Inactive

DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS VETERANS INTEGRATED SERVICE NETWORK (VISN) 16 G.V. SONNY MONTGOMERY VETERANS HEALTHCARE SYSTEM REQUEST FOR INFORMATION 36C25622Q0079 REQUESTED RESPONSES: The intent of t... DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS VETERANS INTEGRATED SERVICE NETWORK (VISN) 16 G.V. SONNY MONTGOMERY VETERANS HEALTHCARE SYSTEM REQUEST FOR INFORMATION 36C25622Q0079 REQUESTED RESPONSES: The intent of this Request for Information is to establish sources in order to define the procurement strategy. Interested contractors are requested to respond in accordance with the following Please respond to this RFI if you are capable of providing the Acustaf brand name product listed in the Statement of Work found in the background section below. In the response please cite business size status. POTENTIAL SOURCES SHALL PROVIDE THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION IN THEIR RESPONSE: 1) Company name, address, phone number, primary contact(s), e-mail address, NAICS code(s), business size (i.e., small/large) and DUNS Number. 2) Provide a Statement of Capability that demonstrates the offeror's past performance in providing these types of supplies. Please include the following: (a) Proof of OEM or OEM distributor of brand name supplies. (b) examples of prior completed Government contracts, references, and other related information. CONTACT INFORMATION AND RESPONSE DUE DATE: Please email all responses to William.Shaver@va.gov. Please respond to this RFI no later than 07:00 Central Standard Time on Wednesday, October 20, 2021. DISCLAIMER: This RFI is issued solely for informational and planning purposes and does not constitute a solicitation. Responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Department of Veterans Affairs to form a binding contract. Respondents are solely responsible for all expenses associated with responding to this RFI. BACKGROUND: Statement of Work Place of Performance: Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System 4300 West 7th Street Little Rock, Arkansas 72205 Introduction This request seeks to put in a place a contract for one year for a solution to automate scheduling and staffing processes; provide decision support for staff assignments based on the objective and variable data; improve patient care by matching nursing competency to required needs. Contractor software shall provide self-scheduling options to nursing providers and data for outcome measurements. Pull data from Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture (VistA); VA Time and Attendance System (VATAS), Decision Support System (DSS); VA Nursing Outcomes Database (VANOD) and Paid Enhancement for VANOD (PEV); Office of Nursing Service (ONS) to create strategic plans based on retrievable and accurate data. The system shall accommodate today's increasing staffing challenges by using 21 st century technology. This system will accommodate all Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare Systems facilities and VA staffed CBOCs (Hot Springs, Pine Bluff, Mena, Mountain Home, Searcy, Conway and El Dorado and Russellville). The system shall automate labor-intensive time-consuming processes that are now manually interfaced with multiple applications that increase efficiencies, data quality, and to support decision making. Staffing schedules are currently created several weeks in advance; however, as a patient population and available resources can change in a matter of hours, it is critical to have access to employee information to be able adjust staffing arrangements to manage the clinical nursing needs of Veterans and to facilitate communication in changing needs within the facility and with the employees. Because nursing care is delivered 24 hours/7 days a week, ability to access and modify scheduling by managers, supervisors, and chiefs in needed. Resource management not only involves staff planning, but also scores of managerial tasks including adherence to directives limiting hours of work in each time period, regulatory dictates, and special pay and time accounting accordance to defined payment schedules. Nurses functioning as managers must have the flexibility to determine the appropriate level of nurses/nursing staff for patient care needs while considering a constellation of important variables, including the various education scope of practice and experience levels of staff. The number of staffing orientation, the number of temporary staff on the unit, the acuity of patients, anticipated acuity on a particular shift, the physical layout of the unit, the availability of hospital resources, the technology on the unit, and the unit turbulence (such as the number of admissions, discharges and transfers.) Potential use in other Nursing Services areas (Sterile Processing Service) under consideration. Scope An integrated system and automated data extraction tools are necessary to effectively assign staffing resources and monitor standards of care. This system will pull from systems that have data stored to avoid duplicate effort and to feed the other downstream data systems. The primary use of the system will be staffing scheduling, so managers can coordinate schedules, capture data, produce reports, and coordinate work assignments to meet patient care needs. The primary users of the system are nurse managers, supervisors, service chief and secretaries, who will coordinate schedules, capture data, produce reports, and coordinate work assignments. Tasks or Requirements Appropriate response to the fluctuations in patient census and acuities by using embedded decision support tools. Adequate staffing levels based on patient acuity and other care related variables. Collection of nationally comparable hours per patient day (HPPD) data. Collection of data to prepare staffing reports, develop strategic plans and improve hiring practices. Compliance with public law and other regulatory mandates for staffing regulations and monitors. Ability to consolidate multiple administrative needs in one package (licensure, certifications, emergency notifications, etc.) Generation of predefined and adhoc reports. Self-scheduling ability (major nursing satisfier). Accurate accounting of contract/agency nursing utilization. Success factors: production of accurate HPPD data, increase in efficiencies in managing staffing scheduling issues by 50%. Deliverables or Deliver Schedule Specifications 1. Utilizes an HL7 interface with Vista/VATAS that brings in real-time Admit, Discharge, and Transfer information. Utilizes an HR interface that brings in several points of data validation for VANOD including series, position, grade, step, licensure information, EOD, degrees, other schooling, BOC, ALBCC, Occupation Series Code and more. Utilizes the census interface to correlate with budgeting and reporting to databases like VANOD, DSS, NDNQI and more. Required Functional capabilities: An automated staffing package is required to provide: Demographic Tracking tools: maintains employee contact/ emergency contact information. Maintains employee-preferred method of communication. Vendor shall provide any software updates and installation as they become available Staffing Scheduling Tools Maintain prospective schedules. Audit Trails for changes to the system Schedules can be created prospective across 12-month period. Allow staff to switch shifts amongst peers Allow staff to make themselves available for overtime and advise of current OT use in comparison to regular clients Manage Position Control Proficiency System: Ability to staff and maintain repositories of anecdotal notes for proficiency input, specialty certification tracking, licensure tracking, education (all degrees earned) tracking, skill-based competencies tracking, ACLS/BLS/131.5 tracking, and continuing education tracking. Mandatory tracking, mandatory health information. Tools for staff to self- report professional portfolio. Rule engines to facilitate scheduling: Apply regulations hour limits, time off requirements, staffing ratios, etc.) as they apply to individuals being scheduled to work: Apply union requirements stored in the system to create staffing schedules Use staff preferences to create staffing schedules. Match competencies to staffing needs. Match nursing staff with patient needs across the system while maintaining balanced patient workloads. Apply unit preference to competencies, e.g. ICU nurses are ACLS certified. Apply permanent schedules requests to when generating schedules. Apply rotating shifts rules when generating schedules. Capabilities to accommodate scheduling changes based on patient census scheduling. Apply patient acuities to staffing needs Track hours per patient day Generate alternate work schedules Capability to allow or restrict swapping unit assignments based on competencies. Capabilities to restrict overtime assignment based on regulations l. Predict staffing needs based on previous trends (e4g. high surgery days) Provide functionality to maintain disaster preparedness (notifications and callbacks). Communication Tools: Creates a personalized web-based dashboard for all stakeholders. Web-based for employee access. Web-based for managers access for staff bidding. Staff bidding on open positions (Staff to staff communication, e.g. to swap shifts). Exchange shifts between co-workers. Alert applicants for checking status. Produce real time reports for long-term strategy for hiring staff. Training/implementation: Vendor to provide on-site training or web-based training as needed on updates/enhancements at each facility to super users on general functionality, staff scheduling for end-users, and management reports for resource analysis. On-site implementation of the system is required as follows: Project Definition Establishing Project Goals Assigning Project Roles & Workgroups Define Interfaces Workload Define and Document Existing Workflow Processes Label configuration of job codes and units and leave schedules Present Projections for Workflow Process System Configuration System Administrator Training Security Configuration Workload and Unit Budget Validate Interface Data User Training Pilot Unit Training User Training System-Wide Project Role Out Employee Access Position Tracking Courses and Consultation Staffing Methodology Class Executive Analytics Class Reports Workshop Data Mining & Scorecards Set Up Alerts Government-Furnished Equipment and Government-Furnished Information Utilizes VA computer workstations, laptops, monitors. Vendor hosted solution utilizes the Amazon Government Cloud. Due to Pll and employee data used by AcuStaf, all data will then be stored on VA servers, behind the VA firewall which can be access through a VPN tunnel. Security VISTA/VATAS Interface, access to employee and patient information Hours of Operation Normal hours of operation are Monday through Friday from 8:00 am to 4:30pm, excluding holidays All work must be scheduled in advance with the ISO and IT staff on a mutually agreed upon date and time. Emergency services required shall be coordinated through the ISO and IT department. Contractor must be available to perform emergency services within 3 hours of notification. Federal Holidays observed by the VAMC are: New Years' Day Labor Day Martin Luther King Day Columbus Day Presidents' Day Veterans' Day Memorial Day Thanksgiving Day Independence Day Christmas Day Objectives: There is a continued need for an acuity/patient classification system to match the changing care needs of the patients to the appropriate staffing level based on the patient condition and the amount of nursing required to manage the care of each patient. Hospital based staffing requires a 24-hour coverage a day, 7 days a week. Nursing staff work a variety of shifts that require an hourly rate increase, and contract/agency and travel nurses all have different compensation requirements. Therefore, a Staff Scheduling system needs to accurately correlate and calculate time and cost by work unit, nurse's type and pay variables. Nurse executives need data to plan for current and future staff needs and costs; this system gives them the tools to help manage their workforce. Multiple standardized reports are needed as well as the ability to create ad hoc reports. Justification: To continue to use an integrated system and automated data extraction tools that are necessary to effectively assign staffing resources, monitor standards of care, and pulled from systems that already have the data entered in them to avoid duplicate effort and to feed the other downstream data systems. For example, there is a need for an acuity/patient classification system to match the changing needs of the patients to the appropriate staffing level based on the patient condition and the amount of nursing required to manage the care of each patient. Hospital based staffing requires 24-hour day coverage, 7 days a week. Nursing hours worked frequently involve a variety of shifts that require an hourly rate increase; in addition, contracts/agency nurses all have different compensation requirements. Therefore, a resource management system needs to accurately correlate and calculate time and cost by work unit, nurse position type, and pay variables. Nurse Executives need data to plan for current and future staffing needs and costs which requires tools to help them manage their workforce. Multiple standardized reports are needed as well as the ability to create adhoc reports. Benefits: The need/problem/opportunity: the organization continues to require a realtime dynamic, integrated system to provide comprehensive and systemic accounting of nursing workload and staffing requirements or to provide scheduling to meet federal law and other regulatory requirements. Successful benefits are: Appropriate response to the fluctuations in patient census and acuities by using embedded decision support tools. Adequate staffing levels based on patient acuity and other care related variables. Collection of nationally comparable hours per patient day (HPPD) data. Collection of data to prepare budget and reports, develop strategic plans, and improve hiring process. Compliance with various regulatory mandates for staffing regulations. Ability to consolidate multiple administrative needs in one package (licensure, certifications, emergency notifications, etc.) Generation of predefined and adhoc reports. Self-scheduling ability (major nursing satisfier). Accurate accounting of contract/ agency nursing utilization. Success factors: production of accurate HPPD data. Increase efficiencies in managing staffing scheduling issues by 50%. VA INFORMATION AND INFORMATION SYSTEM SECURITY/PRIVACY LANGUAGE 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. 2. ACCESS TO VA INFORMATION AND VA INFORMATION SYSTEMS a. A contractor/subcontractor shall request logical (technical) or physical access to VA. b. 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. c. 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. d. 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. e. 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. f. 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. g. Information made available to the contractor or subcontractor by VA for the performance or administration of this contract or information developed by the contractor/subcontractor 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 VA. This clause expressly limits the contractor/subcontractor's rights to use data as described in Rights in Data General, FAR 52.227-14(d) (1). h. VA information should not be co-mingled, if possible, with any other data on the contractors/subcontractor's information systems or media storage systems in order to ensure VA requirements related to data protection and media sanitization can be met. If co-mingling must be allowed to meet the requirements of the business need, the contractor must ensure that VA's information is returned to the VA or destroyed in accordance with VA's sanitization requirements. VA reserves the right to conduct on-site inspections of contractor and subcontractor IT resources to ensure data security controls, separation of data and job duties, and destruction/media sanitization procedures are in compliance with VA directive requirements. Prior to termination or completion of this contract, contractor/subcontractor must not destroy information received from VA, or gathered/created by the contractor in the course of performing this contract without prior written approval by the VA. Any data destruction done on behalf of VA by a contractor/subcontractor 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, applicable VA Records Control Schedules, and VA Handbook 6500.1, Electronic Media Sanitization. Self-certification by the contractor that the data destruction requirements above have been met must be sent to the VA Contracting Officer within 30 days of termination of the contract. j. The contractor/subcontractor must 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. 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 or Special Publications (SP) after execution of this contract, the parties agree to negotiate in good faith to implement the information confidentiality and security laws, regulations and policies in this contract. k. The contractor/subcontractor shall not make copies of VA information except as authorized and necessary to perform the terms of the agreement or to preserve electronic information stored on contractor/subcontractor electronic storage media for restoration in case any electronic equipment or data used by the contractor/subcontractor needs to be restored to an operating state. If copies are made for restoration purposes, after the restoration is complete, the copies must be appropriately destroyed. 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 withhold payment to the contractor or third party or terminate the contract for default or terminate for cause under Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) part 12. m. If a VHA contract is terminated for cause, the associated BAA must also be terminated and appropriate actions taken in accordance with VHA Handbook 1600.01, Business Associate Agreements. Absent an agreement to use or disclose protected health information, there is no business associate relationship. n. The contractor/subcontractor must store, transport, or transmit VA sensitive information in an encrypted form, using VA-approved encryption tools that are, at a minimum, FIPS 140-2 validated. o. The contractor/subcontractor's firewall and Web services security controls, if applicable, shall meet or exceed VA's minimum requirements. VA Configuration Guidelines are available upon request. p. Except for uses and disclosures of VA information authorized by this contract for performance of the contract, the contractor/subcontractor 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/subcontractor must refer all requests for, demands for production of, or inquiries about, VA information and information systems to the VA contracting officer for response. q. Notwithstanding the provision above, the contractor/subcontractor shall not release VA records protected by Title 38 U.S.C. 5705, confidentiality of medical quality assurance records and/or Title 38 U.S.C. 7332, confidentiality of certain health records pertaining to drug addiction, sickle cell anemia, alcoholism or alcohol abuse, or infection with human immunodeficiency virus. If the contractor/subcontractor is in receipt of a court order or other requests for the above-mentioned information, that contractor/subcontractor shall immediately refer such court orders or other requests to the VA contracting officer for response. r. For service that involves the storage, generating, transmitting, or exchanging of VA sensitive information but does not require C&A or an MOU-ISA for system interconnection, the contractor/subcontractor must complete a Contractor Security Control Assessment (CSCA) on a yearly basis and provide it to the COR. 4. INFORMATION SYSTEM DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT a. Information systems that are designed or developed for or on behalf of VA at non-VA facilities shall comply with all VA directives developed in accordance with FISMA, HIPAA, NIST, and related VA security and privacy control requirements for Federal information systems. This includes standards for the protection of electronic PHI, outlined in 45 C.F.R. Part 164, Subpart C, information and system security categorization level designations in accordance with FIPS 199 and FIPS 200 with implementation of all baseline security controls commensurate with the FIPS 199 system security categorization (reference Appendix D of VA Handbook 6500, VA Information Security Program). During the development cycle a Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) must be completed, provided to the COR, and approved by the VA Privacy Service in accordance with Directive 6507, VA Privacy Impact Assessment. b. The contractor/subcontractor shall certify to the COR that applications are fully functional and operate correctly as intended on systems using the VA Federal Desktop Core Configuration (FDCC), and the common security configuration guidelines provided by NIST or the VA. This includes Internet Explorer 7 configured to operate on Windows XP and Vista (in Protected Mode on Vista) and future versions, as required. c. The standard installation, operation, maintenance, updating, and patching of software shall not alter the configuration settings from the VA approved and FDCC configuration. Information technology staff must also use the Windows Installer Service for installation to the default "program files" directory and silently install and uninstall. d. Applications designed for normal end users shall run in the standard user context without elevated system administration privileges. e. The security controls must be designed, developed, approved by VA, and implemented in accordance with the provisions of VA security system development life cycle as outlined in NIST Special Publication 800-37, Guide for Applying the Risk Management Framework to Federal Information Systems, VA Handbook 6500, Information Security Program and VA Handbook 6500.5, Incorporating Security and Privacy in System Development Lifecycle. f. The contractor/subcontractor is required to design, develop, or operate a System of Records Notice (SOR) on individuals to accomplish an agency function subject to the Privacy Act of 1974, (as amended), Public Law 93-579, December 31, 1974 (5 U.S.C. 552a) and applicable agency regulations. Violation of the Privacy Act may involve the imposition of criminal and civil penalties. g. The contractor/subcontractor agrees to: (1) Comply with the Privacy Act of 1974 (the Act) and the agency rules and regulations issued under the Act in the design, development, or operation of any system of records on individuals to accomplish an agency function when the contract specifically identifies: (a) The Systems of Records (SOR); and (b) The design, development, or operation work that the contractor/subcontractor is to perform; (2) Include the Privacy Act notification contained in this contract in every solicitation and resulting subcontract and in every subcontract awarded without a solicitation, when the work statement in the proposed subcontract requires the redesign, development, or operation of a SOR on individuals that is subject to the Privacy Act; and (3) Include this Privacy Act clause, including this subparagraph (3), in all subcontracts awarded under this contract which requires the design, development, or operation of such a SOR. h. In the event of violations of the Act, a civil action may be brought against the agency involved when the violation concerns the design, development, or operation of a SOR on individuals to accomplish an agency function, and criminal penalties may be imposed upon the officers or employees of the agency when the violation concerns the operation of a SOR on individuals to accomplish an agency function. For purposes of the Act, when the contract is for the operation of a SOR on individuals to accomplish an agency function, the contractor/subcontractor is considered to be an employee of the agency. (1) "Operation of a System of Records" means performance of any of the activities associated with maintaining the SOR, including the collection, use, maintenance, and dissemination of records. (2) "Record" means any item, collection, or grouping of information about an individual that is maintained by an agency, including, but not limited to, education, financial transactions, medical history, and criminal or employment history and contains the person's name, or identifying number, symbol, or any other identifying particular assigned to the individual, such as a fingerprint or voiceprint, or a photograph. (3) "System of Records" means a group of any records under the control of any agency from which information is retrieved by the name of the individual or by some identifying number, symbol, or other identifying particular assigned to the individual. The vendor shall ensure the security of all procured or developed systems and technologies, including their subcomponents (hereinafter referred to as "Systems"), throughout the life of this contract and any extension, warranty, or maintenance periods. This includes, but is not limited to workarounds, patches, hotfixes, upgrades, and any physical components (hereafter referred to as Security Fixes) which may be necessary to fix all security vulnerabilities published or known to the vendor anywhere in the Systems, including Operating Systems and firmware. The vendor shall ensure that Security Fixes shall not negatively impact the Systems. j. The vendor shall notify VA within 24 hours of the discovery or disclosure of successful exploits of the vulnerability which can compromise the security of the Systems (including the confidentiality or integrity of its data and operations, or the availability of the system). Such issues shall be remediated as quickly as is practical, but in no event longer than days. k. When the Security Fixes involve installing third party patches (such as Microsoft OS patches or Adobe Acrobat), the vendor will provide written notice to the VA that the patch has been validated as not affecting the Systems within 10 working days. When the vendor is responsible for operations or maintenance of the Systems, they shall apply the Security Fixes within days. All other vulnerabilities shall be remediated as specified in this paragraph in a timely manner based on risk, but within 60 days of discovery or disclosure. Exceptions to this paragraph (e.g. for the convenience of VA) shall only be granted with approval of the contracting officer and the VA Assistant Secretary for Office of Information and Technology. 5. INFORMATION SYSTEM HOSTING, OPERATION, MAINTENANCE, OR USE a. For information systems that are hosted, operated, maintained, or used on behalf of VA at non-VA facilities, contractors/subcontractors are fully responsible and accountable for ensuring compliance with all HIPAA, Privacy Act, FISMA, NIST, FIPS, and VA security and privacy directives and handbooks. This includes conducting compliant risk assessments, routine vulnerability scanning, system patching and change management procedures, and the completion of an acceptable contingency plan for each system. The contractor's security control procedures must be equivalent, to those procedures used to secure VA systems. A Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) must also be provided to the COR and approved by VA Privacy Service prior to operational approval. All external Internet connections to VA's network involving VA information must be reviewed and approved by VA prior to implementation. b. Adequate security controls for collecting, processing, transmitting, and storing of Personally Identifiable Information (Pll), as determined by the VA Privacy Service, must be in place, tested, and approved by VA prior to hosting, operation, maintenance, or use of the information system, or systems by or on behalf of VA. These security controls are to be assessed and stated within the PIA and if these controls are determined not to be in place, or inadequate, a Plan of Action and Milestones (POA&M) must be submitted and approved prior to the collection of Pll. c. Outsourcing (contractor facility, contractor equipment or contractor staff) of systems or network operations, telecommunications services, or other managed services requires certification and accreditation (authorization) (C&A) of the contractor's systems in accordance with VA Handbook 6500.3, Certification and Accreditation and/or the VA OCS Certification Program Office. Government-owned (government facility or government equipment) contractor-operated systems, third party or business partner networks require memorandums of understanding and interconnection agreements (MOU-ISA) which detail what data types are shared, who has access, and the appropriate lev...