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The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), VA Healthcare System, Network Contracting Office (NCO) 10, on behalf of the VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System in Ann Arbor, Michigan, is conducting market researc... The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), VA Healthcare System, Network Contracting Office (NCO) 10, on behalf of the VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System in Ann Arbor, Michigan, is conducting market research through this sources sought notice to seek sources that can develop a user-centered design evaluation of clinical dashboards, perform qualitative research, and analyze data for potential workflow improvements within the VA medical center. The draft Statement of Work has been attached for reference. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Code for this acquisition is 541720, Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities. The small business size standard is $22 million. The contracting office is contemplating a four (4) month contract beginning on 6-1-2020. Pursuant to FAR Part 10, Market Research, the purpose of this notice is to determine if sources capable of satisfying the agency's requirements exists and to determine the commercial practices of company's engaged in providing the needed service. Pursuant to FAR Part 6 and FAR Part 19, competition and set-aside decisions may be based on the results of this market research. This notice in no way obligates the Government to any further action. SAM: Interested parties should register in the System for Award Management (SAM) as prescribed in FAR Clause 52.232-33. The SAM can be obtained by accessing the internet at www.sam.gov or by calling 1-866-606-8220. VA VENDOR INFORMATION PAGE (VetBiz): Interested Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business and Veteran-Owned Small Businesses must be registered in the VA Vendor Information Page (VetBiz) https://www.vip.vetbiz.gov/. Submission of Information: Companies having capabilities necessary to meet or exceed the stated requirements are invited to provide information to contribute to this sources sought notice including commercial market information and company information. Companies may respond to this Sources Sought Notice via e-mail to katherine.gibney@va.gov. The subject line must read 36C250-20-Q-0600 Ann Arbor PROVE QUERI Research services. Responses must be submitted no later than Monday, May 11, 2020 at 9:00 AM Eastern Time with the following information: Name of Company, Address and DUNS Number. Point of Contact and Phone Number. Business Size applicable to the NAICS Code: Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business Concern; the status will be verified VA Vendor Information Page. Veteran Owned Small Business Concern; the status will be verified VA Vendor Information Page. HuBZone Small Business Concern; if claiming HuBZone status, provide a copy of your HuBZone Certificate from SBA. Small Business Concern; Large Business Concern If you believe another NAICS is more suitable for these services, please include the code. Is there any reason you would not be interested in responding to a solicitation? What are the reasons and why? Please provide a short narrative on technical capability and interest in providing the requested services. Note, this capability statement must demonstrate knowledge of VA systems, including VA intranet, VISTA, CAPRI and VA electronic health records. Do you have a GSA contract to perform these services? If so, please provide the contract number and contract end date. Do you have any questions/comments that may otherwise assist us? Would you be performing as Prime, or would you subcontract the services? Please provide an estimated overall cost for these services. Complete responses to this notice will assist the VA in determining any potential set-aside for the requirement. Not providing all information requested in response to this notice may result in the VA being unable to determine a vendor potentially capable of satisfying the requirement and, subsequently, if the rule of two criteria is not met, a specific set-aside category may not be decided by the Contracting Officer. Disclaimer and Important Notes: This Sources Sought Notice is for market research purposes only and does not constitute a Request for Proposal/Quotation; and, it is not considered to be a commitment by the Government to award a contract nor will the Government pay for any information provided; no basis for claim against the Government shall arise as a result from a response to this Sources Sought Notice or Government use of any information provided. Failure to submit information in sufficient detail may result in considering a company as not a viable source and may influence competition and set-aside decisions. Regardless of the information obtained from this Sources Sought Notice, the Government reserves the right to consider any arrangement as deemed appropriated for this requirement. Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted. No proprietary, classified, confidential, or sensitive information should be included in your response to this Sources Sought Notice. The Government reserves the right to use any information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate, including using technical information provided by respondents in any resultant solicitation. At this time no solicitation exists; therefore, do Not Request a Copy of the Solicitation. After a review of the responses received, a pre-solicitation notice and solicitation may be published on Contracting Opportunities through beta.SAM.gov. It is the potential offeror's responsibility to monitor Contracting Opportunities for release of any future solicitation that may result from this Sources Sought Notice. However, responses to this Sources Sought Notice will not be considered adequate responses to any resultant solicitation. Developing a User-Centered Design Activity and Analyzing User Preference Data to Determine Content Priorities for Clinical Quality Dashboards Project Title: QUE 15-286: PROVE: Personalizing Options Through Veteran Engagement Statement of Work Purpose: This contract is to outline the responsibilities of a vendor to develop a design evaluation of clinical dashboards within the VA healthcare system for usability. The purpose of the evaluation is to characterize and analyze potential workflow improvements. Products and findings from this work will be used to help decide what information VA staff find useful for clinical dashboard content to inform quality improvement efforts, with current special focus on appropriate medication and treatment use. The vendor shall also be responsible for assisting in developing the analysis plan, gathering the data, and analyzing the data. This service contract request shall support the project QUE 15-286: PROVE: Personalizing Options Through Veteran Engagement, funded by the VA Quality Enhancement Research Initiative (QUERI). The contract shall be from June 1, 2020 through September 30, 2020. Contractor Qualifications: The vendor shall assign an individual or individuals to perform the tasks as outlined in this Statement of Work. The individual shall have access to the requirements listed in Resources Required (see Resources Required, page 3). The individual must be experienced and knowledgeable about research on user-centered design in informatics and have specific skills in advanced qualitative research and user-centered design methods and activities. The vendor will provide supervision and provide expertise in the areas of user-centered design and qualitative methods to the individual as needed. Expertise in this area can be defined by the educational background of the vendor and individuals: current coursework, publications, related research, or advanced degrees in behavioral science, informatics, implementation science, or equivalent health and behavioral science related fields. The vendor is required to have familiarity with VA intranet, VISTA, CAPRI and VA electronic health records. The vendor will ideally have previous experience with the PROVE QUERI project. Specific Tasks The vendor shall work with the PROVE QUERI team on the following specific tasks: 1. The vendor and assigned individuals shall develop a user-centered design process to elicit input from a sample of clinical quality dashboard users in VA medical centers to provide the PROVE QUERI team with content priorities for these dashboards in specific clinical and nonclinical situations. The process could include, but would not be limited to, qualitative interviews, focus groups, or activities like charrettes using techniques of user-centered design and qualitative methods of systematic investigation. This task shall require developing a user-centered design process guide with vignettes that will allow dashboard users to rank the types of information content they find the most relevant and actionable from a menu of choices for each scenario. The vendor shall have the user-centered design process guide configurations developed by July 31, 2020. Based on full time effort (40-hour work weeks) this is estimated to be 360 hours of work 2. The vendor shall lead analyses of data collected from the user-centered design process. These analyses shall specify the highest, moderate, and lowest relevance of each dashboard content choice for each scenario. The vendor shall deliver an analysis report in an electronic MS Word document by September 30, 2020. The document shall include (but not be limited to): aggregated counts, categorization (high, moderate, low relevance) for each dashboard content choice for each scenario. Based on full time effort, this is estimated to be 320 hours of work. 3. At minimum, the vendor shall participate in three meetings with the PROVE QUERI team by the end of the contract period. Meetings shall be arranged by the VA research team. Deliverables See Specific Tasks above. Period of Performance The period of performance is June 1, 2020 through September 30, 2020. Resources Required The vendor must establish access to specific resources in order to complete the tasks required in this contract for the personnel assigned to be the evaluation lead. These resources include but are not limited to: Access to University of Michigan e-mail system Access to VA e-mail system Access to VA room scheduling system Access to VA intranet and other VA specific remote working environments as needed Data Security 1. GENERAL Contractors, contractor personnel, subcontractors, and subcontractor personnel shall be subject to the same Federal laws, regulations, standards, and VA Directives and Handbooks as VA and VA personnel regarding information and information system security. ACCESS TO VA INFORMATION AND VA INFORMATION SYSTEMS A contractor/subcontractor shall request logical (technical) or physical access to VA information and VA information systems for their employees, subcontractors, and affiliates only to the extent necessary to perform the services specified in the contract, agreement, or task order. All contractors, subcontractors, and third-party servicers and associates working with VA information are subject to the same investigative requirements as those of VA appointees or employees who have access to the same types of information. The level and process of background security investigations for contractors must be in accordance with VA Directive and Handbook 0710, Personnel Suitability and Security Program. The Office for Operations, Security, and Preparedness is responsible for these policies and procedures. All contractors, subcontractors and third-party servicers and associates must abide by the data use guidelines laid out in Appendix C of VA Handbook 6500.6. All contractors, subcontractors or others will fill out a ROB [VA Contractor Rules of Behavior]. Per data security requirement 852.273-75: the contractor, their personnel, and their subcontractors shall be subject to the Federal laws, regulations, standards, and VA Directives and Handbooks regarding information and information system security as delineated in this contract. The contractor must understand and implement the IT security requirements for system interconnection documents required per the Memorandum of Understanding or Interconnection Agreement (MOU-ISA). There will be no access to patient-level data. NARA Records Management 1. Contractor shall comply with all applicable records management laws and regulations, as well as National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) records policies, including but not limited to the Federal Records Act (44 U.S.C. chs. 21, 29, 31, 33), NARA regulations at 36 CFR Chapter XII Subchapter B, and those policies associated with the safeguarding of records covered by the Privacy Act of 1974 (5 U.S.C. 552a). These policies include the preservation of all records, regardless of form or characteristics, mode of transmission, or state of completion. 2. In accordance with 36 CFR 1222.32, all data created for Government use and delivered to, or falling under the legal control of, the Government are Federal records subject to the provisions of 44 U.S.C. chapters 21, 29, 31, and 33, the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) (5 U.S.C. 552), as amended, and the Privacy Act of 1974 (5 U.S.C. 552a), as amended and must be managed and scheduled for disposition only as permitted by statute or regulation. 3. In accordance with 36 CFR 1222.32, Contractor shall maintain all records created for Government use or created in the course of performing the contract and/or delivered to, or under the legal control of the Government and must be managed in accordance with Federal law. Electronic records and associated metadata must be accompanied by sufficient technical documentation to permit understanding and use of the records and data. 4. VA Ann Arbor Healthcare Systems and its contractors are responsible for preventing the alienation or unauthorized destruction of records, including all forms of mutilation. Records may not be removed from the legal custody of VA Ann Arbor Healthcare Systems or destroyed except for in accordance with the provisions of the agency records schedules and with the written concurrence of the Head of the Contracting Activity. Willful and unlawful destruction, damage or alienation of Federal records is subject to the fines and penalties imposed by 18 U.S.C. 2701. In the event of any unlawful or accidental removal, defacing, alteration, or destruction of records, Contractor must report to VA Ann Arbor Healthcare Systems. The agency must report promptly to NARA in accordance with 36 CFR 1230. 5. The Contractor shall immediately notify the appropriate Contracting Officer upon discovery of any inadvertent or unauthorized disclosures of information, data, documentary materials, records or equipment. Disclosure of non-public information is limited to authorized personnel with a need-to-know as described in the [contract vehicle]. The Contractor shall ensure that the appropriate personnel, administrative, technical, and physical safeguards are established to ensure the security and confidentiality of this information, data, documentary material, records and/or equipment is properly protected. The Contractor shall not remove material from Government facilities or systems, or facilities or systems operated or maintained on the Government s behalf, without the express written permission of the Head of the Contracting Activity. When information, data, documentary material, records and/or equipment is no longer required, it shall be returned to VA Ann Arbor Healthcare Systems control or the Contractor must hold it until otherwise directed. Items returned to the Government shall be hand carried, mailed, emailed, or securely electronically transmitted to the Contracting Officer or address prescribed in the [contract vehicle]. Destruction of records is EXPRESSLY PROHIBITED unless in accordance with Paragraph (4). 6. The Contractor is required to obtain the Contracting Officer's approval prior to engaging in any contractual relationship (sub-contractor) in support of this contract requiring the disclosure of information, documentary material and/or records generated under, or relating to, contracts. The Contractor (and any sub-contractor) is required to abide by Government and VA Ann Arbor Healthcare Systems guidance for protecting sensitive, proprietary information, classified, and controlled unclassified information. 7. The Contractor shall only use Government IT equipment for purposes specifically tied to or authorized by the contract and in accordance with VA Ann Arbor Healthcare Systems policy. 8. The Contractor shall not create or maintain any records containing any non-public VA Ann Arbor Healthcare Systems information that are not specifically tied to or authorized by the contract. 9. The Contractor shall not retain, use, sell, or disseminate copies of any deliverable that contains information covered by the Privacy Act of 1974 or that which is generally protected from public disclosure by an exemption to the Freedom of Information Act. 10. The VA Ann Arbor Healthcare Systems owns the rights to all data and records produced as part of this contract. All deliverables under the contract are the property of the U.S. Government for which VA Ann Arbor Healthcare Systems shall have unlimited rights to use, dispose of, or disclose such data contained therein as it determines to be in the public interest. Any Contractor rights in the data or deliverables must be identified as required by FAR 52.227-11 through FAR 52.227-20. 11. Training. All Contractor employees assigned to this contract who create, work with, or otherwise handle records are required to take VHA-provided records management training, Talent Management System (TMS) Item #3873736, Records Management for Records Officers and Liaisons. The Contractor is responsible for confirming training has been completed according to agency policies, including initial training and any annual or refresher training.