Inactive

SOURCE SELECTION SENSITIVE IN ACCORDANCE WITH FAR 2.101 AND 3.104 Page 1 of 4 JUSTIFICATION AND APPROVAL FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION 6.302-1 Only One Responsible Source and No Other Suppl... SOURCE SELECTION SENSITIVE IN ACCORDANCE WITH FAR 2.101 AND 3.104 Page 1 of 4 JUSTIFICATION AND APPROVAL FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION 6.302-1 Only One Responsible Source and No Other Supplies or Services Will Satisfy Agency Requirements 1. Identification of the Agency and the Contracting Activity: This Justification and Approval (J&A) for Other Than Full and Open Competition is executed by the Strategic Acquisition Center (SAC), on behalf of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Veterans Health Administration (VHA), Mental Health Assistant (MHA). To obtain permission for continued use for the Suicide Status Form IV from the company who owns the publishing rights/license. 2. Nature and/or Description of Action Being Approved: This activity proposes to negotiate a non-competitive award (sole source) with Guilford Publications, Inc, a Small Business concern. The proposed sole source action is for a Firm Fixed Price contract for procurement of the use of a copyrighted psychological instrument and licensing. The proposed contract will be a license fee total contract value of $55,000 for a five-year period that includes a base and four one-year option periods. The contract for the license would run from March 23, 2022, through March 22, 2027. This effort is proposed to be awarded to Guilford Publication, Inc., 370 Seventh Avenue, Suite 1200, New York, NY 10001-1020. 3. A Description of Services Required to Meet the Agency s Needs: While there are a number of assessment tools already available that assess risk factors for suicide, the Suicide Status Form IV (SFF-IV) is unique in that it is a multipurpose clinical assessment and treatment planning tool that uniquely assesses both qualitative and quantitative aspects of suicide risk. The SSF-IV is the foundation of the Collaborative Approach to Management of Suicidality (CAMS), which is a clinical framework that addresses the challenges of assessment and treatment of the suicidal patient. It is an evidence-based, recovery-oriented therapeutic approach selected by VHA to be used by clinicians working in the field of suicide prevention. The Suicide Status Form IV is a specific psychological assessment instrument for assessing suicide risk. The SSF consists of six self-report and six corresponding clinician-administered items measuring psychological pain, external pressures (stressors), agitation (emotional upset), hopelessness, low self-regard, and overall risk of suicide. Each item is rated on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 ("low") to 5 ("high"). The SSF-IV is designed to be routinely administered to any patient who has indicated any suicidal thoughts, feelings or behaviors and takes about 5 to 10 minutes to complete. VA will be obtaining a license for 1,000 users for the SSF-IV. VHA utilizes an electronic medical record system which contains a specific VA developed software program, called Mental Health Assistant (MHA). This software program was developed by VA Office of Information and Technology (0I&T) developers, and is maintained by VA. All of the tests that are included in the VHA psychological testing program are included as content within MHA. MHA is available to all VHA clinicians for the purpose of administering and scoring psychological tests and includes a variety of state-of-the-art psychological tests and scoring algorithms in which health clinicians can access and use as they deem appropriate in their medical judgment. The materials required from a test publisher shall include the test questions, response choices, and scoring algorithms. The tests must be able to be administered on MHA in order for patients to be able to complete the tests on computers, and test results shall be scored and interpreted immediately, with immediate results available for clinicians to use in their diagnostic and treatment planning activities. VHA does not require any test publisher's commercial scoring software. VA requires the ability to recreate the psychological tests in MHA; therefore, VHA requires access to the intellectual property of the psychological tests in order that VA may integrate such tests into MHA and use such tests in its clinical practice. The integration of the psychological testing content into the VA's electronic medical records allows the results of psychological assessments to be shared with other clinicians working with an individual patient and provides the capability of decision support systems to utilize psychological test results in overall clinical decision making (through clinical reminders). Furthermore, the integration of the testing program into the VA's electronic medical records provides all psychological testing administration results as data that can be evaluated for program evaluation purposes. VHA selects a variety of tests from various sources to include in its psychological testing program with guidance from several national organizations that set standards for psychological testing and quality outcomes. The program currently provides access to more than 100 tests to VHA clinicians to ensure that all VHA health clinicians have access to the range of tests required for the exercise of their medical judgment in treating patients. Determination of what tests to include is made by carefully following the National Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing to ensure that selected tests meet the highest standards of test construction, validity, and reliability and to ensure that all VHA health clinicians have access to the range of tests required for the exercise of their medical judgment in treating patients. The total estimated value of the proposed action for the base and four option periods is $55,000. The VHA submitted an Independent Government Cost Estimate (IGCE) of $50,000 for this action. The historical data was also used in comparing price as the current requirement cost is $50,000 for a base and four option periods. The $5,000 increase for this new requirement is not considered an abnormal increase in costs and is less than 3% increase in escalation over a five-year period that includes a base and four, one-year option periods. The contract for the license would run from March 23, 2022, through March 22, 2027. This this price has been determined to be reasonable for this action. 4. An Identification of the Statutory Authority Permitting Other Than Full and Open Competition: The statutory authority for this justification is 41 U.S.C. 3304(a)(1) and Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 6.302-1. The authority permitting this sole source action is FAR 6.302-1 Only One Responsible Source and No other Supplies or Services Will Satisfy Agency Requirements. 5. The Nature of the Acquisition Requires Use of the Authority Cited: The use of a new non-competitive contract, for only one responsible source with Guilford Publications, Inc., will allow the VA to sustain necessary services for contract performance under a contract. The contracting officer has determined that the continuation of these services constitutes only one responsible source and no other services will satisfy the needs of the executive agency and that delay in award of a new contract action would result in serious injury to the government. If the VHA MHA does not maintain services for the assessment and treatment suicidal patients, it would lose the synergy and ability to use the approach selected by VHA to be used by clinicians working in the field of suicide prevention. This determination has been made based upon the fact that the current contractor, Guilford Publication, Inc., is supporting VHA MHA in sustaining the execution of the mission for addressing both the qualitative and quantitative aspects of suicide risk. 6. A Description of Efforts Made to Ensure That Offers Are Solicited from as Many Potential Sources as is Practicable: The current follow-on action with Guilford Publications, Inc. is set to expire on March 22, 2022; therefore, a non-competitive proposed action is needed to ensure immediate continuation of services. A notice of the proposed action will be synopsized via the Government Point of Entry (GPE) in accordance with FAR Section 5.201, and the agency will make publicly available the justification required by FAR 6.302-1 within 14 days after contract award. 7. A Determination by the Contracting Officer that Anticipated Cost to the Government will be Fair and Reasonable: The Contracting Officer has determined pricing to be fair and reasonable by using the rates/costs on the current contract (historical data) and the Independent Government Cost Estimate. The historical data used in comparing price as the current requirement cost is $50,000 for a base and four option periods. The $5,000 increase for this new requirement is not considered an abnormal increase in costs and is less than 3% increase in escalation over a five-year period that includes a base and four one-year option periods. The proposed sole source action is for a Firm Fixed Price contract for procurement of the use of a copyrighted psychological instrument and licensing. The proposed contract will be a license fee total contract value of $55,000 for a five-year period that includes a base and four one-year option periods. The contract for the license would run from March 23, 2022 through March 22, 2027. 8. A Description of the Market Research Conducted and the Results: The market research was conducted and found Guilford Press Inc. is the only source capable of performing these services on an uninterrupted basis. Guilford Press Inc. is a registered as a Small Business entity under the applicable NAICS code 511130. In addition, a review of their Representations and Certifications was conducted in the System for Award Management (SAM) and Guilford Press Inc. has no exclusions. Furthermore, the Federal Awardee Performance and Integrity Information System (FAPIIS) was reviewed. FAPIIS shows no reports for Guilford Press Inc. that would indicate defective pricing, instances of contractor fault or recipient not-qualified, terminations for cause, default, or material failure to comply, or non-responsibility of the contractor. 9. Any Other Facts Supporting the Use of Other Than Full and Open Competition: No other supporting facts at this time. 10. A Listing of Sources Expressing an Interest in the Acquisition: Guilford Publication, Inc., 370 Seventh Avenue, Suite 1200, New York, NY 10001-1020. 11. A Statement of the Actions the Agency May Take to Remove or Overcome Barriers to Competition before Any Subsequent Acquisition for the Service Required: All future requirements will be handled on a case-by-case basis. Toward the expiration of this contract, consideration will be given as to whether the future acquisition should be competitive. 12. Contracting Officer Certification: I certify that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief. Signature: ____________________________ Date: _____________________ Sharon Redman Contracting Officer Strategic Acquisition Center 13. I certify that all supporting data which form the basis of this justification is complete and accurate. Signature: ____________________________ Date: ______________________ Karen DeVolder Project Manager/COR Administrative Office Informatics Section, VHA

Inactive

SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE Title of Project: Suicide Risk Assessment and Management through Automated Testing, Guilford Press The purpose of the contract is for the VA to retain the use of the license to u... SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE Title of Project: Suicide Risk Assessment and Management through Automated Testing, Guilford Press The purpose of the contract is for the VA to retain the use of the license to use the Suicide Status Form IV (SSF IV) in the VA electronic psychological assessment package, the Mental Health Assistant (MHA), which is a component within the Veterans Integrated Service Technology Architecture (VistA). The Suicide Status Form IV is used at each VA Medical Center to assess risk factors for suicide. The VA must have use of the license since the SSF IV is in the MHA. Guilford is the copyright holder for the SSF III and as such, Guildford is the only authorized party that can extend the license to the VA to utilize the SSF III in the VA MHA. There is no other party that can license the SSF III for use on the VA computer platform. This contract is required because (1) the copyrighted test are essential to the provision of adequate care and (2) the use of VA software for administration is superior to other possible methods of test administration in meeting clinical needs within VA. Performance Period: The PoP of this contract shall be from date of award, and four (4) one (1) year option periods. Such options for extension shall be exercised in accordance with FAR 52.217-8. Type of Contract: This contract should be a Fixed Fee contract. Place of Performance: The contractor will provide VA with any electronic updated copy of the SSF IV including test questions, response choices, scoring algorithms, and interpretive statements and license to use the psychological tests. There will be no physical place of performance on the part of the contractor. Payment: Invoice can be sent soon after the beginning of each base and option year. Responses must be received by 18 March 2022/1200 p.m.