Redacted - J_A File Room Scanning (signed).pdf

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS

Office of Procurement, Acquisition and Logistics (OPAL)

Strategic Acquisition Center (SAC) 10300 Spotsylvania Avenue, Suite 400

Fredericksburg, Virginia 22408

JUSTIFICATION AND APPROVAL (J&A)

FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

Per Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 6.302-5 – Authorized or Required By Statute

1. Contracting Activity: Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Office of Acquisition Operations (OAO) Strategic Acquisition Center (SAC)

10300 Spotsylvania Ave, Suite 400 Fredericksburg, VA 22408

2. Description of Action:

The proposed action is for a sole source, non-competitive award, Firm Fixed Price (FFP) Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) with Integrated Solutions and Services Unlimited, LLC. (ISS), a Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB). This action is executed by the Strategic Acquisition Center (SAC), Division AS4D on behalf of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Veterans Health Administration (VHA), Health Information Management (HIM). The VA requires File Room and Scanning Services in a timely manner and at a cost that is advantageous to the Government.

3. Description of Supplies or Services:

The purpose of this acquisition is to establish National Single FFP BPA for File Room and Scanning Services under the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) 518210.

VHA has a need for Health Record Document Scanning and Processing Services for the scanning and/or importing, indexing and incorporation of paper and electronic documents into the VHA Electronic Health Record (EHR) system as electronic image files in a manner that efficiently augments facility capabilities.

The proposed action is for a FFP Agreement with a total period of performance of six months or until the dollar threshold is reached. The total contract period shall not exceed six months. The period of performance is expected to begin in the second quarter of Fiscal Year 2023. The total cost is estimated at $750,000.00.

4. Statutory Authority:

The statutory authority permitting the deviation of The Competition in Contracting Act (CICA) of 1984 is 41 U.S.C.§ 253(c)(5) for other than full and open competition as implemented by the FAR Subpart 6.302-5 entitled, “Authorized or Required by Statute”. The applicable statute is Public Law 109- 461: “Veterans Benefits, Health Care, and Information Technology Act of 2006” specifically, the “Veterans First Contracting Program” as outlined in 38 USC § 8127(c).

5. Rationale Supporting Use of Authority Cited Above:

The Department of Veterans Affairs Acquisition Regulation (VAAR) 819.7008(a) provides the authority to a Contracting Officer to award a contract to a Small Business Administration (SBA) Veteran Small Business Certification (VetCert), formerly VA Vendor Information Page (VIP) listed SDVOSB using other than competitive procedures provided:

(1) The anticipated award price of the BPA (including options) will not exceed $5 million; The estimated value is $750,000.00 and does not exceed $5M and has no options.

(2) The requirement is synopsized and the required justification pursuant to FAR 6.302-5(c)(2)(ii) is posted in accordance with FAR part 5; The notice of intent was posted on January 6, 2023 and this J&A will be posted on the System for Award Management (SAM) at SAM.gov, in accordance with the FAR publicizing requirements.

(3) The SDVOSB has been determined to be a responsible contractor with respect to performance; ISS is a responsible contractor, is registered, and verified in SBA VetCert.

(4) In the estimation of the Contracting Officer BPA award can be made at a fair and reasonable price that offers best value to the Government.

ISS has been found to be a responsible contractor and has successfully performed on three predecessor BPAs with multiple orders for the last five years. The anticipated performance period is for a six-month performance period with an anticipated award value of $750,000.00, which is under the $5,000,000.00 statutory limitation. The Contracting Officer will be able to determine the contract price fair and reasonable based on a comparison to historical prices paid and the Independent Government Cost Estimate (IGCE).

Sole-Sourcing to ISS is in the best interest of the VA. ISS has been the major contractor under three expired agreements with multiple orders VA wide and can efficiently, effectively, and execute the stop-gap effort. The expired agreement performance periods ran from July 10, 2017 through July 9, 2022. A six-month contract extension was executed, in accordance with, FAR 52.217-8 Option to Extend Services (Nov 1999).

The six-month contract extension ran from 07/10/2022 to 01/09/2023. An extended stoppage would cause a major gap in performance which would mean numerous activities would not be able to continue the Electronic Health Record (HER) efforts for multiple months.

6. Efforts to Obtain Competition:

In accordance with The VAAR 819.7008(b), the determination to make a sole source award to an SDVOSB is a business decision wholly within the discretion of the Contracting Officer; therefore, the requirement to ensure that offers are solicited from as many potential sources as practicable is not applicable to this procurement.

In addition, 819.7008(c) further authorizes the Contracting Officer to make the award without first determining that only one SDVOSB source can meet the requirement. A notice of the proposed action will be synopsized via the Government Point of Entry (GPE) in accordance with FAR Section 5.201, and the agency will make publicly available the justification required by 6.305(a) within 14 days after contract award.

7. A determination by the Contracting Officer that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable:

No award shall be made until the Contracting Officer determines the cost to the Government to be fair and reasonable. This determination will be based on a comparison of current contract pricing, past proposal submissions (if applicable and available), Independent Government Cost Estimate, and other relevant price and cost information.

8. Market Research:

Based on the requirements VAAR 819.7008(b), no market research is required, however, the market research for the follow-on acquisition was used to show there is market research to identify sources. Market research indicates that VA has commercial options available to obtain Scanning and Processing Services.

Previously and within a reasonable timeframe for conducting of market research for the follow-on acquisition and used in this case as additional information; on May 17, 2022, a Request for Information (RFI) was posted with a response due date of June 3, 2022. In response to the RFI,

a. 21 responses.

b. 14 were large businesses

c. 3 were SDVOSB’s

d. 2 were Ability One Vendors

e. 2 were Women Owned Small Business (WOSB)

f. 1 was a Small Business.