal Counsel Signature:

Approval

In my role as procuring activity Advocate for Competition, based on the foregoing justification, I hereby approve the acquisition of brand name WellHive ION SaaS subscriptions, maintenance, and support 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 services herein described have otherwise been authorized for acquisition.

Date: ____________ Signature:

Advocate for Competition Technology Acquisition Center

Office of Procurement, Acquisition, and Logistics