U008--Acupuncture Training for VHA Physician Greater Los Angeles VA Healthcare System

This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial products and commercial services prepared in accordance with the format in Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) subpart 12.6, Streamlined Procedures for Evaluation and Solicitation for Commercial Products and Commercial Services, as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; quotes are being requested, and a written solicitation document will not be issued.

This solicitation is issued as an RFQ. The solicitation document and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular 2023-02.

This solicitation is Unrestricted and does not contain a set-aside.

The associated North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) code for this procurement is 611430, with a small business size standard of $15.0 Million.

The FSC/PSC is U008.

The VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System (VAGLAHCS), 11301 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90073-1003, is seeking qualified personnel to provide an acupuncture training course in comprehensive medical instruction for a Veterans Affairs Primary Care Physician.

All interested companies shall provide quotations for the following:

Scope.

The Greater Los Angeles VA Healthcare System is seeking a qualified contractor to provide an Acupuncture training course in comprehensive medical instruction for a VA primary care physician who is also a Whole Health Integration Champion to expand VHA services for acupuncture treatment outside of an ambulatory care center. The Contractor shall provide all the specific tasks outlined in this Statement of Work (SOW) to accomplish the deliverables.

Specific Tasks/ Qualifications:

Preceptors shall be American Board of Medical Acupuncture certified and US-licensed Doctor of Medicine (MD) and Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (DO) physicians.

Training shall cover acupuncture applications for both primary care and pain management clinical problems as well as acupuncture approaches for common organic and functional disturbances accessible to acupuncture, and stress-related disorders such as anxiety, GI disturbances, and sleep disorders.

Acupuncture teaching team shall have expertise in managing post-traumatic stress and sequelae to traumatic brain injury.

Contractor shall provide teaching instruction to address pain problems to include the pain of acute trauma, musculoskeletal problems including myofascial pain and headaches, pain of discogenic lesions and peripheral neuropathies, and pain of organic maladies and malignant lesions.

The training course shall be accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education and the sole sponsor of the physician acupuncture course.

Contractor shall provide a minimum total of 300-hour training course.Â

The acupuncture training shall be comprised of online training and 3 in-person trainings in a one-year period. The in-person training sessions shall occur on the listed dates below:

Module One: November 9-12, 2023

Module Two: February 1-4, 2024

Module Three: May 30-June 2, 2024

Contractor shall provide all training materials related to course study.

A certificate shall be awarded at the successful completion of the training.

Deliverables:

Training certificate upon successfully completing the training course.

Place of Performance.

Most of the training will be online so it can be done from home and would not conflict with work requirements. The three in-person training modules shall be conducted in either of the preferred locations listed below:

Tempe, Arizona

Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, Sacramento, Anaheim, California

Potomac, MD

Work at the government site shall not take place on federal holidays or weekends.

National Holiday Schedule:

New Year s Day

January 01

Martin Luther King s Birthday

Third Monday in January

President s Day

Third Monday in February

Memorial Day

Last Monday in May

Juneteenth

June 19

Independence Day

July 04

Labor Day

First Monday in September

Columbus Day

Second Monday in October

Veterans Day

November 11

Thanksgiving Day

Fourth Thursday in November

Christmas Day

December 25

Period of Performance

11/9/2023 6/4/2024

In-Person Training Delivery Schedule

Training Module One: November 9-12, 2023

Training Module Two: February 1-4, 2024

Training Module Three: May 30-June 2, 2024

The full text of FAR provisions or clauses may be accessed electronically at http://acquisition.gov/comp/far/index.html.

The following solicitation provisions apply to this acquisition:

FAR 52.212-1, Instructions to Offerors Commercial Products and Commercial Services

FAR 52.212-3, Offerors Representations and Certifications Commercial Products and Commercial Services

Offerors must complete annual representations and certifications electronically via the System for Award Management (SAM) website located at https://www.sam.gov/portal in accordance with FAR 52.212-3, Offerors Representations and Certifications Commercial Products and Commercial Services. If paragraph (j) of the provision is applicable, a written submission is required.

The following contract clauses apply to this acquisition:

FAR 52.212-4, Contract Terms and Conditions Commercial Products and Commercial Services (Dec 2022)

ADDENDUM to FAR 52.212-4, Contract Terms and Conditions-Commercial Products and Commercial Services applies to and is included with this acquisition.

FAR 52.212-5, Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive Orders Commercial Products and Commercial Services (Mar 2023)

The following subparagraphs of FAR 52.212-5 are applicable: (b) (8), (13), (19)(ii), (23)(i), (28), (30), (31), (36), (45), (52), (59), (c) (1), (2), (7), (8)

All Invoices from the contractor shall be submitted electronically in accordance with VAAR Clause 852.232-72 Electronic Submission of Payment Requests. This is accomplished through the Tungsten Network located at: http://www.fsc.va.gov/einvoice.asp This is mandatory and the sole method for submitting invoices.

All quoters shall submit the following: as described in FAR 52.212-1 addendum.

All quotes shall be sent to the Network Contracting Office (NCO) 22 Contract Specialist, Jennell Christofaro at Jennell.christofaro@va.gov.

Award will be based upon a comparative evaluation of quotes in accordance with the Simplified Acquisition Procedures of FAR 13. Comparative evaluation is the side by side pairwise comparison of quotes based on factors resulting in a Contracting Officer decision for the quote most favorable to the Government. This contract/purchase order will consist of a base period of performance: 11/9/2023 6/4/2024.

The following are the decision factors:

Years of Acupuncture Teaching Experience

Knowledge of Different Applications of Acupuncture

Past Performance

The award will be made to the response most advantageous to the Government.

Responses should contain your best terms, conditions.

To facilitate the award process, all quotes must include a statement regarding the terms and conditions herein as follows:

"The terms and conditions in the solicitation are acceptable to be included in the award document without modification, deletion, or addition."

OR

"The terms and conditions in the solicitation are acceptable to be included in the award document with the exception, deletion, or addition of the following:"

Quoters shall list exception(s) and rationale for the exception(s), if any.

Submission of your response shall be received not later than October 12, 2023, 14:00 PST at jennell.christofaro@va.gov only. Subject line shall include RESPONSE TO RFQ 36C26224Q0051 for consideration.

Late submissions shall be treated in accordance with the solicitation provision at FAR 52.212-1(f).

Any questions or concerns regarding this solicitation should be forwarded in writing via e-mail to the Point of Contact listed below.

Point of Contact

Contract Specialist

Jennell Christofaro

Jennell.christofaro@va.gov