Inactive

36C24423Q0716 THIS IS NOT A SOLICITATION. This is a Sources Sought Notice only and is issued to conduct market research and gain knowledge of current market capabilities. Responses to this notice are ... 36C24423Q0716 THIS IS NOT A SOLICITATION. This is a Sources Sought Notice only and is issued to conduct market research and gain knowledge of current market capabilities. Responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract. This notice is issued solely for information and planning purposes and does not constitute a solicitation or a guarantee to issue a solicitation in the future. This notice does not commit the Government to contract for any supply or service. All information submitted in response to this announcement is voluntary; the Government will not pay for information requested nor will it compensate any respondent for any cost incurred in developing information provided to the Government. Not responding to this notice does not preclude participation in any future solicitation, if issued. This announcement is based on the best information available at this time and is subject to future amendment. No solicitation document is available at this time; this notice is to acquire information only. The Department of Veterans Affairs, Network Contracting Office 4, in support of Altoona VA Medical Center in Altoona, PA, is conducting a market survey to identify potential sources to perform a firm fixed price contract for procurement of Board-Certified Emergency Medicine, Internal Medicine, or Family Practice Physician Services on site, as synopsized below. The Government anticipates a performance period including a one-year base period and four one-year option periods. SYNOPSIS OF SERVICES REQUIRED (NOT COMPREHENSIVE) 1. GENERAL: 1.1 Services Provided: The Contractor shall provide Board-Certified Emergency Medicine, Internal Medicine, or Family Practice Physician Services on site, in accordance with the specifications contained herein to beneficiaries of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the James E. Van Zandt VAMC. A contractor will provide onsite physician services that meet or exceed the guidelines for care in the UCC, Hospital and CLC areas. See Section 2.9 Key Personnel below for quantity of full-time equivalent (FTE) contract employees required. 1.2 Place of Performance - Contractor shall furnish services at the James E. Van Zandt VAMC- 2907 Pleasant Valley Blvd. Altoona, PA 16602. 1.3 Hours of Operation: The Contractor should be prepared and available for any changes to the hours of operation. VA will provide at least a one month s notice, when possible, of any major changes in operational hours to ensure Contractor has sufficient staff available to cover shifts. The breakdown of their duties and current hours of operation during the designated times are as follows: Monday Friday Daylight (For VA physician coverage): Shifts are 8:00 a.m. 4:30 p.m. UCC coverage Monday Friday Overnight (excluding holidays): Shifts are 4:15 p.m. - 8:15 a.m. From 4:15 p.m. - 8:15 a.m. Inpatient Unit, hospitalist and CLC coverage. Saturday & Sunday & Holidays (weekend and holidays): Shifts 8:15 a.m. 8:15 p.m. and 8:15 p.m. 8:15 a.m. From 8:15 a.m. - 8:15 p.m. Inpatient Unit, Hospitalist and CLC coverage From 8:15 p.m. 8:15 a.m. Inpatient Unit, Hospitalist and CLC coverage Rounds (Hospitalist duties) are conducted in the morning on the weekends by the physician that worked the previous even shift ending at 8:15 a.m. In the case where there was no Medical Officer of the Day (MOD) scheduled on the Friday overnight shift to Saturday a.m., the contracted MOD will be required to complete those morning rounds in addition to covering the UCC. 1.5 Authority: Title 38 USC 8153, Health Care Resources (HCR) Sharing Authority. 1.6 Policy/Handbooks: the contractor shall be subject to the following policies, including any subsequent updates during the period of performance: 1.6.1- VA Directive 1663: Health Care Resources Contracting - Buying http://www1.va.gov/vapubs/viewPublication.asp?Pub_ID=347 1.6.2- VHA Directive 2006-041 Veterans Health Care Service Standards (expired but still in effect pending revision) https://www1.va.gov/vhapublications/ViewPublication.asp?pub_ID=1443 1.6.3- VHA Handbook 1100.17: National Practitioner Data Bank Reports - http://www1.va.gov/vhapublications/ViewPublication.asp?pub_ID=2135 1.6.4- VHA Handbook 1100.18 Reporting And Responding To State Licensing Boards - http://www1.va.gov/vhapublications/ViewPublication.asp?pub_ID=1364 1.6.5-VHA Handbook 1100.19 Credentialing and Privileging - http://www.va.gov/vhapublications/ViewPublication.asp?pub_ID=2910 1.6.6-VHA Handbook 1907.01 Health Information Management and Health Records: http://www1.va.gov/vhapublications/ViewPublication.asp?pub_ID=2791 1.6.7- Privacy Act of 1974 (5 U.S.C. 552a) as amended http://www.justice.gov/oip/foia_updates/Vol_XVII_4/page2.htm 1.6.8 VHA Directive 1101.05 Emergency Medicine http://vaww.va.gov/vhapublications/ViewPublication.asp?pub_ID=3236 2. QUALIFICATIONS: 2.1 Staff/Facility 2.1.1 License The Contractor s physician(s) assigned by the Contractor to perform the services covered by this contract shall have a current license to practice medicine in any State, Territory, or Commonwealth of the United States or the District of Columbia when services are performed onsite on VA property. 2.1.2 Board Certification - All contractor s physician (s) shall be Board Certified in one of the three disciplines-Family Practice, Internal Medicine, or Emergency Medicine, and be currently certified in Basic Life Support (BLS) and Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) or equivalency. 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 task order performance. 2.1.2.1 Contractor physicians shall have recent (within the last 3 years) experience in an Urgent Care Clinic or Emergency Room. 2.1.2.2 Contracted physicians shall be technically proficient in intubation and provide appropriate documentation related to this competency both at their initial onboarding and at re-credentialing. 2.1.3 Credentialing and Privileging Credentialing and privileging is to be done in accordance with the provisions of VHA Handbook 1100.19 referenced above. The Contractor is responsible to ensure that proposed physician(s) possesses the requisite credentials enabling the granting of privileges. No services shall be provided by any contractor s physician (s) prior to obtaining approval by the James E. Van Zandt VAMC Professional Standards Board, Medical Executive Board and Medical Center Director. 2.1.3.1 If a contractor s physician(s) is not credentialed and privileged or has credentials/privileges suspended or revoked, the Contractor shall furnish an acceptable substitute without any additional cost to the government. 2.1.3.2 All Contracted physicians under the awarded contract shall be credentialed and privileged to perform as MOD, Hospitalist, and UCC Physician. 2.9 Key Personnel: 2.9.1 The VA Full Time Equivalency (FTE) for the services required is 2.5. FTE is defined by VA as a minimum of 80 hours every two weeks and does not include holidays. The number of physicians that need to be credentialed and available on the roster is 7.6 (to ensure consistent coverage of the physician needs of the James E Van Zandt Medical Center). 2.9.2 The number of Board-Certified physicians required to be on site daily is one per shift, unless otherwise scheduled, as defined in paragraph Hours of Operation in this section. 2.9.3 It is essential that continuity of services is maintained to the maximum degree possible, hence, substitution of contractor provided Physicians shall be limited to urgent/emergent absences of approved, assigned providers. The Contractor shall be responsible for providing coverage to the VA during periods of vacancies of the Contractor s personnel due to sick leave, personal leave, vacations, and additional coverage as required. In the event a scheduled physician is unable to begin or complete an assigned shift, the contractor shall provide replacement physician coverage within 2 hours and notify the Contracting Office Representative (COR) at the James E. Van Zandt VAMC immediately of the schedule change. 2.9.4 Personnel Substitutions: During the first ninety (90) calendar days of performance, the Contractor shall make NO substitutions of key personnel unless the substitution is necessitated by illness, death, or termination of employment. The Contractor shall notify the CO, in writing, within one (1) calendar day (s) after the occurrence of any of these events and provide the information required below. After 90 days, the Contractor shall submit the information required below to the CO at least one (1) calendar days prior to making any permanent substitutions. 2.9.4.1 The Contractor shall provide a detailed explanation of the circumstances necessitating the proposed substitutions, complete resumes for the proposed substitutes, and any additional information requested by the CO. Proposed substitutes shall have comparable qualifications to those of the persons being replaced. The CO will notify the Contractor within 5 calendar days after receipt of all required information of the decision on the proposed substitutes. The task order will be modified to reflect any approved changes of key personnel. 2.9.4.2 For temporary substitutions where the key person shall not be reporting to work for three consecutive workdays or more, the Contractor shall provide a qualified replacement for the key person. The substitute shall have comparable qualifications to the key person. Any period exceeding two weeks will require the procedure as stated above. 2.9.4.3 The Government reserves the right to refuse acceptance of any Contractor personnel at any time after performance begins, if personal or professional conduct jeopardizes patient care or interferes with the regular and ordinary operation of the facility. Breaches of conduct include intoxication or debilitation resulting from drug use, theft, patient abuse, dereliction or negligence in performing directed tasks, or other conduct resulting in formal complaints by patient or other staff members to designated. 2.9.4.4 Government representatives. Standards for conduct shall mirror those prescribed by current federal personnel regulations. Should the VA COS or designee show documented clinical problems or continual unprofessional behavior/actions with any Contractor s physician (s), s/he may request, without cause, immediate replacement of said Contractor s physician (s). The CO and COR shall deal with issues raised concerning Contractor s physician (s) conduct. The final arbiter on questions of acceptability is the CO. 2.9.4.5 Contingency Plan: Because continuity of care is an essential part of VAMC s medical services, the Contractor shall have a contingency plan in place to be utilized if the Contractor s physician (s) leaves Contractor s employment or is unable to continue performance in accordance with the terms and conditions of the resulting task order. 4. CONTRACTOR RESPONSIBILITIES 4.1 Clinical Personnel Required: The Contractor shall provide contractor s physician (s) who are competent, qualified per this performance work statement and adequately trained to perform assigned duties. 4.1.1 Contractor shall provide MOD services for the UCC, acute care ward, and CLC during weeknights, weekends, and Federal holidays. UCC averages 4-8 visits during weeknights and 10-15 visits during weekends and Federal holidays. 4.1.2 UCC averages daily Monday thru Friday 16 -27 patients. Coverage for this time 8:00 a.m. 4:30 p.m. will be when there is no VA physician on duty (i.e., Vacations) but will have a CRNP present to assist with coverage during these hours (8:00 a.m. 4:30 p.m.). 4.1.3 Major trauma care is not available. Only urgent care and walk-in patients are seen. Average acute care ward census is 6-11. 4.1.4 Average medical ward census is 5-7. Contractor shall provide hospitalist services to conduct rounds on all patients on the acute care medical ward during the weekends and federal holidays. 4.1.4.1 Average CLC census is 35. Census for the CLC may increase during periods of increased infection or other uncontrolled circumstances 4.1.5 The Contractor Physician shall sign in and out on an attendance log. Failure to do so could result in the Physician not being counted for payment of services rendered. 4.1.6 Contractor Physician shall provide urgent and general medical care to all patients in the UCC, acute care, and long-term care residents in the CLC during weeknights, weekends, Federal holidays, and during daylight UCC coverage. 4.1.7 Contractor Physician shall remain on the hospital grounds during his/her shift and shall not depart the VAMC until the VA UCC Physician or oncoming Contractor Physician is on duty. 4.1.8 Contractor Physician coming on duty shall receive report and Hand Off communication from the UCC Physician or Contract Physician, VA hospitalist, and CLC practitioner. The Contract Physician will not go off duty before giving report and Hand Off communication to the UCC Physician or Contract Physician, VA hospitalist, and CLC practitioner. 4.1.9 Contractor Physician shall be the physician of care for all patients remaining in the UCC at 4:30 p.m. on weeknights including patients to be admitted and all patients in the acute care ward and CLC. 4.1.10 Contractor Physician shall evaluate all patients presenting to the UCC and provide appropriate outpatient treatment, admit the patient according to the hospital guidelines and criteria for admission, or transfer the patient to another VA or non-VA facility. 4.1.11 Upon admission of a patient, Contractor Physician shall enter orders in CPRS and document a complete history and physical (H&P) in CPRS by the end of their shift or within 24 hours of admission, whichever occurs first. Contractor Physician shall manage the patient during their shift. 4.1.12 Contractor Physician shall document and sign all progress notes in CPRS on the date of service prior to the patients move to the next level of care. 4.1.13 Contractor Physician shall document and complete all Urgent care progress notes before the end of their shift 4.1.14 Contractor Physician shall complete all required Emergency Department Integration Software (EDIS) documentation within required timeframes. Contractor Physician shall complete all encounters prior to the patients move to the next level of care. 4.1.15 Contractor Physician shall sign all orders before the orders may be carried out, except in the case of approved standing order protocols which allow for orders to be entered after care has been provided. 4.1.16 Contractor Physician shall document Inter-Facility Transfer Notes and inter-ward transfer notes in CPRS, along with obtaining appropriate documentation of Patient Informed Consent for Transfer before the patient leaves the facility. Contractor Physician shall prepare a Discharge Summary for all releases from Acute Care, including deaths and transfers to other levels of care. 4.1.17 Contractor Physician shall review all imaging and abnormal lab results occurring or reported within 6 hours and take appropriate action with documentation in CPRS. 4.1.18 Contractor Physician shall respond to all calls from nurses in, acute care and CLC, for assessment of patients or orders, when needed. 4.1.19 Contractor Physician shall respond to all calls from the AOD and NOD regarding patients who require attention after hours when the UCC is not in operation and direct patients to the appropriate facility. 4.1.20 Contractor Physician shall respond to all calls from lab and radiology and document action taken in response to critical test results. 4.1.21 Contractor Physician shall prescribe in accordance with the VA National Drug Formulary and in accordance with local VAMC restrictions, policies, and procedures. 4.1.22 Contractor Physician shall evaluate and provide initial treatment to employees who become ill while at work or are injured on the job. Contractor Physician shall advise the employee in writing to either return to full or light duty or refer the employee to his/her private physician/provider for any needed definitive care. 4.1.23 Contractor Physician shall complete the Death Certificate on all patients and residents who expire during his/her shift. 4.1.24 Contractor Physician shall complete appropriate evaluations and documentation for special incidents such as medication errors, falls, injuries, adverse drug reactions, etc. 4.1.25 Contractor Physician shall be familiar with the Facility Emergency Operations Plan and is responsible for treatment of casualties until the arrival of additional medical staff. A copy of the Emergency Operations Plan may be provided upon request. Contractor Physician shall participate in fire and disaster drills. 4.1.26 Contractor Physician shall carry the MOD pager and will respond STAT, as defined in the Medical Staff Bylaws, and Rules and Regulations, and Policies, to all Medical Center emergencies such as code blue, code red, code green, and rapid response alerts. 4.1.27 Contractor Physician shall request consults for inpatients and UCC patients in accordance with medical center policy. 4.1.28 Contractor Physician shall be in full compliance with JEVZ VAMC policies and procedures, Medical Staff Bylaws, Rules and Regulations, and Policies and TJC standards regarding medical record completion and entry of orders. 4.1.29 Contractor Physician shall conduct rounds on all inpatients in the acute care ward during weekends and Federal Holidays. 4.1.30 Contractor Physician shall exchange report with the Physician when coming on duty prior to beginning rounds and at the conclusion of rounds. 4.1.31 Contractor Physician shall reassess all inpatients on the acute care ward during rounds and document all progress notes in CPRS on the date of service. 4.1.32 Contractor Physician shall discharge patients from observation and enter a discharge note or fully admit the patient when further hospitalization is indicated. 4.1.33 Contractor Physician shall complete all required notes at the time of discharge or when transferring inpatients to another VA or non-VA facility. 4.1.34 Contractor Physician shall provide telephonic urgent care and emergency department care for the VISN 4 patient base. The house of this care may be provided between the hours of 12 midnight until 8:00 A.M. The care will be done via telephone and will be provided only when telehealth nursing staff requires additional assistant in the decision-making process in the care for our veterans. (END SYNOPSIS) Capabilities Statement and Documentation: Vendors are invited to provide their capabilities, experience, and knowledge in the provision of Board-Certified Emergency Medicine, Internal Medicine, and/or Family Practice Physician Services. Vendors are asked to provide information to demonstrate their answers to the following items of information: 1. General information about your firm to include: Company Name: Company Address: Company Socioeconomic Status: Company System for Award Management Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): Company NAICS Code(s): Company Point of Contact Name: Company Point of Contact Phone Number: Company Point of Contact Email Address: Company Website (if available): GSA Contract Number covering these services and Expiration Date (if applicable): Additional Contract Vehicles covering these services and Expiration Date (if applicable): 2. Provide a general summary of your firm s ability to provide the services described in this announcement. In addition to a Capability Statement, submissions can include specifications, brochures, and manuals as attachments. 3. The North American Industry Classification System Code (NAICS) is 561320 Temporary Help Services, and the Small Business Size Standard is $34.0 million. If your firm considers a different NAICS code more appropriate for this procurement, please indicate such in the response. 4. Based on market response, the following clauses may be included in a resulting solicitation, should one be issued: VAAR 852.219-10, VA Notice of Total Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business Set-Aside VAAR 852.219-11, VA Notice of Total Veteran-Owned Small Business Set-Aside FAR 52.219-6, Notice of Total Small Business Set-Aside Accordingly, prospective vendors will be required at time of solicitation response to certify to the applicable limitation on subcontracting requirements in 13 CFR 125.6, with reference to the appropriate set-aside. Please include in response to this sources sought notice your ability or inability to certify to the clause applicable to your organization. Please note that SDVOSB and VOSB vendors must be registered and verified in the Small Business Administration s Veteran Small Business Certification (VetCert) database to participate in VA procurements set aside for SDVOSB or VOSB competition. Additionally, in accordance with FAR 4.11, prospective vendors must be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) database and must complete electronic annual representations and certifications in SAM prior to award of a contract. SAM is located at https://sam.gov/SAM/ and consolidated the capabilities of CCR/FedReg, ORCA, and EPLS. There is no cost to use SAM. 5. Response: Submit responses via email to Contract Specialist Thomas A. Cossentino at thomas.cossentino@va.gov no later than 3:00 PM ET, 04/20/2023, with Sources Sought number 36C24423Q0716 in the subject line. Telephone responses will not be accepted. The government will not provide feedback in response to vendor questions about the requirement at this time. If you identify ambiguities or have concerns about anything in the description of the requirement, however, please include them with your response. Confirming receipt of the response is the responsibility of the vendor. Contact the contract specialist if the government does not confirm receipt of the sources sought response within 2 business days.