Questions and Answers_17 November 2020.pdf

W81K00-21-R-3002

17 November 2020

Questions and Answers

1. Who is the current incumbent contractor?

A: RADIOLOGICAL PHYSICS ASSOCIATES, LLP, RPA

2. What is the current contract number, value and the time period that the pricing represents?

A: W81K00-20-P-0084; $2,565,220.00; 6 month base plus 6 month option

3. This effort was previously solicited under W81K00-18-R-0042 in 2018. Did this solicitation result in an award?

A: The solicitation did not result in an award, a bridge was issued under W81K00-19-P-0163

4. If the solicitation under W81K00-18-R-0042 resulted in an award, was the awarded contract terminated?

A: The solicitation did not result in an award. See response to question 3

5. If the award was terminated, was it terminated for cause?

A: The solicitation did not result in an award. See response to question 3

6. Will the “Service Contract Act” apply to this contract?

A: No, SCA clauses and Wage Determination have been removed.

7. Do all of our personnel need to be licensed in Texas?

A: All personnel must have a current and unrestricted license in the state of Texas.

8. There are 10 FTEs on the requirement, is this the same number that was on the previous requirement?

A: This is a full-service contract with a single comprehensive monthly billable rate. As part of the contract 10 full-time personnel in the positions outlined in the PWS will be required at all times. The number of FTE’s in the previous contract is irrelevant to this solicitation.

9. Is the current contract 100% filled?

A: Yes

10. Are the incumbent providers qualified in accordance with the current PWS and meet the requirement? Do they possess all the certifications outlined in the new PWS?

A: The incumbent providers are qualified in accordance with the current PWS. It is the Offerors responsibility to propose a team that meets the qualifications/certifications of the solicitation.

11. Are there any current performance issues on the contract?

A: The Government will not provide any information regarding current contract performance.

12. PWS Page 11 (Section 4.1) requires the contractor to provide On-sight Contract Service

Personnel (CSP) management by a therapeutic medical physicist, and administrative resource to provide a fully operational Therapeutic Medical Physics Team capable of support and implementation of treatment as outlined in section 1.4 of this contract.

Is one of the three full-time Therapeutic Physicists is currently an On-sight Contract

Service Personnel (CSP) manager?

A: Yes. It is intended that one of the on-site Therapeutic Medical Physicists will also function as the on-site manager for all HCW’s affiliated with the contract holder’s team. Managerial responsibilities are intended to be included as part of a full clinical schedule maintained by this therapeutic medical physicist.

13. As indicated in PWS section 4.1, does the Government also requesting for an On-sight administrative resource for this effort?

A: An on-site contract service personnel manager will be required and should be filled by 1 of 3 on-site therapeutic medical physicists. The “administrative resources to provide a fully operational Therapeutic Medical Physics Team” are not required to be on-site. It is assumed that the contract holder will have a business office or other administrative personnel off-site to manage administrative responsibilities such as payroll and other human resources needs.

14. This effort is a small business set aside; will the government allow a bi-weekly invoicing for this contract?

A: This contract is intended to be invoiced on a monthly basis.

15. While it is preferred to hire one individual to work a full-time position, will the Government consider two individuals to share one position?

A: While it is preferable to have one individual fill each position as outlined in the PWS, the contract holder could consider 2 people job sharing one position outlined in the PWS so long as all positions are filled at all times.

16. Can the Government please supply the SCA occupation code to be used for each SCA position in this solicitation?

A: SCA Clauses and Wage Determination have been removed

17. Radiation staff are expected to have on their person a radiation monitoring device ((a.k.a.

film badge or TLD badge, or PMD) that monitor levels of radiation exposure. It should also be strategically placed in the radiation equipment areas. Does the Government currently provide the radiation monitoring device?

A: Yes the government currently provides radiation monitoring devices for all personnel, contract, civil service, and military. The government will continue to provide radiation exposure monitors for all personnel.

18. If no, is it the contractor’s responsibility to provide the radiation monitoring device?

A: Please see response at question 17

19. If no, is the current contractor currently providing radiation monitoring device?

A: Please see response at question 17

20. What is the name and brand of current monitoring device utilized by the Radiation therapy staff?

A: Please see response at question 17.

21. PWS 1.6.7 state: Closures: During a planned closure of the facility due to training, holiday or unplanned closure due to unusual and compelling circumstances (e.g., natural disasters, military emergencies, severe weather), the Therapeutic Medical Physics Contractor Team will be required to report in accordance with mission essential /inclement weather procedures announced for each individual circumstance. 1.6.8 Mission Essential: All personnel under this contract are mission essential and inclement weather essential employees. Under mission essential and inclement weather conditions, the HCW will be required to continue the mission of the Radiation Oncology clinic unless properly released by an authorized government supervisor. The HCW may not exceed 40 hours per work week at any time, including during mission essential and inclement weather conditions. No overtime is permitted under this contract.

Will the Contractor Personnel be paid by the Government for planned and unplanned closure where the Contractor personnel were not provided access to the facility or instructed not to report by the Government?

A: This contract is structured as a monthly all-inclusive billed rate and the contract holder will be paid by the government in accordance with the monthly contracted rate.

22. The PWS 5.1.2 (Certification) states: Possess Board Certification by either the American

Board of Radiology (ABR) in Therapeutic Medical Physics, Radiological Physics or the

American College of Medical Physics (ACMP) in Therapeutic Medical Physics

Is the Medical physicist required to be enrolled in the ABR Maintenance of Certification

(MOC) program – e.g. ‘ DABR-T’?

A: Therapeutic medical physicists are required to be enrolled in the ABR MOC program, unless they are grandfathered out of that program based upon the year of their initial certification. All

HCW’s are required to maintain current certification in their respective fields of expertize. PWS revised.

23. Instruction to the offeror page 4 states: “Provide a curriculum vitae (CV) or resume for each proposed team member describing their specific qualifications relevant to the qualification standards and requirements set forth in the Performance Work Statement.

(Note: CVs/resumes are NOT included in the maximum page limitation for this section.

CVs/resumes may be included as an addendum to Volume III – Technical Capabilities.)”

Is the government requesting the submission of CVs/Resume for Medical Physicist, Dosimetrist , Radiation Therapist; and other labor categories identified in the PWS or is this a request for the CVs/Resume of Contractor teaming partners, Contractor Contract managers or contractor’s Key personnel?

A: The request is for submission of CV’s/Resumes of the HCW’s on the proposed Therapeutic

Medical Physics Team (physicists, dosimetrists, therapists, simulation therapist). Offerors shall redact identifying information on the CV’s IAW with the revised Instructions to

Offerors_Evaluation Criteria.

24. PWS 5.1.5 Medical Physicist experience states Ten years of recent clinical medical physics experience.

Due to extremely low nationwide availability of this labor category and steep competition with local hospitals, will the Government change the verbiage of the experience for Medical

Physicist to: Medical Physicist shall have a minimum of five and preferably ten (10) years of experience as Radiation Therapy Physicist?

A: The PWS is written based upon the needs and expectations of this contract.

25. In what volume should the Continuation of Essential Contractor Services Plan be added?

A: See page 2, para 5 of the Instructions to Offerors_Evaluation Criteria

26. Are resume’s CV’s required for the response to this proposal?

A: Yes – See Instructions to Offerors_Evaluation Criteria

27. When is the base year starting 1 April 2021 or 1 Oct 2021?

A: Base year is anticipated to begin 1 April 2021.

28. What happens if an employee is required to work more than 40 hours due to on-call? How will the contractor be reimbursed if this situation occurs?

A: This is a turn-key contract, billed on a monthly rate. A single monthly rate will be contracted for all operating expenses without additional reimbursement.

29. In addition to the contractor who else will attend the periodic progress meetings?

A: The Clinic Director and COR.

30. What is the procedure for applying for the NACT? If an adjudication constraint prevents a non-US citizen employee from performing in a timely matter how can contractor comply with the replacement time frame listed in 5.13?

A: When the contract is awarded, the contract holder will be given information guiding them through the NACT process. If a member of the contract holder’s team is delayed for any reason while navigating through the NACT process, consideration will be given to extend the timeline outlined in 5.13. However, if a delay arises in the adjudication process for a member of the contract holder’s team warranting additional time to navigate the NACT process, the contract holder will still be expected to staff all contracted positions during regular business hours and on-call hours by utilizing contract team members who have not been delayed.

31. Is the physical requirement annually or only at the start of employment or beginning of new contract?

A: As described in 1.6.22, a physical exam within 365 days of initiation of contract service is required. The contract holder is required to obtain documentation of initial physical exam for all

HCW’s who work on the contract holder’s team. Annual physical exams are not specifically required, but are encouraged.

32. What documents are to be included in a qualifying package?

A: The awardee will be required to submit the following for each HCW on their contracted team:

Proof of legal authorization to work in the United States, Proof of degree/education in contracted field, Proof of licensure/registration with the appropriate professional organization for the specific contracted field, Proof of certification in the contracted field, Proof of current Basic Life Support training, Proof of experience in the contracted field, Curriculum Vitae.

33. Will contractor be held responsible if government delays approval beyond the 30 days replacement requirement?

A: If a member of the contract holder’s team is delayed for any reason while navigating through the NACT (1.6.10) or any other process, consideration will be given to extend the timeline outlined in 5.13. However, if a delay arises in the adjudication process for a member of the contract holder’s team warranting additional time to navigate the hiring process, the contract holder will still be expected to staff all contracted positions during regular business hours and on-call hours by utilizing contract team members who have not been delayed.

34. Is the incumbent eligible to bid on this requirement?

A: Offerors who meet the requirements of the solicitation are eligible to propose.

35. Must an offeror be registered in the SBA Dynamic Small Business Database to be eligible for award or prior to solicitation close date?

A: No, offerors must be registered in SAM to be eligible for award.

36. ADDENDUM TO 52.212-1 / -2 Para 5. The Continuation of Essential Contractor Services

Plan.

Q: Must a Continuation of Essential Contractor Services Plan (DFARS 252.237-7024) be submitted in its entirety with the proposal in Volume I – Administrative

37. The offeror shall submit with its proposal evidence of relevant past performance under which YOUR company (the offeror) provided the same or similar therapeutic physicists and dosimetrist services with similar magnitude and scope in the public and/or private sector. Performance must have been by the Offeror (not by a subsidiary or sister company) either as the prime contractor or subcontractor.

Q: In the case of a Joint Venture, must the past performance be that of the Joint Venture or any member of the Joint Venture?

A: Past Performance may be for any member of the Joint Venture.

38. Describe your experience in participation in clinical trials with NRG Oncology, Radiation

Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG), Children’s Oncology Group (COG), Southwest

Oncology Group (SWOG), and/or other cancer cooperative groups. Describe your process for reviewing research protocols and preparing electronic data for the Oncology Protocol credentialing process. Describe specific clinical trial protocols you have been involved with and your style for supporting clinical trial staff, dosimetrists, clinicians, and therapists with these protocols. (submitted as 2 parts under 1 question):

Q: While we have current experience providing personal services for a nearly identical service at another MTF, and previous experience at an additional MTF, only BAMC has affiliations at all 4 organizations listed above. This seems to narrow the possible successful offerors to the incumbent at the NAICS size standard. Will the Government weigh the numbers of organization affiliates for relevancy (2 is better than 1; 3 is better than 2)?

A: There are many other institutions and organizations that have affiliations with all of these research groups. The elements of the Technical Experience factor will be evaluated to ensure the contractor has sufficient knowledge and experience as outlined in the Instructions to

Offerors_Evaluation Criteria.

Q: Does the incumbent hold affiliate level partnerships with NRG Oncology, Radiation

Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG), Children’s Oncology Group (COG), and Southwest

Oncology Group (SWOG) or are these BAMC level affiliates?

A: The Government will not provide any information regarding the current contractor. The solicitation asks for potential contract holders to describe their “experience in participation in clinical trials” with the above mentioned groups. As a department, we have clinical trials with these organizations in various phases of research, and as such it is important for potential contract holders to describe their experience in working with them.

39. Describe your experience in working with Varian Aria/Eclipse/Variseed, Pinnacle, CMS

Xio, Philips CT-LOC and AcQSim, Syntegra, Oncentra, and BrainLAB treatment planning systems. Describe you experience in setting up, maintaining, and troubleshooting a radiation oncology treatment planning and DICOM server. (submitted as 2 parts under 1 question):

Q: Are the AcQSim, Syntegra, and Oncentra treatment planning systems unique to BAMC or are they prevalent treatment planning systems? Is the DICOM server unique to BAMC or is it a prevalent treatment planning system?

A: All of these treatment planning systems are or were commercially available and are not unique to BAMC. We use these systems in our treatment of patients and as such experience in utilizing them is important to our continued functionality. DICOM servers are not unique to BAMC.

DICOM servers are utilized throughout the radiation oncology industry. We are interested in experience setting up, maintaining, and troubleshooting them.

Q: Has the Government’s market research determined there are enough small businesses

($16.5M) meeting all of the specific equipment and treatment planning systems requirements to provide adequate competition?

40. Para 1.6.4 Hours of Operation (submitted as 5 parts under 1 question):

Q: Will all of the contract positions be providing on-call services or is it limited to the

Physicists and Dosimetrists?

A: Yes. All contract positions will be required to provide on-call services.

Q: Does on-call include call back to the Military Treatment Facility (MTF)?

A: Yes. If after hours treatment is required, physicists, dosimetrists, and radiation therapists may be called back to the MTF in order to provide services necessary to care for a patient.

Q: What are the normal on-call hours?

A: As part of a level 1 trauma center, we are a 24 hour a day, 7 days a week facility. All hours outside of normal business hours are considered on-call hours

Q: How often will the contract healthcare worker (HCW) be required to provide on-call services?

A: On-call coverage will be required for all non-business hours. However, on-call HCW’s are rarely required to return to the MTF after hours.

Q: Will the Government be providing pager or telephone for the on-call services?

A: No

41. Para 5.15 Training Management: The Contractor will facilitate and manage radiation specific safety training including annual safety and high-dose-rate brachytherapy training for all contract, civil-service, and active duty HCW’s in the Radiation Oncology Clinic as required by all applicable radiation governing bodies. (submitted as 2 parts under 1 question)

Q: Will training be conducted at the MTF and will the training be conducted during normal duty hours?

A: Yes.

Q: How many HCWs will the Government certified to provide these services?

A: A minimum of 2 and up to 4 HCW’s.

42. Evaluation – Relevant Rating

Present/past performance effort involved similar scope and magnitude of effort and complexities this solicitation requires. (i.e., services included providing a slightly smaller sized full-service team, providing similar services in a similar environment as the solicited requirement.)

Q: Could the Government quantify “slightly smaller”?

A: No

43. *Note: The parenthetical information above is provided as an example only and does not constitute all the factors the Government may consider when making a relevancy determination.

A: Noted. No question was asked.

44. Could the Government list factors not currently listed that will be used to make a relevancy determination?

A: Note has been removed. See revised Instructions to Offerors_Evaluation Criteria.

45. What is the incumbent contract and award amount?

A: See response to question 1 and 2

46. This is a firm fixed price contract. Will it be billed at 1/12 of the contract amount each month, or will it be billed on a labor hour basis for hours actually worked?

A: It will be billed at a fixed monthly rate. It is not an hours-based contract.

47. There is no overtime authorized on this contract. If circumstances dictate and the contractor employees are actively providing services for the Government on a Friday (for example) for which 32-plus hours have already been worked ((an 8-hour day is not available)), what will the contractor employees do when 40 hours are reached (leave the work area, continue working but then will be incurring O/T)?

A: This is not an hours-based contract. It is a fixed monthly rate contract. The contracted service provider will be required to provide services during all normal business hours as well as on-call services. The contract holder will be required to manage the hours of their own HCW’s in order to cover all business hours and any on-call service needs. There will not be any additional compensation for services provided by any individual member of the contract holder’s team for work beyond a standard 40 hour week.

48. Attachment 3 - Employee Compensation: The attachment did not contain all of the formulas which are necessary to compute the amounts for each element. Will this attachment be part of the final solicitation? If so, will the attachment contain all of the formulas?

A: Attachment 3 was provided as a sample compensation plan worksheet. Offerors shall format the attachment according to its proposed plan and enter the necessary formulas as applicable.

Revised attachment 3 provided.

49. Is escalation of direct labor rates permitted?

50. Attachment 3 - Employee Compensation: The dollar amount computed in Col B, Row 8, is not a Base Labor Rate by Specialty. The formula is the application of the Direct Labor

Hourly Rate (shown in Col B, Row 7) extended by 1920. 1920 is the number of available hours to work in a fiscal year after the deduction of vacation hours (generally 80) and holiday hours (generally 80) from the total hours available: 2080 (40 hours per week times

52 weeks). The amount in col B row 8 is the available (base direct) labor cost for one position at the labor rate included in col B row 7. Is the contractor to create a formula to calculate a labor rate, or will this be clarified in the final solicitation?

the attachment according to its proposed plan. Offerors using attachment 3, please ensure the base rate is calculated utilizing 2080. Revised attachment 3 provided

51. Attachment 3 - Employee Compensation: Fringe Benefits: Payroll taxes, workers’ compensation insurance, and health insurance are NOT employee compensation items.

They are costs required by law or regulation but are NOT compensation. The employee does not receive actual pay for these costs. Even health insurance is not an employee pay item. It is a benefit but not a pay compensation. This does not include H&W costs that may be paid directly to SCA covered workers. However, the items delineated above are a cost to a contract. The method accepted by the Govt and included in FAR Part 15.408 to allocate

Fringe Costs is to pool the fringe costs in an expense pool and allocate utilizing a total labor costs, excluding the labor costs included in the fringe expense pool, paid time off, for a fiscal year thereby creating a Fringe Burden Rate that is applied to proposed direct labor.

A: Noted. No question was asked.

52. Will the Government separate these costs so that they are not considered compensation?

53. Attachment 3 - Employee Compensation: The Attachment 3 does not include an opportunity for the bidder to include Overhead Costs as part of the proposed costs. Many contractors have Overhead Costs and General and Administrative costs allocated to a contract utilizing different allocation bases. May a contractor modify the spread sheet to include Overhead Costs as part of the proposed cost accordingly?

54. G&A: Again the formula identifying the allocation base is not included in the spreadsheet.

Will the allocation base that the G&A Rate is applied to be included in the schedule in the solicitation or is the bidder to make that determination?

55. Profit: What is the Profit Rate applied to, or is the bidder to make that determination?

Profit is not a G&A expense. Profit is not a contract cost; it is a fee paid to the contractor and is included in the contract price.

56. Attachment 4 - Pricing Worksheet. The attachment did not contain all of the formulas which are necessary to compute the amounts for each element. Will this attachment be part of the final solicitation and if so, will all formulas be included, or is the bidder to use its judgment as to how it is to be calculated?

A: Attachment 4 contains all necessary formulas to compute each element.

57. Attachment 4 - Pricing Worksheet. Is the Unit Price, that is to be entered in Col I Row 8, the Billable Rate (Hourly) found on Attachment 3: Col B, Row 26? If yes, the resultant will be 12 (meaning months) times X, a loaded hourly rate, effectively resulting in the cost of 12 hours of effort... or does the bidder calculate what it believes the Unit cost to be?

A: No, the intent of Attachment 3 is to ensure the proposed compensation is sufficient to attract and retain quality HCP based on Regional Health Contracting Office - Central’s market research.

Attachment 4 -- The unit price in Col I Row 9 is the monthly unit price. The total in Col J Row 9 is the monthly price x 12 months of performance. Offerors shall enter its monthly rate in Col I in the respective row to calculate its total price for the base and each option year. The table starting at Col B Row 44-49 will show the base, each option year and grand total (Total Evaluated Price).

Offerors shall ensure the formulas and totals accurately reflect the pricing data proposed.