PWS Automated Discharge Planning - FOR RFI.docx

Automated Discharge Planning TAC Number: 20-57225

PERFORMANCE WORK STATEMENT (PWS)

DEPARTMENT OF Veterans Affairs Office of Social Work, Care Management and Chaplain

Automated Discharge Planning

Date: 5/30/2024

TAC- 20-57225

PWS Version Number: 7.0

Contents

BACKGROUND

The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) care system is comprised of 170 medical centers and 1,063 outpatient sites of care (Community Based Outpatient Clinics) serving Veterans in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, three territories, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines. About 41% of all Veterans receive some care in the VHA. Of the Veterans served in VHA, about 77% have served during a wartime era. Notably, about 30% of Veterans Affairs (VA) employees are Veterans.

In FY 2018, 450,543 unique Veterans were discharged from 10 different specialties of inpatient VHA care. VA Social workers routinely coordinate discharge for Veterans from medical, psychiatric, surgical, spinal cord injury, rehabilitative medicine, and other specialty units, every day to thousands of Skilled Nursing Facilities (SNFs) and Assisted Living Facilities (ALFs) throughout the country. Discharges from the top three inpatient specialties – medicine, surgery, and psychiatry – account for 87.5% of all VHA discharges in FY 2018.

In one study conducted in 2016 at the James A. Haley Veterans Affairs Hospital (JAHVH) and Clinics, 166 patients experienced an aggregate of more than 2,000 days of discharge delays over a one-year period. About 79% of the days of discharge delays were related to community placement in a lower level of care (SNF or ALF). Using an average daily cost of $2,500 per day for a 1A level for one bed day of care, the cost was $5 million to the VA medical facility secondary to discharge delays.

In June 2016, a Patient Flow Value Stream Mapping Event was led by JAHVH Patient Flow Committee & Systems Redesign. This group identified an opportunity for improvement related to the lack of automated discharge planning solutions. Existing labor-intensive processes makes discharge planning and Veteran placement a major burden on resources, and a contributing factor to extended length of stay and access to care. A workflow assessment conducted with JAHVH social workers in August 2016 yielded the following results:

· Average response time from facilities regarding acceptance of patient was 6 hours.

· Social Workers spent more than 40% of their workday involved in clerical work related to patient placement (faxing, phone calls, copying).

· Administrative tasks for placement to a lower level of care involves process of up to 42 steps.

· Staff frustration and dissatisfaction related to inability to practice to the full scope of clinical social work licensure, thereby compromising opportunities for clinical interventions and support of Veterans and families.

At JAHVH, it was determined that an automated discharge planning system will support the following VHA health care system impact:

· Reduce the community placement referral response time from 6 hours to 30 minutes.

· Reduce clinician time spent performing clerical work can be reduced from an average of 20 hours per work week to an average of 2 hours per work week.

· Reduce the numbers of steps in the community facility referral process from 42 steps to 18 steps.

The overall increase in productivity efficiency would allow clinical social workers to more effectively and proactively address psychosocial issues that prevent appropriate and timely discharge of Veterans to the appropriate level of care.

Veteran participation in his/her own discharge planning has shown to increase patient satisfaction and decrease re-admissions. Veterans who feel they had a say in their discharge planning are more likely to follow the plan. An automated discharge planning solution would allow Veterans to see pictures of each facility, read reviews and ratings, and know the location of placements. These options give Veterans the information needed to make discharge plans that are right for their individual needs.

APPLICABLE DOCUMENTS

In the performance of the tasks associated with this Performance Work Statement, the Contractor shall comply with the following:

1. 44 U.S.C. § 3541-3549, “Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) of 2002”

2. “Federal Information Security Modernization Act of 2014”

3. Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) Publication 140-2, “Security Requirements For Cryptographic Modules”

4. FIPS Pub 199. Standards for Security Categorization of Federal Information and Information Systems, February 2004

5. FIPS Pub 200, Minimum Security Requirements for Federal Information and Information Systems, March 2016

6. FIPS Pub 201-2, “Personal Identity Verification of Federal Employees and Contractors,” August 2013

7. 10 U.S.C. § 2224, "Defense Information Assurance Program"

8. Carnegie Mellon Software Engineering Institute, Capability Maturity Model® Integration for Development (CMMI-DEV), Version 1.3 November 2010; and Carnegie Mellon Software Engineering Institute, Capability Maturity Model® Integration for Acquisition (CMMI-ACQ), Version 1.3 November 2010

9. 5 U.S.C. § 552a, as amended, “The Privacy Act of 1974”

10. Public Law 109-461, Veterans Benefits, Health Care, and Information Technology Act of 2006, Title IX, Information Security Matters

11. 42 U.S.C. § 2000d “Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964”

12. VA Directive 0710, “Personnel Security and Suitability Program,” June 4, 2010, https://www.va.gov/vapubs/index.cfm

13. VA Handbook 0710, Personnel Security and Suitability Program, May 2, 2016, https://www.va.gov/vapubs/index.cfm

14. VA Directive and Handbook 6102, “Internet/Intranet Services,” August 5, 2019

15. 36 C.F.R. Part 1194 “Information and Communication Technology Standards and Guidelines,” January 18, 2017

16. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-130, “Managing Federal Information as a Strategic Resource,” July 28, 2016

17. 32 C.F.R. Part 199, “Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Uniformed Services (CHAMPUS)”

18. NIST SP 800-66 Rev. 1, An Introductory Resource Guide for Implementing the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Security Rule, October 2008

19. Sections 504 and 508 of the Rehabilitation Act (29 U.S.C. § 794d), as amended, January 18, 2017

20. Homeland Security Presidential Directive (12) (HSPD-12), August 27, 2004

21. VA Directive 6500, “VA Cybersecurity Program,” January 24, 2019

22. VA Handbook 6500, “Risk Management Framework for VA Information Systems – Tier 3: VA Information Security Program,” March 10, 2015

23. VA Handbook 6500.2, “Management of Breaches Involving Sensitive Personal Information (SPI)”, July 28, 2016

24. VA Handbook 6500.3, “Assessment, Authorization, And Continuous Monitoring Of VA Information Systems,” February 3, 2014

25. VA Handbook 6500.5, “Incorporating Security and Privacy into the System Development Lifecycle”, March 22, 2010

26. VA Handbook 6500.6, “Contract Security,” March 12, 2010

27. VA Handbook 6500.8, “Information System Contingency Planning”, April 6, 2011

28. VA Handbook 6500.11, “VA Firewall Configuration”, August 22, 2017

29. OI&T Process Asset Library (PAL), https://www.va.gov/process/ . Reference Process Maps at https://www.va.gov/process/maps.asp and Artifact templates at https://www.va.gov/process/artifacts.asp

30. One-VA Technical Reference Model (TRM) (reference at https://www.va.gov/trm/TRMHomePage.aspx)

31. VA Directive 6508, “Implementation of Privacy Threshold Analysis and Privacy Impact Assessment,” October 15, 2014

32. VA Handbook 6508.1, “Procedures for Privacy Threshold Analysis and Privacy Impact Assessment,” July 30, 2015

33. VA Handbook 6510, “VA Identity and Access Management”, January 15, 2016

34. VA Directive and Handbook 6513, “Secure External Connections”, October 12, 2017

35. VA Directive 6300, Records and Information Management, September 21, 2018

36. VA Handbook, 6300.1, Records Management Procedures, March 24, 2010

37. NIST SP 800-37 Rev 1, Risk Management Framework for Information Systems and Organizations: A System Life Cycle Approach for Security and Privacy, December 2018

38. NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 4, Security and Privacy Controls for Federal Information Systems and Organizations, January 22, 2015

39. OMB Memorandum, “Transition to IPv6”, September 28, 2010

40. VA Directive 0735, Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12 (HSPD-12) Program, October 26, 2015

41. VA Handbook 0735, Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12 (HSPD-12) Program, March 24, 2014

42. OMB Memorandum M-06-18, Acquisition of Products and Services for Implementation of HSPD-12, June 30, 2006

43. OMB Memorandum 04-04, E-Authentication Guidance for Federal Agencies, December 16, 2003

44. OMB Memorandum 05-24, Implementation of Homeland Security Presidential Directive (HSPD) 12 – Policy for a Common Identification Standard for Federal Employees and Contractors, August 5, 2005

45. OMB memorandum M-11-11, “Continued Implementation of Homeland Security Presidential Directive (HSPD) 12 – Policy for a Common Identification Standard for Federal Employees and Contractors, February 3, 2011

46. OMB Memorandum, Guidance for Homeland Security Presidential Directive (HSPD) 12 Implementation, May 23, 2008

47. Federal Identity, Credential, and Access Management (FICAM) Roadmap and Implementation Guidance, December 2, 2011

48. NIST SP 800-116 Rev 1, Guidelines for the Use of Personal Identity Verification (PIV) Credentials in Facility Access, June 2018

49. OMB Memorandum M-07-16, Safeguarding Against and Responding to the Breach of Personally Identifiable Information, May 22, 2007

50. NIST SP 800-63-3, 800-63A, 800-63B, 800-63C, Digital Identity Guidelines, December 2017

51. NIST SP 800-157, Guidelines for Derived PIV Credentials, December 2014

52. NIST SP 800-164, Guidelines on Hardware-Rooted Security in Mobile Devices (Draft), October 2012

53. Draft National Institute of Standards and Technology Interagency Report (NISTIR) 7981 Mobile, PIV, and Authentication, March 2014

54. VA Memorandum, VAIQ #7100147, Continued Implementation of Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12 (HSPD-12), April 29, 2011 (reference https://www.voa.va.gov/documentlistpublic.aspx?NodeID=514)

55. IAM Identity Management Business Requirements Guidance document, May 2013, (reference Enterprise Architecture Section, PIV/IAM (reference https://www.voa.va.gov/documentlistpublic.aspx?NodeID=514)

56. VA Memorandum “Personal Identity Verification (PIV) Logical Access Policy Clarification,” July 17, 2019, https://www.voa.va.gov/DocumentView.aspx?DocumentID=4896

57. Trusted Internet Connections (TIC) Reference Architecture Document, Version 2.2, Federal Interagency Technical Reference Architectures, Department of Homeland Security, June 19, 2017, https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/TIC_Ref_Arch_v2.2_2017.pdf

58. OMB Memorandum M-08-05, “Implementation of Trusted Internet Connections (TIC), November 20, 2007

59. OMB Memorandum M-08-23, Securing the Federal Government’s Domain Name System Infrastructure, August 22, 2008

60. VA Memorandum, VAIQ #7497987, Compliance – Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT) – IT Electronic Equipment, August 11, 2014 (reference Document Libraries, EPEAT/Green Purchasing Section, https://www.voa.va.gov/documentlistpublic.aspx?NodeID=552)

61. Sections 524 and 525 of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, (Public Law 110–140), December 19, 2007

62. Section 104 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, (Public Law 109–58), August 8, 2005

63. Executive Order 13834, “Efficient Federal Operations”, dated May 17, 2018

64. Executive Order 13221, “Energy-Efficient Standby Power Devices,” August 2, 2001

65. VA Directive 0058, “VA Green Purchasing Program”, July 19, 2013

66. VA Handbook 0058, “VA Green Purchasing Program”, July 19, 2013

67. Office of Information Security (OIS) VAIQ #7424808 Memorandum, “Remote Access”, January 15, 2014, https://www.voa.va.gov/DocumentListPublic.aspx?NodeId=28

68. Clinger-Cohen Act of 1996, 40 U.S.C. §11101 and §11103

69. “Veteran Focused Integration Process (VIP) Guide 3.2”, December 2018, https://www.voa.va.gov/DocumentView.aspx?DocumentID=4371

70. VA Memorandum “Proper Use of Email and Other Messaging Services”, January 2, 2018, https://www.voa.va.gov/DocumentListPublic.aspx?NodeId=28

71. X

SCOPE OF WORK

The Contractor shall provide a referral tool, maintenance, help desk, and professional support services to include training, and reporting requirements. The Contractor shall manage its referral network for the solution and keep it up to date.

PERFORMANCE DETAILS

PERFORMANCE PERIOD

The Period of Performance (PoP) shall be 60 months from date of award. Call orders can have a PoP for up to 12-month base period, with one 12-month optional task (software maintenance) and two (2) subsequent 12-month option periods, if exercised. The total Call Order PoP shall not exceed 48 months.

PLACE OF PERFORMANCE

Tasks under this PWS shall be performed remotely except for on-site training that will be performed at the local VA facilities contracting for the Automated Discharge Planning Software. Local facilities can be any existing or future VA facilities, as noted in the specific Call Order.

TRAVEL

The Government anticipates travel under this effort to perform the tasks associated with the effort, as well as to attend program-related meetings or conferences throughout the PoP. Include all estimated travel costs in your firm-fixed price line items. These costs will not be directly reimbursed by the Government. Travel requirements will be determined at the order level.

If required, the total estimated number of trips in support of the program related meetings for this effort is two per site rollout, estimated at two travelers per trip and lasting up to two (2) days in duration, including the base period and all option periods. Also, an option for two follow-up visits to troubleshoot any problems or make appropriate changes as needed specific to facility needs.

Travel shall be in accordance with the Federal Travel Regulations (FTR) and requires advanced concurrence by the COR. Contractor travel within the local commuting area will not be reimbursed.

SPECIFIC TASKS AND DELIVERABLES

The Contract shall provide the following:

PROJECT MANAGEMENT

REPORTING REQUIREMENTS

The Contractor shall provide the COR with a minimum of Quarterly Progress Reports in electronic form and contain at a minimum, documents the number of referrals made each month, speed of response to referrals, and help desk tickets. The report shall include detailed instructions/explanations for each required data element, to ensure that data is accurate and consistent. These reports shall reflect data as of the last day of the preceding Quarter.

The Quarterly Progress Reports shall cover all work completed during the reporting period and work planned for the subsequent reporting period. The report shall also identify any problems that arose and a description of how the problems were resolved. If problems have not been completely resolved, the Contractor shall provide an explanation including their plan and timeframe for resolving the issue. The report shall also include an itemized list of all Information and Communication Technology (ICT) deliverables and their current Section 508 conformance status. It is expected that the Contractor will keep in communication with VA accordingly so that issues that arise are transparent to both parties to prevent escalation of outstanding issues.

Deliverable:

A. Quarterly Progress Report

SOFTWARE SOLUTION

The Contractor shall provide a commercial solution (to include implementation and deployment support) that provides Automated Discharge Planning capabilities to VA. This solution shall include:

1. Ability to refer patients to a minimum of 5 facilities at one time using a single referral packet.

2. Ability to interoperate with VA Electronic Health Record (EHR)

3. Refer patients to assisted living facilities, group homes, Long Term Acute Care (LTAC), home health, intermediate care centers, hospice agencies, transitional care, gero-psychiatric units, dialysis units, community hospitals and skilled nursing facilities, durable medical equipment (DME), skilled home health, non-skilled home care and transportation services.

4. Ability to choose payment options when sending referrals (i.e. VA Contract, Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurance).

5. Shall be functional with mobile phones, laptops, tablets and desktop electronic devices.

6. Ability to display placement options including referral facility photos, maps, clinical services offered, available payment/insurance accepted, and quality rating to maximize informed patient decisions.

7. Compliant with all VA privacy rules in accordance with PWS Section 2.0.

8. Reporting functionality to include a minimum of Quarterly benchmarking demonstrating medical center impact. The Contractor shall provide a quarterly benchmarking report demonstrating medical center impact that includes the number of users and the quality results from user feedback to the medical centers. Ability to report of placements (e.g. min/max/average time for referrals)/referrals geographically (e.g. identification successful placement at a care facility/VISN/National level). Reports shall be able to detail local or Enterprise level activity.

9. Ability to provide active communication (via chat or messaging) between VA and referral facilities.

10. Ability to search geographically or within VISN.

11. Ability to verify of successful placement.

REFERRAL NETWORK

The Contractor shall develop and maintain a network of referral resources that will be managed by the Contractor with input by Veterans Health Administration. The referral network shall be able to place patients anywhere there is a VA medical center to include any US territories such as, but not limited to Puerto Rico and Guam. The referral network shall provide real time data and availability for VA placement. The Contractor shall provide contact and pay source eligibility information for all referral sources (nursing homes, home health agencies, etc.) in the referral network at no cost to the referral source. There shall be no preferences given to premium referral sources. There will be a clearly identified contact at each VA facility utilizing the product to serve as liaison with a clearly identified Contractor contact. VA facilities utilizing the product, through the designated VA facility contact, will be responsible for knowing which facilities and agencies contract with the VA and TriWest, and providing this information to the Contractor contact. VA reserves the right to refer to facilities outside of the network on a case by case basis.

SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT AND INTERFACES

The Contractor shall develop, test and integrate an interface between the solution and the VA Electronic Health Record system.

The Contractor shall develop, test and integrate an interface with Computerized Patient Record System (CPRS) in order to directly download medical records/referral packets from the electronic medical record into the referral software.

The Contractor shall coordinate with the VA Veterans Data Integration and Federation (VDIF) Enterprise Platform (EP) Government team and provide requisite data to include, but not limited to, specific Vista Data required to complete the VDIF intake process and execution of the interface with VDIF. Any Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) developed in support of the integration shall be supported and maintained. The Contractor shall ensure that updates made to potential API’s shall not interfere or inhibit use of the solution provided.

The Contractor shall integrate with other VA systems to manage access to the system using Single Sign-on and to access appropriate data needed to support discharge planning. All integrations shall be configured with code, utilize testing and be thoroughly documented.

The Contractor shall document test results in a test report for each action taken under this section.

Deliverables:

1. Single sign-on integration

1. EHR and CPRS API Source code

1. Test Report(s)

0. FEDRAMP REQUIREMENTS/HOSTING

The Contractor shall provide a hosting solution for the ADP Solutions.

0. ASSESSMENT, AUTHORIZATION, and CONTINUOUS MONITORING

1. The information system solution selected by the Contractor shall comply with the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) High.

2. The Contractor shall comply with FedRAMP High requirements as mandated by Federal laws and policies, including making available any documentation, physical access, and logical access needed to support this requirement.

3. Following guidance from the Federal CIO, VA will utilize existing Joint Authorization Board (JAB) Authority to Operate (ATO) or agency ATO issued by another agency as a starting point for FedRAMP requirements. If neither of those exist, VA will sponsor FedRAMP ATO. VA will be using the FedRAMP baselines as a starting point, since they are specifically tailored for cloud services.

4. The Contractor shall, where applicable, assist with the VA ATO Process to help achieve agency authorization of the cloud service or migrated application.

5. The Contractor shall complete a FedRAMP System Security Plan (SSP) and supporting documentation within 30 days after contract award.

6. The Contractor shall complete a Third-Party Assessment Organization (3PAO) Security Assessment Plan (SAP) within 75 days after contract award.

7. The Contractor shall complete a 3PAO Security Assessment Report (SAR) within 90 days after contract award.

8. The Contractor shall afford VA access to the Contractor’s and Cloud Service Provider’s (CSP) facilities, installations, technical capabilities, operations, documentation, records, and databases.

9. If new or unanticipated threats or hazards are discovered by either VA or the Contractor, or if existing safeguards have ceased to function, the discoverer shall immediately bring the situation to the attention of the other party in accordance with the security addendum B.

10. The Contractor shall not release any data without the consent of VA in writing. All requests for release must be submitted in writing to the Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR)/Contracting Officer (CO).

11. In order for live VA data to be used in this system, a FedRAMP Authorization and Agency ATO will be required.

Deliverables:

A. FedRAMP System Security Plan (SSP) and supporting documentation B. 3PAO Security Assessment Plan (SAP) C. 3PAO Security Assessment Report (SAR)

0. VA AUTHORITY TO OPERATE REQUIREMENTS

The Contractor shall:

1. Coordinate with applicable Veterans Affairs stakeholders for an Authority to Operate to interface the hosted environments to the Veterans Affairs Network.

2. Provide all Assessment and Authorization support and documentation required to achieve and maintain full Assessment and Authorization certification using the process specified in the FedRAMP Program Requirements (https://www.fedramp.gov/issuing-an-authority-to-operate/).

3. Generate the Assessment and Authorization Authority to Operate Package that includes the following security documentation:

a. System Security Plan,

b. Risk Assessment,

c. Incident Response Plan,

d. Information Security Contingency Plan,

e. Disaster Recovery Plan,

f. Configuration Management Plan,

g. Interconnection Security Agreement/Memorandum of Understanding,

h. Additional system description/and diagrams required by Veterans Affairs to gain access to Veterans Affairs network and receive an Authority to Operate.

Deliverables:

A. Assessment and Authorization Authority to Operate Package

HELPDESK REQUIREMENTS

The contractor shall provide Operations Helpdesk support services 7 days a week 8AM-5PM in corresponding time zone to be determined at order level. This support shall be provided real time via telephone, email or live chat with response time not to exceed two hours. This support shall include assistance/troubleshooting with operation and use of the software.

The Contractor shall document all help desk actions in the quarterly progress report.

SERVICE LEVEL AGREEMENT REQUIREMENTS

Deliverable Metrics/Service Level Agreements

· Service Availability: All deployed services shall be available and functional to serve user requests at no less than 99.9% availability. Any maintenance window outages due to upstream or downstream maintenance shall include a record of the notification that was distributed to Veterans Affairs Stakeholders, and the time which the record was distributed.

· Service Reachability: Services on this platform shall be reachable by internal and external entities no less than 99.9% of the time. All required routing and proxying services are correctly functioning and forwarding traffic. Services that are unavailable due to upstream maintenance must have an outage notification to all Veterans Affairs stakeholders prior to the maintenance window for attribution to the upstream team. The Contractor shall have access to the Government’s published maintenance windows times and dates upon award. An automated test, in accordance with the approved Service Level Agreement Monitoring Plan, and the logged reports of execution, including timing details, of that test shall be provided in the Service Level Agreement Report.

Deliverables:

A. Monitoring Plan B. Service Level Agreement Report

Training Requirements The Contractor shall provide the following as required at the Task Order level:

1. Develop and/or provide on-site, face-to-face training at each site or virtual training on how to use the software and access customer support.

2. Provide an electronic training and training materials available 24/7. Develop training materials and help content (both primary and supplementary) to be delivered via Various mediums (including, but not limited to video, narration, audio, written, in-person, webcasts, emails, etc.) for all product functionality. Materials and help content shall follow Veterans Affairs design standards and comply with Section 508 requirements and other VA required formats. The Contractor make materials and content readily available to Veterans Affairs and shall document all monthly training activities in the quarterly Progress Report.

ENTERPRISE AND IT FRAMEWORK

VA TECHNICAL REFERENCE MODEL

The Contractor shall support the VA enterprise management framework. In association with the framework, the Contractor shall comply with OI&T Technical Reference Model (VA TRM). The VA TRM is one component within the overall Enterprise Architecture (EA) that establishes a common vocabulary and structure for describing the information technology used to develop, operate, and maintain enterprise applications. Moreover, the VA TRM, which includes the Standards Profile and Product List, serves as a technology roadmap and tool for supporting OI&T. Architecture & Engineering Services (AES) has overall responsibility for the VA TRM.

FEDERAL IDENTITY, CREDENTIAL, AND ACCESS MANAGEMENT (FICAM)

The Contractor shall ensure Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) product(s), software configuration and customization, and/or new software are Personal Identity Verification (PIV) card-enabled by accepting HSPD-12 PIV credentials using VA Enterprise Technical Architecture (ETA), https://www.ea.oit.va.gov/Enterprise ArchitectureOIT/Veterans Affairs_Enterprise Architecture/Enterprise_Technical_Architecture.asp, and VA Identity and Access Management approved enterprise design and integration patterns, https://www.oit.va.gov/library/recurring/edp/index.cfm. The Contractor shall ensure all Contractor delivered applications and systems comply with the VA Identity, Credential, and Access Management policies and guidelines set forth in the VA Handbook 6510 and align with the Federal Identity, Credential, and Access Management Roadmap and Implementation Guidance v2.0.

The Contractor shall ensure all Contractor delivered applications and systems provide user authentication services compliant with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Special Publication (SP) 800-63-3, VA Handbook 6500 Appendix F, “VA System Security Controls”, and VA IAM enterprise requirements for direct, assertion based authentication, and/or trust based authentication, as determined by the design and integration patterns. Direct authentication at a minimum must include Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) based authentication supportive of PIV card and/or Common Access Card (CAC), as determined by the business need.

The Contractor shall ensure all Contractor delivered applications and systems conform to the specific Identity and Access Management PIV requirements set forth in the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Memoranda M-04-04, M-05-24, M-11-11, and NIST Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) 201-2. OMB Memoranda M-04-04, M-05-24, and M-11-11 can be found at: https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/sites/default/files/omb/assets/omb/memoranda/fy04/m04-04.pdf, https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/sites/default/files/omb/assets/omb/memoranda/fy2005/m05-24.pdf, and https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/sites/default/files/omb/memoranda/2011/m11-11.pdf respectively. Contractor delivered applications and systems shall be on the FIPS 201-2 Approved Product List (APL). If the Contractor delivered application and system is not on the APL, the Contractor shall be responsible for taking the application and system through the FIPS 201 Evaluation Program.

The Contractor shall ensure all Contractor delivered applications and systems support:

1. Automated provisioning and are able to use enterprise provisioning service.

2. Interfacing with VA’s Master Veteran Index (MVI) to provision identity attributes, if the solution relies on VA user identities. MVI is the authoritative source for VA user identity data.

3. The VA defined unique identity (Secure Identifier [SEC ID] / Integrated Control Number [ICN]).

4. Multiple authenticators for a given identity and authenticators at every Authenticator Assurance Level (AAL) appropriate for the solution.

5. Identity proofing for each Identity Assurance Level (IAL) appropriate for the solution.

6. Federation for each Federation Assurance Level (FAL) appropriate for the solution, if applicable.

7. Two-factor authentication (2FA) through an applicable design pattern as outlined in VA Enterprise Design Patterns.

8. A Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML) implementation if the solution relies on assertion based authentication. Additional assertion implementations, besides the required SAML assertion, may be provided as long as they are compliant with NIST SP 800-63-3 guidelines.

9. Authentication/account binding based on trusted Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) headers if the solution relies on Trust based authentication.

10. Role Based Access Control.

11. Auditing and reporting capabilities.

12. Compliance with VIEWS 00155984, PIV Logical Access Policy Clarification https://www.voa.va.gov/DocumentView.aspx?DocumentID=4896.

The required Assurance Levels for this specific effort are Identity Assurance Level 3, Authenticator Assurance Level 3, and Federation Assurance Level 3.

INTERNET PROTOCOL VERSION 6 (IPV6)

The Contractor solution shall support the latest Internet Protocol Version 6 based upon the directives issued by the Office of Management and Budget on August 2, 2005 (https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/sites/default/files/omb/assets/omb/memoranda/fy2005/m05-22.pdf) and September 28, 2010 (https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/sites/default/files/omb/assets/egov_docs/transition-to-ipv6.pdf). IPv6 technology, in accordance with the USGv6 Profile, NIST Special Publication (SP) 500-267 (https://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/Legacy/SP/nistspecialpublication500-267.pdf), the Technical Infrastructure for USGv6 Adoption (https://www.nist.gov/programs-projects/usgv6-program), and the NIST SP 800 series applicable compliance (https://csrc.nist.gov/publications/sp) shall be included in all IT infrastructures, application designs, application development, operational systems and sub-systems, and their integration. In addition to the above requirements, all devices shall support native IPv6 and/or dual stack (IPv6 / IPv4) connectivity without additional memory or other resources being provided by the Government, so that they can function in a mixed environment. All public/external facing servers and services (e.g. web, email, DNS, ISP services, etc.) shall support native IPv6 and/or dual stack (IPv6/ IPv4) users and all internal infrastructure and applications shall communicate using native IPv6 and/or dual stack (IPv6/ IPv4) operations. Guidance and support of improved methodologies which ensure interoperability with legacy protocol and services in dual stack solutions, in addition to OMB/VA memoranda, can be found at: https://www.voa.va.gov/documentlistpublic.aspx?NodeID=282.

TRUSTED INTERNET CONNECTION (TIC)

The Contractor solution shall meet the requirements outlined in Office of Management and Budget Memorandum M08-05 mandating Trusted Internet Connections (TIC) (https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/sites/default/files/omb/assets/omb/memoranda/fy2008/m08-05.pdf), M08-23 mandating Domain Name System Security (NSSEC) (https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/sites/default/files/omb/assets/omb/memoranda/fy2008/m08-23.pdf), and shall comply with the Trusted Internet Connections (TIC) Reference Architecture Document, Version 2.0 https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/TIC_Ref_Arch_v2.2_2017.pdf.

STANDARD COMPUTER CONFIGURATION

The Contractor IT end user solution that is developed for use on standard VA computers shall be compatible with and be supported on the standard VA operating system, currently Windows 10 (64bit), Internet Explorer 11 and Office 365 ProPlus. Applications delivered to VA and intended to be deployed to Windows 10 workstations shall be delivered as a signed .msi package with switches for silent and unattended installation and updates shall be delivered in signed .msp file formats for easy deployment using System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM) VA’s current desktop application deployment tool. Signing of the software code shall be through a vendor provided certificate that is trusted by VA using a code signing authority such as Verizon/Cybertrust or Symantec/VeriSign. The Contractor shall also ensure and certify that their solution functions as expected when used from a standard VA computer, with non-admin, standard user rights that have been configured using the United States Government Configuration Baseline (USGCB) and Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) Secure Technical Implementation Guide (STIG) specific to the particular client operating system being used.

VETERAN FOCUSED INTEGRATION PROCESS (VIP)

The Contractor shall support VA efforts IAW the Veteran Focused Integration Process (VIP). VIP is a Lean-Agile framework that services the interest of Veterans through the efficient streamlining of activities that occur within the enterprise. The VIP Guide can be found at https://www.voa.va.gov/DocumentView.aspx?DocumentID=4371. The VIP framework creates an environment delivering more frequent releases through a deeper application of Agile practices. In parallel with a single integrated release process, VIP will increase cross-organizational and business stakeholder engagement, provide greater visibility into projects, increase Agile adoption and institute a predictive delivery cadence. VIP is now the single authoritative process that IT projects must follow to ensure development and delivery of IT products

PROCESS ASSET LIBRARY (PAL)

The Contractor shall perform their duties consistent with the processes defined in the OIT Process Asset Library (PAL). The PAL scope includes the full spectrum of OIT functions and activities, such as VIP project management, operations, service delivery, communications, acquisition, and resource management. PAL serves as an authoritative and informative repository of searchable processes, activities or tasks, roles, artifacts, tools and applicable standards and guides to assist the OIT workforce, Government and Contractor personnel. The Contractor shall follow the PAL processes to ensure compliance with policies and regulations and to meet VA quality standards. The PAL includes the contractor onboarding process consistent with Section 6.2.2 and can be found at https://www.va.gov/PROCESS/artifacts/maps/process_CONB_ext.pdf. The main PAL can be accessed at www.va.gov/process.

AUTHORITATIVE DATA SOURCES

The VA Enterprise Architecture Repository (VEAR) is one component within the overall Enterprise Architecture (EA) that establishes the common framework for data taxonomy for describing the data architecture used to develop, operate, and maintain enterprise applications. The Contractor shall comply with the department’s Authoritative Data Source (ADS) requirement that VA systems, services, and processes throughout the enterprise shall access VA data solely through official VA ADSs where applicable, see below. The Information Classes which compose each ADS are located in the VEAR, in the Data & Information domain. The Contractor shall ensure that all delivered applications and system solutions support:

1. Interfacing with VA’s Master Veteran Index (MVI) to provision identity attributes, if the solution relies on VA user identities. MVI is the authoritative source for VA user identity data.

2. Interfacing with Capital Asset Inventory (CAI) to conduct real property record management actions, if the solution relies on real property records data. CAI is the authoritative source for VA real property record management data.

3. Interfacing with electronic Contract Management System (eCMS) for access to contract, contract line item, purchase requisition, offering vendor and vendor, and solicitation information above the micro-purchase threshold, if the solution relies on procurement data. ECMS is the authoritative source for VA procurement actions data.

4. Interfacing with HRSmart Human Resources Information System to conduct personnel action processing, on-boarding, benefits management, and compensation management, if the solution relies on personnel data. HRSmart is the authoritative source for VA personnel information data.

5. Interfacing with Vet360 to access personal contact information, if the solution relies on VA Veteran personal contact information data. Vet360 is the authoritative source for VA Veteran Personal Contact Data.

6. Interfacing with VA/Department of Defense (DoD) Identity Repository (VADIR) for determining eligibility for VA benefits under Title 38, if the solution relies on qualifying active duty military service data. VADIR is the authoritative source for Qualifying Active Duty military service in VA.

SECURITY AND PRIVACY REQUIREMENTS

It has been determined that protected health information may be disclosed or accessed and a signed Business Associate Agreement (BAA) shall be required. The Contractor shall adhere to the requirements set forth within the BAA, referenced in Section D of the contract, and shall comply with VA Directive 6066.

POSITION/TASK RISK DESIGNATION LEVEL(S)

In accordance with VA Handbook 0710, Personnel Security and Suitability Program, the position sensitivity and the level of background investigation commensurate with the required level of access for the following tasks within the PWS are:

Position Sensitivity and Background Investigation Requirements by Task

The Tasks are identified above and the resulting Position Sensitivity and Background Investigation requirements identify, in effect, the Background Investigation requirements for Contractor individuals, based upon the tasks the particular Contractor individual will be working. The submitted Contractor Staff Roster must indicate the required Background Investigation Level for each Contractor individual based upon the tasks the Contractor individual will be working, in accordance with their submitted proposal.

CONTRACTOR PERSONNEL SECURITY REQUIREMENTS

Contractor Responsibilities:

1. The Contractor shall prescreen all personnel requiring access to the computer systems to ensure they maintain the appropriate Background Investigation, and are able to read, write, speak and understand the English language.

Within 3 business days after award, the Contractor shall provide a roster of Contractor and Subcontractor employees to the COR to begin their background investigations in accordance with the PAL template artifact. The Contractor Staff Roster shall contain the Contractor’s Full Name, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, individual background investigation level requirement (based upon Section 6.2 Tasks), etc. The Contractor shall submit full Social Security Numbers either within the Contractor Staff Roster or under separate cover to the COR. The Contractor Staff Roster shall be updated and provided to VA within 1 day of any changes in employee status, training certification completion status, Background Investigation level status, additions/removal of employees, etc. throughout the Period of Performance. The Contractor Staff Roster shall remain a historical document indicating all past information and the Contractor shall indicate in the Comment field, employees no longer supporting this contract. The preferred method to send the Contractor Staff Roster or Social Security Number is by encrypted e-mail. If unable to send encrypted e-mail, other methods which comply with FIPS 140-2 are to encrypt the file, use a secure fax, or use a traceable mail service.

1. The Contractor should coordinate with the location of the nearest VA fingerprinting office through the COR. Only electronic fingerprints are authorized. The Contractor shall bring their completed Security and Investigations Center (SIC) Fingerprint request form with them (see paragraph d.4. below) when getting fingerprints taken.

b. The Contractor shall ensure the following required forms are submitted to the COR within 5 days after contract award:

1) Optional Form 306

2) Self-Certification of Continuous Service

3) VA Form 0710

4) Completed SIC Fingerprint Request Form The Contractor personnel shall submit all required information related to their background investigations (completion of the investigation documents (SF85, SF85P, or SF 86) utilizing the Office of Personnel Management’s (OPM) Electronic Questionnaire for Investigations Processing (e-QIP) after receiving an email notification from the Security and Investigation Center (SIC).

The Contractor employee shall certify and release the e-QIP document, print and sign the signature pages, and send them encrypted to the COR for electronic submission to the SIC. These documents shall be submitted to the COR within 3 business days of receipt of the e-QIP notification email. (Note: OPM is moving towards a “click to sign” process. If click to sign is used, the Contractor employee should notify the COR within 3 business days that documents were signed via e-QIP).

1. The Contractor shall be responsible for the actions of all personnel provided to work for VA under this contract. In the event that damages arise from work performed by Contractor provided personnel, under the auspices of this contract, the Contractor shall be responsible for all resources necessary to remedy the incident.

1. A Contractor may be granted unescorted access to VA facilities and/or access to VA Information Technology resources (network and/or protected data) with a favorably adjudicated Special Agreement Check (SAC), completed training delineated in VA Handbook 6500.6 (Appendix C, Section 9), signed “Contractor Rules of Behavior”, and with a valid, operational PIV credential for PIV-only logical access to VA’s network. A PIV card credential can be issued once your SAC has been favorably adjudicated and your background investigation has been scheduled by OPM. However, the Contractor will be responsible for the actions of the Contractor personnel they provide to perform work for VA. The investigative history for Contractor personnel working under this contract must be maintained in the database of OPM.

1. The Contractor, when notified of an unfavorably adjudicated background investigation on a Contractor employee as determined by the Government, shall withdraw the employee from consideration in working under the contract.

Failure to comply with the Contractor personnel security investigative requirements may result in loss of physical and/or logical access to VA facilities and systems by Contractor and Subcontractor employees and/or termination of the contract for default.

Identity Credential Holders must follow all HSPD-12 policies and procedures as well as use and protect their assigned identity credentials in accordance with VA policies and procedures, displaying their badges at all times, and returning the identity credentials upon termination of their relationship with VA.

Deliverable:

A. Contractor Staff Roster

METHOD AND DISTRIBUTION OF DELIVERABLES

The Contractor shall deliver documentation in electronic format, unless otherwise directed in Section B of the solicitation/contract. Acceptable electronic media include: MS Word 2000/2003/2007/2010, MS Excel 2000/2003/2007/2010, MS PowerPoint 2000/2003/2007/2010, MS Project 2000/2003/2007/2010, MS Access 2000/2003/2007/2010, MS Visio 2000/2002/2003/2007/2010, AutoCAD 2002/2004/2007/2010, and Adobe Postscript Data Format (PDF).

PERFORMANCE METRICS

The table below defines the Performance Standards and Acceptable Levels of Performance associated with this effort.

2. Efficient and effective in meeting requirements

3. Meets technical needs and mission requirements

4. Provides quality services/products

5. Incorporates “ease of use” Human Centered Design principles in any software developed.

6. Adherence to Service Level Agreements Satisfactory or higher

2. Products completed, reviewed, delivered in accordance with the established schedule

3. Notifies customer in advance of potential problems Satisfactory or higher

2. Personnel possess necessary knowledge, skills and abilities to perform tasks Satisfactory or higher

The COR will utilize a Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan (QASP) throughout the life of the contract to ensure that the Contractor is performing the services required by this PWS in an acceptable level of performance. The Government reserves the right to alter or change the surveillance methods in the QASP at its own discretion. A Performance Based Service Assessment will be used by the COR in accordance with the QASP to assess Contractor performance.

FACILITY/RESOURCE PROVISIONS

The Government will provide office space, telephone service and system access when authorized contract staff work at a Government location as required in order to accomplish the Tasks associated with this PWS. All procedural guides, reference materials, and program documentation for the project and other Government applications will also be provided on an as-needed basis.

The Contractor shall request other Government documentation deemed pertinent to the work accomplishment directly from the Government officials with whom the Contractor has contact. The Contractor shall consider the COR as the final source for needed Government documentation when the Contractor fails to secure the documents by other means. The Contractor is expected to use common knowledge and resourcefulness in securing all other reference materials, standard industry publications, and related materials that are pertinent to the work.

VA may provide remote access to VA specific systems/network in accordance with VA Handbook 6500, which requires the use of a VA approved method to connect external equipment/systems to VA’s network. Citrix Access Gateway (CAG) is the current and only VA approved method for remote access users when using or manipulating VA information for official VA Business. VA permits CAG remote access through approved Personally Owned Equipment (POE) and Other Equipment (OE) provided the equipment meets all applicable 6500 Handbook requirements for POE/OE. All of the security controls required for Government furnished equipment (GFE) must be utilized in approved POE or OE.