P03 JA Powerscribe Final Redacted.pdf

JUSTIFICATION AND APPROVAL

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: This proposed action is for the award of a firm-fixed-price task order issued under the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Solutions for Enterprise-Wide Procurement (SEWP) V Governmentwide Acquisition Contract (GWAC) for renewal of brand name Powerscribe software licenses, maintenance, and support.

3. Description of Supplies or Services: The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Veterans Health Administration (VHA), Veterans Integrated Services Network (VISN) 10 requires renewal of software licenses, maintenance and support services for existing brand name Powerscribe radiology dictation system. VISN 10 is comprised of ten (10) medical centers, and the independent Columbus, Ohio Ambulatory Care clinic, and a network of 63 Community Based Outpatient Clinics. VHA VISN 10 already has Powerscribe active at all eleven (11) sites and integrated with both Oracle Health and Veterans Health Information System and Technology Architecture (VISTA). VHA VISN 10 requires annual maintenance and support for the dictation system currently in operation. The period of performance shall be one (1) 11-month period. The total estimated value of the proposed action is $ .

4. Statutory Authority: Pursuant to Revolutionary Federal Acquisition Regulation

Overhaul (RFO) 16.507-7(b), 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 the 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: Brand name radiology dictations system, Powerscribe, is already implemented and in operation at all sites in VISN

10. Service and maintenance of the brand name Powerscribe software can only be provided by technical personnel from Nuance (Microsoft). Based on market research as described in section 8 of this justification, it was determined that limited competition is available among resellers for the required brand name Powerscribe products and services. Powerscribe radiology dictation system is the only approved system to interface both with VISTA and Oracle Health electronic health records.

If a different radiology dictation system was procured, VISN 10 would have to fund for the replacement of the existing Powerscribe system and implement, configure, and test the new system. To replace the current system, it would cost VISN 10

Powerscribe Software Licenses, Maintenance, and Support Services approximately $1.45 million in replacement costs and additional maintenance support required in subsequent years. Additionally, new interfaces would need to be approved, funded, and developed via Oracle Health and VISTA. Based on prior efforts, it is estimated this would cost the Government approximately $750,000 to build out the new interface with Oracle Health/Oracle Health. Additionally, it would take over a year to obtain approval, funding and design of the interface which does not meet VISN 10 needs as maintenance and support is required in September 2026. Therefore, no other brand name is currently available that can meet the Government’s requirements. The procurement of alternate hardware rather than continuing to use the existing brand would result in substantial duplication of costs, which would not be recovered through a new competitive acquisition.

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 could meet the Government’s requirements. However, the undersigned VA technical representative determined that limited competition is available among authorized resellers for brand name Powerscribe licenses, as well as maintenance and support services. In accordance with RFO 16.507-7(c)(1)(ii) this justification will be provided with the solicitation to all appropriate NASA SEWP V GWAC holders.

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: Market research was conducted in May and June 2026 by reviewing Emergency Care Research Institute (ECRI) and KLAS Research product comparison tools. Two (2) other vendors were found that provide radiology dictation systems: 3M MModal Fluency for Imaging and Dolbey Fusion Expert. Both vendors currently do not have an approved VHA Oracle Heath interface designed for use in VA. This would require a New Service Request (NSR) to be submitted, approved and a new contract with Oracle Health to design the new radiology dictation system with Oracle Health. Powerscribe, the Nuance solution, already has an approved and designed interface for Oracle Health’s Oracle Health. 3M and Dolbey also are not able to provide the needed software and maintenance services for existing VISN 10 dictation system, Powerscribe, as they do not have access to the necessary proprietary source code.

The Contract Specialist (CS) conducted additional market research, in July 2026, by identifying 87 contract holders that are resellers of brand name Nuance and support by utilizing the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Solutions for Enterprise-Wide Procurement (SEWP) V Government Wide Acquisition Contract (GWAC)) Market Research Tool. Of these 87 resellers, 23 are verified SDVOSBs, 3 are VOSBs, 21 are Woman-Owned Small Businesses, 4 are HUBzone Small Businesses, 20 are Small Businesses, and 16 are Large Businesses. Of the 87

Powerscribe Software Licenses, Maintenance, and Support Services resellers, it was determined that 18 are Approved Resellers, 5 of which are SDVOSBs.

Based on market research results, as shown above, there is reasonable expectation that two or more SDVOSBs are capable of meeting the requirement. Therefore, it has been determined by the Contracting Officer that the subject solicitation will be released as a SDVOSB set-aside on NASA SEWP GWAC V under NAICS code 541519.

9. Other Facts: None.