P03 Final JA - EMS Maintenance Technical Support_Redacted.pdf

Control Number: VA-21-00087859

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 Austin, TX 78744

2. Description of Action:

The proposed action is for a firm-fixed-price contract to renew existing Software as a Service (SaaS) brand name CrestPoint Solutions Environmental Management Operations Efficiency Dashboard subscription maintenance and technical support services.

3. Description of Supplies or Services:

Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN) 8 Network Office requires renewal of maintenance and technical support for nine (9) existing brand name CrestPoint Solutions Environmental Management Operations Efficiency Dashboard Report Modules currently being used by 80 users in Environmental Management Service (EMS) throughout seven (7) VISN 8 VA Medical Center facilities. Maintenance will renewal licenses for all sites and enable continued uploading and downloading of existing and required future data, as well as data analysis for reporting capabilities.

Additionally, the CrestPoint technical support will provide on-going online and in-person training for current and future users as needed. The dashboard allows the capability for oversight responsibility at the National, Network, Regional, and Local level necessary to manage and monitor EMS operations is a consolidated approach for the following EMS Scopes of Service: Healthcare Sanitation; Textile Management; Groundskeeping;

Waste Management; Integrated Pest Management; Rounding Audits/Inspections; Asset Management; Task Frequency Analysis (TFA) Staffing Model Guidance; and Cost/Budget Management. The period of performance shall include a 12 month base period, with two (2), 12-month option periods. The total estimated value of the proposed effort inclusive of all option periods 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, as described in paragraph 8 of this justification, it was determined that limited competition is available for this procurement. The CrestPoint Solution was selected for award for the existing VISN 8 contract in Fiscal Year 2020 as

EMS Maintenance and Technical Support Control Number: VA-21-00087859 a pilot system for VISN 8. During this time, the CrestPoint solution has continued to develop a proprietary software that creates a more patient-centered, mission-driven dashboard model. Using data collected with Environmental Management Operations Efficiency Dashboard over the past year, each VISN 8 medical center has built a business plan focused on facility priorities to be better prepared for internal and external audits conducted by Office of Inspector General, The Joint Commission (TJC), Comprehensive Accreditation Program (CAP), TJC mock reviews by The Mihalik Group and other reviewing agencies. The dashboard has provided reliable, real time information. The software collects submitted data and populates it into easy to use accessible dashboards that give a visual breakdown of all EMS operational program components centralized into one consolidated location. This allows for local, national and VISN oversight and allowing for but not limited to: Managing and tracking inspections and deficiencies for performance improvement, Tracking bed turnover process, Reporting and analyzing Textile Care production data and cost of operations, Tracking project management critical milestones, risks, and hurdles, Managing EMS budget object codes per fund control points to allow for up-to-date current data for efficient and critical decision making, Managing EMS day to day key performance metrics, Managing EMS Key Performance Indicators (KPI), Incorporating both second and third-party EMS related deficiencies to track remedy actions to closure, Incorporating the EcoSure VCS Audit EMS related findings, Incorporating IPM actions taken to address identified/reported deficiencies, and Tracking on a per pay period basis each site’s EMS Housekeeping staffing variances.

The use of any other software would require VISN 8 to duplicate the past year’s work including uploading three years of data into the platform modules and delay on-going functionalities of the software. As the modules were exclusively developed requiring extensive work in the last year for VISN 8 facility needs and are proprietary to Crestpoint’s platform, selection of any alternate vendor would require a extensive development of a new product to produce modules including the EMS Scopes of Service to include Healthcare Sanitation; Textile Management; Groundskeeping; Waste Management; Integrated Pest Management; Rounding Audits/Inspections; Asset Management; Task Frequency Analysis (TFA) Staffing Model Guidance; and Cost/Budget Management comparable to what Crestpoint has already developed and would also require the migration and upload of years of data into a new platform. Based on previous acquisition history, VA estimates that the time necessary to complete this migration and upload of data to any other platform would take a minimum of 6-12 months and is estimated to cost a minimum of Additionally, new interfaces or modules for each of the program sections would need to be re-developed, and the procurement of hardware such as servers and tablet devices for use on local stations would also be necessary significantly increasing the estimated duplicative costs. These duplicative costs would not be recovered through competition. Failure to continue the maintenance of the existing Environmental Management Operations Efficiency Dashboard through brand name CrestPoint subscription maintenance and technical support services would result in delays of approximately one year in VA’s ability to

EMS Maintenance and Technical Support Control Number: VA-21-00087859 continue oversight necessary to manage and monitor EMS operations. This would have a direct negative impact on VA’s ability to manage numerous Veteran facing initiatives.

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 technical requirements. It has been determined however that limited competition is viable among authorized resellers for the brand name requirements specified herein. In accordance with FAR 5.301, the award notice for this action will be synopsized on the beta.SAM.gov Contract Opportunities website and this justification 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 market place that would enable future actions to be competed.

Specifically, the government will continue to research similar SaaS and maintenance support services to determine if new products and services enter the marketplace that are compatible with the CrestPoint environments described above.

8. Market Research:

The Government's technical experts conducted web-based market research in September 2021 and reviewed similar software products from alternative vendors.

Specific products reviewed were Janitorial Manager, Virtual Manager and SmartInspect.

Based on this review of similar brand name software products and services it was determined that no other source can provide the required software modules to meet the EMS Scopes of Service to include Healthcare Sanitation; Textile Management;

Groundskeeping; Waste Management; Integrated Pest Management; Rounding Audits/Inspections; Asset Management; Task Frequency Analysis (TFA) Staffing Model Guidance; and Cost/Budget Management. In addition, use of any alternative source would require the migration of years of data to the alternative platform. Only through use of brand name CrestPoint Solutions software can VA avoid the extensive duplicative time and efforts as detailed in Section 5 of this justification.

Two (2) NASA SEWP V providers for CrestPoint products were found in SEWP Provider Lookup, one of which is a SDVOSB. Additionally, a representative from CrestPoint, the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM), confirmed by email on August 10, 2021 that it does have three (3) authorized resellers of which two (2) are SDVOSB. Therefore, this requirement will be competed open market on beta.SAM.gov Contract Opportunities.

9. Other Facts: None.