JnA for LB Consolidation 20260923_Redaction Applied_02.pdf

JUSTIFICATION FOR AN EXCEPTION TO FAIR OPPORTUNITY

This document is a Justification for an Exception to Fair Opportunity issued by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for a firm-fixed-price order under the NASA Solutions for Enterprise-Wide Procurement (SEWP) V Government-Wide Acquisition Contract (GWAC).

The VA's Office of Information & Technology seeks to renew and enhance maintenance and support services for existing Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) Router Application software, specifically Laurel Bridge products. The procurement covers a 12-month base period with two optional 12-month extensions, including perpetual licenses for Laurel Bridge compass routers, PowerTools Suite, developer toolkits, Lighthouse licenses, Run Time licenses, and associated support services. The software maintains 1,931 existing maintenance license subscriptions supporting VA's Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture (VISTA) Imaging and the Community Imaging Exchange (CIES), enabling bidirectional routing of DICOM images and imaging reports across 150+ VA Medical Centers, the Department of Defense, and community providers. Optional tasks include up to 210 DCF Local Server Run-time licenses annually for expansion.

The justification cites statutory authority under FAR 16.507-7 and RFO 16.507-6(b)(2), asserting that only Laurel Bridge, Inc. and its authorized resellers can provide required maintenance due to proprietary source code access and technical expertise. Market research conducted February-March 2026 evaluated alternative vendors (Medical Connections, MicroDicom, LeadTools, Merge Healthcare, Intelerad, DICOM Systems, AGFA, Sectra, Fujifilm) and resellers (Minburn, V3 Gate) but determined none could interoperate with VA's existing infrastructure without significant duplication costs and extended implementation timelines exceeding one year. The acquisition can be set-aside for all Small Disadvantaged Veteran-Owned Small Businesses (SDVOSBs) on the NASA SEWP V GWAC. The award notice will be synopsized on the Contract Opportunities website, and the justification will be made publicly available within 14 days of award.