Pharmacy Server Upgrade ScriptPro JA V5 _Redacted.pdf

VHSO Pharmacy Server Upgrade CONTROL NUMBER VA-24-00055955

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

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 sole source action is for a firm-fixed price contract for an upgrade to existing ScriptPro pharmacy automation equipment for outpatient dispensing to ScriptPro USA, 5828 Reeds Road, Shawnee Mission, KS 66202-2740.

3. Description of Supplies or Services: The Veterans Health Care System of the Ozarks (VHSO) has a need to upgrade existing pharmacy automation equipment for outpatient dispensing in the VHSO in Fayetteville, Arkansas and Community Based Outpatient Clinics (CBOC) in its catchment area to include the Springfield, MO CBOC, Fort Smith, AR CBOC, Joplin, MO CBOC, and Branson, MO CBOC.

The Contractor shall provide the following ScriptPro brand name equipment and software, inclusive of: two Remote Access Server for ScriptPro (SP) Workflow Management System, two Remote Access Server License Package, 10 Full Disk Encryption per server, nine Hyper-Converged Infrastructure 1000 Workflow Platform Server, eight Robotic Security Upgrade, 97 Client/Server Security Upgrade, Three SP Central Server upgrade server OS 2019, Prescription Services Portal factory upgrade server OS 2019, two Kiosk factory upgrade i5 Windows 10, One Inpatient SP Image Server, Three SP Central Platform, and six VA owned Equipment Virus Protection Platform software uninstall.

The period of performance (PoP) shall be 12-months from date of award. All equipment shall be delivered within 90 days from receipt of award. Installation and training services shall be completed within 180 days of award. The PoP for monthly maintenance and support services at each site shall not commence until successful completion and acceptance of all installed equipment, and shall co-term with the end of the contract PoP; not to exceed 12 months.

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 section 8 of this justification, it was determined that no competition is available for this procurement. No other products are capable of meeting all the Government’s requirements. ScirptPro equipment is currently in use across VHSO.

VHSO Pharmacy Sever Upgrade CONTROL NUMBER VA-24-00055955

ScriptPro, LLC is the only authorized provider for the upgrade, as ScriptPro equipment and software is proprietary, and no other product vendors will fully and seamless integrate with currently installed ScriptPro System. Therefore, only SciprtPro technicians can work on the already installed equipment. If this system is not upgraded to meet security requirements, all noted VHSO pharmacy locations will be forced to cease use of automation to support prescription processing needs. This is estimated to be 200,000 prescription fills per year across all our sites. If VA were to switch vendors from ScriptPro, VA facilities would have to replace the existing ScriptPro system. All current ScriptPro systems are estimated to be valued at over $3 Million dollars in replacement cost which would not be recovered through competition. Additionally, the estimated timeline for installing a new functional interface with a different provider would be at least 1 year or longer and would negatively impact VHSO’s ability to support prescription processing needs. The loss of automation use would affect patient safety and record retention for all 200,000 prescription fills.

ScriptPro is the only vendor able to provide timesaving solutions to fit the unique needs of VA. Based on the above information, only ScriptPro meets all the Government’s requirements and is the only capable source.

6. Efforts to Obtain Competition: Market research was conducted, details of which are in paragraph 8 of this justification. This effort did not yield any additional sources that can meet the Government's requirements. There is no competition anticipated for this acquisition. Additionally, the proposed action will be synopsized on the Contracting Opportunities Page in accordance with FAR 5.201. Any proposals that are received shall be evaluated.

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: VA technical experts at VHSO VA Medical Center Pharmacy (Pharmacy Informatics Manager, Pharmacy Automation Technician) conducted market research between November 1, 2023 and December 11, 2023, by reviewing similar software and equipment to ascertain if these items could meet VA’s requirements. Alternate product suppliers researched were, Parata from BD-Alaris and Optifill from Arxium. While these competing products provide some of the capability required by VA, these products do not seamless integrate with existing ScriptPro system due to proprietary constraints.

On August 16, 2024, the Government’s Technical Experts obtained a letter from ScriptPro stating that they are the only source that can upgrade ScriptPro equipment and have no authorized distributers. Based on these market research efforts, the Government Technical expert has determined that only ScriptPro can meet the Government’s needs. As such, there is not an expectation of competition even in a limited capacity.

VHSO Pharmacy Sever Upgrade CONTROL NUMBER VA-24-00055955

9. Other Facts: None.

10. Technical/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 price analysis to include the Independent Government Cost Estimate and prices obtained through market research for the same or similar items.

12. Contracting Officer Certification/Approval

I certify that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief. This contract action exceeds the simplified acquisition threshold, but does not exceed $750,000, therefore, the certification required by FAR 6.304(a)(1) serves as the Contracting Officer’s approval.