VISN 1 Teleradiology

Added: Jun 27, 2016 3:27 pm Department of Veterans Affairs

Veterans Health Administration

Sources Sought Notice - Teleradiology physician services



This is a Sources Sought notice and not a request for quotes. This request is solely for the purpose of conducting market research to enhance the Government's understanding of your company's offered services and capabilities. The Government will not pay any costs for responses submitted in response to this Sources Sought.

This Sources Sought notice provides an opportunity for respondents to submit information about their capability, availability, and qualifications to provide the services described below.

The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) is seeking a vendor to provide Teleradiology Physician Services to eligible beneficiaries of the Department of Veterans Affairs, Veteran Integrated Services Network 1 (hereinafter referred to as VISN 1). Please see the General Requirements section below for a description of the requested services. This Sources Sought notice will help the Network Contracting Officer better understand the market for these services in order to conduct acquisition planning, determine size standards, and develop a procurement strategy.

GENERAL REQUIREMENTS:

A. Place of Performance: Contractor shall furnish services to the following VISN 1 sites:

VA Boston Healthcare System Bedford VA Medical Center

West Roxbury Campus 200 Springs Road

1400 VFW Parkway Bedford, MA 01730

West Roxbury, MA 02132



VA Maine Healthcare System Manchester VA Medical Center

1 VA Center 718 Smyth Road

Augusta, ME 04330 Manchester, NH 03104



White River Junction VA Medical Center Providence VA Medical Center *

215 North Main Street 830 Chalkstone Avenue

White River Junction , VT 05009 Providence, RI 02908



VA Central Western Massachusetts* VA Connecticut Healthcare System*

421 North Main Street West Haven Campus

Leeds, MA 01053 950 Campbell Avenue

West Haven, CT 06516



Note: (*) These sites are included in this procurement as Optional Line Item Numbers should they require teleradiology services during the course of this contract.

Services shall be provided at the contractor's facility through a secure Business Partner Extranet Connection (BPE) to the VISN 1 sites listed above.

B. Period of Performance: The anticipated periods of performance for the contract resulting from this procurement are as follows:

Base Period of Performance: April 1, 2017 - March 31, 2018

Option Period 1: April 1, 2018 - March 31, 2019

Option Period 2: April 1, 2019 - March 31, 2020

Option Period 3: April 1, 2020 - March 31, 2021

Option Period 4: April 1, 2021 - March 31, 2022



C. Hours of Operation: Contract radiologists working off-site shall provide services during Weekends, Holidays, Evenings, and Nights (WHEN). Off hours vary for each VISN 1 facility's radiology department, but in general, after hour coverage is from 4:30 p.m. to 8:00 a.m. the following day for business days, 4:30 p.m. on Fridays to 8:00 a.m. on Mondays for weekends, and 4:30 p.m. the day before the holiday to 8:00 a.m. the day following the holiday for federal holidays.



D. Services Required: Contractor shall provide board certified Radiologists to perform preliminary teleradiology interpretation services during WHEN hours. Examination images captured by VISN 1 medical centers will be transmitted to the contractor using the DICOM protocol and the Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) compliant encryption. Upon receipt of captured image and patient information from a VISN 1 facility, the contractor shall provide an interpretation for studies within the time constraints specified in the Performance Work Statement (PWS). The contract physicians shall dictate all interpreted studies into the contractor's teleradiology system and Picture Archiving Communication System (PACS) system, and fax over the preliminary reports to the VISN 1 facilities.



Contract Radiologists must be available to consult with VA personnel to determine the most appropriate study for the clinical scenario involved; although, for the most part, pre-defined clinical protocols should be used.



Services include, but are not limited to, interpretation of radiological exams such as:

o Computed Tomography Scans (CT)

o Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)

o General Radiographic Procedures or Plain Film (PF)

o Ultrasound Studies (US)

o Nuclear Medicine (NM)



E. Estimated Quantities: The following charts represent the estimated quantities for each site:

VA Boston Healthcare System

Description Est Quantity Unit Min Max

CT - CatScan 1980 EA 150 2,050

MR - Magnetic Resonance Imaging 480 EA 30 550

US - Ultrasound 240 EA 5 350

PF - Plain Films 120 EA 1 300

NM - Nuclear Medicine 60 EA 1 100



Bedford VA Medical Center

Description Est Quantity Unit Min Max

CT - CatScan 1 EA @ @

MR - Magnetic Resonance Imaging 1 EA @ @

US - Ultrasound 1 EA @ @

PF - Plain Films 60 EA 5 120

NM - Nuclear Medicine 1 EA @ @



VA Maine Healthcare System

Description Est Quantity Unit Min Max

CT - CatScan 660 EA 30 850

MR - Magnetic Resonance Imaging 72 EA 6 150

US - Ultrasound 72 EA 6 150

PF - Plain Films 660 EA 30 850

NM - Nuclear Medicine 72 EA 6 150



Manchester VA Medical Center

Description Est Quantity Unit Min Max

CT - CatScan 300 EA 25 420

MR - Magnetic Resonance Imaging 12 EA 1 20

US - Ultrasound 12 EA 1 20

PF - Plain Films 60 EA 5 120

NM - Nuclear Medicine 12 EA 1 20



White River Junction VA Medical Center

Description Est Quantity Unit Min Max

CT - CatScan 420 EA 25 600

MR - Magnetic Resonance Imaging 12 EA 1 20

US - Ultrasound 12 EA 1 20

PF - Plain Films 60 EA 5 120

NM - Nuclear Medicine 12 EA 1 20



Note: (@) Currently, there is not a need to provide services in these areas for certain medical centers in VISN 1. Estimated quantities for each facility may change as a result of equipment changes, growth of patient base, etc. The contract shall be modified to reflect these changes, as needed.



F. Telecommunications/Contingency: In the event of a telecommunications failure, the Government shall package DVDs in Government-provided shipping containers and send them to the contractor's facility using taxi cabs or courier services. The contractor's facility where teleradiology services are being performed must be within a 15-mile radius of the West Roxbury campus of the VA Boston Healthcare System so that a reasonable turnaround time can be maintained during a system failure. VA Boston is the site of the VISN 1 PACS server and will be responsible for providing DVD images to the contractor for all sites listed in this contract in the event of a failure.



G. Qualifications: Contract physician(s) assigned by the Contractor to perform the services covered by this contract shall have a current license to practice medicine in a State, Territory, or Commonwealth of the United States or the District of Columbia. All licenses held by the personnel working on this contract shall be full and unrestricted licenses. Information on state licensing in tele-radiology may be found at this site: http://www.acr.org/Advocacy/State-Local-Relations/Legislative-Issues/Teleradiology/Teleradiology-Licensing-Requirements-by-State. Contract physician(s) who have current, full and unrestricted licenses in one or more states, but who have, or ever had, a license restricted, suspended, revoked, voluntarily revoked, voluntarily surrendered pending action or denied upon application will not be considered for the purposes of this contract. \



All contract physician(s) shall be board certified in Radiology. All continuing education courses required for maintaining certification must be kept up to date at all times. Documentation verifying current certification shall be provided by the Contractor to the VA COR on an annual basis for each year of contract performance.



Contractor shall provide a minimum of eight (8) board certified radiologists who are experienced in performing teleradiology services and whose professional qualifications exhibit the highest standard for professional emergency radiology services.



H. IT Capabilities of Contractor: There shall be a one-way interconnection between the Picture Archiving and Communication System (PACS) (which is owned by VISN 1 and located at the VA Boston). This connection allows transfer of radiologic images for preliminary interpretation of studies. The contractor is responsible for maintaining its own hardware and updating software needed to receive images at the reading location, and must adhere to applicable federal regulations protecting confidentiality of patient medical data. Examination images captured by VISN 1 medical centers are transmitted to the contractor using the DICOM protocol and the Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) compliant encryption. Interconnection occurs over an authorized site-to-site virtual private network (VPN) that uses encryption and image transfer protocol that meet the FIPS 140-2 standard. Use of FIPS 140-2 encryption algorithms and products is required.



The contractor must have a VA Interconnection Security Agreement and a Memorandum of Understanding to memorialize the agreement regarding the development, management, operation, and security of a connection between the VA PACS (located at the VA Boston and owned by VA Boston) and the contractor's facility. The contractor also must have a Business Associate Agreement developed through the VA Boston's Privacy Office.

RESPONSE COMMITMENT:

A. NOTES:



1. All questions, comments, or concerns should be directed to Jared.Levin@va.gov.



2. Submittals furnished will not be returned to the sender. No debriefs will be conducted. Eligibility in participating in a future acquisition does not depend upon a response to this notice.



3. Proprietary information is neither requested nor desired. If such information is submitted, it must clearly be marked "proprietary" on every sheet containing such information, and the proprietary information must be segregated to the maximum extent practicable from other portions of the response (e.g., use an attachment or exhibit). The Government will not share proprietary information.



B. TIMELINE: This request will close on Wednesday, July 13, 2016 at 5PM EST.



C. REQUESTED INFORMATION: Interested parties shall provide the following information in addition to your capability response:



1. Format:



a. MS Word or .pdf format (please ensure email is under 5 mb).



b. Page limit: 5-8 pages (please make the response as brief and concise as possible).



c. Company name and Sources Sought number listed on each page.



d. Proprietary information MUST be marked as such, on a page-by-page basis.



2. Specifics:



a. In your response, please provide the following information based on the requirement.



I. Your company's capability of fulfilling this requirement as it is described.

II. Your company's experience in providing the same or very similar services to those outlined above.

III. Your company's experience in successfully performing the same or very similar Government contracts for the required services.



b. Please also provide the name of your company, your company's address, and a contact person's name, telephone number, fax number, and email address.



c. Your company's DUNS number, and indicate whether it is actively registered in the System for Award Management (SAM).



d. Contractual vehicles that your company holds, such as NAC or GSA schedules.



e. Your company's socio-economic status (i.e. 8(a), HUBZone-certified, small business, Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned small business, etc.), and North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code (state the size of your company).



Notes:



1. This Sources Sought notice is for planning purposes only, and does not constitute a commitment, implied or otherwise, that a procurement action will follow. The Department of Veterans Affairs will use the information submitted in response to this notice at its discretion and will not provide comments to any submission; however, the Department of Veterans Affairs reserves the right to contact any respondent to this notice for the sole purpose of enhancing VA's understanding of the notice submission.



2. The content of any responses to this notice may be reflected in any subsequent solicitation, except for content marked or designated as business confidential or proprietary, which will be fully protected from release outside the government.



3. The Network Contracting Office Point of Contact is:



Jared M. Levin

Contracting Officer

P: 774-826-3415

Email: Jared.Levin@va.gov