PWS eNotifications Draft 7 22 25.docx

eNotifications Services

VA-25-00089975

PERFORMANCE WORK STATEMENT (PWS)

DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS

Office of Information & Technology Health Data Management (HDM) eNotifications Services

Date: July 9, 2025

VA-25-00089975

PWS Version Number: 1.1

Contents

BACKGROUND

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Office of Information & Technology (OIT), Health Data Management, strives to provide high quality, effective, and efficient Information Technology (IT) services to those responsible for providing care to the Veterans at the point-of-care as well as throughout all the points of the Veterans’ health care in an effective, timely and compassionate manner.

VA depends on Information Management/Information Technology (IM/IT) systems to meet mission goals. Both organizations are committed to improving care coordination and patient safety for Veterans receiving services from community providers. Timely receipt of Admission, Discharge, and Transfer (ADT) notifications is critical to ensuring effective follow-up care, care transitions, and suicide prevention interventions. VA seeks to establish a subscription to ADT electronic notifications through a vendor capable of interfacing with community health systems and transmitting real-time alerts to designated VA personnel and established systems, hereafter referred to as eNotifications.

The goal of this project is to pilot an ADT e-Notification service using subscription models from third-party vendors to evaluate the potential for an enterprise-wide expansion. The intent is to notify VA Medical Centers (VAMCs) when Veterans/patients receive emergency care at a community care provider, ensure all Veteran/patient medical information is contained in their VA medical records and support the Veteran/patient in seeking follow-up care, if necessary. This contract will provide eNotifications subscriptions for an initial two VAMC sites; Corporal Michael J. Crescenz VA Medical Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (PA) and Wilmington VA Medical Center in Wilmington, Delaware (DE) for a selected Veteran/patient population.

APPLICABLE DOCUMENTS

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

1. “Federal Information Security Modernization Act of 2014”

2. Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) Publication 140-3, “Security Requirements for Cryptographic Modules”, March 22, 2019

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

4. FIPS Pub 200, “Minimum Security Requirements for Federal Information and Information Systems,” March 2006

5. FIPS Pub 201-3, “Personal Identity Verification of Federal Employees and Contractors,” January 2022

6. 10 U.S.C. § 2224, "Defense Information Assurance Program", as amended

7. 5 U.S.C. § 552a, as amended, “The Privacy Act of 1974”

8. Public Law 109-461 (P.L. 109-461), Veterans Benefits, Health Care, and Information Technology Act of 2006, as amended, Title IX, Information Security Matters

9. 42 U.S.C. § 2000d “Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964”, as amended

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

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

12. VA Directive 6102, “Internet/Intranet Services,” August 5, 2019

13. 36 C.F.R. Part 1194 “Information and Communication Technology Standards and Guidelines,” as amended

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

15. 32 C.F.R. Part 199, “Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Uniformed Services (CHAMPUS)”, as amended

16. NIST SP 800-66 Rev. 2, “Implementing the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Security Rule: A Cybersecurity Resource Guide,” February 2024

17. 45 C.F.R Parts 160 and 164, Subparts A and E, the Standards for Privacy of Individually Identifiable Health Information (“Privacy Rule”); and 45 C.F.R. Parts 160 and 164, Subparts A and C, the Security Standard (“Security Rule”); as amended

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

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

20. VA Directive 6500, “VA Cybersecurity Program,” February 24, 2021 (see VA NOTICE 24-18, dated September 27, 2024, “Update to VA Directive 6500 Cybersecurity Program”, and VA Notice 25-07, dated 3/18/25, “Amending VA Directive 6500 to incorporate M-24-15”)

21. VA Handbook 6500, “Risk Management Framework for VA Information Systems VA Information Security Program,” February 24, 2021 (see VA Notice 25-01, dated October 15, 2024, “Update to VA Handbook 6500 Risk Management Framework for VA Information Systems VA Information Security Program”, and VA Notice 25-06, dated 3/18/25, “Amending VA Directive 6500 to incorporate M-24-15”)

22. VA Handbook 6500.2, “Management of Breaches Involving Sensitive Personal Information (SPI),” June 30, 2023

23. VA Handbook 6500.6, “Contract Security,” March 12, 2010 (see VA Notice 24-12, dated April 22, 2024, “Update to VA Handbook 6500.6, Contract Security, Appendix C VA Information and Information System Security/Privacy Language For Inclusion Into Contracts, As Appropriate”)

24. VA Handbook 6500.8, “Information System Contingency Planning,” March 25, 2025

25. VA Handbook 6500.10, “Mobile Device Security Policy,” February 15, 2018

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

27. OIT Process Asset Library (PAL), OIT Process Asset Library.

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

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

30. VA Directive 6510, “VA Identity, Credential and Access Management,” September 3, 2024

31. VA Handbook 6510, “VA Identity, Credential and Access Management,” September 27, 2024

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

33. VA Directive 6300, “Records and Information Management,” September 21, 2018

34. VA Handbook, 6300.1, “Records Management Procedures,“ March 24, 2010

35. NIST SP 800-37 Rev 2, “Risk Management Framework for Information Systems and Organizations: A System Life Cycle Approach for Security and Privacy,” December 2018

36. NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5, “Security and Privacy Controls for Federal Information Systems and Organizations,” September 23, 2020 (includes updates as of 12/10/2020)

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

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

39. 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

40. OMB Memorandum M-19-17, “Enabling Mission Delivery Through Improved Identity, Credential, and Access Management,” May 21, 2019

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

42. Federal Identity, Credential, and Access Management (FICAM) Architecture, June 30, 2023 (FICAM Architecture (idmanagement.gov))

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

44. NIST SP 800-63-3, 800-63A, 800-63B, 800-63C, “Digital Identity Guidelines,” updated March 02, 2020

45. NIST SP 800-157, “Guidelines for Derived PIV Credentials,” December 2014

46. 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)

47. 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)

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

49. Trusted Internet Connections (TIC) 3.0 Core Guidance Documents, https://www.cisa.gov/publication/tic-30-core-guidance-documents

50. OMB Memorandum M-19-26, “Update to the Trusted Internet Connections (TIC) Initiative,” September 12, 2019

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

52. Sections 524 and 525 of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, (P.L. 110–140), December 19, 2007

53. Section 104 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, (P.L. 109–58), August 8, 2005

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

55. VA Directive 0057, “VA Environmental Management Program,” October 25, 2022

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

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

58. “Veteran Focused Integration Process (VIP) Guide 4.0,” March 2021, https://www.voa.va.gov/DocumentView.aspx?DocumentID=4371

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

60. “Product Line Management Transformation Playbook” version 3.1, August 2023, https://www.voa.va.gov/DocumentView.aspx?DocumentID=4946

61. NIST SP 500-267B Revision 1, “USGv6 Profile,” November 2020

62. OMB Memorandum M-21-07, “Completing the Transition to Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6),” November 19, 2020

63. Social Security Number (SSN) Fraud Prevention Act of 2017

64. Section 240 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) 2018, March 23, 2018

65. C.F.R Title 15 Part 7, “Securing the Information and Communications Technology and Services (ICTS) Supply Chain”, as amended

66. Executive Order 14028, “Executive Order on Improving the Nation's Cybersecurity,” May 12, 2021, https://bidenwhitehouse.archives.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2025/01/16/executive-order-on-strengthening-and-promoting-innovation-in-the-nations-cybersecurity/

67. OMB Memorandum M-22-09, “Moving the U.S. Government Toward Zero Trust Cybersecurity Principles”, January 26, 2022, https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/M-22-09.pdf.

68. NIST SP 800-52 Revision 2, “Guidelines for the Selection, Configuration, and Use of Transport Layer Security (TLS) Implementations

69. OMB M-22-18, “Enhancing the Security of the Software Supply Chain through Secure Software Development Practices,” September 14, 2022

70. OMB M-23-16, “Update to Memorandum M-22-18,” June 9, 2023

71. OMB M-21-31, “Improving the Federal Government’s Investigative and Remediation Capabilities Related to Cybersecurity Incidents,” August 27, 2021

72. NIST SP 800-88 Revision 1 “Guidelines for Media Sanitization,” December 2014

73. CISA Binding Operational Directive (BOD) 19-02: “Vulnerability Remediation Requirements of Internet-Accessible Systems,” April 29, 2019, BOD 19-02: Vulnerability Remediation Requirements for Internet-Accessible Systems | CISA

74. CISA BOD 22-01: “Reducing the Significant Risk of Known Exploited Vulnerabilities,” November 3, 2021, BOD 22-01: Reducing the Significant Risk of Known Exploited Vulnerabilities | CISA

75. CISA BOD 23-01: Improving Asset Visibility and Vulnerability Detection on Federal Networks.” Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), BOD 23-01: Improving Asset Visibility and Vulnerability Detection on Federal Networks | CISA

76. VA Directive 6550, Pre-Procurement Assessment and Implementation of Medical Devices/Systems, June 03, 2019

77. VA Memorandum, “VA Security Controls,” January 17, 2025, https://www.voa.va.gov/DocumentView.aspx?DocumentID=5010

SCOPE OF WORK

The Contractor shall provide and implement an Admissions, Discharge, and Transfer (ADT) eNotifications service to two VAMC’s, Corporal Michael J. Crescenz VA Medical Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (PA) and Wilmington VA Medical Center in Wilmington, Delaware (DE) for a selected Veteran population. The total number of subscriptions required is 7,000 (2,000 for Wilmington and 5,000 for Philadelphia). The implementation of the system includes configuration, installation, data migration, testing, and deployment support. The Contractor shall support the secure transmission of eNotifications using the Direct Messaging protocol, to VA’s legacy Direct Messaging system. The eNotification service shall send real-time eNotifications for Veterans/patients and allow function filtering by Veteran/patient home VAMC location. The Contractor shall also provide a Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP) to securely share Veteran/patient lists with VA, as well as technical support and system maintenance, PERFORMANCE DETAILS

PERFORMANCE PERIOD

The Period of Performance shall be 12 months from the date of award.

There are 11 Federal holidays set by law (USC Title 5 Section 6103) that VA follows:

Under current definitions, five are set by date:

If any of the above falls on a Saturday, then Friday shall be observed as a holiday. Similarly, if one falls on a Sunday, then Monday shall be observed as a holiday.

The other six are set by a day of the week and month:

PLACE OF PERFORMANCE

Tasks under this PWS shall be performed at Contractor facilities. The Contractor shall identify the Contractor’s place of performance in their proposal submission.

TRAVEL

The Government does not anticipate any travel under this effort to perform the tasks associated with the effort. Any required meetings will be held remotely/virtually.

SPECIFIC TASKS AND DELIVERABLES

The Contractor shall provide and perform the following:

PROJECT MANAGEMENT

CONTRACTOR PROJECT MANAGEMENT PLAN

The Contractor shall deliver a Contractor Project Management Plan (CPMP) that lays out the Contractor’s approach, timeline, and tools to be used in execution of the contract. The CPMP should take the form of both a narrative and graphic format that displays the schedule, milestones, risks, and resource support. The CPMP 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 CPMP shall be concurred upon and updated in accordance with Section B of the contract. The Contractor shall update and maintain the VA PM approved CPMP throughout the PoP.

Deliverable:

A. Contractor Project Management Plan

PRIVACY AND HIPAA TRAINING

The Contractor shall submit Talent Management System (TMS) training certificates of completion for VA Privacy and Information Security Awareness and Rules of Behavior Training and Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) training and provide signed copies of the Contractor Rules of Behavior in accordance with Section 9, Training, from Appendix C of the VA Handbook 6500.6, “Contract Security”.

Deliverables:

A. VA Privacy and Information Security Awareness and Rules of Behavior Training Certificate B. VA HIPAA Certificate of Completion

KICKOFF MEETING

The Contractor shall conduct a kickoff meeting within five business days after award. The Contractor shall present, for review and approval by the Government, the details of the intended approach, work plan, and implementation schedule. The Contractor shall provide an agenda at least two business days prior to the kickoff meeting and minutes within two business days following the meeting. The Contractor shall invite the Contracting Officer (CO), Contract Specialist (CS), Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR), VA Program Manager and others to be identified post-award.

Deliverables:

A. Kickoff Meeting Agenda B. Kickoff Meeting Minutes

REPORTING REQUIREMENTS

The Contractor shall provide the COR with Monthly Progress Reports in electronic form in Microsoft Word format. 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 month.

The Monthly 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. The Contractor shall monitor performance against the CPMP and report any deviations. 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. Monthly Progress Report

ADMISSIONS, DISCHARGE AND TRANSFER (ADT) ELECTRONIC NOTIFICATION SERVICE

ADT SERVICE REQUIREMENTS

The Contractor shall provide and implement a service for Admissions, Discharge and Transfer (ADT) eNotification, this service shall include functionalities related to admissions, discharges, transfers, real-time alerts, and data synchronization. The eNotification service shall provide real-time notifications to the patient’s respective VAMC ensuring seamless data exchange and communication between the different healthcare entities. This eNotification service shall also include the ability to set up rules and filters to manage the flow of data and ensure that only relevant notifications are sent.

This is a pilot program that includes two VAMC’s, Corporal Michael J. Crescenz VA Medical Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (PA) and Wilmington VA Medical Center in Wilmington, Delaware (DE) for a selected Veteran population. The total number of patient names required upon award is 7,000 (2,000 for Wilmington and 5,000 for Philadelphia). The eNotification service shall provide the VAMC assigned alerts automatically for specific events related to the patients’ care.

On a quarterly basis or as needed, VA COR will securely provide a Patient Roster (spreadsheet) for a selected group of Veterans from each of the above named VAMC’s. In addition to identifying information about each patient, including name, home VAMC, etc, the Patient Roster shall also include a Direct Address for the VAMC which the patient is associated with. VA retains full ownership of all data, both the data provided in the Patient Roster and any data generated through the use of the eNotification service. Also, the Contractor shall ensure all data exchanges comply with relevant privacy regulations, including Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). This involves encrypting data in transit and at rest, as well as maintaining audit trails of data access and modifications.

The Contractor shall populate the software solution with VA Patient Roster information and Direct Messaging system addresses. The Contractor shall configure the eNotification system functionalities to the parameters of each VAMC regarding notifications including admissions, discharges and transfers. The Contractor shall update those configurations at the request of the VA PM for each individual VAMC.

The Contractor shall provide an Implementation Plan, this plan shall include a detailed requirements analysis, identification of required data elements, a plan and timeline for deployment, the verification plan for successful deployment, documented incident response plan in the event of a data breach and plans for secure methods for data disposal when it's no longer needed.

Deliverable:

A. Implementation Plan

0. SaaS FedRAMP Requirements The Contractor shall a FedRAMP approved SaaS solution for this requirement. The initial implementation shall support at least Seven Thousand (7,000) Concurrent (pool type) patients and shall be expandable up to Twelve Thousand (12,000) patients through the addition of more licenses as the Government’s requirements increase.

An equivalent solution shall meet the following salient characteristics:

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

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

3. The system must be FedRAMP Authorized at no less than HIGH impact.

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 provide confirmation of their FedRAMP System Security Plan (SSP) and supporting documentation completion via their repository ID number and a link for VA to download the SSP and all required artifacts within 5 calendar days of contract award.

6. The Contractor shall work with a VA DTC Subject Matter Expert to develop a specific system boundary diagram including any integration and connectivity components for VA use. This will be known as the VA Implementation Diagram (VAID) and will demonstrate the proposed implementation of this system at VA. The Contractor shall complete this deliverable with VA within 10 calendar days of contract award.

7. The Contractor shall provide the results of their most recent Third-Party Assessment Organization (3PAO) Security Assessment Plan (SAP) within 10 calendar days of contract award.

8. The Contractor shall complete a 3PAO Security Assessment Report (SAR) within 10 calendar days after the SSP is accepted by VA.

9. The Contractor shall provide VA with the most recent monthly scans for the production environment within the authorization boundary and their scan upload schedule for FedRAMP within 30 calendar days of contract award.

10. The Contractor shall provide their availability to participate in monthly continuous monitoring meetings to be scheduled following successful VA ATO within 30 calendar days of contract award.

11. The Contractor shall work with VA Subject Matter Experts to test the validity of the Incident Response Plane (IRP) and ensure proper troubleshooting of issues that may arise. This should be completed within 30 calendar days of the SSP being delivered.

12. If new or unanticipated vulnerabilities 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 Addendum B, VA Information and Information System Security/Privacy Language.

13. The Contractor shall comply with data management requirements.

14. Successful issuance of a VA ATO will be required before live VA data can be used in the system.

15. The Contractor shall participate in FedRAMP Continuous Monitoring activities as outlined by FedRAMP’s Continuous Monitoring Strategy.

16. The Contractor shall participate in monthly Agency and FedRAMP Sustainment meetings following the granting of a VA ATO.

17. The Contractor shall provide continuous monitoring activities including, but not limited to scans, security artifacts, and monthly Plan of Action and Milestones (POAM) reports as outlined by VA and FedRAMP requirements.

18. The Contractor shall provide a monthly inventory report of VA sites currently utilizing the cloud product post ATO award. The inventory report will include the number of licenses being utilized and the specific VA site.

Deliverables A. FedRAMP System Security Plan (SSP) and required Attachments B. VA Implementation Diagram C. 3PAO Security Assessment Plan (SAP) D. 3PAO Security Assessment Report (SAR) E. Plan of Action and Milestones Monthly Reports.

F. Monthly Inventory Report

SECURE FILE TRANSFER PROTOCOL (SFTP)

The Contractor shall provide Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP) for sharing of the patient roster to securely exchange patient information between the VA and other entities. This process ensures that sensitive data is transferred in a secure, encrypted manner, minimizing the risk of data breaches or unauthorized access.

The SFTP solution shall employ strong encryption standards (e.g., AES-256) for both data in transit and at rest in compliance with all regulations and standards, such as HIPAA, VA data security guidelines, and FIPS 140-2, detailed in section 2.0 of this PWS. The solution must maintain comprehensive audit trails logging all file transfer activities, including user access, file uploads/downloads, and any changes. The SFTP service must maintain availability of 99.9% uptime to ensure continuous data exchange and be compatible with existing VA systems and workflows.

MONITORING, TECHNICAL SUPPORT AND MAINTENANCE

The Contractor shall provide ongoing monitoring, technical support and maintenance for the eNotification Service.

The Contractor shall regularly monitor the performance of the ADT eNotification service to ensure it meets the needs of the VAMCs and identifying any areas for improvement. Status and recommendations shall be included in the Monthly Report from section 5.1.4 of this PWS.

The Contractor shall track and provide metrics of performance in an ADT System Metrics Report and shall report metrics related to messages sent to VA by community provider, message type, and VAMC location. This report shall be in a spreadsheet format or similar existing reports formats and shall be filterable with the following criteria:

· #of messages sent to VA by VAMC (including time/date, patient name)

· #of messages sent by message type (i.e., admission, discharge) with time/date

· Messages sent to VAMC by partner name/domain name All metrics shall include a summary and detailed information per patient (i.e., Philadelphia VAMC, Partner name, Admission notification on patient XX at 7/14/25 2:15pm). This Report shall be delivered weekly for the first 90 days after contract award with the option to change to biweekly or monthly thereafter. If patient information is included in the report, the report will be shared via SFTP.

The Contractor shall provide technical support and maintenance to the VAMC’s and the PM. Any technical issues or interruptions in service reported by the VA PM shall be acknowledged within 1 hour and resolved within 24 hours. The Contractor shall also perform regular maintenance including software updates, patches, and security updates. All maintenance performed and technical issues shall be detailed in the Monthly Report from section 5.1.4 of this PWS.

OPTIONAL TASK – ADDITIONAL PATIENTS

If exercised by VA, the Contractor shall add blocks of 500 VA patients NTE 12,000 for the ADT system as detailed in section 5.2.1 and provide the same monitoring, maintenance and technical support for those subscriptions as detailed in section 5.2.3. This optional task can be exercised up to 10 times at any time during the PoP, NTE 12,000 total patients.

Deliverable:

A. 500 Additional patients

GENERAL REQUIREMENTS

ENTERPRISE AND IT FRAMEWORK

VA TECHNICAL REFERENCE MODEL

The Contractor shall comply with the VA OIT Technical Reference Model (VA TRM). Compliance with the VA TRM is achieved by using only technologies and standards that are listed as approved for use in the VA TRM. The Contractor shall provide all necessary information requested by VA to ensure TRM approval is obtained prior to use on VA’s network.

ZERO TRUST – VA CRITICAL SECURITY CONTROLS

VA has established minimum mandatory security requirements and requires that any network connected software system or service must meet the VA Critical Security Controls as outlined in the VA Memorandum, “VA Security Controls”, https://www.voa.va.gov/DocumentView.aspx?DocumentID=5010. VA Critical Security Controls identify the minimum mandatory requirements that must be implemented across all VA enterprise infrastructure, cloud computing environments, information systems, networks, and specialized devices (medical devices/systems, special-purpose systems, and research scientific computing devices) that process, store, and/or transmit VA data. Effective July 1, 2025, the Contractor shall implement these VA Critical Security Controls, within any network connected software system or service prior to being authorized for use in the VA. This functional requirement is not negotiable, and Plan of Action & Milestones (POAM) will not be accepted in the event these controls cannot be implemented for new systems. Critical Security Controls are intended to increase VA’s security posture and provide security and privacy risk visibility into the VA network and is not a new requirement. The Contractor’s failure to maintain these VA Critical Controls after implementation will result in VA discontinuing the use of the system.

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 Architecture (EA), and VA Identity and Access Management (IAM) approved Enterprise Technology Guidelines (ETG). 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 Executive Order 14028, VA Handbook 6510 VA Identity and Access Management, VA Handbook 0735 Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12 (HSPD-12) Program, CISA Binding Operational Directive 23-01, 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, and VA IAM enterprise requirements for direct, assertion based authentication, and/or trust based authentication, as determined by the ETGs. 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-05-24, M-19-17, M-22-09, and NIST Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) 201-3. Contractor delivered applications and systems shall be on the FIPS 201 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 Person Index (MPI) to provision identity attributes, if the solution relies on VA user identities. MPI 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 Technology Guideline as outlined in VA ETG.

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 IPv6-Only based upon the memo issued by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on November 19, 2020 (https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/M-21-07.pdf). Which defines IPv6-only as the state of an operational system or service when IPv4 protocol functions (addressing, packet forwarding) are not in use. The NIST USGv6 profile defines technical requirements for a product to be capable of operating in IPv6-Only environments. IPv6-Only technology, in accordance with the USGv6 Program (https://www.nist.gov/programs-projects/usgv6-program/usgv6-revision-1), NIST Special Publication (SP) 500-267B Revision 1 “USGv6 Profile” (https://doi.org/10.6028/NIST.SP.500-267Br1), and NIST SP 800-119 “Guidelines for the Secure Deployment of IPv6” (https://doi.org/10.6028/NIST.SP.800-119), compliance 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, applications, and systems shall support all applicable functionality on native IPv6-Only as well as 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-Only and dual stack (IPv6 / IPv4) users and all internal infrastructure and applications shall support using native IPv6-Only and dual stack (IPv6 / IPv4) for all functionality and operations.

TRUSTED INTERNET CONNECTION (TIC)

The Contractor solution shall meet the requirements outlined in Office of Management and Budget Memorandum M-19-26, “Update to the Trusted Internet Connections (TIC) Initiative“ (https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/M-19-26.pdf), VA Directive 6513 “Secure External Connections”, and shall comply with the TIC 3.0 Core Guidance Documents, including all Volumes and TIC Use Cases, found at the Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) (https://www.cisa.gov/publication/tic-30-core-guidance-documents).

VETERAN FOCUSED INTEGRATION PROCESS (VIP) AND PRODUCT LINE MANAGEMENT (PLM)

The Contractor shall support VA efforts IAW the Veteran-Focused Integration Process (VIP) Guide and Product Line Management (PLM) Playbook. The major focus of VIP is on Enterprise Oversight, Governance, reporting, and establishing practices that focus on outcomes and continuously delivering sustainable IT capabilities to benefit the Veteran. PLM is a framework that focuses on delivering functional products that provide the highest priority work to customers while delivering simplified, reliable, and practical solutions to the business, medical staff, and our Veterans. The VIP Guide is a companion guide to the PLM Transformation Playbook and can be found at: https://www.voa.va.gov/DocumentView.aspx?DocumentID=4371 and the PLM Transformation Playbook can be found at https://www.voa.va.gov/DocumentView.aspx?DocumentID=4946. VIP and PLM are the authoritative processes that IT projects must follow to ensure development and delivery of IT products.

The VIP Guide provides guidance for transitioning from project-centric to product-centric delivery. The VIP guide applies to all OIT Office of Management and Budget (OMB) reportable products that are required to collect and report costs, schedules, risks, and other valuable information in VA PARS (whether products are procured or developed by VA) and any VA Information Technology project effort in Software Product Management (SPM) and Infrastructure Operations (IO), or their successors, that touch the VA network regardless of IT organizational alignment (whether it spends government funding from VA's Congressional IT Appropriation or any other appropriation).

The PLM Transformation Playbook details how OIT leadership expects Product Lines (PLs) to implement PLM, DevOps, and Lean-Agile principles, methods, practices, and techniques through levels of maturity. The PLM Transformation Playbook applies to all Information Technology (IT) products aligned to PLs in the Software Product Management, Infrastructure Operations and Product Engineering organizations within the OIT organization.

Others outside the referenced groups or organizations may use the VIP Guide and PLM Transformation Playbook for situational awareness as needed.

PROCESS ASSET LIBRARY (PAL)

The Contractor shall perform their duties consistent with the processes defined in the OIT Process Asset Library (PAL). The PAL includes a spectrum of OIT functions and activities, such as 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. OIT utilizes 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 process_CONB_ext.docx (live.com). 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 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 Person Index (MPI) (formerly the Master Veteran Index (MVI)) to provision identity attributes, if the solution relies on VA user identities. MPI 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 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 VA Profile to access personal contact information, if the solution relies on VA Veteran personal contact information data. VA Profile 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.

7. Interfacing with VA Systems Inventory (VASI) to access VA systems information, if the solution relies on VA system information. VASI is the authoritative source for VA Information Technology systems.

8. Interfacing with Enterprise Mission Assurance Support Service (eMASS) to access the Authority to Operate (ATO) status of all VA Information Systems. eMASS contains the official Authority to Operate (ATO) status of all VA Information Systems.

SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER (SSN) REDUCTION

The Contractor solution shall support the Social Security Number (SSN) Fraud Prevention Act (FPA) of 2017 which prohibits the inclusion of SSNs on any document sent by mail. The Contractor support shall also be performed in accordance with Section 240 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) 2018, enacted March 23, 2018, which mandates VA to discontinue using SSNs to identify individuals in all VA information systems as the Primary Identifier. The Contractor shall ensure that any new IT solution discontinues the use of SSN as the Primary Identifier to replace the SSN with the ICN in all VA information systems for all individuals. The Contractor shall ensure that all Contractor delivered applications and systems integrate with the VA MPI for identity traits to include the use of the ICN as the Primary Identifier. The Contractor solution may only use a Social Security Number to identify an individual in an information system if and only if the use of such number is required to obtain information VA requires from an information system that is not under the jurisdiction of VA.

SOFTWARE AND LICENSING REQUIREMENTS

The Contractor shall be responsible for the provision of all software licenses and any associated licensing maintenance required for any development, delivery, integration, operation, and/or maintenance associated with its proposed application(s), software products, software solution, and/or system including, but not limited to, any and all application(s), software and/or software products that comprise, are a part of, or integrate with the Contractor’s proposed application(s), software products, software solution, and/or system for the life of any resulting contract.

SECURITY AND PRIVACY REQUIREMENTS

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 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 (or its successor) are to encrypt the file, use a secure fax, or use a traceable mail service. (Note that by September 22, 2026, all FIPS 140-2 certificate validations will be placed on the Historical List. See FIPS Transition Effort Timeline for more details: https://csrc.nist.gov/projects/fips-140-3-transition-effort#schedule)

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 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 4), signed “Contractor Rules of Behavior”, and with a valid, operational Personal Identity Verification (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…