PWS Draft MCP Service.docx

Department of Veterans Affairs Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA)

Automated Benefits Delivery (ABD) Modern Claims Processing

PERFORMANCE WORK STATEMENT (PWS)

Contents

1.0 BACKGROUND

The Modern Claims Processing (MCP) program is intended to provide transformative services to Veterans Benefits Administration’s (VBA) claims processing. The program is leveraging computable benefits data from VBA and medical data from the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) to conduct analysis and identify administrative tasks and workflows for automation. The goal is to assist claims processors in making fast, accurate, consistent, and equitable claim decisions for Veterans and beneficiaries.

Through automation the efficiency of compiling and indexing evidence data are improving the effectiveness of compiling relevant evidence into more intuitive information for claim processors to review and adjudicate. Hence, claim processors are making faster, well-informed decisions while maintaining full adjudicative discretion in accordance with statutes and regulations.

Overall, VBA’s modernization effort is aimed at addressing the growing claims inventory. The MCP program is assisting the effort by providing business process improvement services aimed at automating tasks and workflows aimed to reduce claim processing time, establish data standardization, and improve accuracy of claims decisions, for examples standardization of Disability Benefits Questionnaires (DBQ), Automated Data Ingestion (ADI), Hospitalization Reports Automation, and Automated Decision Support (ADS).

MCP focuses on assisting the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) with the following objectives to accomplish the program’s mission:

· Deliver integrated, interoperable, and secure systems to modernize delivery of benefits, enabling VBA to work with partners to improve Veterans’ and other beneficiaries’ quality of life and outcomes.

· Automate administrative tasks and workflows that will assist claims processors in making fast, accurate, consistent, and equitable claim decisions for Veterans.

· Partner with OIT to provide continuous user-driven system enhancements to improve claims processing speed and accuracy.

· Improve governance, management practices and make evidence-based decisions to ensure quality outcomes and experiences and efficient use of resources.

· Implement IT enhancement processes, priorities, and follow-through projects, aimed at developing and delivering high quality system capabilities and efficiencies to support disability claims processing.

· Prototype automation services as proofs of concept and then assist VBA in operationalizing them nationally.

This contract seeks specifically to:

1. Assist VA in modernizing the claims process by using data analytics and human-centered design to develop insights into current business process strengths and inefficiencies.

2. Assist VA with automated hospitalization reporting capabilities and associated benefit entitlement reviews and decisions.

3. Assist VA with the mapping of medical data codes to related VA Schedule for Rating Disabilities (VASRD) criteria and identifying Health Data Repository (HDR) records containing those medical data codes.

4. Assist VA with modernizing Hospitalization Decision Ready Claims by leveraging hospitalization reports data to automate administrative activities leading up the claim decision.

5. Assist VA with modernizing DBQs intake portal.

2.0 APPLICABLE DOCUMENTS

The Contractor shall comply with the following documents in the performance of this contract:

1. Veteran Information System (VIS) and VA Department of Defense Identity Repository (VADIR) documentation

2. VBA Benefit Process Flows, methodologies, and prototypes and other documentation of work conducted under the Modern Claims Processing contract shall be provided and determined appropriate by VA Leadership.

3. Technical Reference Manual http://www.va.gov/TRM/VAStandardPage.asp?tid=5176&lob=1

4. VA Enterprise Cloud (VAEC) Technical Reference Guide http://vistaadaptivemaintenance.info/va- cloud/VA_Cloud-Technical_Reference-2017.pdf

5. VA Handbook 6500; VA INFORMATION SECURITY PROGRAM and National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) SP 800-53 https://www.va.gov/vapubs/viewPublication.asp?Pub_ID=793&FType=2

6. Veteran Information Pages (VIP) Process Guide https://www.va.gov/DIGITALSTRATEGY/docs/VIP_Guide_1_0_v14.pdf

7. 38 CFR Part 3, VA Adjudication

8. 38 CFR Part 4, VA Schedule for Rating Disabilities

9. M21-1, VA Adjudication Procedures Manual

10. Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources Specifications

11. VA Informatics and Computing Infrastructure (VINCI)

The contractor, their personnel, and their subcontractors shall be subject to the Federal laws, regulations, standards, and VA Directives and Handbooks regarding information and information system security as delineated in this contract.

3.0 SCOPE OF WORK

The scope of work provides a brief overview of the work that shall be accomplished under this contract. Specific tasks and deliverables can be found in section 5.0. The contractor shall provide services under the following work areas and tasks:

1. Assist VA in modernizing the disability compensation claims process by using data and human-centered design to develop insights into the current adjudication process in order to identify opportunities for business process improvement. The current processes required by adjudicators involve significant amounts of manual data entry which is both time consuming, prone to error, and takes time away from higher value decision-making activities. This work shall enable the implementation of approved solutions; however, the scope of this work is specific to the services provided, not the implementation of an information technology solution.

2. Assist VA with automated hospitalization reporting based on medical database queries against the Veterans Health Administration’s (VHA’s) Corporate Data Warehouse (CDW) and VBA’s datasources. The primary focus of this enhanced reporting capability is to support the automated process(es) for claims establishment associated with hospitalization adjustments, which impact benefit entitlements. Additional operational improvements associated with the interoperability of computable medical data shall also be explored using similar methodologies, including data integration of clinical, laboratory, and 3rd party data.

3. Assist VA with the mapping of medical data codes to related VASRD criteria and identifying Health Data Repository (HDR) records, and potentially to records contained in other record repositories or systems, containing those medical data codes. The medical code mapping outputs of this task shall be used by Automated Decision Support (ADS) in developing business logics to prepare information leading up the claim decision for claims processors.

4. Assist VA with modernizing Hospitalization Decision Ready Claims by leveraging hospitalization reports data to automate administrative activities leading up the claim decision.

5. Assist VA with modernizing DBQs intake portal.

3.1 CONTRACT TYPE

Firm Fixed-Price (FFP) basis.

4.0 PERFORMANCE DETAILS

4.1 PERFORMANCE PERIOD

The Contract Period of Performance (PoP) shall be a 12-month base period + three (3) option years.

4.2 PLACE OF PERFORMANCE

Efforts under this contract shall be performed at Contractor facilities. The Contractor shall identify the Contractor’s place of performance in their Task Execution Plan submission. Program Management and requirements gathering tasks shall be performed at the location (teleconference or physical meeting) designated by the government or as described in the travel section below.

4.3 TRAVEL OR SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS

The Contractor shall be required to travel to or from VBA, VA, U.S. Government, or U.S. Government contracted sites under this effort to perform the tasks associated with the effort, as well as, to attend program-related meetings or conferences through the period of performance. However, travel will not be allowed when virtual means of communication will suffice. No travel expense shall be incurred by the Contractor unless authorized in writing by the Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR). Justification from the Contractor shall be provided to the Government for all Contractor requested travel within a minimum of five days advance notice. Authorized travel shall be conducted in accordance with the terms of the PWS, and travel expenses shall be made in accordance with Federal Travel Regulations (FTR) and FAR 31.205-46, Travel Costs. Each Contractor invoice must include copies of all receipts that support the travel costs claimed in the invoice. For purposes of calculating travel reimbursement, the Contractor shall use its headquarters facility as the duty station. Local travel, within a 50-mile radius from the place of performance is considered the cost of doing business and will not be reimbursed. Non-local travel will require advance written authorization from the COR. Expenses for travel will be reimbursed based on actual expenses incurred up to the limits authorized by the current General Services Administration’s (GSA) per diem rates published on the GSA website at https://www.gsa.gov/travel/plan-book/per-diem-rates. Contractors performing official travel shall include copies of all receipts that support the travel costs claimed in the invoice. General and Administrative (G&A) cost shall not be applied. No travel shall be planned unless prior approval has been obtained, in writing, from the COR or Contracting Officer.

· FAR 31.205-46 (Travel Costs) can be referenced at Part 31 - Contract Cost Principles and Procedures | Acquisition.GOV.

· The FTR can be referenced at http://www.gsa.gov/portal/content/102886

4.4 CONTRACT MANAGEMENT

All specifications of this Performance Work Statement (PWS) apply to this contract. This PWS shall be addressed in the Contractor’s Project Management Plan (PMP) as set forth in this contract.

4.5 GOVERNMENT FURNISHED PROPERTY

The Government has multiple remote access solutions available to include Citrix Access Gateway (CAG), Site-to-Site Virtual Private Network (VPN), and RESCUE VPN.

The Government’s issuance of Government Furnished Equipment (GFE) is limited to Contractor personnel requiring direct access to the network to: develop environments; install, configure, and run Technical Reference Model (TRM) approved software and tools (e.g., Oracle, Fortify, Eclipse, SoapUI, WebLogic, LoadRunner); upload/download/ manipulate code, run scripts, and apply patches; configure and change system settings; check logs, troubleshoot/debug, and test/QA.

When necessary and in accordance with FAR clause 52.245-1, the Government shall furnish desktops or laptops for use by the Contractor to access VA networks, systems, or applications to meet the requirements of this PWS. Additionally, when needed, the Government shall transfer responsibility of contractor GFE, previously sponsored by another COR, to be associated with the COR of this contract. The overarching goal is to determine the most cost-effective approach to providing needed access to the VA environment coupled with the need to ensure proper Change Management principles are followed. Contractor personnel shall adhere to all VA system access requirements for on-site and remote users in accordance with VA standards, local security regulations, policies and rules of behavior. GFE shall be approved by the COR and PM on a case-by-case basis prior to issuance.

The Government shall not provide information technology (IT) accessories including but not limited to Mobile Wi-Fi hotspots/wireless access points, additional or specialized keyboards or mice, laptop bags, extra charging cables, extra Personal Identity Verification card readers, peripheral devices, or additional Random Access Memory (RAM). The Contractor is responsible for providing these types of IT accessories in support of the contract as necessary and any VA installation required for these IT accessories shall be coordinated with the COR.

4.6 SECURITY AND PRIVACY

Contractors, contractor personnel, subcontractors, and subcontractor personnel shall be subject to the same Federal laws, regulations, standards, and VA Directives and Handbooks as VA and VA personnel regarding information and information system security.

ACCESS TO VA INFORMATION AND VA INFORMATION SYSTEMS

a. A contractor/subcontrator shall request logical (technical) or physical access to VA information and VA information systems for their employees, subcontractors, and affiliates only to the extent necessary to perform the services specified in the contract, agreement, or task order.

b. All contractors, subcontractors, and third-party servicers and associates working with VA information are subject to the same investigative requirements as those of VA appointees or employees who have access to the same types of information. The level and process of background security investigations for contractors must be in accordance with VA Directive and Handbook 0710, Personnel Suitability and Security Program. The Office for Operations, Security, and Preparedness is responsible for these policies and procedures.

c. Contract personnel who require access to national security programs must have a valid security clearance. National Industrial Security Program (NISP) was established by Executive Order 12829 to ensure that cleared U.S. defense industry contract personnel safeguard the classified information in their possession while performing work on contracts, programs, bids, or research and development efforts. The Department of Veterans Affairs does not have a Memorandum of Agreement with Defense Security Service (DSS). Verification of a Security Clearance must be processed through the Special Security Officer located in the Planning and National Security Service within the Office of Operations, Security, and Preparedness.

d. Custom software development and outsourced operations must be located in the U.S. to the maximum extent practical. If such services are proposed to be performed abroad and are not disallowed by other VA policy or mandates, the contractor/subcontractor must state where all non-U.S. services are provided and detail a security plan, deemed to be acceptable by VA, specifically to address mitigation of the resulting problems of communication, control, data protection, and so forth. Location within the U.S. may be an evaluation factor.

e. The contractor or subcontractor must notify the Contracting Officer immediately when an employee working on a VA system or with access to VA information is reassigned or leaves the contractor or subcontractor's employ. The Contracting Officer must also be notified immediately by the contractor or subcontractor prior to an unfriendly termination.

VA INFORMATION CUSTODIAL LANGUAGE

a. Information made available to the contractor or subcontractor by VA for the performance or administration of this contract or information developed by the contractor/subcontractor in performance or administration of the contract shall be used only for those purposes and shall not be used in any other way without the prior written agreement of the VA. This clause expressly limits the contractor/subcontractor's rights to use data as described in Rights in Data - General, FAR 52.227-14(d) (1).

b. VA information should not be co-mingled, if possible, with any other data on the contractors/subcontractor's information systems or media storage systems in order to ensure VA requirements related to data protection and media sanitization can be met. If co-mingling must be allowed to meet the requirements of the business need, the contractor must ensure that VA's information is returned to the VA or destroyed in accordance with VA's sanitization requirements. VA reserves the right to conduct on site inspections of contractor and subcontractor IT resources to ensure data security controls, separation of data and job duties, and destruction/media sanitization procedures are in compliance with VA directive requirements.

c. Prior to termination or completion of this contract, contractor/subcontractor must not destroy information received from VA, or gathered/created by the contractor in the course of performing this contract without prior written approval by the VA. Any data destruction done on behalf of VA by a contractor/subcontractor must be done in accordance with National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) requirements as outlined in VA Directive 6300, Records and Information Management and its Handbook 6300.1 Records Management Procedures, applicable VA Records Control Schedules, and VA Handbook 6500.1, Electronic Media Sanitization. Self-certification by the contractor that the data destruction requirements above have been met must be sent to the VA Contracting Officer within 30 days of termination of the contract.

d. The contractor/subcontractor must receive, gather, store, back up, maintain, use, disclose and dispose of VA information only in compliance with the terms of the contract and applicable Federal and VA information confidentiality and security laws, regulations and policies. If Federal or VA information confidentiality and security laws, regulations and policies become applicable to the VA information or information systems after execution of the contract, or if NIST issues or updates applicable FIPS or Special Publications (SP) after execution of this contract, the parties agree to negotiate in good faith to implement the information confidentiality and security laws, regulations and policies in this contract.

e. The contractor/subcontractor shall not make copies of VA information except as authorized and necessary to perform the terms of the agreement or to preserve electronic information stored on contractor/subcontractor electronic storage media for restoration in case any electronic equipment or data used by the contractor/subcontractor needs to be restored to an operating state. If copies are made for restoration purposes, after the restoration is complete, the copies must be appropriately destroyed.

f. If VA determines that the contractor has violated any of the information confidentiality, privacy, and security provisions of the contract, it shall be sufficient grounds for VA to withhold payment to the contractor or third party or terminate the contract for default or terminate for cause under Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) part 12.

g. The contractor/subcontractor must store, transport, or transmit VA sensitive information in an encrypted form, using VA-approved encryption tools that are, at a minimum, FIPS 140-2 validated.

h. The contractor/subcontractor's firewall and Web services security controls, if applicable, shall meet or exceed VA's minimum requirements. VA Configuration Guidelines are available upon request.

i. Except for uses and disclosures of VA information authorized by this contract for performance of the contract, the contractor/subcontractor may use and disclose VA information only in two other situations: (i) in response to a qualifying order of a court of competent jurisdiction, or (ii) with VA's prior written approval. The contractor/subcontractor must refer all requests for, demands for production of, or inquiries about, VA information and information systems to the VA contracting officer for response.

j. Notwithstanding the provision above, the contractor/subcontractor shall not release VA records protected by Title 38 U.S.C. 5705, confidentiality of medical quality assurance records and/or Title 38 U.S.C. 7332, confidentiality of certain health records pertaining to drug addiction, sickle cell anemia, alcoholism or alcohol abuse, or infection with human immunodeficiency virus. If the contractor/subcontractor is in receipt of a court order or other requests for the above mentioned information, that contractor/subcontractor shall immediately refer such court orders or other requests to the VA contracting officer for response.

k. For service that involves the storage, generating, transmitting, or exchanging of VA sensitive information but does not require C&A or an MOU-ISA for system interconnection, the contractor/subcontractor must complete a Contractor Security Control Assessment (CSCA) on a yearly basis and provide it to the COR.

l. Contractor Personnel Security

All contract employees who require access to the VA site(s) and/or access to VA local area network (LAN) systems shall be the subject of a background investigation and must receive a favorable adjudication from the VA Security and Investigations Center (SIC). These requirements are applicable to all subcontractor personnel requiring the same level of Background Investigation.

The level of background security investigation shall be in accordance with VA Directive 0710 dated May 2, 2016 and is available at https://vaww.visn16.portal.va.gov/sites/lit/vasic/default.aspx.

Background Investigation

The contract employee level of background investigation required for this effort is: Tier 1 - National Agency Check and Inquiries (NACI)

1. VA shall bear the expense of obtaining background investigations or reciprocals of previous investigations held that meet or exceed the required investigation level. The cost of background investigations is based on the current Office of Personnel Management (OPM) rate at the time the application is processed at OPM. VA shall pay for investigations or reciprocals processed through the VA SIC and conducted by OPM in advance.

2. Immediately after contract or task order award, the COR shall provide the Contractor with the following background investigation documents, as applicable, to be completed by the Contractor and returned to the COR to begin the background investigation process for all contract employees working on the contract who shall have access to VA facilities, VA systems, or privacy data:

· Background Investigation Request Worksheet

· Optional Form 306 – Declaration of Federal Employment

· Fingerprint Request Form

· VA0710 – Credit Reporting

· Self-Certification of Continuous Service

· TMS Rules of Behaviors and HIPAA Training Certificates

3. Upon receipt of the above-stated documents from the COR, the VA shall perform preliminary onboarding review and process the request through the National Background Investigation Services (NBIS). Thereafter, the Contractor shall receive email notifications from the NBIS with detailed instructions regarding completion of the background clearance application process online. NBIS) is the federal government’s one-stop-shop IT system for end-to-end personnel vetting — from initiation and application to background investigation, adjudication, and continuous vetting. NBIS is one consolidated system designed to deliver robust data protection, enhance customer experience, and better integrate data across the enterprise.

4. Contractors who have a current favorable background investigation previously conducted by OPM or Defense Security Service (DSS) may be accepted through reciprocation. When a previous clearance is currently held, it does not preclude the vendor from submitting a complete Background Investigation Package as stated above to the COR immediately after contract or task order award for all contract employees who shall be working on the contract.

5. The Contractor shall prescreen all personnel who require access to VA site(s) and/or access to VA LAN systems to ensure they maintain a U.S. citizenship or Alien Registration that authorizes them to work in the U.S. and are able to read, write, speak and understand the English language.

6. Contract performance shall not commence before:

· The VA Personnel Security confirms that it has received the Contractor’s investigative documents, the documents are complete, and that the investigation information has been released to OPM for scheduling of the background investigation; or

· VA Personnel Security has confirmed that the verified investigation shall be reciprocated.

7. The COR shall notify and forward the Contractor a copy of the Certificate of Eligibility (Form 4236) if the investigation has been reciprocated. The Contractor, if notified of an unfavorable adjudication by the Government, shall withdraw the employee from consideration from working under the contract. Failure to comply with the Contractor personnel security requirements may result in termination of the contract for default.

8. The Contractor shall be responsible for the actions of those contract and subcontract employees they provide to perform work for VA. In the event damage arises from work performed by Contractor personnel, under the auspices of the contract, the Contractor shall be responsible for resources necessary to remedy the incident.

9. Should the Contractor use a vendor other than OPM or DSS to conduct investigations, the investigative company must be certified by OPM/DSS to conduct Contractor investigations. The Vendor Cage Code number must be provided to the VA SIC, which shall verify the information and conclude whether access to the Government’s site(s) and/or VA LAN systems can be granted.

10. The investigative history for Contractor personnel working under this contract must be maintained in the databases of either OPM or the Defense Industrial Security Clearance Organization (DISCO).

Government Responsibilities

1. After the SIC has adjudicated the background investigation package from the Contractor, the SIC shall send an e-mail notification to the Contractor and their POC identifying the e-QIP website link that includes detailed instructions regarding completion of the background clearance application process and the level of background that was requested.

2. Upon receipt of required investigative documents, SIC shall review the investigative documents for completion and initiate the background investigation by forwarding the investigative documents to OPM to conduct the background investigation. If the investigative documents are not complete, the SIC shall notify the vendor of deficiencies and include corrective instructions.

3. VA shall pay for investigations and reciprocals processed through the VA SIC and conducted by OPM in advance, however, the Contractor shall reimburse the full cost of background investigations/reciprocals to VA within 30 days of Bill of Collections from VA. VA shall send up to three plus one final delinquent notice to the Contractor. If the Contractor does not adhere to the Bill of Collections, future invoices may be subject to be offset by VA to recoup background investigation costs and may be considered grounds for default.

4. The COR shall notify and forward the Contractor a copy of the Certificate of Eligibility (Form 4236) if the investigation has been reciprocated. The COR shall also notify the Contractor of an unfavorable adjudication by the Government.

Security Incident Investigation

The term “security incident” means an event that has, or could have, resulted in unauthorized access to, loss or damage to VA assets, or sensitive information, or an action the breaches VA security procedures. The contractor/subcontractor shall immediately notify the COR and simultaneously, the designated Information Security Officer (ISO) and Privacy Officer for the contract of any known or suspected security/privacy incidents, or any unauthorized disclosure of sensitive information, including that contained in system(s) to which the contractor/subcontractor has access.

To the extent known by the contractor/subcontractor, the contractor/subcontractor’s notice to VA shall identify the information involved, the circumstances surrounding the incident (including to whom, how, when, and where the VA information or assets were placed at risk or compromised), and any other information that the contractor/subcontractor considers relevant.

With respect to unsecured protected health information, the business associate is deemed to have discovered a data breach when the business associate knew or should have known of a breach of such information. Upon discovery, the business associate must notify the covered entity of the breach. Notifications need to be made in accordance with the executed business associate agreement.

In instances of theft or break-in or other criminal activity, the contractor/subcontractor must concurrently report the incident to the appropriate law enforcement entity (or entities) of jurisdiction, including the VA OIG and Security and Law Enforcement. The contractor, its employees, and its subcontractors and their employees shall cooperate with VA and any law enforcement authority responsible for the investigation and prosecution of any possible criminal law violation(s) associated with any incident. The contractor/subcontractor shall cooperate with VA in any civil litigation to recover VA information, obtain monetary or other compensation from a third party for damages arising from any incident, or obtain injunctive relief against any third party arising from, or related to, the incident.

M. LIQUIDATED DAMAGES

This contract is further subject to the statutory requirement to assess liquidated damages against contractors and/or subcontractors under 38 U.S.C. §5725 in the event of a breach of Sensitive Personal Information (SPI)/Personally Identifiable Information (PII). Said liquidated damages shall be assessed at $37.50 per affected Veteran or beneficiary. A breach in this context includes the unauthorized acquisition, access, use, or disclosure of VA SPI which compromises not only the information’s security or privacy but that of the Veteran or beneficiary as well as the potential exposure or wrongful disclosure of such information as a result of a failure to follow proper data security controls and protocols.

The contractor/subcontractor shall provide notice to VA of a “security incident” as set forth in the Security Incident Investigation section above. Upon such notification, VA must secure from a non-Department entity or the VA Office of Inspector General an independent risk analysis of the data breach to determine the level of risk associated with the data breach for the potential misuse of any sensitive personal information involved in the data breach. The term 'data breach' means the loss, theft, or other unauthorized access, or any access other than that incidental to the scope of employment, to data containing sensitive personal information, in electronic or printed form, that results in the potential compromise of the confidentiality or integrity of the data. Contractor shall fully cooperate with the entity performing the risk analysis. Failure to cooperate may be deemed a material breach and grounds for contract termination.

Each risk analysis shall address all relevant information concerning the data breach, including the following:

1) Nature of the event (loss, theft, unauthorized access);

2) Description of the event, including:

a. date of occurrence;

b. data elements involved, including any PII, such as full name, social security number, date of birth, home address, account number, disability code;

3) Number of individuals affected or potentially affected;

4) Names of individuals or groups affected or potentially affected;

5) Ease of logical data access to the lost, stolen or improperly accessed data in light of the degree of protection for the data, e.g., unencrypted, plain text;

6) Amount of time the data has been out of VA control;

7) The likelihood that the sensitive personal information will or has been compromised (made accessible to and usable by unauthorized persons);

8) Known misuses of data containing sensitive personal information, if any;

9) Assessment of the potential harm to the affected individuals;

10) Data breach analysis as outlined in 6500.2 Handbook, Management of Security and Privacy Incidents, as appropriate; and

11) Whether credit protection services may assist record subjects in avoiding or mitigating the results of identity theft based on the sensitive personal information that may have been compromised.

Based on the determinations of the independent risk analysis, the contractor shall be responsible for paying to the VA liquidated damages in the amount of $37.50 per affected individual to cover the cost of providing credit protection services to affected individuals consisting of the following:

1) Notification;

2) One year of credit monitoring services consisting of automatic daily monitoring of at least 3 relevant credit bureau reports;

3) Data breach analysis;

4) Fraud resolution services, including writing dispute letters, initiating fraud alerts and credit freezes, to assist affected individuals to bring matters to resolution;

5) One year of identity theft insurance with $20,000.00 coverage at $0 deductible; and

6) Necessary legal expenses the subjects may incur to repair falsified or damaged credit records, histories, or financial affairs.

N. CONFIDENTIALITY AND NONDISCLOSURE

It is agreed that:

1. The preliminary and final deliverables and all associated working papers, application source code, and other material deemed relevant by the VA which has been generated by the contractor in the performance of this task order are the exclusive property of the U.S. Government and shall be submitted to the COR at the conclusion of the contract.

2. The CO shall be the sole authorized official to release verbally or in writing, any data, the draft deliverables, the final deliverables, or any other written or printed materials pertaining to this contract. No information shall be released by the contractor. Any request for information relating to this task order presented to the contractor shall be submitted to the CO for response.

3. Press releases, marketing material or any other printed or electronic documentation related to this project, shall not be publicized without the written approval of the CO.

4. The contract shall be for non-personal services. These contract personnel shall not be considered VA employees for any purpose. The contractor, not the VA shall have the duty of overseeing contractor personnel and coordinating performance with the contracting officer or COR. The contractor is responsible for all personnel actions necessary to maintain an excellent, productive, and fully staffed working environment.

O. TRAINING

a. All contractor employees and subcontractor employees requiring access to VA information and VA information systems shall complete the following before being granted access to VA information and its systems:

(1) Sign and acknowledge (either manually or electronically) understanding of and responsibilities for compliance with the Contractor Rules of Behavior, Appendix E relating to access to VA information and information systems;

(2) Successfully complete the VA Cyber Security Awareness and Rules of Behavior training and annually complete required security training;

(3) Successfully complete the appropriate VA privacy training and annually complete required privacy training; and

(4) Successfully complete any additional cyber security or privacy training, as required for VA personnel with equivalent information system access [to be defined by the VA program official and provided to the contracting officer (CO) for inclusion in the solicitation document – e.g., any role-based information security training required in accordance with NIST Special Publication 800-16, Information Technology Security Training Requirements.

b. The contractor shall provide to the contracting officer and/or the COR a copy of the training certificates and certification of signing the Contractor Rules of Behavior for each applicable employee within 1 week of the initiation of the contract and annually thereafter, as required.

c. Failure to complete the mandatory annual training and sign the Rules of Behavior annually, within the timeframe required, is grounds for suspension or termination of all physical or electronic access privileges and removal from work on the contract until such time as the training and documents are complete.

5.0 SPECIFIC TASKS AND DELIVERABLES

The Contractor shall perform the following based on the schedule provided in section 6.4:

5.1 PROGRAM/PROJECT MANAGEMENT SUPPORT

5.1.1 CONTRACTOR PROGRAM/PROJECT MANAGEMENT PLAN

The Contractor shall deliver a Program/Project Management Plan (P/PMP) to the COR that lays out the Contractor’s approach, timeline and tools to be used in execution of this contract. The P/PMP shall take the form of both a narrative and graphic format that displays the integrated master schedule, milestones, risks and required contractor resource support. The P/PMP shall also include how the Contractor shall coordinate and execute planned, routine, and ad hoc data collection reporting requests as identified within the PWS. The initial baseline P/PMP shall be concurred upon and updated in accordance with Section B of the Contract. The Contractor shall update and maintain the VA PM approved P/PMP throughout the Contract’s period of performance.

Deliverable:

A. Initial Program/Project Management Plan and monthly updates.

5.1.2 MONTHLY PROGRESS REPORT

The Contractor shall provide the COR with Progress Reports, monthly, in an electronic form using agreed upon formats as defined by MCP PM and COR. The Progress Reports shall cover all work completed during the reporting period and work planned for the subsequent reporting period for each project. 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 its plan and timeframe for resolving the issue. The report shall also include an itemized list of all documents and electronic deliverables. The Contractor shall monitor performance against the P/PMP and report any deviations. The Contractor shall keep in communication with VA so that issues that arise are transparent to both parties to prevent escalation of outstanding issues.

Deliverable:

A. Monthly Progress Report (MPR)

5.1.3 POST AWARD CONFERENCE

The Contractor shall present, for review and approval by the Government, the details of the intended approach, work plan, and project schedule for the effort.

The Contractor shall specify the date, the location (teleconference or physical meeting) as designated by the government, an agenda (shall be provided to all attendees at least ten (10) business days prior to the meeting), and meeting minutes (shall be provided to all attendees within three (3) business days after the meeting).

The Contractor shall invite the CO, Contract Specialist (CS), COR, and VA stakeholders.

Deliverable:

A. Kick-off Agenda with Key Personnel as Presenters B. Post Award Conference C. Meeting Minutes D. Kick-off Briefing Document E. Known Risks, blockers, & Next Step Action Plan Document F. Base Year Success Plan

5.1.4 ONBOARDING

The Contractor shall manage the onboarding of its staff. Onboarding includes steps to obtain a VA network and email account, complete training, initiate background investigations, and gain physical and logical access, which may include elevated privileges to the necessary configuration and test environments for the various systems to be enhanced.

A single Contractor Onboarding contact shall be designated, by the Contractor, who tracks the onboarding status of all Contractor personnel. The Contractor Onboarding contact shall be responsible for accurate and timely submission of all required VA onboarding paperwork to the COR. The Contractor shall be responsible for tracking the status of all onboarding activities and report the status at the staff level during onboarding status meetings. The Contractor shall provide an Onboarding Status Report weekly for any staff with outstanding onboarding requests for review by the COR and VA Project Manager.

Deliverable:

A. Onboarding Status Report as part of the monthly progress report in Section 5.1.2.

B. Provide onboarding status weekly

5.1.5 QUALITY CONTROL PLAN

The Contractor shall develop and maintain its own internal Quality Control Plan to ensure all required records management services are performed in accordance with the contract terms and conditions, as well as the delivery schedule timelines stated in the PWS. The Contractor shall develop and implement procedures in their plan that shall identify, prevent, and ensure non-recurrence of marginal performance. The Contractor shall be responsible for making required changes in processes and practices to ensure performance is managed effectively. The Contractor shall take corrective action when any task associated with this contract is found to be deficient or substandard. The cost of correction is to be borne by the Contractor.

The Quality Control Plan shall include, but is not limited to the following:

· The Contractor’s method of early detection and correction of marginal quality of service, to include corrective action records (including customer complaints) in order to determine causes of deficient performance, including external factor(s). This method shall include providing timely written explanation/documentation of the correction of the defectiveness and correction of cause in accordance to Support Priority Response Time in Appendix A.

· The Contractor’s plan shall provide methods for identifying and preventing deficiencies and how the Contractor shall prevent the level of performance from becoming deficient.

· The Contractor’s chart showing the organizational structure and lines of authority, the names, qualifications, duties, responsibilities, and classification of each member of the Contractor's Quality Control Team.

· How the Contractor shall maintain records of all inspections conducted by the Contractor and necessary corrective action taken. This documentation shall be stored in a VA repository(ies) and shall be made available to the Government.

· How the Contractor shall monitor work to ensure that performance complies with all PWS timelines and deadlines.

· How the Contractor shall ensure all keys issued shall remain controlled items.

· The contractor shall support quality audit activities to external stakeholders as necessary (e.g. IG, OGC, Contract Auditors, etc.)

· The contractor shall conduct monthly lessons learned for the purpose of continuous performance improvement (CPI)

Quality Assurance

The Government Contracting Officer Representative (COR) shall monitor the Contractor’s performance and ensure services are received and acceptable in accordance with the PWS. The COR shall evaluate the Contractor's performance through periodic inspection of the Contractor's Quality Control Plan. The Government COR shall routinely evaluate the Contractor’s performance in accordance with the Performance Standards and Metrics in Sectin 6.5.

Deliverable:

A. Updated Quality Contral Plan Documentation Monthly B. Monthly User Feedback Report

Quarterly Performance Meeting

Representatives from each organization shall participate in a quarterly performance meeting to review performance, quality control, progress, requirements, and other matters. Suggested representation is the Government COR, the Contractor’s Program Manager, and the Contractor’s designated quality control resource. A date, time and location (teleconference or physical meeting) shall be established following contract award.

Deliverable:

A. Quarterly Performance Status Report

5.2 STRATEGIC DEPLOYMENT AND COMMUNICATION

As part of the development and deployment of services for this contract, various strategic communications and deployment tasks shall be executed with VBA staff as part of the integration of the business process improvements within VA.

· The contractor shall assist VBA staff by providing strategic communications and deployment support services and information relating to tasks in this contract to assist VBA staff in delivery and execution.

· The contractor shall proactively communicate to VBA staff any perceivable risks or potential issues for dissemination prior to occurrence.

Deliverables:

A. Strategic Communications B. Business Process Re-engineering Documentation and Facilitation C. Stakeholder Engagement Facilitation D. Collateral Materials Development & Facilitation E. User and Support Documentation Creation and Updates F. End-User Training Curriculum and Materials Development G. Continuous updates to the Integrated Master Schedule (IMS) Project Plan in the format identified by the Government.

5.3 BUSINESS PROCESS IMPROVEMENT TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE

5.3.1 ANALYZE BUSINESS PROCESS IMPROVEMENT

The Contractor shall provide analysis from conducted studies of current disability compensation operations or from use cases identified by VBA for exploration. Analysis shall be based on the Contractor’s intricate understanding of VBA and VHA data and business process flows and through the utilization of advanced data analytics wherever possible.

Deliverables:

A. Documentation of Findings and Process Improvement Recommendations

5.3.2 USER/HUMAN-CENTERED DESIGN (UCD/HCD)

The Contractor shall execute a comprehensive user-centered-design/human-centered design (UCD/HCD) strategy that shall focus on use cases identified in 5.3.1. UCD/HCD work shall include techniques and tools focused on the design and requirements process (i.e., user interviews, user stories and continual feedback, etc.) needed to implement the user experience (UX) strategy, user interface (UI) and visual design, and rapid prototyping.

The contractor shall design digital services that help people easily complete the desired tasks and are designed to optimize the Veteran’s and adjudicator’s experience with the claims process. Work shall include (but is not limited to) such tools and techniques as: Veteran interviews, adjudicator interviews, developing user personas, requirements development and priority setting, UX strategy, UI and visual design, rapid prototyping, and front-end engineering.

Deliverable:

A. High-level Technical Application Needs Documentation B. Personas and UX Research Reports C. Sitemap and Information Architecture D. UX Wireframes E. Visual Design F. Style guide and Specifications for Developers

5.3.3 BUSINESS PROCESS IMPROVEMENT PROTOTYPES

The Contractor shall develop functional prototypes representing how business process improvements identified in Task 5.3.1 can be operationalized. The uses cases identified under 5.3.1 shall be prioritized by the government and prototypes shall be developed for the highest priority items.

As a part of prototype design, the Contractor shall provide supporting documentation necessary to complete functional prototype design. The Contractor shall present the technical design approach as part of subject matter expert (SME) review meetings. The Contractor is responsible for providing meeting minutes associated with all SME review meetings.

Deliverable:

A. Prototype of Process Improvement B. Requirements Documentation C. Technical User Stories D. Technical Design Documents E. Implementation Feasibility Analysis Document (e.g. supporting Key Performance Indicator (KPI) data and Level of Effort (LOE) analysis required to support operationalization or national implementation) F. Testing and Usage Analytics Reports capturing testing, verification, and validation data based on feedback.

G. Meeting minutes

5.4 HOSPITALIZATION REPORTING TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE

As part of VA’s ongoing efforts to modernize and improve Veterans’ and adjudicators’ experience with the disability compensation claims process, the MCP program shall use advanced data analytics in conjunction with other technical capabilities including process automation, natural language processing, machine learning, and related methodologies to operationalize business process improvements.

5.4.1 HOSPITALIZATION REPORTING

The Contractor shall deliver business logic based on their intricate understanding of VBA and VHA data and business process flows that shall assist VBA with obtaining VHA and benefits related information to provide real-time dynamic solutions for hospitalization award adjustments. The utilization of the data described above shall allow for enhanced hospitalization reporting and decision support capabilities that shall assist, but not replace, the adjudicative actions necessary to evaluate and make award adjustments.

· Contractor shall…