Redacted JA Sole Source Censis PDA Bundle.pdf

Brand Name Censis PDA Bundles Control Number: VA-23-00082207 available for the required products and services.

In 2010, VHA established the RTLS Project Management Office (PMO) within the Program Office for Healthcare Technology Management. The RTLS PMO assists facilities and Veterans Integrated Service Networks with the selection, deployment, and management of RTLS technologies at VHA facilities. In 2012, VA began implementing the RTLS technologies at VHA facilities. To date, there are currently 145 facilities using the scanners for Sterile Processing Services (SPS) alone. The original scanners reached life expectancy and were no longer supported.

Approximately 600 Cybermed tablets were procured by the RTLS PMO group and provided to the VA facilities for use within SPS. These proprietary tablets no longer meet the need of VHA facilities due to their end-of-life status as noted above, and inability to be maintained by Censis.

As such, VA requires replacement equipment that would be both interoperable and compatible with the existing CensiTrac ITS, and also maintained by Censis to ensure continued seamless interoperability and usability with the CensiTrac ITS system.

Based on the Market Research as described in Section 8 of this document, only the Censis PDA Bundles can meet both of these requirements. Specifically, the Zebra TC52as-HC Scanner has been validated and certified for use with CensiTrac by Censis. Further, the noted scanner as part of this bundle has been tested by VA and can hold VA Imaging, an essential component for use of products within the Agency.

Any other scanner model would have to be configured for use with the CensiTrac ITS and would have to go through the vendor’s verification and validation process. As such, only the Zebra TC52ax-HC Scanner as part of this Censis PDA Bundle, can meet VA’s interoperability and functional requirement, and replace the current tablets.

Further, only Censis can ensure that the proper initial and ongoing configurations of and connection to the CensiTrac ITS Censis System, as this source code is proprietary. Only Censis has access to this code. As such, Censis has stated that unless a component is procured directly from Censis, it cannot be maintained as part of the RTLS system as a whole.

Further, VA requires that the RTLS system, and all of its components, be maintained for optimal use by Censis, especially to ensure compliance with VHA Directive 1116, which requires that all SPS processing have electronic tracking. As noted above, through this Censis PDA bundle, not only would the scanners be configured for seamless interoperability, but it would also receive maintenance and technical support from Censis. The required maintenance can only be provided by Censis as it requires access to the proprietary software code updates/pushes provided only by Censis. No other source has the required access to the code to ensure seamless interoperability.

Further, as part of this bundle, the Contractor shall provide a one-year standard commercial warranty for the Zebra TC52ax-HC Scanners. In the event that issues cannot be first remedied through maintenance support service process, the replacement scanner must be received, configured, and maintained by Censis.

The only way an alternative solution would be viable is to either test and validate a new scanner in coordination with Censis, which would take a minimum of eight months to complete based on existing market research and effort for validation of the Zebra TC52ax-HC Scanners. As noted above, VA has not been successful in identifying an alternative solution that meets the seamless interoperability requirement and the ability to hold the required VA image (Operating System) on the device.

However, even if a new scanner could be identified, it still would not meet the timeliness requirements, as VA has an immediate requirement to get these scanners deployed and maintained. As such the only other path this would lead to is the replace the existing RTLS system as a whole, which would create $42,696,132 in duplicative cost, and take approximately five years to complete. This estimate is based on the historical timeline and cost of the RTLS deployment. During this time, the system would still need to be maintained and a new scanning solution procured, which is this immediate action.

Failure to procure these brand name Censis PDA bundles as proposed will leave the 145 VA sites nationwide without a reliable scanning capability, thereby hindering VA from electronically inventorying reusable medical instrumentation as needed; thus, eliminating the ability to track instruments back to patients. Failure to replace these scanners will have an adverse effect in productivity in the decontamination and assembly areas within the Sterile Processing Department, reducing the amount of reusable medical equipment available for Operating Room and clinical procedures.

This will result in cancellation of appointments and delays/increased patient wait times. There will be an increased risk of patient safety if a patient needs a procedure immediately and there are no instruments available to perform the procedure. As such, the scanners and maintenance must be procured as proposed.

6. Efforts to Obtain Competition: Market research was conducted, details of which are in Section 8 of this document. This effort did not yield any additional sources that can meet the Government’s requirements. There is no competition anticipated for this acquisition. Additionally, the proposed action will be synopsized on the Contracting Opportunities Page in accordance with FAR 5.201. Any proposals that are received shall be evaluated.

7. Actions to Increase Competition: The Government will continue to conduct market research to ascertain if there are changes in the marketplace that would enable future actions to be competed.

8. Market Research: Market research was conducted by VA technical experts, reviewing previous government contracts, online searches, and querying vendors under the U.S. General Services Administration in June 2018 through December 2022 to ascertain the ability of Industry to provide a scanning solution that can meet the Government’s requirements. VHA subject matter experts researched and reviewed other products including other Zebra models and other brand name products such as ScanSKU. It was determined that none of these models could meet the requirement for holding the VA image. Further, none of these have been tested and validated for interoperability with the existing CensiTrac ITS by Censis. Additional market research revealed that none of the vendors have the required access to the proprietary CensiTrac ITS software code to provide the maintenance.

Further Market Research was conducted via discussion with Censis and Zebra, Inc. In a letter dated August 15, 2023 that was provided to VA, Censis stated that it was the only provider of the Censis PDA Bundle. Further, Zebra stated that only maintenance can be provided by Censis in a letter dated June 27 2023. As such, there is not an expectation that competition exists, limited or otherwise.

9. Other Facts: None.