Request for Information ONS NHPPD.docx

Request for Information 36C77622Q0359 Office of Nursing Services (ONS) Nursing Hours Per Patient Day Data (NHPPD) This market research effort is being conducted for the Office of Nursing Services (ONS) for national electronic access to Nursing Hours Per Patient Day Data (NHPPD). This request is for information and planning purposes only and shall not be construed as a solicitation or as an obligation on the part of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The VA is currently conducting market research to locate qualified, experienced and interested potential sources. Responses will not be considered as proposals, nor will any award be incurred by interested parties in responding to announcement. NAICS 518210 (size standard $30 million) applies.

II. Requirements:

The Staffing Methodology directive is a Veterans Affairs Medical Center (VAMC) unit-based staff budgeting process that requires data to drive the Full-time equivalent employee (FTEE) recommendations. The FTEE recommendations require three (3) major inputs: the leave factor, the access point, and the recommended nursing hours per patient day (NHPPD). To develop the NHPPD the unit will have to start with a baseline comparison for Nursing Hours for their particular unit type. Through several channels (field-based feedback, Office of Inspector General (OIG) and Government Accountability Office (GAO) reports, and site visits) ONS has found that facilities are having trouble purchasing external data due to facility resource constraints. External comparison data will help facilities build baseline NHPPD.

The contractor shall provide yearly physical comparison data to provide unit specific comparison data that VHA medical centers and other VHA program offices can use to build their NHPPD recommendations. The data should provide benchmark self-reported data. The data for each comparison shall include:

· Industry, nursing specific external data.

· Be broken down into hospital categories (such as community, teaching, and rural).

· Unit type specific (for example, a unit has the ability to drill down to look at comparison data for a palliative care, cath lab, endoscopy, etc. unit).

· The comparison data shall drill down by direct NHPPD average, low, high, mid-point/mid-range.

· The direct HPPD care shall also stratify the data into buckets displaying the percentage of units that reported NHPPD within those bucket ranges (for instance, 20% of facilities reported 8.2 direct NHPPD).

· The report shall contain self-reported data from at least 3,000 patient care units.

The contractor shall provide VHA enterprise access to the external NHPPD data. Due to electronic format, reports must contain 508 compliance. The report shall be available electronically to all VHA users via single access point using IP identification that the VA’s national library office can upload to their internal intranet and/or SharePoint site.

III. Submittal Information:

It is requested that the above information be provided no later than Wednesday July 13th, 2022, at 1:00PM EST. Responses should be emailed to Charles McKenzie at Charles.mckenzie@va.gov and Kymberly Morgan at Kymberly.Morgan@va.gov . All Email Correspondence for this project must reference the RFI Number and Project Title in the subject line of the email. Example: RFI 36C77622Q0359, Office of Nursing Services Nursing Hours Per Patient Day Data.

No phone calls will be accepted.

A written response providing clear and unambiguous evidence to substantiate the capacity to fulfill this requirement. Description of the capabilities/qualifications/skills your company possesses to perform services described in the scope of work. The below information and response to questions shall also be included in your Capability Statement.

Responses shall be limited to 5 pages, 12-point font minimum. Please be advised that all submissions become Government property and will not be returned. This RFI is exclusively electronic based; written or telephone responses will not be considered.

Responses shall provide administrative information, and shall include the following as a minimum:

A. Company Name, EUI number, Company mailing address, phone number, name of designated point of contact and e-mail of designated point of contact.

B. Company business size and status (i.e., Large Business, Small Business, Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business, Women-Owned Small Business, etc.), the number of years in business, affiliate information: parent company, joint venture partners, potential teaming partners.

C. A written or yes/no response to items 1 – 3, providing examples/descriptions of the capabilities/qualifications/skills your company possesses to substantiate the capacity to fulfill this requirement:

1. Describe the data collection process for the NHPPD available?

a. How often is the physical comparison data collected?

2. Does the product provide unit specific comparison data that can be used to build NHPPD recommendations?

3. Does the data provide benchmark self-reported data?

4. Does the data for each comparison include the following:

a. Industry, nursing specific external data.

b. Be broken down into hospital categories (such as community, teaching, and rural).

c. Unit type specific (for example, a unit has the ability to drill down to look at comparison data for a palliative care, cath lab, endoscopy, etc. unit).

d. The comparison data shall drill down by direct NHPPD average, low, high, mid-point/mid-range.

e. The direct HPPD care shall also stratify the data into buckets displaying the percentage of units that reported NHPPD within those bucket ranges (for instance, 20% of facilities reported 8.2 direct NHPPD).

f. The report shall contain self-reported data from at least 3,000 patient care units.

5. Describe the authentication methods available for users to log into the system and any requirements for access.

a. Single Sign-On?

b. Designated share-drive?

6. If the product is SaaS, describe any previous VA ATOs for the SaaS product including security level.

7. Is the product hosted and not require local installation (cloud-based)?

8. Is there an extensive online training/help materials accessible to users?

9. Is there product support for users available online and via phone?

10. Does product allow unlimited access and printing of the report to multiple people within a single location?

11. Is the report watermarked to use by the purchasing business/entity to prevent copyright infringement?

12. Does access allow for an unrestricted number of simultaneous users?

13. Can authorized users access the product remotely if they are not on a VA computer?

14. Can authorized users access the product remotely with VPN access?

15. Is the product 508 compliant?

DISCLAIMER

A solicitation is not currently available. If a solicitation is issued, it will be announced later, and all interested parties must respond to that solicitation announcement separately from the responses to this announcement. Not responding to this RFI does not preclude participation in any future Request for Proposals, if any is issued.

This RFI is issued solely for information and planning purposes only and does not constitute a solicitation. All information received in response to this RFI that is marked as proprietary will be handled accordingly. Responders are solely responsible for all expenses associated with responding to this RFI. Responders are advised that the U.S. Government will not pay for any information or administrative costs incurred in response to this RFI; all costs associated with responding to this RFI will be solely at the interested party’s expense.

Primary Point of Contact:

Charles McKenzie, Contract Specialist E-Mail: Charles.mckenzie@va.gov

Kymberly Morgan, Contracting Officer E-Mail: Kymberly.Morgan@va.gov