Health Information Management
Solicitation Number:
19-003875
Notice Type:
Combined Synopsis/Solicitation
Synopsis:
(i) This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with FAR Part 15 and Subpart 12.6 as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; quotations are being requested and a written solicitation will not be issued. This acquisition is set aside for small businesses only.
(ii) The solicitation number is 19-003875 and the solicitation is issued as a request for quote (RFQ). Offerors shall submit their quotes no later than 11:00 a.m. p.m. Eastern Standard Time(EST) on Tuesday, March 26, 2019.
(iii) The solicitation document, the incorporated provisions and clauses are those in the Federal Acquisition Circular 2019-01 effective December 20, 2018 (including FAC 2005-98 effective May 31, 2018).
(iv) The associated North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for this procurement is 561110 and the small business size standard is 7.5 million. The acquisition is being conducted in accordance with the procedures of FAR Part 12 and FAR Part 15
PURPOSE:
The purpose of this requirement is for providing health information management associated customer service hours, diagnostic and procedural coding and abstracting, and dictation and transcription of medical reports, letters, and pathology reports to support patient care services and clinical research in a federally funded research hospital.in accordance with the Statement of Work.
(v) Background:
The National Institutes of Health, Clinical Center, Health Information Management Department (NIH, CC, HIMD) seeks a contractor to assist in efficient customer service, diagnostic and procedural coding and abstracting, and transcription medical reports, letters, and pathology reports in order to provide the best patient care support services possible.
CONTRACTOR REQUIREMENTS:
See Attachment Number 1, Statement of Work
See Attachment Number 2, Contractor Non-Disclosure Agreement
See Attachment Number 3, System of Records Notice 09-25-0099
See Attachment Number 4, NIH Interconnection Security Agreement Template
See Attachment Number 5, Build Sheet
See Attachment Number 6, Government Furnished Materials
(vi) Period of Performance:
Base Period: May 1, 2019 through April 30, 2020
Option Period 1: May 1, 2020 through April 30, 2021
Option Period 2: May 1, 2021 through April 30, 2022
Option Period 3: May 1, 2022 through April 30, 2023
Option Period 4: May 1, 2023 through April 30, 2024
(vii) The provision FAR clause 52.212-1, Instructions to Offerors - Commercial Items, applies to this acquisition and is hereby incorporated by reference.
(viii) The provision at FAR clause 52.212-2, Evaluation - Commercial Items, applies to this acquisition and is hereby incorporated by reference. Quotations will be evaluated on basis that technical and past performance are more important than price. Options will be evaluated in accordance with FAR Clause 52.217-5, Evaluation of Options.
(ix) In accordance with FAR Clause 52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications - Commercial Items, Offerors must complete annual representations and certifications on-line at https://www.sam.gov/portal/public/SAM/.
See Attachment 7, FAR Clause 52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications - Commercial Items.
(x) FAR clause at 52.212-4, Contract Terms and Conditions - Commercial Items, applies to this acquisition.
(xi) FAR clause at 52.212-5, Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive Orders - Commercial Items, applies to this acquisition.
(xii) The Defense Priorities and Allocations System (DPAS) and assigned rating does not apply to this acquisition.
Offerors shall submit their questions no later than 11:00 a.m., Eastern Standard Time (EST) on Monday, March 18, 2019.
Offerors shall submit their quotations no later than 11:00 a.m., Eastern Standard Time (EST) Tuesday, March 26, 2019.
Quotes must be emailed to the Contract Specialist, Michael Falzone at Michael.falzone@nih.gov. ; Quotations shall not be deemed received by the Government until the quotation is entered into the e-mail address inbox set forth above. Faxed proposals will NOT be accepted.
All quotes shall contain the following:
1. Name of Contracting Organization;
2. Solicitation Number;
3. Contract Type;
4. Total Contract Value and Discounts;
5. Description of Requirement;
6. Contracting Specialist's Name and Telephone Number;
7. North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Code; and
8. DUNS Number.
PROVISIONS AND CLAUSES
ADDENDUM TO 52.212-4
(u) The non-FAR Part 12 discretionary FAR, and LOCAL clauses included herein are incorporated into this contract either by reference or in full text. If incorporated by reference, see clause 52.252-2 for locations where full text can be found.
CLAUSES INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE
52.209-10
Prohibition on Contracting with Inverted Domestic
NOV 2015
52.219-6
Notice of Total Small Business Set-Aside
NOV 2011
CLAUSES INCORPORATED BY FULL TEXT
52.211-6 Brand Name or Equal (Aug 1999)
(a) If an item in this solicitation is identified as “brand name or equal,” the purchase description reflects the characteristics and level of quality that will satisfy the Government’s needs. The salient physical, functional, or performance characteristics that “equal” products must meet are specified in the solicitation.
(b) To be considered for award, offers of “equal” products, including “equal” products of the brand name manufacturer, must—
(1) Meet the salient physical, functional, or performance characteristic specified in this solicitation;
(2) Clearly identify the item by—
(i) Brand name, if any; and
(ii) Make or model number;
(3) Include descriptive literature such as illustrations, drawings, or a clear reference to previously furnished descriptive data or information available to the Contracting Officer; and
(4) Clearly describe any modifications the offeror plans to make in a product to make it conform to the solicitation requirements. Mark any descriptive material to clearly show the modifications.
(c) The Contracting Officer will evaluate “equal” products on the basis of information furnished by the offeror or identified in the offer and reasonably available to the Contracting Officer. The Contracting Officer is not responsible for locating or obtaining any information not identified in the offer.
(d) Unless the offeror clearly indicates in its offer that the product being offered is an “equal” product, the offeror shall provide the brand name product referenced in the solicitation.
(End of provision)
52.233-2 SERVICE OF PROTEST (SEP 2006)
(a) Protests, as defined in section 33.101 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation, that are filed directly with an agency, and copies of any protests that are filed with the Government Accountability Office (GAO), shall be served on the Contracting Officer (addressed as follows) by obtaining written and dated acknowledgment of receipt from
Susan Nsangou
Clinical Center, Office of Purchasing and Contracts
6707 Democracy Blvd., Suite 106, Mail Stop Code (MSC) 5480
Bethesda, MD 20892-5480
Telephone:301-496-9351
FAX: (301) 594-5920
E-mail: Susan.nsangou@nih.gov
(b) The copy of any protest shall be received in the office designated above within one day of filing a protest with the GAO.
(End of provision)
52.252-2 CLAUSES INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE (FEB 1998)
This contract incorporates one or more clauses by reference, with the same force and effect as if they were given in full text. Upon request, the Contracting Officer will make their full text available. Also, the full text of a clause may be accessed electronically at this/these address(es): http://farsite.hill.af.mil ;
(End of clause)
52.252-6 AUTHORIZED DEVIATIONS IN CLAUSES (APR 1984)
(a) The use in this solicitation or contract of any Federal Acquisition Regulation (48 CFR Chapter 1) clause with an authorized deviation is indicated by the addition of "(DEVIATION)" after the date of the clause.
(b) The use in this solicitation or contract of any HHSAR FAR Supplement (48 CFR Chapter 3) clause with an authorized deviation is indicated by the addition of "(DEVIATION)" after the name of the regulation.
(End of clause)
(End of Addendum to 52.212-4)
PROVISIONS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE
52.212-1
Instructions to Offerors--Commercial Items
JAN 2017
CLAUSES INCORPORATED BY FULL TEXT
INSTRUCTIONS TO OFFERORS:
Addendum to FAR 52.212-1, Proposal Preparation Instructions
FAR 52.212-1 is hereby amended to reflect the changes shown below as to the specific paragraph revised.
Paragraph (b) Submission of Offers. The following amends this paragraph with respect to the information and documents required for submission in response to this solicitation.
(1) ELECTRONIC OFFERS. The offeror shall submit electronic offers in response to this solicitation unless otherwise specified herein. The offer must arrive by the time specified in the solicitation to the following email address: Michael.falzone@nih.gov .
(2) PROCESS FOR AWARD. Award will be made to the most technically acceptable consistent with the evaluation criteria discussed at FAR 52.212-2 and Addendum to FAR 52.212-2.
(3) BASIS FOR AWARD. Award will be made to the offeror that proposes: a technical proposal conforming to the requirements of the solicitation; has an acceptable record of past performance; its price is determined to be fair and reasonable by the contracting officer; and the contracting officer determines the offeror is responsible in accordance with FAR Part 9. The Contracting Officer intends to award without discussions, but reserves the right to do so in his or her sole discretion.
(4) The Government may reject a proposal if it is found that any information that has a negative impact on the offeror's past performance record has been deleted, misrepresented, or withheld.
(5) Offers shall remain valid for a period of 90 days from the date offers are due.
(6) Quotation shall include Certifications and Representations, Technical, Past Performance, and Price as separate parts in the submission.
CERTIFICATIONS & REPRESENTATIONS:
Contract Line Item Numbers (CLINS). Provide pricing for each CLIN.
Copy of Schedule Contract and terms and conditions, if applicable
QUOTATION COMPOSITION:
PART I: QUOTATION INSTRUCTIONS
Factor One: Response to Introduction
Submit a general statement of intent, illustrating knowledge of what the contract entails and the services being offered by the offeror.
Submit evidence of experience and qualifications of the firm in providing comparable health information management related customer service experience, coding and abstracting experience, and medical transcription services as required in accordance with these specifications.
List names and locations of hospital and/or firms, and list names and telephone numbers of individuals representing those hospitals and/or firms, who may be contacted as references. The information received from these references will be used to assist in the evaluation of the offeror’s proposal.
Describe the facilities and resources pertinent to the work to be performed under the terms of this contract (include hours of operation; shifts; a specific plan for use of computer resources, occupational training, new employee orientation, etc.)
Describe in detail the security policies and procedures, and provisions for safeguarding the confidentiality of recording media received and any other materials utilized during the performance of this work that include protected health information and/or personally identifiable information.
Factor Two: Personnel
The offeror shall provide names and telephone numbers of authorized firm representatives including those of any proposed subcontractors. In addition, the offeror shall identify the key personnel, and their scope of authority and responsibility, to be assigned to this project, and those designated for close coordination with NIH Contract Officer(s) Representative.
The offeror shall submit a detailed staffing plan, drawn to accommodate the volume and turnaround specifications that pertain to this contract. Include a listing of personnel, stating full- or part-time and the hours of each tour of duty, to be assigned under this contract. Indicate recognition of the importance of maintaining highly qualified personnel and the ability to provide such staff. State incentives, if any, offered to retain highly qualified personnel. Describe special testing and any occupational training given personnel. Indicate which tasks specific to this contract each staff may be performing.
Submit resumes indicating the qualifications and extent of experience of all technical supervisors, task liaison(s), and onsite managers/team leaders for all aspects of this contract. Indicate the qualifications of medical editors and coders and the methods used to monitor the quality of staff performance. Demonstrate experience in hospital and/or clinical research settings. Submit indication that proposed coders maintain certification from one of the American Health Information Management Association’s (AHIMA) or American Academy of Professional Coders (AAPC) certification programs.
Submit resumes relating to the qualifications and experience of all staff proposed to perform work related to the tasks outlined in this contract.
The offeror shall describe the role and responsibilities of the onsite manager(s), task liaisons and/or onsite supervisor/team leader.
Factor Three: Plan of Operation
The offeror shall furnish a “Plan of Operation” to include detailed implementation procedures outlining the general and specific requirements, as specified in this contract, without exception or deviation.
Describe in detail the security policies and procedures, and provisions for safeguarding confidentiality of patient information.
Indicate the methods to be used in maintaining adherence to the turnaround times and the productivity standards specified in this contract. Include a description of how issues of equipment downtime and employee absenteeism will be handled.
Specify the type and process of quality review for all coded and abstracted visits and transcribed/edited medical reports. Describe the overall monitoring and control of work performed under this contract including a plan for close coordination with the contractor’s onsite manager and the NIH Contract Officer’s Representative.
Specify the means to be taken to maintain fiscal accountability; access and reporting of medical reports, autopsy reports, pathologic reports, and letters. Include the specific method of line computation to be used in billing under terms of this contract. Include the specific method of billing to be used under terms of this contract. Cost for coding and abstracting is to be identified on a two-tiered basis (i.e. inpatients visits and vs. outpatient visits). Include the means of computing customer services hours’ of work performed and the computation for billing of these services. Customer service billable hours will be on a two-tiered basis (one for portal support and one for all other).
Describe the overall monitoring and control of work performed under this contract including a plan for close coordination with the contractor’s onsite manager and the NIH Project Officer(s).
Factor Four: Information Technology Resources for Dictation and Transcription
Provide a description of all equipment, identify by make and model and state the quantity to be utilized in the performance of work to be accomplished under terms of this contract; include maintenance provisions for all equipment owned or leased by offeror. Include a detailed statement itemizing the offeror’s equipment compatibility with Health Information Management Department and CC equipment/software. At least 50% of all equipment and software, necessary for the recording and electronic logging of dictation, transcription, network, and telecommunications, and security must be in place and operational upon submission of proposal and prior to award of a contract. For each piece of equipment identified in the proposal, the offeror must identify its capabilities to perform expected operations under the requirements of the Government’s Statement of Work, including the ability of the offeror’s personnel to be assigned under the contract to operate the equipment. Proof of ownership or lease, including serial numbers, and provision of maintenance services must be provided with each offeror’s proposal.
Explain in detail the automation aspects of this contract and the plans made to efficiently establish automation systems within the overall contract operations. Include all of the following items and others as applicable.
a. Dictation system and dictation workstation set up and maintenance
b. Identification and assignment of dictation
c. Remote network and application access
d. Transcription application access
e. Overall dictation, speech recognition, transcription and report flow architecture
f. Utilization of back-end speech recognition service.
g. Network access and operations
h. Network account and application account management
i. Application security
j. Quality control
Factor Five: Past Performance
Past performance will be evaluated from a business and technical standpoint to determine the relative merits of the proposal. The performance of the contractor on earlier work for the Government or the private sector will be a very significant indicator of how well the contractor can be expected to perform the required services. The information presented by the contractor together with that available from sources within the Government will provide the information for this portion of the technical evaluation.
The Offeror’s past performance will be evaluated after determination of the competitive range. Only those offerors included in the competitive range will be evaluated.
The Government will evaluate the quality of the offeror’s past performance based on information obtained from a minimum of two references provided by the offeror, as well as other relevant past performance information obtained from other sources known to the Government.
Evaluation of past performance will be a subjective assessment based on a consideration of all relevant facts and circumstances. It will not be based on absolute standards of acceptable performance. The Government is seeking to determine whether the offeror has consistently demonstrated a commitment to customer satisfaction and timely delivery of services at fair and reasonable prices.
The assessment of the offeror’s past performance will be used as a means of evaluating the relative capability of the offeror and the other competitors. Thus, an offeror with the exceptional record of past performance may receive a more favorable evaluation than another whose record is acceptable even though both may have acceptable technical proposals.
Past performance will be scored, and the Government’s conclusions about overall quality of the offeror’s past performance will be highly influential in determining the relative merits of the offeror’s proposal and in selecting the offeror whose proposal is considered most advantageous to the Government.
By past performance, the Government means the offeror’s record of conforming to specifications and to standards of good workmanship; the offeror’s record of forecasting and controlling costs; the offeror’s adherence to contract schedules; including the administrative aspects of performance; the offeror’s reputations for reasonable and cooperative behavior and commitment to customer satisfaction; and, generally, the offeror’s business-like concern for the interest of the customer.
The Government will consider the number of or severity of an offeror’s problems, the effectiveness of corrective actions taken, the offeror’s overall work record, and the age and relevance of past performance information.
The lack of a performance record may result in an unknown performance risk assessment, which will neither be used to the advantage nor disadvantage of the offeror.
Prior Experience of Contractor and/or Proposed Subcontractor(s)
1. Minimum 5 years’ experience providing dictation and transcription services; coding and abstracting services; and health information management customer support services including patient portal support.
2. Minimum 5 years’ experience with speech recognition solutions.
3. Minimum 5 years’ coding and abstracting experience with inpatient, outpatient, ambulatory surgery, and interventional radiology visits.
52.212-2 EVALUATION--COMMERCIAL ITEMS (OCT 2014)
(a) The Government will award a contract resulting from this solicitation to the responsible offeror whose offer conforming to the solicitation will be most advantageous to the Government, price and other factors considered. The following factors shall be used to evaluate offers:
See Addendum to 52.212-2
(b) Options. The Government will evaluate offers for award purposes by adding the total price for all options to the total price for the basic requirement. The Government may determine that an offer is unacceptable if the option prices are significantly unbalanced. Evaluation of options shall not obligate the Government to exercise the option(s).
(c) A written notice of award or acceptance of an offer, mailed or otherwise furnished to the successful offeror within the time for acceptance specified in the offer, shall result in a binding contract without further action by either party. Before the offer's specified expiration time, the Government may accept an offer (or part of an offer), whether or not there are negotiations after its receipt, unless a written notice of withdrawal is received before award.
(End of provision)
ADDENDUM TO 52.212-2
Paragraph (a) is hereby supplemented with the following:
Contract Evaluation and Award:
Basis of Award - This solicitation will use procedures to make the most appropriated award decision. It is anticipated that the award will result in a fixed price contract.
Except for communications conducted for the purpose of minor clarification, the Government intends to evaluate offers and award a contract without discussions. Therefore, each initial offer should contain the offeror's best terms from a technical and price standpoint. However, the Government reserves the right to conduct discussions if it is later determined by the Contracting Officer to be necessary.
Evaluation Factors. The following factors will be evaluated:
Response to Introduction - Factor One 10 Points
Category
Rating
Response to Introduction
1. General statement of intent, illustrating knowledge of what the contract entails and the services being offered by the offeror.
2. Evidence of experience and qualifications of the firm in providing comparable health information management related customer service experience, coding and abstracting experience, and medical transcription services as required in accordance with these specifications.
3. List names and locations of hospital and/or firms, and list names and telephone numbers of individuals representing those hospitals and/or firms, who may be contacted as references. The information received from these references will be used to assist in the evaluation of the offeror’s proposal.
4. Facilities and resources pertinent to the work to be performed under the terms of this contract (include hours of operation; shifts; a specific plan for use of computer resources, occupational training, new employee orientation, etc).
5. Security policies and procedures, and provisions for safeguarding the confidentiality of recording media received and any other materials utilized during the performance of this work that include protected health information and/or personally identifiable information.
Overall Response to Introduction
Personnel Qualifications – Factor Two 20 Points
Category
Rating
Personnel Qualifications
1. Names and telephone numbers of authorized firm representatives including those of any proposed subcontractors. Identify the key personnel, and their scope of authority and responsibility, to be assigned to this project.
2. A detailed staffing plan, drawn to accommodate the volume and turnaround specifications that pertain to this contract. Include a listing of personnel, stating full- or part-time and the hours of each tour of duty, to be assigned under this contract. Indicate recognition of the importance of maintaining highly qualified personnel and the ability to provide such staff. State incentives, if any, offered to retain highly qualified personnel. Describe special testing and any occupational training given personnel. Indicate which tasks specific to this contract each staff may be performing.
3. Submit resumes indicating the qualifications and extent of experience of all technical supervisors, task liaison(s), and onsite managers/team leaders for all aspects of this contract. Indicate the qualifications of medical editors and coders and the methods used to monitor the quality of staff performance. Demonstrate experience in hospital and/or clinical research settings. Submit indication that proposed coders maintain certification from one of the American Health Information Management Association’s (AHIMA) or American Academy of Professional Coders (AAPC) certification programs.
4. Submit resumes relating to the qualifications and experience of all staff proposed to perform work related to the tasks outlined in this contract.
5. The offeror shall describe the role and responsibilities of the onsite manager(s), task liaisons and/or onsite supervisor/team leader.
Overall Personnel Qualifications
Plan of Operation – Factor Three 40 Points
Category
Rating
Plan of Operation
1. A Plan of Operation to include detailed implementation procedures outlining the general and specific requirements, as specified in this contract, without exception or deviation.
2. Security policies and procedures, and provisions for safeguarding confidentiality of patient information.
3. Methods to be used in maintaining adherence to the turnaround times and the productivity standards specified in this contract. A description of how issues of equipment downtime and employee absenteeism will be handled.
4. Type and process of quality review for all coded and abstracted visits and transcribed/edited medical reports. Overall monitoring and control of work performed under this contract including a plan for close coordination with the contractor’s onsite manager and the NIH Contract Officer’s Representative.
5. Means to be taken to maintain fiscal accountability; access and reporting of medical reports, autopsy reports, pathologic reports, and letters. Specific method of line computation to be used in billing under terms of this contract. Specific method of billing to be used under terms of this contract. Cost for coding and abstracting is to be identified on a two-tiered basis (i.e. inpatients visits and vs. outpatient visits). Means of computing customer services hours’ of work performed and the computation for billing of these services. Customer service billable hours will be on a two-tiered basis (one for portal support and one for all other)
6. Overall monitoring and control of work performed under this contract including a plan for close coordination with the contractor’s onsite manager and the NIH Project Officer(s).
Overall Plan of Operation
Category
Rating
Information Technology Resources
1. Description of all equipment, identify by make and model and state the quantity to be utilized in the performance of work to be accomplished under terms of this contract; including maintenance provisions for all equipment owned or leased by offeror. A detailed statement itemizing the offeror’s equipment compatibility with Health Information Management Department and CC equipment/software. At least 50% of all equipment and software, necessary for the recording and electronic logging of dictation, transcription, network, and telecommunications, and security must be in place and operational upon submission of proposal and prior to award of a contract. For each piece of equipment identified in the proposal, the offeror must identify its capabilities to perform expected operations under the requirements of the Government’s Statement of Work, including the ability of the offeror’s personnel to be assigned under the contract to operate the equipment. Proof of ownership or lease, including serial numbers, and provision of maintenance services must be provided with each offeror’s proposal.
2. Automation aspects of this contract and the plans made to efficiently establish automation systems within the overall contract operations. Including all of the following items and others as applicable.
a. Dictation system and dictation workstation set up and maintenance
b. Identification and assignment of dictation
c. Remote network and application access
d. Transcription application access
e. Overall dictation, speech recognition, transcription and report flow architecture
f. Utilization of back-end speech recognition service.
g. Network access and operations
h. Network account and application account management
i. Application security
j. Quality control
Information Technology Resources for Dictation and Transcription: Factor Five 10 points
Past Performance: Factor Six 20 points
Category
Evaluation Sub Factor
Rating
Past Performance
1. Minimum 5 years’ experience providing dictation and transcription services; coding and abstracting services; and health information management customer support services including patient portal support.
2. Minimum 5 years’ experience with speech recognition solutions.
3. Minimum 5 years’ coding and abstracting experience with inpatient, outpatient, ambulatory surgery, and interventional radiology visits.
Overall Past Performance
(End of Addendum)
Michael L. Falzone, Contract Specialist , Phone 3015943886, Email michael.falzone@nih.gov
