Questions and Answers_Special Notice.xlsx
XLSX spreadsheet 29 KB Posted
- Solicitation number
- 36C10G23R0007
About this file
This document contains questions and answers regarding a forthcoming solicitation for the Department of Veterans Affairs Connected Care Integrated Network (CCIN) requirement. The CCIN requirement includes product ordering, inventory, and asset management; help desk support; application development and remediation; and infrastructure and architecture support. The period of performance is anticipated to be five years from date of award, with two optional one-year ordering periods, and task orders are expected to be firm-fixed price. Key issues addressed include potential organizational conflicts of interest between the CCIN contractor and Connected Care Equipment Catalog contractors, requirements for Cisco Gold Partnership and FedRAMP authorization, inventory levels and cellular data plans.
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Other files
| File | Type | Posted |
|---|---|---|
| PWS Attach 3 Product List CCIN.xlsx | XLSX spreadsheet | |
| 36C10G23R0007_PreSolicitation Notice.docx | DOCX document | |
| Attachment C PWS_CCIN 6JAN22.docx | DOCX document |
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questions
| # | Document | Page | Requirement | Question | Package Changes / Proposed Responses |
| 1 | CCIN PWS | 4 | FA1 states that the work of the CCIN provider will be "ordering and distribution of connected products from CCIN and the CCPC." | Please confirm the VA will conduct competition between CCPC BPA primes, and that the CCIN contractor will, at the direction of the VA, only be responsible for processing the final order from the appropriate CCPC vendor at the VA's direction. | Products will be logically grouped on CCPC and each group of products will be provided by one vendor. Therefore, it will not be necessary to compete amongst CCPC vendors after the initial competition resulting in BPA award. The CCIN vendor will only be responsible for processing orders. |
| 2 | CCIN PWS | 4 | FA1 states that the work of the CCIN provider will be "ordering and distribution of connected products from CCIN and the CCPC." | Will there be any instances where VA would order directly from the CCPC BPA primes? | No. |
| 3 | CCIN PWS | 4 | FA1 states that the work of the CCIN provider will be "ordering and distribution of connected products from CCIN and the CCPC." | Will there be an OCI preventing vendors from Priming both CCIN and CCPC? | In the CCIN and CCPC solicitations, offerors will be required to self-identify potential OCIs, including those that might be created by an award of the PSI contract. Offerors will be required to submit OCI mitigation plans that will be considered by the Government. |
| 4 | CCIN PWS | 4 | FA1 states that the work of the CCIN provider will be "ordering and distribution of connected products from CCIN and the CCPC." | If yes to above, what type(s) of OCI(s) is anticipated (i.e., Unequal Access to Information, Impaired Objectivity, and/or Biased Ground Rules) and will the Government be willing to consider a contractor’s proposed mitigation approach? | It will not been know what potential OCIs could occur unitl the Government Reviews proposals and look at specific products and services offered. See answer to question 3 above on OCI mitigation approaches. |
| 5 | CCIN PWS | 17 | 5.2.1: Currently, over 250,000 connected care hardware assets are managed at any given time and up to 75,000 connected care hardware assets are shipped in up to 10,000 shipments per year. | Will there be ODCs to account for the storage of assets at OCCHD and shipping of assets from OCCHD to VA sites? We respectfully request that language on how ODCs are handled be incorporated into the final RFP. | The solution industry proposes will be based on overaching firm fixed price contract. |
| 6 | Attachment 3 Product List | n/a | Lines 11A - 11E; 12A-12D; 13A - 13E; 14A-14D; 15A - 15E; and 16A - 16D | Please note the references in Column H do not align to the appropriate Lines. For instance, in 11a-11e - column H should state: See salient characteristics under line 11 instead of line 8. | Attachment 3 updated to correct this error. |
| 7 | Attachment 3 Product List | 1 | HIPAA-compliant Interactive Chat Application - enterprise-grade annual software license and support enabling Veteran-initiated secure chat staffed by one or more VA staffing resource(s) of various care specialties. Units of 10,000 chats. | Is there a requirement for each VISN to have a unique deployment with different features and options turned on and off based on the VISN needs or is there to be a single enterprise implementation with no unique customization by VISN? | Facilities will have differing needs for days and hours of operation, service channels (e.g, nursing, scheduling, urgent care), specific content for standard messaging (e.g., welcome) and phrase short cuts. Attachment 3 has been updated to reflect this. |
| 8 | Attachment 3 Product List | 1 | HIPAA-compliant Interactive Chat Application - enterprise-grade annual software license and support enabling Veteran-initiated secure chat staffed by one or more VA staffing resource(s) of various care specialties. Units of 10,000 chats. | Is there a requirement for Veteran/Provider Single Sign On SSOi? | Yes, SSOi is required for both. Attachment 3 has been updated to reflect this. |
| 9 | Attachment 3 Product List | 1 | HIPAA-compliant Interactive Chat Application - enterprise-grade annual software license and support enabling Veteran-initiated secure chat staffed by one or more VA staffing resource(s) of various care specialties. Units of 10,000 chats. | Is there a requirement for automated agent-level reports with customizations for each VISN? | No, reports are needed at the facility and VISN levels. Attachment 3 has been updated to reflect this. |
| 10 | Attachment 3 Product List | 1 | HIPAA-compliant Interactive Chat Application - enterprise-grade annual software license and support enabling Veteran-initiated secure chat staffed by one or more VA staffing resource(s) of various care specialties. Units of 10,000 chats. | Is there a requirement for site or VISN level training? | Yes, training will be required and specified at the task order level. |
| 11 | Attachment 3 Product List | 1 | HIPAA-compliant Interactive Chat Application - enterprise-grade annual software license and support enabling Veteran-initiated secure chat staffed by one or more VA staffing resource(s) of various care specialties. Units of 10,000 chats. | Is the unit of measure for a chat an individual message string from one participant to another or is it an entire chat encounter containing one or more message strings between two or more people? | A chat is considered an entire encounter containing one or more message strings between two or more people. Attachment 3 has been updated to reflect this. |
| 12 | Attachment 3 Product List | 1 | HIPAA-compliant Interactive Chat Application - enterprise-grade annual software license and support enabling Veteran-initiated secure chat staffed by one or more VA staffing resource(s) of various care specialties. Units of 10,000 chats. | The description of line item #1 appears to be an add-on of 10,000 additional chats to a base platform license. Would there be a separate SKU for the base platform that these additional chats would be applied to? If so, how many chats, would need to be included in the base platform license? | The base platform license must include 10,000 chats. Attachment 3 has been updated to include a second line item to account for additional chats in units of 10,000. Attachment 3 has been updated to reflect this. |
| 13 | Attachment 3 Product List | 1 | HIPAA-compliant Interactive Chat Application - enterprise-grade annual software license and support enabling Veteran-initiated secure chat staffed by one or more VA staffing resource(s) of various care specialties. Units of 10,000 chats. | Is there a requirement for the solution to support media file transfers during the chat session? | Yes, for reference during the chat encounter in at least the following formats: .png, .jpg, .pdf, and .heic. Attachment 3 has been updated to reflect this. |
| 14 | Attachment 3 Product List | 1 | HIPAA-compliant Interactive Chat Application - enterprise-grade annual software license and support enabling Veteran-initiated secure chat staffed by one or more VA staffing resource(s) of various care specialties. Units of 10,000 chats. | What is the specific uptime SLA for the solution as “no downtime” is not specific? | At least 98% uptime during operational hours for each facility. Attachment 3 has been updated to reflect this. |
| 15 | Attachment 3 Product List | 1 | HIPAA-compliant Interactive Chat Application - enterprise-grade annual software license and support enabling Veteran-initiated secure chat staffed by one or more VA staffing resource(s) of various care specialties. Units of 10,000 chats. | Is there a requirement for the encounter/chat transcript and history to be visible to both the patient and the provider/user on the VA side? | Yes. Attachment 3 has been updated to reflect this. |
| 16 | Attachment 3 Product List | 1 | HIPAA-compliant Interactive Chat Application - enterprise-grade annual software license and support enabling Veteran-initiated secure chat staffed by one or more VA staffing resource(s) of various care specialties. Units of 10,000 chats. | Does the history and transcript need to be transferable to another provider so that they can view and advise on the previous conversations with the veteran? | Yes. Attachment 3 has been updated to reflect this. |
| 17 | Attachment 3 Product List | 1 | HIPAA-compliant Interactive Chat Application - enterprise-grade annual software license and support enabling Veteran-initiated secure chat staffed by one or more VA staffing resource(s) of various care specialties. Units of 10,000 chats. | Does the transfer of a patient need to be available not only within the VISN to multiple channels (nursing/scheduling/pharmacy) but from VISN to VISN (VISN 8 to VISN 10 because a veteran has lived in both of those sites)? | Yes. Attachment 3 has been updated to reflect this. |
| 18 | Attachment 3 Product List | 1 | Salient: Backup/redundant capability with no downtime | Is there a requirement for the solution to support escalation to video during the chat session? | Yes. Attachment 3 has been updated to reflect this. |
| 19 | Attachment 3 Product List | 6 | Pulmonary Function Testing Enterprise License to manage 25,000 patients per year and unlimited upgrades during the term of the contract. | Does this solution have a cloud based infrastructure requirement? If so, is there a FedRamp requirement for this solution? | The solution must be software only and either hosted in the cloud infrastructure provided by the vendor or able to be installed within the VA environment. If the solution provided is hosted in Vendor cloud infrastructure, the solution requires a minumim of FedRAMP Moderate classification. Attachment 3 has been updated to reflect this. |
| 20 | Attachment 3 Product List | 7 | Sleep Monitoring Software Enterprise License to manage 25,000 patients per year and unlimited upgrades during the term of the contract. | Does this Cloud-based solution require a minimum of FedRamp Moderate classification? | The solution must be software only and either hosted in the cloud infrastructure provided by the vendor or able to be installed within the VA environment. If the solution provided is hosted in Vendor cloud infrastructure, the solution requires a minumim of FedRAMP Moderate classification. Attachment 3 has been updated to reflect this. |
| 21 | Attachment 3 Product List | 9 | Low-code/No-code style Content Development Software Priced by Workflow | Does this solution require the ability to be deployed into a kubernetes environment and automated deployments using a build pipeline such as jenkins? | Yes. Attachment 3 has been updated to reflect this. |
| 22 | Attachment 3 Product List | 10 | Low-code/No-code style Content Development Software - Enterprise License | Does the enterprise license need to include an unlimited number of workflows? | Yes. Attachment 3 has been updated to reflect this. |
| 23 | Attachment 3 Product List | 11 and 12 | New Patient Video Tablet (PVT) Support Bundle, includes: Cellular Data Plans, Mobile Device Management and Kitting/Logistics (Does not include the Tablet). (Multiple Cellular Data Carriers) |
AND
| PVT Annual Support Bundle Renewal including Cellular Data Plan, Mobile Device Management | Is there a requirement for the MDM platform to allow Apple iOS device configuration and management to include | |||
| • | Inventory mobile devices that access and provide web and mobile applications | |||
| • | Remote factory reset (full device wipe) | |||
| • | Mobile device configuration settings (PIN length, PIN required, lock time, background, icon arrangement, etc.) | |||
| • | Self-service password reset | |||
| • | Compliance reporting | |||
| • | Group based policies and reporting | |||
| • | Prevent and restrict access to system applications and settings | |||
| • | Self-service portal for installing applications without the requirement of a username and password or native device Application Storefront. | |||
| • | Remote Lost Device lock | |||
| • | Robust API for bulk management and reporting capabilities | Yes. Attachment 3 has been updated to reflect this. | ||
| 24 | Attachment 3 Product List | 11 and 12 | New Patient Video Tablet (PVT) Support Bundle, includes: Cellular Data Plans, Mobile Device Management and Kitting/Logistics (Does not include the Tablet). (Multiple Cellular Data Carriers) |
AND
| PVT Annual Support Bundle Renewal including Cellular Data Plan, Mobile Device Management | Is there a requirement for the MDM platform to support Device supervision features such as | |||
| • | MDM connection from Apple Business Manager (ABM) | |||
| • | Device Enrollment Profiles configured for automated enrollment | |||
| • | Unattended zero touch deployment | |||
| • | Default user account used for all devices | |||
| Yes. Attachment 3 has been updated to reflect this. | ||||
| 25 | Attachment 3 Product List | 11 and 12 | New Patient Video Tablet (PVT) Support Bundle, includes: Cellular Data Plans, Mobile Device Management and Kitting/Logistics (Does not include the Tablet). (Multiple Cellular Data Carriers) |
AND
| PVT Annual Support Bundle Renewal including Cellular Data Plan, Mobile Device Management | Is there a requirement for the MDM platform to enable device restrictions on Apple iOS devices to allow for things like blocking iOS features, access to apple app store, gaming/profanity/pornography blocking, disabling select stock iOS app etc.? | |||
| Yes. Attachment 3 has been updated to reflect this. | ||||
| 26 | Attachment 3 Product List | 11 and 12 | New Patient Video Tablet (PVT) Support Bundle, includes: Cellular Data Plans, Mobile Device Management and Kitting/Logistics (Does not include the Tablet). (Multiple Cellular Data Carriers) |
AND
| PVT Annual Support Bundle Renewal including Cellular Data Plan, Mobile Device Management | Is there a requirement for the MDM platform to support an application catalog that allows users to select approved applications that are desired to install onto tablet device? | Yes. Attachment 3 has been updated to reflect this. | ||
| 27 | Attachment 3 Product List | 11 and 12 | New Patient Video Tablet (PVT) Support Bundle, includes: Cellular Data Plans, Mobile Device Management and Kitting/Logistics (Does not include the Tablet). (Multiple Cellular Data Carriers) |
AND
| PVT Annual Support Bundle Renewal including Cellular Data Plan, Mobile Device Management | Is there a requirement for the MDM platform to support webclip deployment of customized URL allowing to embed device serial numbers and asset number of device into the URL using a wildcard? | Yes. Attachment 3 has been updated to reflect this. | ||
| 28 | Attachment 3 Product List | 11 and 12 | New Patient Video Tablet (PVT) Support Bundle, includes: Cellular Data Plans, Mobile Device Management and Kitting/Logistics (Does not include the Tablet). (Multiple Cellular Data Carriers) |
AND
| PVT Annual Support Bundle Renewal including Cellular Data Plan, Mobile Device Management | In order for custom box and foam inserts to be used, CCIN vendor would have to know the exact specifications of the items that will be purchased separately in order to make custom foam inserts. Will there be standardized specifications for headphones, stylus, screen cloth and case provided? | Yes. This information will be provided to the Vendor at the time of CCPC award. | hard to define as we don’t know the exact specifications as the CCPC items are not name brand, could change | |
| 29 | Attachment 3 Product List | 11D and 12 D | New PVT Support Bundle - Mobile Device Management - See Salient Characteristics |
AND
| PVT Annual Support Bundle Renewal for Mobile Device Management - See Salient Characteristics | There are no salient characteristics listed in Line 11 or 12 for Mobile Device Management (MDM). Please add. If not defined, VA may receive a solution incompatible with your existing device deployment/requirements. | Attachment 3 has been updated to reflect this. | ||||
| 30 | PWS 5.2.1.3 (pg 21) | 21 | Please confirm previously purchased cellular plans for deployed mobile devices will be transferred to the CCIN contractor from the incumbent. | Yes. The PWS has been updated to reflect this. | ||
| 31 | Does the Government require activation/deactivation of SIM cards on demand for all carriers? | Yes. The PWS has been updated to reflect this. | ||||
| 32 | PWS 3.0 and Attachment 3 | Please confirm that Cisco Gold Partnership can be supported by prime contractor or subcontractor. All required benefits of Gold Partner status identified in the PWS can be obtained via a subcontractor. | Gold Parnership can be supported by the prime and or any of its subcontractors. | |||
| 33 | PWS 5.2.1.1 and 5.2.2 | Relevant PWS 5.2.1.1 language reflecting CCIN activities in conflict with CCPC vendors: | ||||
| • "ordering and distribution support for connect care technologies as defined in PWS Section 3.0" (paragraph 1) | ||||||
| • "shall fill orders placed by the Government under this effort by establishing commercial agreements with all VA authorized suppliers to distribute the specific supplies identified on the CCPC Product List. In establishing these commercial agreements, the Contractor shall assure that the agreements contain all VA-required terms, conditions, and clauses." (Paragraph 2) | ||||||
| • "managing all aspects of supplier relationship….includes, but not limited to liability for payment to suppliers for supplies delivered to VA Authorized customers." (Paragraph 3) | ||||||
| • "screen all orders on receipt to identify all potential conflicts or questionable instances where items are not clearly within the parameters of this PWS and shall seek the CO’s guidance on scope concerns in advance of filling any such orders." (Paragraph 5) |
Further, Paragraph 5.2.2 requires the CCIN contractor to test and evaluate all new and existing technologies, to include those of the CCPC vendors, "As a part of OCC Help Desk Support, the Contractor shall establish and maintain an OCC Help Desk Telehealth Technology Lab that contains all VA telehealth technologies to troubleshoot issues and test all solutions provided to end users."
| These activities create an inherent OCI between the CCIN contractor and all CCPC vendors. For example, impaired objectivity would occur because the CCIN contractor is responsible for assuring timely delivery, incorporating required terms and conditions to agreements, and screening of all orders for potential conflicts or failure to meet technical requirements. Biased ground rules occurs because the CCIN contractor may influence the purchase of similar products from separate catalogs amongst CCPC vendors, potentially steering purchases to their own task order. | Does the Government anticipate including OCI language between the CCIN contractor and CCPC suppliers? | In the CCIN and CCPC solicitations, offerors will be required to self-identify potential OCIs, including those that might be created by an award of the PSI contract. Offerors will be required to submit OCI mitigation plans that will be considered by the Government. | ||||
| 34 | PWS 5.2.1 | Would the Government provide an accurate baseline of current and historical inventory levels at solicitation to support estimation of warehouse and transition requirements? | This baseline will be provided at time of solicitiation in PWS Attachment 5, Current OCC Warehouse Inventory. | |||
| 35 | PWS 3.0 | From the definition of scope the Government is establishing 2 different channels for the purchase of equipment, software, and licenses. With the inclusion of vendor management, oversight, testing, etc. of CCPC contractors this creates and incentive and conflict for the CCIN contractor. CCPC contracts provide competitive means for the Government to obtain the best value, both cost and performance, from equipment, software, licenses, etc. By establishing a limited channel for Attachment 3 items this competitive value is eliminated. We believe it is in the best interest of the Government to have all equipment, software, and license purchases under the multi-award CCPC contracts to foster competition and assure VA that the most technically and cost-effective solutions are delivered. | It is neccesarry for the Government to purchase the items in PWS Attachment C through the CCIN contract vehicle due to integration and logistics requirements as well as other challenges. There will be no duplication of items between CCIN and CCPC. The Government does not intend to add any additional items to CCIN; rather, any new products will be competed under CCPC. | |||
| 36 | PWS 5.2.1.1 | 19 | N/A | Can the government clarify its position on the potential for OCI between the CCIN IDIQ and companies pursuing an award on the Connected Care Equipment Catalog? | In the CCIN and CCPC solicitations, offerors will be required to self-identify potential OCIs, including those that might be created by an award of the PSI contract. Offerors will be required to submit OCI mitigation plans that will be considered by the Government. | |
| 37 | N/A | N/A | Does the government plan to release awardable task orders or Sample Task Orders with the release of the CCIN IDIQ RFP? | A Sample Task Order will be released with CCIN IDIQ RFP. | ||
| 38 | N/A | N/A | The previous draft released in December 2021 included the Instructions and at that time the government was planning to include an "Application Prototype Demonstration" as part of the solicitation? Is the government still planning to include an "Application Prototype Demonstration" as part of the RFP and if yes, can the government provide additional background on the scope for the prototype? | The Government has determined that the Application Prototype will no longer be used as an evaluation criteria. | ||
| 39 | N/A | N/A | Does the government plan to release a draft RFP with all referenced Attachments and LCAT descriptions for potential Offeror's to review prior to release of the final RFP? At a minimum, it be helpful for offerors to receive the draft Proposal Instructions and Evaluation criteria and LCAT descriptions to support planning and preparation efforts for the final RFP. | No, but the updated PWS and Product list is included. | ||
| 40 | PWS 4.1 | 10 | As this contract is a single-award IDIQ contract, performance details will be further outlined at the task order level. | Please confirm that the contract types will be established at the task order level and are anticipated to be firm-fixed price or time and material-based. | All task orders are anticpated to be firm-fixed price. | |
| 41 | PWS 6.2.4 | 37 | All documents and materials produced under this contract shall be the property of the Government with all rights and privileges of ownership/copyright belong exclusively to the Government. | In the Draft Solicitation provided in December 2021, FAR 52.227-14, -16, and -17 were identified as the guiding Data Rights clauses. Would the Government consider revising the language to say, "The Government shall have unlimited rights to all documents and materials first produced under this contract", consistent with FAR 52.227-14? | This has been updated in the PWS. | |
| 42 | PWS 6.2.4 | 37 | All materials supplied to the Government shall be the sole property of the Government and shall not be used for any other purpose. | The scope of work anticipated includes the purchasing of products and establishing commercial agreements with VA authorized suppliers, per 5.2.1.1 and 5.2.3. Given that each task order will have unique requirements that will identify the materials required, would the Government consider removing this requirement from the IDIQ? | No. The CCIN vendor will be required to establish commercial agreements with all Prime CCPC BPA holders (aka authorized suppliers). | |
| 43 | PWS 3 | 9 | The Contractor must be a certified Cisco Gold Partner at the time of contract award and maintain that status throughout the life of the contract. | Can the government confirm that PWS requirement 3.0, page 9, "the Contractor must be a certified Cisco Gold Partner at the time of contract award and maintain that status throughout the life of the contract" that this can be met by either the prime or by one of their subcontractors? | See answer to question 32 above. | |
| 44 | PWS 3 | 10 | All solutions provided under this contract, including applications and infrastructure, must be Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) authorized or capable of being FedRAMP authorized. | If a solution is not yet FedRAMP, when does it need to obtain authorization? | The Contractor must begin the FedRAMP authorization process upon award for any non-VA cloud environments that will store or transfer Personally Identifiable Information (PII) and/or Protected Health Information (PHI), including the associated applications and infrastructure. The PWS has been updated to reflect this. | |
| 45 | PWS 5.2.2.2 | 24 | Connected Device Support | Does the VA have any historical volumes and AHT on these outbound calls? | As documented in PWS Section 5.2.2.2, the outbound call center may make up to 10,000 calls per month. The PWS has been updated to reflect that each call historically lasts approximately 30 - 60 minutes. | |
| 46 | PWS 5.2.2.2 | 22 | Help Desk Support | Can the government clarify if the current test environment has all of the back-end systems, interfaces and databases to constitute a virtual lab that can be a true scaled down replica of Production? | The requirement for a virtual lab has been adjusted in the PWS. | |
| 47 | PWS 5.2.1 | 17 | Up to 1,000,000 VA assets are maintained in a VA-approved FedRAMP High inventory and asset management system. | Can the government clarify what the FedRAMP High Inventory and Asset Management System is? Can you please provide technical details about this system, including technical stack? | Currently, the VA is using Service Now (SNOW). The PWS has been updated to reflect this. | |
| 48 | 5.2.1.3 | 21 | For new mobile devices, the Contractor shall purchase cellular data plans that ensure maximum data coverage to provide reliable connectivity for VVC patient care visits. | Can the government further clarify their expectations with the contractor to "ensure maximum data coverage?” As the contractor would be procuring the services through a cellular provider the contractor could perform an assessment which provider has the maximum coverage/reliability for a geographic region and acquire that service, however, the cellular provider is the one to control and maintain their available data coverage and connectivity once procured. | The Contractor shall purchase on-contract cellular data plans based on the carrier that will provide the best coverage in the projected device deployment location. The PWS has been updated to reflect this. |
&"-,Bold"Connected Care Integrated Network &"-,Bold"RFI Questions &"-,Bold"Notice ID: 36C10G23R0007
Source Selection Information FAR 2.101 and 3.104
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