Questions_and_Answers_-_Healthcare_Accreditation_Services_-_set_1.pdf

Federal Bureau of Prisons

Healthcare Accreditation Services

RFPP070016NAS0919

Questions and Answers

1 | P a g e

Question: Please define the Administration fee referenced on attachment I, Price Schedule?

Answer: A Health Services Accreditation Organization may incur costs for continuous support (e.g., assistance to customers to complete initial applications, on-going standards interpretation, assistance with survey preparation, on-going monitoring of Bureau institution information, training and technical assistance for customers to successfully use automated vendor systems, assistance with report completion and interpretation, etc.). Vendors may incorporate these costs in the survey fees or may break these costs out as administrative fees. See page 2 of the SOW.

Question: What is the timing for the delivery Assessment of the Administrative Fee?

Answer: The expectation is that administrative fees, if applicable, would be charged to participating institutions when contract services begin. If administrative fees are annually assessed, institutions would be charged at the start of each contract year.

Question: What is the Base Period and anticipated award date?

Answer: The base period will be date of award through 12 months. The Bureau anticipates awarding this RFP by the end of calendar year 2016.

Question: When will the RFP be reviewed and evaluated?

Answer: The RFP will be reviewed and evaluated in accordance with the Federal Acquisitions Regulations (FAR) Part 15, Contracting by Negotiation.

Question: What is the membership of the team who will evaluate responses?

Answer: The evaluation team will consist of Health Services and Contract Specialists.

2 | P a g e

Question: Will the Bureau of Prisons require Laboratory accreditation for moderate & complex testing?

Answer: No.

Question: Page 4 of the SOW references consulting services.

Will you please define the deliverables for consultancy?

Answer: Consulting services might include telephonic consultation regarding application/survey guidance with either the institution or headquarters personnel, presenting accreditation information at a Bureau-sponsored training program, or on-site consultation at a specific institution needing focused accreditation assistance.

Question: Attachment IV references a Residential Training Plan.

How long is the training? Where will the training be held?

Answer: The Bureau sponsors periodic training for the quality improvement specialists at all of its institutions. Training may consist of a single session on a relevant health care accreditation topic delivering in person or via virtual technology, a multiple session residential training at the Bureau's training center in Aurora, Colorado, or an on-site training at a specific institution. Topics may include how to apply/reapply for health care accreditation, how to prepare for an accreditation survey, how to improve survey performance, etc.

Question: Page 1 of the SOW: What is does it mean when the BOP says it seeks "a single healthcare accreditation inclusive of its multiple complex facilities?"

Answer: The Bureau has twelve institutions defined as a complex (i.e., Allenwood, Butner, Coleman, Florence, Forrest City, Hazelton, Lompoc, Oakdale, Petersburg, Terre Haute, Tucson, and Victorville) that will seek health care accreditation. A complex has two or more facilities that typically have different security levels, but are considered a single institution known as a federal correctional complex. The Bureau seeks one health care accreditation that covers all facilities within that single

3 | P a g e complex. The contractor is expected to conduct one health care accreditation survey that examines all complex facilities and accredits the institution as a single entity. For example, FCC Butner has a minimum security camp (Butner Camp), two medium security facilities (Butner Medium 1 and Butner Medium 2), and one low security facility (Butner Low) that the Bureau seeks to obtain primary care health care accreditation as the single institution FCC Butner.

Question: We provide all Accreditation Services directly though our employees. We have never subcontracted Accreditation services. Are we required to complete attachment #9, Federal Bureau of Prisons Subcontracting Plan?

Answer: The subcontracting plan is required if it is applicable.

Question: The header under Attachment A is a list of "Institutions Seeking Initial Healthcare Accreditation. Does BOP anticipate that all currently accredited institutions will be maintaining their accreditation? If so, should the schedules for the Base Period and Option Period 1 (attachments I and II) include the Administrative Fee for all those institutions?

Answer: The Bureau currently maintains Joint Commission accreditation for the institutions listed in Attachments A-D.

If the Bureau awards this solicitation to the Joint Commission, the institutions will maintain their current Joint Commission accreditation, and the administrative fee will apply to all currently accredited institutions at the time the contract award is made. If the contract is awarded to another health care accreditation organization, no Bureau institution will maintain its Joint Commission accreditation, and the administrative fee will only apply to the institutions scheduled for initial accreditation during the base year. Each subsequent option year will require additional institutions to seek initial health care accreditation and a cumulative application of administrative fees.

Question: The SOW description does not include any hospital services (as part of the definition of "secondary care"). Will

4 | P a g e the currently accredited hospital program be converting to Skilled Nursing Care?

Answer: The Bureau will not seek hospital accreditation for any of its institutions when this contract is awarded.

Question: The past performance questionnaire submitted with the proposal may not provide enough turnaround time for a response.

Shall the respondents reply directly to BOP?

Answer: Yes, the respondents can reply directly to the Federal Bureau of Prisons.