Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan Template(QASP).doc

THIS QASP IS A TEMPLATE AND SHOULD BE CONSIDERED A PROVISION. THIS ATTACHMENT WILL NOT BE PRESENT IN THE AWARDED CONTRACT. SEE PROPOSAL PREPARATION INSTRUCTIONS FOR FURTHER INSTRUCTION.

Project QASP Template

Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan

For: Medical Services Contract Number: < Upon award, Government will enter contract number> Contract Description: < Provided brief contract description (2-3 sentences) of services to be provided.>

Contractor’s name: <Enter your company name.> (hereafter referred to as the contractor).

1. PURPOSE

This Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan (QASP) provides a systematic method to evaluate performance for the stated contract. This QASP explains the following:

· What will be monitored.

· How monitoring will take place.

· Who will conduct the monitoring.

· How monitoring efforts and results will be documented.

This QASP does not detail how the contractor accomplishes the work. Rather, the QASP is created with the premise that the contractor is responsible for management and quality control actions to meet the terms of the contract. It is the Government’s responsibility to be objective, fair, and consistent in evaluating performance.

This QASP is a “living document” and the Government may review and revise it on a regular basis. However, the Government shall coordinate changes with the contractor. Copies of the original QASP and revisions shall be provided to the contractor and Government officials implementing surveillance activities.

2. Government Roles and Responsibilities

The following personnel shall oversee and coordinate surveillance activities.

a. Contracting Officer (CO) - The CO shall ensure performance of all necessary actions for effective contracting, ensure compliance with the contract terms, and shall safeguard the interests of the United States in the contractual relationship. The CO shall also assure that the contractor receives impartial, fair, and equitable treatment under this contract. The CO is ultimately responsible for the final determination of the adequacy of the contractor’s performance.

Assigned CO: <Upon award, Government will enter name.> Organization or Agency: Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of Acquisition and Materiel Management

b. Contracting Officer’s Technical Representative (COTR) - The COTR is responsible for technical administration of the contract and shall assure proper Government surveillance of the contractor’s performance. The COTR shall keep a quality assurance file. The COTR is not empowered to make any contractual commitments or to authorize any contractual changes on the Government’s behalf.

Assigned COTR: <Upon award, Government will enter name.>

c. Other Key Government Personnel - <Upon award, Government will enter name, if applicable. This may include Performance Monitors, Clinical Quality experts, etc. who act on behalf of the COTR to monitor performance.>

3. Contractor Representatives The following employees of the contractor serve as the contractor’s program manager for this contract.

a. Program Manager - <Enter name.>

b. Other Contractor Personnel - <Enter name(s) or delete these lines if not applicable> Title: <Enter title(s) or delete these lines if not applicable.>

4. Performance Standards Performance standards define desired services. The Government performs surveillance to determine if the contractor exceeds, meets or does not meet these standards.

The Performance Requirements Summary Matrix, paragraph <enter number> in the Performance Work Statement (PWS), includes performance standards. The Government shall use these standards to determine contractor performance and shall compare contractor performance to the Acceptable Quality Level (AQL).

<Insert the performance standards matrix from the Performance Requirements section in your proposed PWS below. The matrix currently inserted below is a copy of the matrix provided in the PWS Template provided by VA to Offerors. The matrix below should be tailored to your specific technical solution. Performance standards not applicable to your solutions should have been deleted and any additional proposed standards should have been added.>

Managing Fleet

Operations

5. Incentives The Government shall use <Exercise of Option Period and past performance and/or any other incentive that was proposed in your solution.> as incentives. Incentives shall be based on exceeding, meeting, or not meeting performance standards.

6. Methods of QA Surveillance Various methods exist to monitor performance. The COTR shall use the surveillance methods listed below in the administration of this QASP.

a. DIRECT OBSERVATION. (Can be performed periodically or through 100% surveillance.)

<Insert performance standard(s) IDs or delete this method.>

b. PERIODIC INSPECTION. (Evaluates outcomes on a periodic basis. Inspections may be scheduled [Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Quarterly, or annually] or unscheduled, as required.)

<Insert performance standard(s) IDs or delete this method.>

c. USER SURVEY. (Combines elements of validated user complaints and random sampling. Random survey is conducted to solicit user satisfaction. May also generate inspections and sampling.)

<Insert performance standard(s) IDs or delete this method.>

d. VALIDATED USER/CUSTOMER COMPLAINTS. (Relies on the patient to identify deficiencies. Complaints are then investigated and validated.)

<Insert performance standard(s) IDs or delete this method.>

e. 100% INSPECTION. (Evaluates all outcomes.)

<Insert performance standard(s) IDs or delete this method.>

f. PERIODIC SAMPLING. (Variation of random sampling. However, sample is only taken when a problem/deficiency is suspected. Sample results are applicable only for the specific work inspected. Since sample is not entirely random, it cannot be applied to total activity performance.)

<Insert performance standard(s) IDs or delete this method.>

g. RANDOM SAMPLING. (Designed to evaluate performance by randomly selecting and inspecting a sample of cases.

<Insert performance standard(s) IDs or delete this method.>

h. Progress or status meetings.

<Insert performance standard(s) IDs or delete this method.>

i. Analysis of contractor's progress reports. (Evaluate cost, schedule, etc.)

<Insert performance standard(s) IDs or delete this method.>

8. Ratings Metrics and methods are designed to determine if performance exceeds, meets, or does not meet a given standard and acceptable quality level. A rating scale shall be used to determine a positive, neutral, or negative outcome. The following ratings shall be used:

9. DOCUMENTING PERFORMANCE

a. Acceptable Performance The Government shall document positive performance. Any report may become a part of the supporting documentation for any contractual action.

b. Unacceptable performance When unacceptable performance occurs, the COTR shall inform the contractor. This will normally be in writing unless circumstances necessitate verbal communication. In any case the COTR shall document the discussion and place it in the COTR file.

When the COTR determines formal written communication is required, the COTR shall prepare a Contract Discrepancy Report (CDR), and present it to the contractor's program manager.

The contractor shall acknowledge receipt of the CDR in writing. The CDR will specify if the contractor is required to prepare a corrective action plan to document how the contractor shall correct the unacceptable performance and avoid a recurrence. The CDR will also state how long after receipt the contractor has to present this corrective action plan to the COTR. The Government shall review the contractor's corrective action plan to determine acceptability.

Any CDRs may become a part of the supporting documentation for any contractual action deemed necessary by the CO.

10. Frequency of Measurement

a. Frequency of Measurement.

During contract performance, the COTR will periodically analyze whether the negotiated frequency of surveillance is appropriate for the work being performed.

b. Frequency of Performance Assessment Meetings.

The COTR shall meet with the contractor <enter how often> to assess performance and shall provide a written assessment.

<After award, both the contractor’s Program Manager and the COTR shall sign this document.>

Signature – Contractor Program Manager

Signature – Contracting Officer’s Technical Representative

QASP Template

NOTES ON USING THIS TEMPLATE:

This template has been developed to assist you in creating a Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan (QASP). The purpose of the QASP is to provide the Government and contractor with evaluation criteria that determines whether or not the performance standards for a specific contract have been met.

This template should be TAILORED to meet your specific requirements. The performance standards included in this QASP should match the performance standards proposed in the “Performance Requirements Summary Matrix” in your PWS.

The following guidelines are provided for using this template:

Instructions, explanations, and comments are embedded throughout this template in two forms:

AND

< User input guidance looks like this. >

TO FINALIZE THIS DOCUMENT:

Remove all instruction boxes throughout the document.

Remove all ‘< >’ markers.

Remove all highlighting.

< Place the performance standard(s) ID(s) (from the matrix above) after the description of the method. Delete any methods that are not required. Add any other methods of surveillance specific to your proposed solution.>

<State the method(s) that shall be used. Relate the method you select to the performance standards. The rating method may depend on the monitoring techniques you select. One rating method may be used for all standards or multiple methods may be used>