work description.docx

WORK DESCRIPTION

DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS (VA)

VISN 8 Veteran/Family Health Education

Patient Health Education via 3D Medical Animations and Medical Illustrations for VISN 8

BACKGROUND:

The VISN 8 patient educators have determined that they need medical animation materials to use with patients to help them better visualize medical conditions related to critical care issues, such as cardiac disease, diabetes, cancer, dialysis, surgical procedures, devices, safe use of medications, and specific pre-operative patient education. Many of the videos currently available are outdated and/or provide insufficient useful health information for Veterans and their families. For example, there is nothing from the established patient education vendors that visually explains how cancer develops and spreads. This proposal seeks to add patient education information for VISN 8 locations where there is an identified need and where use of medical animation training materials can fill this health education gap.

SCOPE OF WORK

The medical animations will be accessible via a website managed and hosted by the Contractor and designed specifically for VISN 8. Animations and illustrations will be high-resolution images created by a staff of medical illustrators with the expertise to visually conceptualize the pathophysiology of medical conditions. These animations will provide patient health education in a format easily understood by Veterans and their caregivers. Health educators will be able to explain technical medical information to their patients more easily. In turn, this will increase patients’ understanding of medical conditions and will improve patient satisfaction.

The project will provide access to at least 250 patient health education medical illustrations via the Contractor’s secure website for the VA Sunshine Healthcare Network, VISN 8 (Veterans Integrated Service Network) facilities, including their affiliated Community Based Outpatient Clinics:

North Florida/South Georgia Veterans Health System (Lake City VA Medical Center, Lake City, FL and Malcom Randall VA Medical Center, Gainesville, FL) 152.130-133.7.193-194

SPECIFIC MANDATORY TASKS AND ASSOCIATED DELIVERABLES

1. The website will be accessible for each VISN 8 facility with links from their facilities’ intranet pages.

a. The site will be VISN 8 branded (e.g., www.nameofcompany.visn8.com) and accessible via smart phones, tablets, and similar web-enabled devices. Branding will be provided by the VISN 8 Network Communications Office.

b. The site will use IP authentication for access and will accommodate multiple simultaneous users utilizing any web-enabled device. Access will be via the VISN 8 VA facilities’ IP ranges.

c. Providers will be able to download and send the Contractor’s external link to their patients; patients will be able to view the medical animations on their web-enabled devices.

d. The Contractor’s Internet website will provide the capability to host locally produced VISN 8 video clips with links to VHA YouTube Channel selections.

e. VISN 8 will have access to any updated illustrations or animations released by the Contractor at no additional charge.

f. All animation content must contain an audio explanation and meet Section 508 Compliance guidelines.

g. Website support will be available Monday through Friday during normal business hours (EST).

2. The collection will be comprised of at least 250 medical animations developed by medical illustrators. VISN 8 patient educators will select the titles and topics most useful for their patient education programs.

a. Subjects will focus on the pathophysiology of chronic conditions, such as congestive heart failure and diabetes, and the most frequent medical and surgical procedures used in VISN 8 facilities.

b. Closed captioning will be provided in both English and Spanish.

c. Animations will be no more than 10 minutes in length.

d. Medical animations will be provided in full-HD (1920 x 1080 pixels) or MP4 format. Captions must be editable, within the constraints of U.S. Copyright laws and regulations.

e. VISN 8 educators and/or medical media staff working on their behalf, will have the ability to use animations and/or illustrations owned and/or copyrighted by the Contractor in locally developed items. All uses of these materials will clearly acknowledge the Contractor’s name. These locally developed items can be used for both patient and staff education purposes.

f. Print versions of the medical illustrations will be provided in PDF or JPEG formats.

3. The Contractor will provide usage statistics and training.

a. Patient educators at each VISN 8 facility will be able to retrieve usage statistics for their facilities and for the entire VISN, based on date range, locality, and individual titles. Statistics will be made updated quarterly and compiled annually Prior years will be archived.

b. The Contractor will provide at least 1 training webinar per year for site administrators, with quarterly update webinars as needed.

c. The Contractor will provide an online tutorial for end users.

SCHEDULE FOR DELIVERABLES

An initial draft of the website will be completed within 90 days of contract award. The draft site will be presented to the VISN 8 Veteran Health Educators Workgroup for review and testing for a period of 14 days. Final revisions to be made by the Contractor within an additional 30 days from receipt of draft with requested edits.

REPORTING REQUIREMENTS

The vendor will respond to any access questions or issues within 1-business day of notification, during normal business hours, Monday-Friday, excluding federal holidays.

GOVERNMENT RESPONSIBILITIES

Employees will use already-acquired hospital computers; the Government will not need to furnish any materials or equipment.

CONFIDENTIALITY AND NONDISCLOSURE

No sensitive information will be held or exchanged. No access to VA information or equipment is needed.

CONTRACTOR PERSONNEL SECURITY REQUIREMENTS

No security requirements are necessary.