Q A _W81K00-12-R-0014.doc

Questions with answers in response to RFQ W81K00-12-R-0014, November 2012

1. Is this a new requirement for the Military facility(s)? A: No.

2. How many contracts does the Government anticipate awarding? A: Minimum of two.

3. Are resumes required? A: No

4. Is there an incumbent contractor? If so who is the incumbent contractor and what is their pricing? A: Yes. The incumbent contractor is Choctaw Archiving Enterprise. Contractor pricing is considered proprietary information and is not releasable.

5. The Schedule of Supplies/Services Item Nos. #0001 through #4004 lists Max Quantity in Units expressed as months for each year, please explain. A: These contracts and subsequent task orders will be issued as monthly rates for services (not hourly). The number of months in the line item is estimation. Electronically in the contract writing computer system the army uses, quantities of task orders issued are matched and subtracted from the quantity line item on the basic contract. Because each FTE issued on a task order will be equal 12 months, if a task order is issued for 3 FTEs, 36 months are matched to the basic contract. Further explanation is provided in the body of the line item. The actual quantities of FTEs required will be indicated on task orders, not in the basic contracts. Additionally, the basic contract line items will not be funded. Only the task orders and the quantities on the task orders will be funded.

6. Solicitation Reference: SF1449, CLIN Structure on page 3 - 33 The Max Quantity is listed as 2,000 and the Unit is listed as Months. Should the Max Quantity be designated as Hours rather than Months? A: No. The task order purchase units, contractor invoices, and payments will all be based on monthly units. Reference note 1 of the Ceiling Price Matrix concerning all inclusive (blended) monthly rates.

7. In the PWS, page 53 of the RFP, it states that the Southern Region includes, but is not limited to, the states of Tricare Region South. We have found the following states listed under the Tricare Region coverage area: AL, AR, FL, GA, KY, LA, MS, OK, SC, TN, TX, and PR? Can the government please confirm that this is the complete list or specify any additional locations that will be covered under this contract? A: The Southern Region Medical Command currently has 11 medical treatment facilities in those 11 states plus the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico which will be covered by the contract(s.)

8. If there are multiple locations, is pricing meant to cover all locations? A: Yes. The ceiling prices are not to exceed prices for any MTF within the Southern Region and are thus applicable to all locations.

9. Is mission essential contractors services plan required as a part of this proposal or is it required for each task order? (reference page 61 of the solicitation). A: Per PWS 1.4.4.3. whether or not positions will be mission essential will be designated by task order. If you are a contract awardee and you are subsequently quoting on a task order for positions that are non-emergency essential, then it is likely your price for the task order will be quoted lower than your max ceiling price. If a position is emergency essential, then quoted pricing for a subsequent task order from contract awardees will be higher but still will not exceed the MAXIMUM CEILING PRICE.

10: Is market research only required for the San Antonio metropolitan area? (reference page 108 of the solicitation). A: The Solicitation was amended on 8 Nov 2012 to reflect the Southern Region as a whole and not just the San Antonio Area (IE: Southern region as a geographic location versus entire United States).

11. The solicitation states that the location within the Southern Region will be specified on each task order. Since we have to provide a ceiling price for each labor category it makes it difficult to provide one single rate that will cover all the possible locations. Would it be reasonable to provide a pricing matrix that includes the labor category along with the specific location? This will allow us to price at the best possible rates. A: NO. Provide one regional maximum or ceiling rate at the maximum your company would charge for a particular specialty. For Example, there are average U.S. salary prices that can be applied regionally.

12. Volume III instructions under Recruitment and Retention, second sentence states “Discuss the San Antonio healthcare market to include challenges, trends and strategies necessary to provide the services required.” Since the solicitation and/or contract is issued in support of the Military Treatment Facilities (MTFs) within the U.S. Army Medical Command (MEDCOM), do we need to also discuss the health care market for the entire southern region in our technical proposal response? A. No. See question 10 above. Discuss the Southern Region in general. See change in Amendment 0001.

13. What is the minimum task order participation level? A: The minimum guaranteed amount for each contract awarded is $1,000.00 which will be paid if no task orders are issued. The minimum guarantee is said to be met with the first task order issued.

14. Has a dollar value been determined for this effort yet? Is there a not-to-exceed maximum value for the contract? A: There is no maximum or not to exceed value.

15. Is there a maximum bid price vendors should not exceed when bidding on this effort?

A: No. Companies should provide ceiling prices for each specialty at a rate that is reflective of any MTF within the region. Prices should be a realistic average market value in order to attract and retain healthcare personnel, but there is no maximum bid.

16. What is the minimum Line of Credit requirement? Are financial statements and/or a Line of Credit document required? A: Neither financial statements nor line of credit documents are required.

17. What location should we use for determining wage determination rates? The solicitation states the location is mainly for San Antonio health system, however Ft. Hood, and Ft. Polk are also possibilities. Should we use Bexar County in San Antonio since the other locations are not specified on the pricing matrix? Please let us know if this is correct. If not, please provide the correct county/WDR location to pull from. A. All potential wage determination rates are listed in attachment 1. Since the pricing is for any medical facility in the southern region, as a max ceiling price one would most likely use the highest wage determination rate as a basis for a max ceiling price.

18. Will the Government require that the wages for all ancillary positions be subject to the SCA Wage Determination rates and not fall below these rates?

A: When positions are subject to the Service Contract Act/Wage Determination, the individual task order Request for Quotes/Proposals will incorporate FAR clauses 52.222-41, “Service Contract Act of 1965,” and 52.222-42, “Statement of Equivalent Rates for Federal Hires” which identifies them as being applicable. It is anticipated that many of the ancillary requirements issued as task orders will be subject to the Act and that the respective area Wage Determinations will apply.

19. REFERENCE: HEALTH AND IMMUNIZATION REQUIREMENTS

All contract Healthcare Providers (HCPs) performing direct healthcare services under this contract shall receive a general physical examination prior to commencement of services. The contractor shall provide the Contracting Officer's Representative, 10 calendar days before beginning services under this contract, a physical examination certificate for each individual HCP who will provide services. The certification shall state the date on which the physical examination was completed and the name of the physician who performed the examination. The physician performing the examination shall sign this certification. For the purposes of this paragraph, a physical examination administered more than 45 days prior to performance of the contract will not be considered adequate. The physical examination shall include the following: a. REMOVED Are we to assume there was a previous “a” requirement that was removed? A: This Health and Immunization Requirement Paragraph is a standard template used in all contracts within the Southern Region. Previously the Southern Region had an additional Health and Immunization Requirement that was indicated in paragraph “a” that is no longer required nor included in this or future requirements. For consistency in numbering, the placeholder “removed” was used rather than change the standard template numbering.

20. How should the Reps and Certs be presented in Volume 1?

A: The offeror shall include in Volume 1 a completed copy of FAR 52.212-3 Alternate I, Representations and Certifications – Commercial Items. If the offeror has completed the Online Representations and Certifications Application (ORCA) at www.sam.gov, the offeror shall indicate such on the FAR clause. The offeror shall also submit a completed copy of DFARS 252.212-7000, Offeror Representations and Certifications – Commercial Items; and DFARS 252.247-7022, Representation of Extent of Transportation by Sea.

21. What are your expectations concerning the Quality Control Plan?

A: It should describe your company’s quality control program and procedures for monitoring performance, identifying trends/problems/issues, corrective actions and follow-up to determine resolution. The quality control program should also monitor overall contract performance with deficiencies identified before the level of service becomes unacceptable.

22. Will the Government consider adding Cardiologist as (Non-Personal Services) and Gastroenterologist as (Non-Personal Services)? A: Yes. Cadriologist and Gastroenterologists should be should be priced as both Personal and Non-Personal. Please add the additional lines to the Ceiling Price Matrix Spreadsheet.

23. Solicitation Reference: Page 43 paragraph (a) states: It is expressly agreed and understood that this is a nonpersonal services contract, as defined in Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 37.101, under which the professional services rendered by the Contractor are rendered in its capacity as an independent contractor. The Performance Work Statement states The Contractor shall provide personal and/or non-personal Direct Health Care Services. Will the Government please confirm that this is a personal and/or non-personal services contract? A: Yes, task orders may be issued for either personal or non-personal services, however, task orders will almost always be issued as personal services except for certain high dollar specialty physician positions. Non-personal services task orders will only be issued for certain specialty physician services where it is not possible to keep the salary for 1 FTE under the $400,000.00 annual statutory limit.

24. Attachment 3 list several physician specialties. Some of these are listed as personal and non personal services. Is this feasible as some of these have high salary requirements that will exceed the $ 400,000.00 cap for personal services. Are we to still price these as personal services? Are the only allowed non-personal service labor categories those noted in Attachment 3? A: YES, they are expected to have high salaries and are the only positions that should be priced as non-personal services. All other positions will be personal services. The positions that have both line items for personal and non-personal services is to allow companies to price those high dollar positions as non-personal services if they cannot keep the salary under $400,000.00 per FTE (be sure to include malpractice insurance, etc. for non-personal service pricing). By all means, if a company is able to price that position under the $400,000.00 cap, then please price as personal services (malpractice, etc not needed). The preference is for all direct healthcare services to be personal services task orders, unless in extreme circumstances due to market salaries they have to be non-personal.

25. Section 3. Price, page 120 of the RFP, it states that Non-personal services may only be proposed for highly specialized physicians where the compensation for one FTE for that specialty is not able to be kept under $400,000.00 per year. In the pricing matrix, Attachment 3, multiple line items are included for some Physician Specialties both for personal and non-personal services. Please confirm that it is the government’s intention for us to price only one or the other and not both depending on the total compensation that is determined for each category?

A: For those physician specialties listed as potentially being personal and/or non-personal services, ceiling prices are required for both (personal and non-personal.)

26. Solicitation Reference: Page 56, paragraph 1.2.7. The contractor shall ensure contract HCPs have received Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) required training. Is OSHA training Government-provided training? If not, are contractors required to provide OSHA training prior to employee work start? A: The Contractor is responsible for providing/ensuring their contract employees are OSHA trained prior to performance in order to meet the qualification standards.

27. Solicitation Reference: Page 64, paragraph 1.7.8 states the Contractor shall investigate, verify, maintain and submit documentation of curriculum vitae for each provider proposed to provide services at the MTF. Proof of original documentation of degrees and licensure shall be presented and prime source verified. All periods of training must be supported by copies of training certificates. Contractor shall provide documentation of all continuing health education certification. This submission must occur prior to any provider performing work under this contract. Is this list and sub-lists on page 64-65 in addition to the requirements in 1.8 Profile Application Packets, if so, should it be included with the Profile Application Packet or should it be submitted as a separate packet? A: PWS paragraph 1.7 deals with licensing and credentialing. Section 1.8 is about the Profile Application Packets. Profile application packets, which include the CVs are submitted first and candidates (for that particular task order) must be approved as qualified by the particular department prior to credentials packets being submitted to the MTF. Contractors are responsible for verifying all required credentials of their employees prior to submitting credentials packets to the MTF.

28. Solicitation Reference: Page 107 Offers shall be submitted via e-mail or postal mail.

Can an offeror submit both email and hardcopy proposals? A: It is preferred that only one method be used to avoid duplicate submissions.

29. Reference:pg 91 attachment 2 minimum qualifications

Nurse, Licensed Practical/Vocational (LPN/LVN), Qualifications:

a. Education: Graduation from an accredited Licensed Practical Nurse or Licensed Vocational Nurse program.

b. Certification: Will have and maintain current Basic Cardiac Life Support (BCLS) and Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) certifications.

c. Experience: Minimum of one year experience.

d. Licensure: Must have and maintain a valid, unrestricted license to practice nursing in at least one state, territory or common wealth of the United States of America

The request for the LPN pricing is generic and does not mention the possibility of the LPN doing inpatient work, for example like in the ICU at Fort Gordon DDEAMC. It does give an ACLS requirement which make it seem like the pricing should be reflective of the highest position an LPN occupies in a given MTF. This is further confusing for pricing because some bases really only have “super clinics”. Can there be more clarification on this since the pricing will need to be a ceiling for potential inpatient or outpatient work?

A: Positions should be priced at the maximum ceiling price (worst case scenario) which would include higher rates if required to work inpatient. Also, ceiling prices should be maximum price for the region (may be based on US averages or regional averages). If a task order PWS will not require the LPN to work inpatient and will only require outpatient, then the quotes received for that particular task order requested from current contract awardees will most likely be quoted at a lower rate more comparable to an outpatient clinical setting. In contrast, if you as a vendor do not price the matrix for the Ceiling (or highest/maximum) price, then if your pricing is more geared toward the outpatient setting and a task order is needed for inpatient nurses, you will not be allowed to submit a task order quote higher than your maximum ceiling price on the matrix and as a result you will not be able to provide a competitive or market price quote for that particular task order services. After the contract s are awarded and contract awardees are provided task orders to quote on, the quoted task order prices can always be lower, but may never exceed the ceiling prices.

30. In Attachment 2 the government provides the minimum qualification s for each specialty. Para 1.2 of the PWS states Additional qualifications will be defined on each individual task order. Are we to interpret the government will request services with qualifications above what is already provided? A: The qualifications are basic qualifications required of a position (ie: any phlebotomist). Positions should be priced at the maximum amount a company intends to charge the government for a particular position or services at any MTF in the region. Task orders will indicate specific tasks required of the positions based on the actual location of the task order work.

31. Is the government able to provide a listing of the maximum qualifications that can be requested for the specialties in attachment 2? This is very important from a pricing point as major changes in the level of qualifications and number of years of experience can drastically change the rates offered to health care workers. Example there is a price difference between a board certified ER Physician and a board eligible ER Physician. Especially if they have to be Board certified in ER Medicine as opposed to another specialty. A: See answer to numbers 29 and 30 above.

32. REFERENCE: Page 46-47 252.237-7023 CONTINUATION OF ESSENTIAL CONTRACTOR SERVICES (OCT 2010

(c) (1) The Mission-Essential Contractor Services Plan submitted by the Contractor, is incorporated in this contract.

(2) The Contractor shall maintain and update its plan as necessary. The Contractor shall provide all plan updates to the Contracting Officer for approval.

Page 115-116

252.237-7024 NOTICE OF CONTINUATION OF ESSENTIAL CONTRACTOR SERVICES (OCT 2010)

(a) Definitions. Essential contractor service and mission-essential functions have the meanings given in the clause at 252.237-7023, Continuation of Essential Contractor Services, in this solicitation.

(b) The offeror shall provide with its offer a written plan describing how it will continue to perform the essential contractor services (All contractor-provided services are considered mission-essential functions for this effort) during periods of crisis. The offeror shall--

Is the contractor required to submit an Essential Contractor services Plan with this proposal. This was not outlined in the proposal Volume in the instructions? A: NO.

33. Please confirm that CLIN pricing (SF1449 Continuation Sheet) – Items 0001- 4007 do not need to be completed. A: The schedule clins are not to be priced as they encompass numerous specialties by months. The Ceiling Price Matrix is to be provided with offers.

34. Item Numbers 0004, 1004, 2004, 3004 and 4004 (SF1449 Continuation Sheet) provide for ancillary services which are non-personal in nature. However, Attachment 5 Ceiling Price Matrix does not show any non-personal services specialties for ancillary. Please provide a list of specialties for which non-personal ancillary services may be requested. A: No. See 33 above and PWS paragraph 1.1.7.2.

35. There are no Items Numbers for nursing specialties. Are they considered Ancillary Services? A: Yes.

36. In the Price Schedule, Section SF 1449 of the RFP starting on page 3, there are CLINs listed for both Miscellaneous Costs and Travel. However, in the Pricing Matrix, Attachment 3, there is no line item included to price these items. Additionally, the RFP provides no guidance in the quantities to be included in these CLINs. It is our assumption after reading through everything that we should not be providing a price estimated for these CLINs under this proposal and that the amounts for these CLINs will be priced at a task order level. Please confirm that our assumption is correct. A: See the text in the body of the miscellaneous cost and travel clins. These are not line items that require ceiling prices and may or may not be included in a future task order.

37. Are there specific Performance Standards for the Performance Objectives listed in the Performance Requirements Summary? A: No. None other than what is provided.

38. In Volume III - Technical, Subfactor 1A. Recruitment and Retention, please explain what information is to be provided regarding the "relationship between each employee, the contract representative, and the COR". A: State how you as a company see the interactive relationship between these three key personnel.

39. Attachment 4 Vacancy/Fill Report is included in Solicitation but there is no reference made to include in response - please clarify its purpose. A: This document is to be used for to document vacancies after task orders are awarded per the PWS. This document is clearly not required, nor can it be completed for submission as part of the proposal.

40. Please confirm electronic signatures are acceptable if submitting proposal via email in PDF format. A: YES. Electronic signatures are acceptable.

41. Would the contracting officer consider revising or removing the definition of Relevant - “ ‘Relevant’ is defined as ‘for the same and/or similar services - providing physicians and ancillary personnel the federal government demonstrating a full spectrum in size and scope of both privileged and non-privileged health care provider personnel’ “? A: NO.

42. According to the PWS, only Physician Assistants are required to have a (DEA) Registration Certificate. Will MDs/DOs also be required to have a (DEA) Registration Certificate?

A: YES.

43. Will the new policy requiring Contract HCP’s to have the appropriate state license and current individual DEA Registration IAW DEA ruling apply to this contract? Will incumbents be given a “grace period” to meet new qualifications regarding DEA and licensing?

A: Contract personnel performing direct healthcare services in an MTF (not telemedicine) under a personal services contract must hold a Must have and maintain current and valid unrestricted license in at least one of the 50 states in the U.S., the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, or the U.S. Virgin Islands. Must have DEA number as well.

44. Emergency Room Physicians working at Army MTF’s normally require Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS) certification. The PWS doesn’t reflect this. Please confirm if ER Physicians will need PALS? A: Amendment 0001 added the requirement for ER Physicians to have PALS.

45. Does the Government expect an immediate backfill on all personnel regardless of profession and/or Shift? With the time restraints in the required Credentialing/Base Access and Privileges process, this would not be practical; or if so, would be very cost prohibitive to have prescreened or credentialed personnel standing by. A: Full performance will commence within 45 days for Ancillary and 90 days for Physicians after the task order is issued.

46. In one area the RFP instructions state “…be compatible with Office version 2007 or older.” In another it states “…compatible with Office 2007 or later.” A: This was corrected with Amendment 0001 posted on 8 Nov 2012. Documents submitted should be compatible with Office 2007 and older (IE: 2007 backwards toward office 1997).

47. Page 90 #5 Dietician/ Nutritionist: Under Letter D there are 2 letter d’s for Licensure.

Which one applies to this position? A: The first one. license is required. Omit the second.

48. Page 90 #6 Medical Laboratory Technician: There is no letter d for licensure.

Question: What are the licensure requirements for this position? A: That is where the letter “d. Licensure: None” should be added.

49. Page 108 Volume II Pricing: The requirement states that Attachment 3 should be provided in the Pricing Volume. However, Page 119 and 120 both reference the Compensation Plan (Attachment 5) as being required in the Pricing Volume as well.

Should Attachment 5 (the Compensation Plan) be included in Volume II – Pricing, Volume III – Technical, or both? A: Attachment 3 should be submitted in Volume II Pricing. Compensation Plan should be submitted in Volume III Technical.

50. In the comp plan, are we to use a blended hourly rate or our bare hourly rate without overage/on call hours? It would make more sense to show our bare hourly rate based on 2080 hours (see question #3). A: Base hourly rate.

51. Will the government please explain the difference between 1920 billable and 2080 annual compensation. Does this mean that an offeror should not show PTO as a separate line on the compensation plan? A: See 52.212-2 number 3 Price on pages 119 and 120. 1920 hours are the standard amount of physical work hours that one FTE works in a year minus holidays and paid time off. 1920 plus 2 weeks time off plus 10 federal holidays equals 2080.

52. Page 108, Volume III B. The instructions state that compensation plans should be submitted for each healthcare specialty in Attachment 2. However, the specialties as defined in Attachment 2 do not exactly match the Ceiling Price Matrix in Attachment 5. We request that the Compensation Plan instructions be modified to mirror the Matrix in Attachment 5. We believe it would be easier for the Government to evaluate compensation and pricing together, using the same parameters. A: The format will not be modified. The price matrix is to provide the celing prices for each specialty. The compensation plans provide a “breakdown” of the direct compensation and loaded bill rate to show how you arrived at your blended monthly rates. The two are different but directly related to each other.

53. Page 108—Vol. III, B. Compensation. Instructions ask contractors to submit Attachment 5 for each healthcare specialty. Typically the government does not want to see pricing information in the Technical Proposal. Please confirm that you want the Attachment 5 documents in their entirety rather than a narrative describing elements of the compensation plan. A: Attachment 5 is part of the technical evaluation as we are evaluating the breakdown of the pricing.

54. Section 3. Price, page 120 of the RFP, it states that for any non-physician labor category where the service contract act applies, the overtime rate shall be indicated and then an estimated amount for any potential overtime should be incorporated and provided for that HCP specialty as a blended monthly rate. However, in the pricing matrix in Attachment 3, there are three (3) positions that have a section to include an overtime rate: Podiatrist, and Optometrist (both Physician categories), and also Psychologist. These positions are not considered to be SCA positions by the Department of Labor. Please confirm that we should be providing an overtime rate for the above referenced labor categories. A: Correction. Do not include overtime for the specialties of Optometrist, Pharmacist, Podiatrist, or Psychologist.

55. In Volume III - Technical, Subfactor 1B. Compensation, can we create a single Excel spreadsheet that lists all specialties with cost breakdown for each year (total of 5 spreadsheets)? Or, do we provide 79 compensation plans (1 for each specialty) to be included in this section?

A: Yes complete one comp plan form for each listed specialty in the Ceiling Price Matrix. You may include the base and option years pricing on one comp plan form so you only have 1 comp plan form for each specialty.

56. Will an electronic/fillable version of Attachment 5 be provided? Can additional Fringe Benefits lines (i.e Malpractice for non-personal) be added or should they be included in "Other"? A: NO. Attachment 5 is just a sample. You may use your own form as long as all the necessary components are included.

57. Please confirm that Hourly Bill Rate on Attachment 3 Price Matrix should be equal to Billable Hourly rate Equivalent in Attachment 5 Compensation Plan. A: YES.

58. On page 108 under B. Compensation, it states “A sample compensation plan worksheet is included at Attachment 5. The cost/price on the compensation plan shall be the cost breakdown of the monthly ceiling prices that are submitted on the spreadsheet in Attachment 3. Should the compensation plan show the cost per year or per month for the HCP. A: The hourly rate.

59. Are there page limitations for the Technical and Past Performance volumes? A: No.

CEILING PRICE MATRIX SPECIFIC QUESTIONS (Solicitation Reference: Attachment 3):

60. The worksheet does not distinguish separate areas for the positions listed. This solicitation is for the Southern Regional Medical Command and incorporates 11 different Department of Labor Wage Determinations. The rates for Health Care Providers can vary significantly in the different markets. Is it the Government’s intent to use one ceiling rate regardless of the work location? A: Yes.

61. a. Clarification: Ancillary positions include On call and Call back rates as well. Please confirm that on call and call back rates are excluded from the blended rate for ancillary positions.

b. In paragraph 3.a.1) (Price) of the SOW it states "The matrix pricing for on-call services for physicians...." It does not contain directions for on give directions for non-physician positions to be priced. Please clarify.

c. Are we to include on call/overage hours for every position? I see the monthly rate is a blended rate. However, these hours are not listed in the pricing matrix, only in the notes. Therefore we would use 2080 base hours as stated in the solicitation. Is this correct?

A: On-call services are only applicable to physicians. On-call and call back rates are not applicable to ancillary positions (reference Ceiling Price Matrix note 2.)

62. There do not appear to be any directions for Call Back Hourly Rate. Please clarify. A: Call back rate is usually the regular hourly rate.

63. CALL BACK CALCULATION and 20% Questions:

a. Since call-back services for physicians are to be included in the blended monthly rate, please provide the estimated number of call-back hours per month per position.

b. In the pricing matrix, the government gives the following percentages to calculate on-call and overtime per labor category; 10% of 1920 hours will be overtime for ancillary, 20% of 1920 hours will be on-call services for physicians. However, there is no percentage given for Call-Back. Please clarify, should contractors use 20% of 1920 hours (similar to on-call hours) for call-back on the pricing matrix?

c. In paragraph 3.a.1) (Price) of the SOW it states "The matrix pricing for on-call services for physicians shall be based on 20% per year (once every five weeks or 123 beeper hours) per FTE." However 20% of 1920 FTE hours is 384. Please clarify.

d. Should we include 192 hours of overage and 384 hours of on call per position as stated in notes 4 and 5 on the pricing worksheet? Please also note that note 5 states: “Hourly rate for beeper services outside of normal work shift and associated call-back rate to the MTF. On-call services shall be based at call being scheduled 20% per year or about one week (123 beeper hours) every five weeks.” However, 20% of 1920 is 384 hours per year. Please specify how many hours per year we are to build into our pricing model.

A1: Use 10% of the 1920 for potential call back hours. This is 192 hours per year or an average of 16 hours per month.

A2: The matrix pricing for on-call (beeper) services for physicians shall be based at 20% annually. The 20% is based on pulling call rotation once every 5 weeks. So, calculation is based on 20% of 52 weeks in a year, not 20% of the 1920 regular work hours.

· Pulling call is being available outside of the regular business or work day. 1 Evening from 1630 to 0730 the following morning is 15 hours.

· The number of hours for 1 week of call then is 15 hours times 5 week nights, plus 2 24-hour days on the week end.

· So, 15x5=75. And 24x2=48. Therefore 75+48=123.

· One week of call is 123 hours.

· If call is pulled once every 5 weeks, this is 52 weeks in a year divided by once every five weeks. 52/5=10.4

· 10.4 weeks times 123 hours per week is 1279.2 on-call hours per year.

· 1279.2 on-call hours per year divided by 12 months is an average of 106.6 on-call hours per month.

PAST PERFORMANCE QUESTIONS:

Note: Amendment 0001 states that past performance information for potential partnering, sub-contractors or joint ventures is acceptable.

64. Will the Government allow participation by a Joint Venture? And if so, will the experience of all parties to the JV be considered, even if one is not 8(a)?

A Joint Ventures’ strength is the sum of its component companies. Can you please verify that, for a Joint Venture proposal, the past performance references from its component companies can be submitted for full consideration? A: For Joint Venture proposals, the past performance references from component companies will be afforded full consideration.

65. Is the government basing the relevancy on one contract or is it based on the combination of all past performance submitted? A: Each past performance reference is considered separately.

66. Is subcontractor past performance going to be considered in the evaluation? A: YES

67. In reading the solicitation, it appears that past performance of a proposed subcontractor will not be considered, could you please confirm this evaluation methodology? A: Amendment 0001 made the change to allow for proposed subcontractor performance to be considered.

68. Is there a specific contract size and/or dollar amount to be considered for relevancy when selecting contract reference? A: For past performance to be deemed relevant in size and scope it must encompass and demonstrate a full spectrum of providing physicians and ancillary personnel of the same or similar mix and magnitude of the medical specialties listed in the solicitation (reference the price matrix.)

69. Confirm that the prime and/or its subcontract may have past performance with one (1) or a combination of the following entities: MEDCOM, other US Government departments or agencies, state and local governments and/or private sector clients.

A: YES. The solicitation states that The offeror’s past performance must be with MEDCOM, other U.S. Government departments or agencies, state and local governments and/or private sector clients.

70. Is there a limit on the number of past performances that an offeror may submit? A: No.

71. Do both of the references have to be from the Prime? A: NO.

72. Are you saying even if private sector work is considered Very Relevant because of the scope you will not rate it as very relevant? If not then what rating will it receive? A: This is saying that Government work is considered more relevant.

73. Does “Relevancy” require that the PRIME have two (2) contracts of the same or similar scope, or can one (1) Past Performance be from Prime and one (1) from our sub?

A: Past performance relevancy is on a contract by contract basis. To be considered relevant past performance must be within the past three years under which the offeror provided the same or similar services of similar size scope and complexity. Relevant present and/or past performance for at least two contracts is required.

74. If subcontractors are allowed, will they need to submit separate pricing and/or past performance? A: No.

75. If a Company does not have relevant past performance as a Prime or Sub-contractor (and thus, unable to provide a CPAR or appear in the PPIRS), will they be rated as “Unknown” or “No Confidence”? A: YES. If they do not submit any relevant past performance they will be rated unknown.

76. For Past Performance Relevancy rating, does Prime Contractor need to have provided both Physicians and Ancillary personnel? If Prime Contractor only has Physicians past performance, will the rating be determined as "Unknown" or "Somewhat Relevant"?

A: The rating depends on the scope and complexity of services provided.

>END OF ANSWERS TO SOLICITATION QUESTIONS<

W81K00-12-R-0014, November 2012