QA ANG_Medical Case Mgmt Amendment 0001.pdf

Questions & Answers for Solicitation W9133L20R1004 Air National Guard (ANG) Medical Case Management Services

Question Number

Docume nt

Page Number

Section and Paragraph or line

Question Government Answer

1 PWS 14 Sec 1.4 Para 1.4.4.1 How many days per week is an employee permitted to telework?

Telework may be accomplished up to 40hrs/week with the exception of the Medical Director, Project Manager, and at least one administrative support. Ad-hoc/situational telework (e.g., weather related events or other gov't shutdown) may be permitted for remaining on-site staff. Must be approved by the COR.

2 RFP Is there any incumbent? If yes, please provide contractor number, vendor name, amount and period of performance.

Yes.

Contract #W9133L-16-C-00733 Soft Power Solutions, LLC Sept 2016 – Mar 2020 Cost: $7,782,895.00

3 RFP Are the incumbent contractors eligible to bid? No. Incumbent no longer in 8(a) program.

4 PWS Can the staff be permanent resident, green card holder or only US citizens eligible for this work?

US Citizens eligible to legally work in the US government.

5 RFP What is the anticipated budget for this work over Please refer to the Estimated Workload attachment.

the life of the contract? attachment.

6 RFP Is this a single award or multiple award contract?

If multiple, how many number of awards are expected.

Single Award

7 RFP Is the effort currently fully staffed? Yes

8 PWS How many FTEs?

1. # of RNs?

2. # of LVNs?

3. # of Care Coordinators?

4. # of other staff/titles

A minimum of one Medical Director, one Project Manager, and one administrative support full-time (FTE) on-site. Other staff necessary to meet the demands of the performance work statement in conjunction with the caseload as determined by the proposing contractor.

9 RFP Will the government accept our current PPQs emailed to Contract Specialist & Contracting Officer directly from our customer?

Yes, in addition to Volume III requested information.

10 PWS If applicable, can you please provide the historical number of FTE’s and the positions they fill?

Please refer to the Estimated Workload attachment.

11 PWS What are the WDOL classification codes for this solicitation?

It is up to the proposing offeror to determine the WDOL classification for this requirement.

12 PWS 30 Sec 5.1 ''Contractor shall develop a tracking system to track each case submitted to Medical Case Management for processing. Contractor shall submit the proposed tracking system to the COR within 14 days of contract award for review and approval. The contractor shall submit a report of the tracked cases to the COR on a monthly

Tracking system(s) will be developed, provided, managed and modified by the contractor. The SME and COR will periodically review case data and metrics only. It is the responsibility for the contractor to create, enter, modify, adjust all data in the system(s). The contractor must be able to independently operate without direct input from basis.'

1) Is the Air National Guard (ANG) planning to run and manage the “tracking system?”

2) Does the ANG expect the contractor to provide, build (or both) the tracking system?

the government. The government may specify other data bases that will be managed by the contractor.

13 PWS How many cases does each case manager currently oversee?

Please refer to the Estimated Workload attachment.

14 PWS Is there a need for dental case managers? If so, how many personnel are required to manage the dental cases? What is the average amount of dental cases per month?

Dental CMs are rarely needed. Offeror should have the ability to provide support if required.

15 PWS Is the contractor to provide credentialing personnel?

- Yes, contractor is to provide licensed and credentialed personnel to perform requirements as defined in the PWS section 5.1.2.7.

Please be advised, the contractor is not required to provide credentialing services to the ANG.

16 PWS How many medical records are processed weekly?

Please refer to the Estimated Workload attachment.

17 PWS How many personnel currently working this contract?

Please refer to the Estimated Workload attachment.

18 PWS Are all positions filled? If not, what positions need to be filled?

All positions are currently filled per current contract terms.

19 PWS Are case management personnel required to work on drill weekends?

CMs are rarely needed for weekend drills.

Offeror should have the ability to provide support if required.

20 PWS In an effort to aid the government in the evaluation process, by receiving proposals that use a common baseline, but provide additional value to the Government through competitor unique solutions and services, will the government, as a baseline, please provide the current, or at a minimum historical, staffing levels to include LCATs, quantity of FTEs by LCAT, FT vs PT status, and whether the position is a Key personnel or not.?

Please refer to the Estimated Workload attachment.

21 PWS Pages 16-

RFQ Section 1.4.6.5, Paragraph 2

In section 1.4.6.5, they mention that the FBI fingerprint can take from 2-6 weeks to complete and that the Contractor shall factor in this lead time in their hiring and placement process. If this contract’s period of performance begins March 30th and the submission date is 18th February, how soon does the government anticipate awarding?

Tentative start date has been changed to 30 June 2020. See revised solicitation.

22 PWS Page 30 Section 5.1, Paragraph 1- 5, Are there incumbents and if so, outside of the Contract Medical Director, Program Manager and Administrative Assistant, can the government provide us a makeup of the specialties, especially those covered under the Service Contract Act, to honor the First Right of Refusal mandate?

a. If there are incumbents to transition, does the government allow a transition time?

The current vendor employs a mix of providers, and non-providers. As this is a new effort, and the contract is performance based approach current manning may not truly reflect personnel needed or not.

See PWS 1.4.15

The Program Manager shall have relevant

b. Does the government have any specific qualifications, education and experience required of the Program Manager?

experience and education to fully execute all aspects of this contract.

23 PWS Page 30 Section 5.1, Paragraph 1-

Physicians or Providers shall have prior military experience in flight medicine or medical case management.

i. Please confirm if the military experience is specific only to the flight medicine or to both flight medicine and case management?

ii Please clarify which healthcare practitioner role(s) are defined as to be “Providers”? For instance is a Registered Nurse or Technician considered a Provider or is this specific to a Physician, Physician Assistant or Nurse Practitioner.

Military experience is specific to both flight medicine and case management. The intent is to have experienced providers in medical standards for special duty(flyers) populations and understand the implications of the disease processes on those standards.

Provider = MD, Nurse Practitioner & Physician Assistant

24 PWS Page 12 Section 1.1, Paragraph 3 “Contractor shall develop a tracking system to track each case submitted to Medical Case Management for processing” Please advise if the government has a preferred tracking system for ease in using the existing software programs listed in paragraph 3 of Section 1.1?

Tracking system(s) will be developed, provided, managed and modified by the contractor. The SME and COR will periodically review case data and metrics only. It is the responsibility for the contractor to create, enter, modify, adjust all data in the system(s). The contractor must be able to independently operate without direct input from the government. The government may specify other data bases that will be managed by the contractor.

25 PWS Page 12 Section 1.1 Approximately 9,000 – 12,000 cases annually to be supported. Is this an increase or decrease from the contract and what is the corresponding percentage of change?

This is an estimate range of cases from historical data. There’s no change

26 PWS Page 12 Section 1.1 Approximately 9,000 – 12,000 cases annually to be supported. How many of these cases are reviewed by the Government review board on a monthly basis?

Please refer to the Estimated Workload attachment.

27 PWS Page 12 Section 1.1 Please provide the current staffing level and structure

Please refer to the Estimated Workload attachment.

28 PWS Page 14 Section 1.4.4.1 Telework. Will the GFE be able to be used offsite or does the offeror need to include additional equipment for telework?

GFE authorized on-site are: computer (and associated Software and peripherals), desk, chair, phone and work light. Off-site, GFE - Computer (and associated software and peripherals). The gov’t will not be expensed for communication and/or Internet Provider costs.

See PWS Section 3.0 & 4.0.

29 PWS Page 25 Section 2.1.28 Work Day – number of hours per day, in accordance with the contract. What are the normal work hours on-site?

Normal operating hours are 0730-1630 M-F. As stated in PWS Section 1.4.4, CORE hours are 0900 to 1500 hours.

30 PWS Page 30 Section 5.1 To facilitate an orderly contract transition it would benefit the government for offerors to propose the same, or compatible, medical case tracking system. Please provide the name, source, and structure of the system currently in use.

We have an internal developed SG-WAIVER program. Future software, internally developed is expected to replace SG-WAIVER.

31 RFP Page 89 Section 3.5(a) Quote Due Date and Time: Would the Government consider an extension in order for

RFP is extended until 25 February 2020. See revised solicitation offerors to provide a complete proposal?

32 RFP Page 90 Section 4 QUOTE CONTENT: Is it the Government's intention to have a Summary section and narrative discussion for all Volumes, to include Volumes IV and V?

This section has been revised. A narrative is not required.

33 RFP Page 91 Section 4.1 In reference to "demonstrate a clear understanding of the scope of the services required in the PWS," is it the Government's expectation that contractors provide details related to the Case Types detailed in PWS section 5.1.1?

The offeror is expected to fully address all of the RFP requirements within the page limits specified for all volumes.

34 RFP Page 93 Section 4.4.5 What needs to be included in the “complete breakdown of pricing by major subcontractor”?

Is this breakdown provided along with the primes submission or can the subcontractor submit directly to the government?

The information needs to be submitted with the prime’s submission in the same form/fashion (i.e.

Price Model).

35 RFP Is this work currently being performed by another company? If so what is the current contract number, award value, period of performance, and current contractor?

Yes. Please see Question #2.

36 RFP Price. Is the anticipated staffing level in the same rough order of magnitude as in the past?

The offeror is responsible for anticipating the staffing level

37 RFP Please provide the historical CMR – Contract Manpower Reports – from the last two years.

Please refer to the Estimated Workload attachment.

38 3. RFP number. Block 5 has 1004 but pages 88 and 89 have 0004. Which is correct?

CLIN 1004. Correction made in the revised solicitation.

39 PWS 4. RFP NAICS code. A more appropriate Code for Medical-related work is 621nnn; we recommend 621999.

NAICS will remain unchanged.

40 PWS Section 4.1 5. CLIN description “The contractor shall provide all personnel, equipment, tools, materials, ” and also at 4.1. What equipment, tools and materials are contractor-provided today?

See the Government’s response to Question #28

41 PWS 6. Is the Travel primarily ground-travel or air-travel? Must contractor provide any vehicles?

How many overnights are anticipated?

Travel is unlikely as stated in the PWS para

1.4.12. If travel is advantageous to the

government, the traveler will select travel modes/methods needed to complete necessary travel. Reference Joint Travel Regulation (JTR). Any travel must be approved by the COR prior to scheduling.

42 PWS Page 34 5.1.2.10 7. What is the anticipated count of cases in this category at time of contract transition?

Approximately 80-170 cases will remain open during the transition.

43 PWS Page 43 8. What specific Occupational Codes are applicable to the current work?

Please refer to the Estimated Workload attachment.

44 RFP Page 80 9. The Nondisplacement clause is checked, however this clause was eliminated via Executive Order several months ago.

Recommend remove.

https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/executive-order-improving-federal-contractor-operations-revoking-executive-order- 13495/

REMOVED

45 RFP Page 89 It states Quotes are to be submitted through Send proposals via email to beta-dot-sam. However, in the header information on beta-dot-sam it states: “ALL

PROPOSALS MUST BE SENT VIA E-MAIL”.

meredith.l.mckinney2.civ@mail.mil and cole.p.cook.civ@mail.mil

See revised solicitation “Instructions to Offerors” Section: Quote Submission

46 RFP We suggest allowing email as this new system is in ‘beta’ mode and sometimes does not work as intended.

See the Government's response to question no.

45.

47 RFP Relative to the SCLS/SCA, how many years have each of the SCA-qualified incumbent staff been there, regardless of the management firm?

SCA requires increased benefits for longevity, beginning after one year of service. Offerors must include those Costs in Fringe Benefits for incumbent staff for the life of the contract. Please indicate the current longevity of each incumbent staff person.

a. Comment. Names are not needed; one can substitute a letter (e.g. A-V) or initials (e.g.

PEC) with the associated years of incumbency for this particular work.

It is at the contractor’s discretion to determine the staffing. This information will not be provided.

48 RFP RFP pg 88 3.3, pg 91 4.1, pg 94 2.1, and any related Technical Response and Evaluation. In lieu of a 30-page description of Case Management from the management company, may offerors submit resumes of qualified staff who are proposed to perform the work?

PWS Section 4.2 (page 92) has been updated.

Also, see revised solicitation “Instructions to Offerors” (page 89) Section: Quote Submission Requirements.

49 RFP Contractor Teaming Arrangements (CTAs). This paragraph appears to only be applicable for GSA

Reference to GSA has been removed from PWS section 1.5.

schedule request for Quotes (RFQs). This RFP is not part of a GSA Schedule solicitation. Can the Government clarify if CTAs are permitted for this RFP or if this paragraph was inadvertently included?

50 PWS Page 14 Section 1.4.4 What is the current office symbol for the work performed under this contract on Andrews AFB?

No office symbol. See Section 1.4.4 for place of performance.

51 PWS Page 15 Section 1.4.6 What is the PWS section title for 1.4.6? Information Security

52 PWS Page 16 Section 1.4.6.5 Other AF military instillations handle NACI and other security background checks, is it true that the contract company is to perform these functions on this contract; “HSPD-12 Background Investigations Requirements”?

Yes

53 PWS Page 34 Section 5.1.2.7 Are physicians and nurses to be credentialed with the 11th Medical Group at Andrews AFB?

No

54 RFP Page 91 Para 4.2. OCI plans are normally requested when an OCI has been identified. Can you share why an OCI plan is required when no OCI exists?

The government asks for an OCI Risk Mitigation Plan as part of the offeror’s Management Approach.

55 PWS Page 30-

Section 5.0 We request the government provide an estimated level of effort, roles, and location for the activities requested in the RFP.

Location of the SG Office, Joint Base Andrews, MD. Please refer to the Estimated Workload attachment.

56 PWS ANG contract personnel shall utilize the following existing software programs and/or their replacements if phased out during the performance of this contract”

Current software is the “SG-WAIVER” program, this is an internally developed software tool used to track work. Future COTS software or local/AF/DoD software may be developed and as such current and future systems will be owned

We understand that there are several reference systems that serve as inputs for the case management process. Is there a system that the ANG is currently using to manage the medical / non-medical case management lifecycle process? If so, would the government provide an overview of that system functionality, high level architecture, and data migration needs?

by the gov’t. There is no need currently to transfer/migrate data. Training will be provided by the gov’t initially during the transition period, after which the vendor is expected to train new personnel.

57 PWS Page 43 Section 5.1.3 “The contractor shall develop/monitor metrics associated with timelines and quality indicators and report this data to NGB/SG leadership no less than monthly.”

Often there are challenges service-members have with completing specialty evaluations and associated medical documents in a timely manner. To incentivize timely completion of cases, would the government consider setting deadlines and intervene to resolve these issues if cases extend beyond those deadlines?

Vendor will manage completion of cases in addition to tracking timelines. Furthermore metrics are expected under the contract and are listed in the PWS. In terms of meeting timeliness standards, the vendor’s metrics are calculated form the time the case is received until the vendor makes a determination of the case; either a final disposition or returned as incomplete/needing more information. Time required for a member to obtain speciality care wouldn’t be counted against the vendor.

58 PWS Page 30 Section 5.1 Para 4 “All contracted personnel must be able to make independent judgment with reference to various references, publications, memorandums, or other documentation to successfully manage medical cases and determine disposition of cases.”

Please clarify if the government will make the definitive disposition for qualification or disqualification for accession and continued service? Can the government confirm that the government will be the final decision maker in the disposition decision and the contractor will provide information that will be used make that determination?

The gov’t, in nearly all cases will be the final signatory on all cases. The intent for the contract provider is to be able to use their clinical judgement and knowledge of standards to make decisions/recommendations on the vast majority of cases without intervention from the gov’t. Contract staff should be able to enter those findings into our systems.

Limited military providers are available to discuss difficult cases as needed.

59 PWS Page 30 Section 5.1.1 “Case Types & Performance Requirements”

When medical specialty review of a case is needed, will the ANG provide access to specialty reviewers? (i.e. for Line of Duty, Medical Hold, Elective Surgery cases, etc.)

Limited military providers are available to discuss difficult cases as needed. It would be rare that external specialists are needed, but in those rare cases military providers will be involved in obtaining access to the needed specialist.

60 PWS Page 30 Section 5.1 Para 2 “The contractor shall interact with outside agencies/organization as needed to gather any information required to properly disposition a medical case as defined by the PWS”

In reference to this requirement, would the

No. The intent of the requirement is to provide feedback to the entity submitting a particular case (usually the Guard Medical Unit or recruiter) to inform them of needed information to make a case disposition.

(I.e. the waiver guide says flexion/extension X-Rays are needed for waiver consideration government consider adding the following:

The offeror shall put in place a governance model to ensure that the data being tracked in the case management system is correct and complete.

but not included in the submitted case)

61 PWS Page 30 Para 3

Section 5.1 “Contractor shall develop a tracking system to track each case submitted to Medical Case Management for processing.”

In reference to this requirement, would the government consider adding the following:

The tracking solution proposed by the offeror shall have the ability to automate case management tasks.

The tracking solution proposed by the offeror shall have a DHA ATO to enable speedy deployment of the solution in production.

The tracking solution proposed by the offeror shall have the ability to optimize for efficiency the lifecycle management of caseloads OR of individual cases.

Refer to question # 12 for response

62 PWS Page 35 within Technical Exhibit 1 Item

Section 5.1.2.11 “The contractor shall recommend the development of or improvement to existing policies and procedures” and Technical Exhibit 1 - “Takes advantage of innovations, new technology and experience.”

This intent is to encourage the vendor to recommend improvement in the case management process to make it more efficient.

5.1.2.11 In reference to this requirement, would the government consider adding the following:

The offeror shall propose an approach for evidence- based assessments on future cases by leveraging a combination of people, processes and tools.

63 PWS Page 21 Section 1.4.15 “During the phase out period, the contractor shall help facilitate a transition with the incoming contractor in order to ensure performance requirements are met.”

Is there is a current vendor providing this scope of services from whom a transition needs to occur? Would the government provide the contract number for the current incumbent contract?

Refer to #35 for response.

64 PWS General Question Based on the clinical experience, complex nature of this work, and the complex nature of the requirements in the PWS, the timeline required to staff and deploy resources at the beginning of the contract, the experience and specialized skills required, and the location coverage required to successfully deliver this work, requires a large business that has led these types of contracts numerous times, has a bench of qualified clinical resources that can be deployed immediately, and knows how to manage the complexities of these types of efforts. To lower the risk for this high-profile effort, reduce burden on government

Market research shows there are 8(a) businesses capable of performing the work.

Therefore this RFP will remain an 8(a) set-aside. If vendors wish to team, joint venture, etc., they may do so in accordance management and administration, avoid re-work and an inefficient use of funds, and increase the value of support to the government for the price paid, will the government make this a full and open competition to allow large businesses to prime?

65 RFP General Question Please confirm that proposal submission is via email to Ms. Meredith L. McKinney Contract Specialist, (meredith.l.mckinney2.civ@mail.mil) AND Mr.

Cole P. Cook, Contracting Officer (cole.p.cook.civ@mail.mil) as instructed in the Description portion of the solicitation data on the beta.SAM.gov website: THE DEADLINE

FOR ALL PROPOSALS TO BE SUBMITTED

IS 25 FEBRUARY 2020, 1:00 P.M. Eastern Standard Time (EST). ALL PROPOSALS MUST BE SENT VIA E-MAIL (hard copy and faxed proposals will not be accepted) to Ms. Meredith L. McKinney Contract Specialist, (meredith.l.mckinney2.civ@mail.mil) AND Mr.

Cole P. Cook, Contracting Officer (cole.p.cook.civ@mail.mil). Any questions or concerns may be directed via email to Ms.

Meredith McKinney (meredith.l.mckinney2.civ@mail.mil) and Mr.

Cole Cook (cole.p.cook.civ@mail.mil).

Proposal submission information is correct.