Inactive

This Justification for an Exception to Fair Opportunity is on behalf of VISN 16, Alexandria VAMC and will be executed by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) National Acquisition Center, NAC locate... This Justification for an Exception to Fair Opportunity is on behalf of VISN 16, Alexandria VAMC and will be executed by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) National Acquisition Center, NAC located in Hines, Illinois. This activity proposes to issue a sole-source delivery order as a Logical Follow-on against Indefinite Quantity Indefinite Delivery (IQID) contract VA797H-17-D-0022 awarded to Philips Healthcare to perform the VA-mandated upgrade the Philips 1.5T MRI operating system (MRI) and numerous additional upgrades. The upgrade will bring the existing MRI up to the functional equivalency of a 2021 MRI. Performing annual upgrades will extend the useful life of the MRI beyond the industry standard of 8-10 years. VA policy mandates the existing Philips 1.5T MRI Computer Operating System be upgraded from Windows 7 to Windows 10. Other software upgrades will include Metal Suppression, liver fat quantification and Compressed Sense software and are all new capabilities for the existing MRI and will further improve patient care. Metal Suppression software will reduce Care in the Community costs by reducing the number of patients who are unable to receive VA services due to the inadequacy of the current MRI. Liver fat quantification software will allow for reproducible and longitudinal measurements of fatty liver disease, a disease highly prevalent in Veterans. Compressed Sense software will reduce the table time required for each study, thereby increasing the number of patients that can be scanned per hour. Other upgrades include dedicated wrist and shoulder coils for improved patient comfort and image quality along with on-site training. The training will provide radiologists and MRI radiologic technologists with the knowledge required for optimal utilization of the upgrades.