Inactive

This is a SOURCES SOUGHT announcement only. It is neither a solicitation announcement nor a request for proposal or quote and does not obligate the Government to award a contract. Responses to this So... This is a SOURCES SOUGHT announcement only. It is neither a solicitation announcement nor a request for proposal or quote and does not obligate the Government to award a contract. Responses to this Sources Sought must be in writing. The purpose of this Sources Sought Announcement is for market research, to make appropriate acquisition decisions, and to gain knowledge of potential qualified businesses capable of providing the following: Language Services for VISN 15 *** See Statement of Work below for details *** If this is within your capability, please respond with the information below: Company Name Address Point of Contact Phone, Fax, and Email UEI number GSA Contract (as applicable) Interested firms are reminded that in accordance with FAR 4.12, prospective contractors shall complete electronic annual representations and certifications to be considered for award. In addition, FAR 4.11 states that prospective contractors shall be registered in the System for Award Management (www.SAM.gov) database. All Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Small Businesses (SDVOSB) and Veteran Owned Small Businesses (VOSB) shall be verified in VetBiz at www.vip.vetbiz.gov. Point of Contact for this Sources Sought is: veronica.flores@va.gov (913) 946 - 1167 Department of Veterans Affairs Network Contracting Office -15 3450 S. 4th Street Trafficway Leavenworth, KS. 66048. STATEMENT OF WORK (SOW) FOR VISN 15 Language Interpretation/Translation Services General: In accordance with VHA Directive 2007-009, Executive Order 13166, Joint Commission Standard RI.2.100, and EEO laws, the Veteran Affairs (VA) Heartland Network seeks to establish and implement policies and procedures for providing language assistance sufficient to fulfill equal opportunity responsibilities and provide Limited English Proficient (LEP) to Veterans/patients, their family members and caregivers which have access to VA health care programs, services and benefits. Place of Performance: See Attachment 1 - VISN Service Locations for a complete list of locations where services may be required. Period of Performance: See B.3 Schedule of Services and Price Requirements: Contractor to provide the following for Veterans/patients, their family members and caregivers, who have limited English proficiency, available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year: Language interpretation services in all available languages (see B.3 Schedule of Services and Price). These will be performed by: Over-the-phone interpreting (OPI), per minute rate. The Government shall contact the vendor and arrange for an interpreter via phone to provide language translation services immediately, on an as needed basis, with no minimum per order. In-person/on-site interpreting, per hour rate. A 1-hour minimum will apply, and thereafter, paid in 15-minute increments. No mileage will be paid. Any allowance for mileage and transit time will be reflected in the per hour rate. Priced by Language Group (see B.3 Schedule of Services and Price). Written non-technical translation services (i.e. no graphic design or special formatting) in all available languages. No minimum per order. Priced by word, by Language Group. See B.3 Schedule of Services and Price. Standard turnaround time is 3-calendar days from 5pm (local) on the day order is received. Expedited turnaround time is 2-calendar days from 5pm (local) on the day order is received, charged at the overtime rate (time and one-half the standard rate). American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation will be performed by: In-person sign language interpreters, per hour rate. A 1-hour minimum will apply, and thereafter, paid in 15-minute increments. No mileage will be paid. Any allowance for mileage and transit time will be reflected in the per hour rate. Video Remote Interpreting (VRI), per minute rate with no minimum per order. All equipment (e.g. devices, tablets, notepads, cameras, televisions, stands, cabling, etc.) that are necessary to conduct this method of interpretation, shall be provided by and remain the property of the contractor. The equipment will be maintained and accounted for at each station by the COR. Scheduling: Over-the-phone interpreting (OPI) services: Shall be conduction within the below listed connect times, which is the time from when the phone number of the Contractor is dialed to the time an interpreter returns the call and is ready to begin interpreting. Connect time for Spanish, French, Arabic, German, Russian, Portuguese, Mandarin and Cantonese is 2-minutes. Connect time for all other languages is 4-minutes. Chargeable time for over-the-phone interpreting (OPI) services shall begin when the Government is successfully connected to a qualified interpreter. The Government shall only pay for the interpreter providing service, and no one else. Interpreting services, except over-the-phone interpreting (OPI): Shall be coordinated at least 72 business hours in advance. If, however, the Government should require interpreters with less than 72 hours' notice, the Contractor shall attempt to provide an interpreter, but the Government understands that the Contractor may not always be able to comply with such a request. Services may be cancelled not less than 24 hours in advance Monday through Friday, with no penalty or charges for cancelled services. If the Contractor is notified of a cancellation within 24 hours prior to the scheduled assignment, the Contractor may invoice for the number of hours scheduled for the assignment. If an interpreter appears for an assignment and the necessary parties fail to appear within 30 minutes, the interpreter may leave and invoice for one (1) hour of service. Occurring outside normal business hours (Monday through Friday 7:00 PM - 7:00 AM, Saturday, Sunday and holidays), shall be charged at the overtime rate (time and one-half the regular rate). If the Contractor cannot attend a scheduled event, 48-hours notice shall be given. The Government shall not incur any charges and the event will be rescheduled. For kept appointments, chargeable time shall begin at the designated appointment time and end when contractor is released by the person who requested services. The Government shall only pay for interpreters providing service, and no one else. The Contractor shall provide qualified and competent language interpretation and translation services in all available languages. These services shall be available 365 days a year, 24 hours per day, 7 days per week. CORs are responsible to schedule/approve all work with the Contracting Officer or his/her representative prior to performance of services. The Contractor, once notified of a requirement for services, will select, coordinate, assign, and provide the appropriate quantified interpreter for the services requested. If appointed, a Government Ordering Officer (OO) from each station will contact the Contractor via telephone or email to request services, and only the person named as the OO or Alternate OO will be allowed to request services. Qualifications: All work is to be performed by competent personnel, experienced and qualified to provide interpreter services. All work is to be performed in accordance with the guidelines established by Federal, State and Local ordinances and with contractor's procedures manual and quality control manual. Contractor to ensure that interpreters/translators are trained and demonstrate competency, in accordance with Joint Commission and VHA requirements. Contractor will insure all sign language interpreters are certified and must hold at least one or more of the certifications issued by the National Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (RID) and/or the National Association of the Deaf (NAD). For this, Contractor sign language interpreters shall have, at least, a NAD III (Generalist) Average Performance certification or equivalent, unless the nature of the assignment requires a higher level. Delivery: Contract to be maintained at the VISN-level. Each VA Heartland Network Medical Center to be charged for individual services provided at their Medical Center or Community Based Outpatient Clinics (CBOCs) per Attachment 1 - VISN Service Locations. Contracting Officer s Representative (COR): Pursuant to VAAR Provision 852.270-1, Representatives of Contracting Officer, the designated representatives for this contract are listed in Attachment 2 COR Contact Information. Contract Administration Data: All contract administration functions will be retained by the Department of Veterans Affairs. The Contracting Officer will be the only person authorized to approve changes or modify any of the requirements under this contract. The Contractor shall communicate with the Contracting Officer on all matters pertaining to contract administration. Only the Contracting Officer will be authorized to make commitments or issue changes that affect price, quantity, or quality of performance of this contract. In the event the Contractor effects any such change at the direction of any person other than the Contracting Officer, the change shall be considered unauthorized and no adjustment will be made in the contract price to cover any increase in costs incurred as a result thereof. Acronyms and Definitions: CDR: Contract Discrepancy Report. Report issued by the Government to the contractor to document a supply or service found to be unacceptable during contract performance. CLIN: Contract Line Item Number. Unit of work (or service) to be performed (or delivered) by the contractor as a pay item. CO: Contracting Officer. A person with the authority to enter into, administer, and/or terminate contracts and make related determinations and findings. COR: Contracting Officer s Representative. An individual, including a Contracting Officer s Representative (COR), designated and authorized in writing by the contracting officer to perform specific technical or administrative functions. QA: Quality Assurance. Actions taken by the government to assure contracted services meet PWS requirements. Personnel: Non-Personal Services: This is a non-personal services contract. Personnel rendering services under this contract are not subject either by the contract s terms or by the manner of its administration, to the supervision and control usually prevailing in relationships between the government and its employees. The Government shall not exercise any supervision or control over the contract service s performing services herein. Such contract service s shall be accountable solely to the Contractor who, in turn, is responsible to the Government. Contractor Compliance with the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952: The Contractor shall comply with any and all legal provisions contained in the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, As Amended; its related laws and regulations that are enforced by Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the U.S Department of Labor as these may relate to non-immigrant foreign nationals working under contract or subcontract for the Contractor while providing services to Department of Veterans Affairs patient referrals. Hours of Business Operation: Administrative hours: Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Off-Duty hours: Friday through Monday, 4:30 p.m. - 8:00 a.m.; Monday through Thursday, 4:30 pm 8:00 am. National Holidays: The 11 holidays observed by the Federal Government are: New Year s Day Martin Luther King s Birthday Presidents Day Memorial Day Juneteenth Independence Day Labor Day Columbus Day Veterans Day Thanksgiving Christmas any other day specifically declared by the President of the United States to be a national holiday. Quality Control: Contract Performance Monitoring. The COR may perform surveillance of services by any of the methods listed below: Observing actual performance Inspecting the services to determine whether or not the performance meets the performance standards Review of any other appropriate records When unacceptable performance occurs, the COR shall inform the Contractor and the Contracting Officer. This will normally be in writing unless circumstances necessitate verbal communication. In any case the COR shall document the discussion and place it in the COR file. When the COR determines that formal written communication is required, the COR shall prepare a Contract Discrepancy Report (CDR), and present it to the contractor program manager. The Contractor shall acknowledge receipt of the CDR in writing. The CDR will specify if the Contractor is required to prepare a corrective action plan to document how the Contractor shall correct the unacceptable performance and avoid a recurrence. The CDR will also state how long after receipt the Contractor must present this corrective action plan to the COR. The Government shall review the Contractor corrective action plan to determine acceptability. Any CDRs may become a part of the supporting documentation for any contractual action deemed necessary by the Contracting Officer. Pursuant to VAAR Provision 852.270-1, Representatives of Contracting Officer representative(s); The Government shall periodically evaluate the Contractor performance by appointing a Contracting Officers Representative (COR) to monitor performance to ensure services are received. The Government representative(s) shall evaluate the Contractor performance through inspections of observations, inspection of services or any other form of documentation and all complaints from VA personnel. The Government may inspect as each task is completed or increase the number of quality assurance inspections if deemed appropriate because of repeated failures or because of repeated customer complaints. Likewise, the Government may decrease the number of quality assurance inspections if performance dictates. The Government Contracting Officer shall make final determination of the validity of customer complaint(s). If any of the services do not conform to contract requirements, the Government may require the Contractor to perform the services again in conformity with contract requirements, at no increase in contract amount. When the defects in services cannot be corrected by re-performance, the Government may require the Contractor to take necessary action to ensure that future performance conforms to contract requirements at no additional cost to the Government. The Contracting Officer may notify the Contractor and request immediate removal of any personnel assigned to the task order by the Contractor that are deemed to have a conflict of interest with the government or if the performance is deemed to be unsatisfactory. The reason for removal will be documented and replacement personnel shall be identified within three business days of the notification. Employment and staffing difficulties shall not be justification for failure to meet established schedules. Confidentiality: Interpreters/translators will comply with patient privacy, confidentiality, and HIPAA requirements. Monitoring and Compliance: Contractor to ensure that interpreters/translators are trained and demonstrate competency, in accordance with Joint Commission and VHA requirements. Interpreters/translators will comply with patient privacy, confidentiality, and HIPAA requirements. Document Translation Procedure: When translation is required, the requesting official will send the documents, by secure means, to the facility/station Ordering Officer (OO), who will in turn, forward them securely to the facility/station Privacy Officer, who is responsible to de-identify the documents of all 18 HIPAA identifiers (see below). When de-identified, the documents will be returned to the facility/station OO and electronically transmitted (by non-secure means) to the contractor for translation. In addition, OOs will ensure that the transmittal message does not contain any of the 18 HIPAA identifiers also. Upon completion of translation, the documents will be returned by the OO to the requesting official.  HIPAA Identifiers: Names; All geographical subdivisions smaller than a State, including street address, city, county, precinct, zip code, and their equivalent geocodes, except for the initial three digits of a zip code, if according to the current publicly available data from the Bureau of the Census: (1) The geographic unit formed by combining all zip codes with the same three initial digits contains more than 20,000 people; and (2) The initial three digits of a zip code for all such geographic units containing 20,000 or fewer people is changed to 000. All elements of dates (except year) for dates directly related to an individual, including birth date, admission date, discharge date, date of death; and all ages over 89 and all elements of dates (including year) indicative of such age, except that such ages and elements may be aggregated into a single category of age 90 or older; Phone numbers; Fax numbers; Electronic mail addresses; Social Security numbers; Medical record numbers; Health plan beneficiary numbers; Account numbers; Certificate/license numbers; Vehicle identifiers and serial numbers, including license plate numbers; Device identifiers and serial numbers; Web Universal Resource Locators (URLs); Internet Protocol (IP) address numbers; Biometric identifiers, including finger and voice prints; Full face photographic images and any comparable images; and Any other unique identifying number, characteristic, or code (note this does not mean the unique code assigned by the investigator to code the data). Business Associate Agreement: See Attachment 11 BAA-Global Language System. 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. Contract personnel who require access to national security programs must have a valid security clearance. National Industrial Security Program (NISP) was established by Executive Order 12829 to ensure that cleared U.S. defense industry contract personnel safeguard the classified information in their possession while performing work on contracts, programs, bids, or research and development efforts. The Department of Veterans Affairs does not have a Memorandum of Agreement with Defense Security Service (DSS). Verification of a Security Clearance must be processed through the Special Security Officer located in the Planning and National Security Service within the Office of Operations, Security, and Preparedness. Custom software development and outsourced operations must be located in the U.S. to the maximum extent practical. If such services are proposed to be performed abroad and are not disallowed by other VA policy or mandates, the contractor/subcontractor must state where all non-U.S. services are provided and detail a security plan, deemed to be acceptable by VA, specifically to address mitigation of the resulting problems of communication, control, data protection, and so forth. Location within the U.S. may be an evaluation factor. The contractor or subcontractor must notify the Contracting Officer immediately when an employee working on a VA system or with access to VA information is reassigned or leaves the contractor or subcontractor s employ. The Contracting Officer must also be notified immediately by the contractor or subcontractor prior to an unfriendly termination. VA Information Custodial Requirements: Information made available to the contractor by VA for the performance or administration of this contract or information developed by the contractor in performance or administration of the contract shall be used only for those purposes and shall not be used in any other way without the prior written agreement of the contracting officer. This clause expressly limits the contractor's rights to use data as described in Rights in Data - General, FAR 52.227-14(d) (1). Information generated by a Contractor as a part of the contractor s normal business operations, such as medical records created in the course of providing treatment, is subject to a review by the Office of General Counsel (OGC) to determine if the information is the property of VA and subject to VA policy. If the information is determined by OGC to not be the property of VA, the restrictions required for VA information will not apply. VA information will not be co-mingled with any other data on the contractors/subcontractors information systems/media storage systems in order to ensure VA requirements related to data protection and media sanitization can be met. VA also reserves the right to conduct IT resource inspections to ensure data separation and on-site inspection of information destruction/media sanitization procedures to ensure they are in compliance with VA policy requirements. Prior to termination or completion of this contract, contractor will not destroy information received from VA or gathered or created by the contractor in the course of performing this contract without prior written approval by the VA contracting officer. Any data destruction done on behalf of VA by a contractor must be done in accordance with National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) requirements as outlined in VA Directive 6300, Records and Information Management and its Handbook 6300.1 Records Management Procedures, and applicable VA Records Control Schedules. The contractor will receive, gather, store, back up, maintain, use, disclose and dispose of VA information only in compliance with the terms of the contract and applicable Federal and VA information confidentiality and security laws, regulations and policies. Applicable Federal information security regulations include all Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) and Special Publications (SP) issued by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). If Federal or VA information confidentiality and security laws, regulations and policies become applicable to the VA information or information systems after execution of the contract, or if NIST issues or updates applicable FIPS after execution of this contract, the parties agree to negotiate in good faith to implement the information confidentiality and security laws, regulations and policies, including FIPS or SP, in this contract. Contractors collecting, storing, or disseminating personal identifiable information (PII) or protected health information (PHI) data must conform to all pertinent regulations, laws, and VA directives related to privacy. Contractors must provide access for VA privacy reviews and assessments and provide appropriate documentation as directed. The contractor shall not make copies of VA information except as necessary to perform the terms of the agreement or to preserve electronic information stored on contractor electronic storage media for restoration in case any electronic equipment or data used by the contractor needs to be restored to an operating state. If VA determines that the contractor has violated any of the information confidentiality, privacy, and security provisions of the contract, it shall be sufficient grounds for VA to terminate the contract for default or terminate for cause under Federal Acquisition Regulation ( FAR ) part 12. If a VHA contract is terminated for cause, the associated Business Associate Agreement (BAA) will also be terminated and appropriate actions taken in accordance with VHA Handbook 1600.01 Business Associates. Contractor will store, transport or transmit VA sensitive information in an encrypted form, using a VA-approved encryption application that meets the requirements of NIST s FIPS 140-2 standard. The contractor s firewall and Web services security controls, if applicable, shall meet or exceed VA s minimum requirements. VA directives are available on the VA directives Web site at http://www1.va.gov/vapubs/ . Except for uses and disclosures of VA information authorized by this contract for performance of the contract, the contractor may use and disclose VA information only in two other situations: (i) in response to a qualifying order of a court of competent jurisdiction, or (ii) with VA s prior written approval. The contractor will refer all requests for, demands for production of, or inquiries about, VA information and information systems to the VA contracting officer for response. Notwithstanding the provision above, the contractor shall not release medical quality assurance records protected by 38 U.S.C. 5705 or records pertaining to drug addiction, sickle cell anemia, alcoholism or alcohol abuse, or infection with human immunodeficiency virus protected under 38 U.S.C. 7332 under any circumstances, including in response to a court order, and shall immediately refer such court orders or other inquiries to the VA contracting officer for response. The contractor will not use technologies banned in VA in meeting the requirements of the contract (e.g., Bluetooth enabled devices). Security Incident Investigation: The term security incident means an event that has, or could have, resulted in unauthorized access to, loss or damage to VA assets, or sensitive information, or an action that breaches VA security procedures. The contractor shall immediately notify the Contracting Officer Technical Representative (COTR) and simultaneously, the designated ISO/Privacy Officer for the contract of any known or suspected security/privacy incidents, or any unauthorized disclosure of sensitive information, including that contained in system(s) to which the contractor has access. To the extent known by the contractor, the contractor s notice to VA will identify the information involved, the circumstances surrounding the incident (including to whom, how, when, and where the VA information/assets were placed at risk or compromised), and any other information that the contractor considers relevant. With respect to unsecured protected health information, the business associate is deemed to have discovered a data breach when the business associate knew or should have known of a breach of such information. Upon discovery, the business associate must notify the covered entity of the breach. Notifications need to be made in accordance with the executed business associate agreement. In instances of theft or break-in or other criminal activity, the contractor will simultaneously report the incident to the appropriate law enforcement entity(ies) of jurisdiction, including the VA Offices of the Inspector General and Security and Law Enforcement,. The contractor, its employees, and its subcontractors and their employees will cooperate with VA and any law enforcement authority responsible for the investigation and prosecution of any possible criminal law violation(s) associated with any incident. The contractor will cooperate with VA in any civil litigation to recover VA information, obtain monetary or other compensation from a third party for damages arising from any incident, or obtain injunctive relief against any third party arising from, or related to, the incident. To the extent practicable, the contractor shall mitigate any harmful effects on individuals whose VA information was accessed or disclosed in a security incident. In the event of a data breach with respect to any VA Sensitive Information processed or maintained by the contractor or subcontractor under the contract, the contractor is responsible for liquidated damages to be paid to VA. Security Controls Compliance Testing: On a periodic basis, VA, including the Office of Inspector General, reserves the right to evaluate any or all of the security controls and privacy practices implemented by the contractor under the clauses contained within the contract. With 10 working-days notice, at the request of the Government, the contractor will fully cooperate and assist in a Government-sponsored security controls assessment at each location wherein VA information is processed or stored, or information systems are developed, operated, maintained, or used on behalf of VA, including those initiated by the Office of Inspector General. The Government may conduct a security control assessment on shorter notice (to include unannounced assessments) determined by VA in the event of a security incident or at any other time. Training: All contractor employees and subcontractor employees requiring access to VA information shall complete the following courses before being granted access to VA information: Privacy and HIPAA Training , course number: VA 10203. VA Privacy and Information Security Awareness and Rules of Behavior , course number: VA 31167 To take these courses online, Contractor will go to: https://www.tms.va.gov/learning/user/login.jsp, and create a separate TMS account for each individual employee along the following path: Create New User tab > Veterans Health Administration (VHA) button > Contractor button, and follow prompts to complete application. The contractor shall provide to the contracting officer and/or the COR a copy of the training certificate for the above courses for each applicable employee within 1-week of the initiation of the contract, and annually thereafter. Failure to complete the mandatory annual training within the timeframe required, is grounds for suspension or termination of all physical or electronic access privileges and removal from work on the contract, until the training and documents are complete. ATTACHMENT 1: VISN SERVICE LOCATIONS Location Address 1 Kansas City, MO Kansas City VA Medical Center 4801 East Linwood Boulevard Kansas City, MO 64128 1a Kansas City, MO Honor Annex 4251 Northern Avenue Kansas City, MO 64133 1b Kansas City, MO Mobile Medical Unit 4801 East Linwood Blvd. Kansas City, MO 64128 1c Belton, MO Belton Clinic 209 Cunningham Industrial Parkway Belton, MO 64012 1d Cameron, MO Cameron Clinic 1111 Euclid Drive Cameron, MO 64429 1e Excelsior Springs, MO Excelsior Clinic 197 McCleary Road Excelsior Springs, MO 64024 1f Warrensburg, MO Warrensburg Clinic 702 E. Young Street Warrensburg, MO 64092 1g Nevada, MO Nevada Clinic 322 South Prewitt Nevada, MO 64772 1h Paola, KS Paola Clinic 501 South Hospital Drive Paola, KS 66071 2 Columbia, MO Harry S. Truman Memorial Veterans Hospital 800 Hospital Drive Columbia, MO 65201 2a Pro Dental 1700 E Pointe Drive HIMS Office 2nd Floor, Suite 202, Room 206 Columbia, MO 65201 2b Ft Leonard Wood 700 GW Lane Waynesville, MO 65583 2c Jefferson City 2707 W Edgewood Jefferson City, MO 65109 2d Kirksville Northeast Missouri Health Council 1510 North Crown Drive Kirksville, MO 63501 2e Mexico Missouri Veterans Home One Veterans Drive Mexico, MO 65265 2f Sedalia 3320 West 10th Street Sedalia, MO 65301 2g Osage Beach 940 Executive Drive Osage Beach, MO 65065 2h St. James 620 North Jefferson Street James, MO 65559-1999 2i Marshfield 1240 Banning Street Marshfield, MO 65706 3a EKHCS (Topeka, KS) Colmery-O'Neil VA Medical Center 2200 Gage Boulevard Topeka KS, 66622 3b EKHCS (Leavenworth, KS) Dwight D. Eisenhower VA Medical Center 4101 S. 4th Street Leavenworth, KS 66048 4 Wichita, KS Robert J. Dole VA Medical Center 5500 East Kellogg Avenue Wichita, KS 67218 4a Dodge City, KS Dodge City CBOC 2201 Sumerlon CR Dodge City, KS 67801 4b Hays, KS Hays CBOC 207B East 7th St Hays, KS 67601 4c Hutchinson, KS Hutchinson CBOC 1625 E 30th St Hutchinson, KS 67502 4d ...