Emergency Care Research Institute Patient Care Databases PURCHASE ORDER: 442-C59149

DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS

Justification and Approval

For

Other Than Full and Open Competition

1. Contracting Activity:

Department of Veterans Affairs, Network Contracting Office 19, Rocky Mountain Acquisition Center, 4100 E. Mississippi Ave STE 900, Glendale, CO 80246-3055

2. Nature and/or Description of the Action Being Processed:

This contracting activity proposes to negotiate a sole source, firm fixed price acquisition with Emergency Care Research Institute, (ECRI). The VISN 19 wide inclusive subscription to the online diagnosis and treatment platforms Health Devices Gold, Alerts Tracker for Devices & Biomedical Benchmark Database will greatly improve patient care for the Rocky Mountain Network Veteran populace. The estimated cost for the Base Price + Four Option Years is $156,516.

3. Description of Supplies/Services Required to Meet the Agency's Needs:

The requirement is to procure online access network-wide (VISN 19) to the ECRI diagnosis and treatment platforms Health Devices Gold, Alerts Tracker for Devices & Biomedical Benchmark Database. ECRI provides a comprehensive, integrated differential diagnosis and treatment databases to all providers and any other staff who elects to subscribe to its proprietary membership service. The information is primarily narrative in format and contains extensive rationales for diagnosis and treatment decisions as well as charts, graphs, and calculators. ECRI is a unique intellectual property and a proprietary database provider (Proprietary means that they are the sole owners of the content and it is not duplicated in any other source.) A more detailed description of the unique ECRI platforms is as follows:

Health Devices Gold: A premier patient safety resource for healthcare decision makers, Health Devices (HD) Gold delivers a broad suite of membership resources to select, use, maintain, and manage healthcare technologies. The System offers a comprehensive portfolio of Web resources and online tools, customized consultation services, and unique reports to help ensure patient safety, track hazards and recalls, and make informed healthcare technology decisions.



Alerts Tracker for Devices: A smart, comprehensive patient safety solution that helps to mitigate risk by seamlessly controlling the recall and alerts management process. Alerts Tracker Devices features-track recall activity in real time, run reports 24/7, access evidence-based content and guidance on alerts related to medical devices, collaborate with other departments, facilities and systems.



Biomedical Benchmark: Biomedical Benchmark delivers the standards to help benchmark efficiency. Key device and clinical engineering data, from both ECRI Institute and healthcare facilities, shows how institutions compares to others of similar size and circumstances-so they can easily identify areas in need of improvement and discover ways to optimize effectiveness. Biomedical Benchmark allows for users to-anticipate equipment life cycles to improve efficiency, identify and evaluate options for equipment services, compare staffing levels to other similar facilities, determine if inspection frequencies can be reduced, reduce service contract costs with service contract analysis.



4. Statutory Authority Permitting Other than Full and Open Competition:

(X) (1) Only One Responsible Source and No Other Supplies or Services Will Satisfy Agency Requirements per FAR 6.302-1;

( ) (2) Unusual and Compelling Urgency per FAR 6.302-2;

( ) (3) Industrial Mobilization, Engineering, Developmental or Research Capability or Expert Services per FAR 6.3 02-3;

( ) (4) International Agreement per FAR 6.302-4

( ) (5) Authorized or Required by Statute FAR 6.302-5;

( ) (6) National Security per FAR 6.302-6;

( ) (7) Public Interest per FAR 6.302-7;



5. Demonstration that the Contractor's Unique Qualifications or Nature of the Acquisition Requires the Use of the Authority Cited Above (applicability of authority):

ECRI Institute is the sole, proprietary provider of the research & analyses, offered through its membership programs. It holds the copyright to its published materials provided via these programs. Examples of its unique features not available through any other distributor are outlined below:

a. Health Devices Gold includes results of ECRI's laboratory-based comparative testing of medical devices. Findings from laboratory evaluations of devices are used by its customers to support objective decision-making on technology purchases.

b. The laboratory testing from its evaluations also uncovers serious safety concerns with medical devices. ECRI publishes proprietary reports called Hazard Reports© to warn healthcare organizations about these safety problems and to provide advice on how to prevent them. These reports are exclusively distributed through its Alerts Tracker system.

c. ECRI also runs several problem reporting systems in which ECRI Institute conducts research on the reported problems to develop additional proprietary reports on medical device safety concerns. These reports are also exclusively distributed through Alerts Tracker.

e. Biomedical Benchmark contains comparative data on medical device service performance. Healthcare organizations can use the data in Biomedical Benchmark to assess - at the unique model level - how their medical devices are performing compared to other devices from other hospitals. Biomedical Benchmark data can also be used to compare how a hospital's medical device service professionals are performing on unique model devices compared to service professionals from other hospitals.

6. Description of Efforts Made to ensure that offers are solicited from as many potential sources as deemed practicable:

This requirement will be synopsized in accordance with FAR 5.201(b) in an effort enhance competition from as many sources as possible.

7. Determination by the Contracting Officer that the Anticipated Cost to the Government will be Fair and reasonable:



The anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable based on the sole-source availability of this database and the critical nature of diagnosis and treatment information it provides. Other facilities in VISN 19 along with Cheyenne VA Medical Center have done market research repeatedly looking for other vendors who may be able to provide similar services. The Department of Veteran affairs have entered into similar Sole Source purchasing arrangements with ECRI for the same service requirements within the last year. VA24114P2034 ($30,312), VA25615C008 ($58,168) and VA24014P0112 ($50,008.95) all confirm the proprietary and PF&R nature of ECRI's product line. In addition, the bulk pricing afforded to the VA as a result of this VISN 19 network-wide purchase is another factor supporting the price fair and reasonable nature of this sole source procurement.

8. Description of the Market Research Conducted and the Results, or a Statement of the Reasons Market Research Was Not Conducted:

The database is available online and authenticated by membership subscription. ECRI is unique intellectual property and a proprietary database and as such, can only be provided by ECRI.



9. Any Other Facts Supporting the Use of Other than Full and Open Competition:

There are no other factors supporting the use of other than full and open competition.

10. Listing of Sources that Expressed an Interest in the Acquisition:

ECRI Institute Headquarters

5200 Butler Pike

Plymouth Meeting, PA 19462-1928, USA Phone: +1(610)-825-6000 ext.: 5279 Fax: +1(610)-567-1250

E-mail: jkeller@ecri.org

Web: www.ecri.org



11. A Statement of the Actions, if any, the Agency May Take to Remove or Overcome any Barriers to Competition before Making subsequent acquisitions for the supplies or services required:

Other vendors' products will be evaluated annually to locate new or upgraded products on the market that would be comparable to UpToDate. Vendor products are reviewed in Journals and by VA Library professionals to determine the best sources for our providers. Comparable means 1. Narrative format 2. Internal medicine focus 3. Quarterly updates by vendor 4. Survey completed of users/providers for feedback when another product obtains the listed criteria.

12. Requirements Certification: I certify that the requirement outlined in this justification is a Bona Fide Need of the Department of Veterans Affairs and that the supporting data under my cognizance, which are Included in the justification are accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.