Mulit Site Diagnostic Medical Physics Support
PreSolicitation Notice
Contractor would furnish the management and performance of all required administrative and operational procedures for the safe handling of radioactive materials (Radiation Safety Services), per the requirements found in VHA Directive 1105.1, Management of Radioactive Material, for multiple medical centers within the Southern Region of Veterans Integrated Service Network 2 in New York/New Jersey. The below listed duties are not all inclusive, however, the addition of duties are not materially substantive.
Physics Support:
A certified and licensed medical physicist will perform the following functions:
Provides radiation safety support to the clinical staff on a day-to-day basis, including but not limited to whole body and specific organ dosimetry calculations, as needed, for patients undergoing therapy with radioactive isotopes for ablation of thyroid remnants, treatment of thyroid carcinoma including its metastases, Yttrium-90 microsphere therapy for patients with liver tumors, and other isotopic therapies for neoplastic disease in place currently or to be implemented during the POP of this contract. This function is performed as needed.
Performs health physics functions pertaining to the treatment of patients with radioactive isotopes, including preparation of patient room, monitoring of patient and patient room and decontamination of patient room. Performs radiation safety training for nursing staff and house staff prior to inpatient iodine-131 therapies. This requirement is performed as needed based on patient care requirements and is documented in patient room surveys and room release surveys.
Performs assaying procedures to protect personnel.
Performs thyroid gland uptake procedures on research personnel on whom such procedures are required. A report is generated by a computerized dosimetry system.
Maintains a bioassay program for personnel using radioactive iodine to iodinate proteins or treat patients and for personnel handling more than 100 mci of tritium at one time collection. Thyroid counting is performed for radioiodine use and urinalysis is done for tritium use; results are maintained in a log book.
Provides physics support for acceptance testing of new nuclear medicine scanning cameras and annual physics review and certification of quality control program on existing or newly acquired nuclear medicine scanning equipment.
A certified and licensed medical physicist conducts the following QC tests at their indicated frequencies and submits reports as noted for all diagnostic x-ray equipment:
Quarterly:
Radiographic collimation:
Light field/x-ray field alignment PBL sizing
X-ray field/image receptor alignment Fluoroscopic collimation:
X-ray field/image receptor alignment X-ray field/spot film sizing
Semi-Annually Radiographic timers AEC
KVp for all tubes
mA linearity and reproducibility for all tubes Fluoroscopic image resolution
Spatial resolution
Low contrast resolution Tomographic equipment
Exposure switches Interlocks Annually:
HVL for all tubes Fluoroscopic timers Fluoroscopic table top rates
Dose measurements, including pulse rate used for each output measurement
A certified and licensed medical physicist conducts the following QC tests at their indicated frequencies and submits reports as noted for all computed tomography (CT) equipment:
Annually:
Review of clinical protocols
Scout prescription and alignment light accuracy Image thickness
Table travel accuracy Radiation beam width Low-contrast performance Spatial resolution
CT number accuracy Artifact evaluation
CT number uniformity Dosimetry
Gray level performance of CT acquisition display monitors Other tests as required by state or local regulations
Continuous Quality Control:
A certified and licensed physicist will develop and provide oversight and direction for a continuous quality control (QC) program that must be established for all CT units with the assistance of a certified and licensed medical physicist. An on-site radiological technologist should be identified to be responsible for conducting routine quality control. The continuous QC program must include, but not be limited to, the following:
Water CT number and standard deviation - daily Artifact evaluation - daily
Wet laser printer quality control - weekly (if applicable) Visual checklist - monthly
Dry laser printer quality control - monthly (if applicable) Display monitor quality control monthly
All quality control testing must be carried out in accordance with written procedures and methods. Preventive maintenance must be scheduled, performed, and documented by a qualified service engineer on a regular basis. The results of the QC program must be monitored annually by the certified and licensed medical physicist. If the results of a QC test fall outside the control limits, corrective action should be taken. A certified and licensed medical physicist should be available to assist in prescribing corrective actions for unresolved problems. All deficiencies must be documented and service records maintained by the CT facility.
Magnetic Resonance Imaging Testing: QA/QC services by a certified and licensed medical physicist to meet all ACR, NY State and The Joint Commission requirements, including the following:
Annually:
A full system check to establish baseline system performance as described in the ACR QC Manual including:
Magnetic field homogeneity Slice position accuracy
Slice thickness accuracy All RF coils checked
Inter-slice RF interference Table motion reproducibility Soft copy displays (monitors)
Determination of the optimal imaging sequence(s) and action limits for daily QC testing. Instruction of designated QC technologist on proper daily QC testing procedures.
QC Notebook with all forms for one full year of QC results: contains all relevant institutional policies
Quarterly review of all QC documentation with a written report and graphs, with recommendations for improved QC and/or imaging as needed.
Annual review of site protocols with suggestions for improvement.
Medical Image Displays, or Primary Diagnostic Monitors (PDM): QA/QC services by a certified and licensed medical physicist to meet all ACR, NY & NJ State and The Joint Commission requirements, including verification of the accuracy of vendor-provided photometer and software. PDMs are evaluated annually by a certified and licensed medical physicist.
Using an external calibrated photometer, the following represents the minimum set of tests to be performed:
Perform a DICOM Grayscale Standard Display Function (GSDF) verification using a stand-alone photometer and compare with the results obtained using the vendor-supplied photometer.
Review of all facility QC documentation and procedures for PDMs.
Quantitative assessment of the brightness (luminance) uniformity of each PDM. Quantitative determination of the luminance ratio.
Quantitative assessment of the viewing conditions.
Analysis of all test results, including comparison with specifications provided by the vendor and applicable technical standards from professional societies.
Document recommendations for quality improvement and corrective actions. Mammography:
QA/QC services by a certified and licensed medical physicist to meet all MQSA, ACR, NY State
and The Joint Commission requirements, including the following:
Visual inspection kVp accuracy
Exposure time accuracy mR/mAs linearity Exposure repeatability Focal spot resolution
Radiation field to light field alignment
Radiation field to image receptor alignment Compression paddle to image receptor alignment Half-value thickness determination
ACR phantom image quality Glandular tissue dose calculation
Assistance with the ACR certification (or recertification) process Compliance with State radiation safety regulations
Review of the site's mammography quality control program
All interested and qualified parties should provide the following information via email to me. Any questions please
Contact me by email only. My point of contact information is Listed below.
The following information is needed:
Contracting office address: James J. Peters VAMC
VISN 2 Network Contracting Office 36C242
130 West Kingsbridge Road
Bronx, NY 10468
Point of Contact: James P. Vickerman Contracting Officer Medical Sharing
Email: james.vickerman@va.gov
Notice to potential offerors: all offerors who provide goods or services to the United States federal government must be registered at system for award management (sam located on the Web at www.sam.gov). It is desirable that any offeror to have completed their business online representations and Certifications application (orca). Additionally, all service Disabled veteran owned businesses or veteran owned businesses who respond to a
solicitation on this project must be registered With the department of veterans affairs center for veterans Enterprise vetbiz registry located at http://vip.vetbiz.gov. All Interested offerors should submit all requested information Stated above by email only to james.vickerman@va.gov by the Response date stated above. No phone calls will be accepted.
Reference the following in the subject field of the email: Sources Sought RADIATION SAFTEY
If the subject line does not contain the above listed wording, your response is not guaranteed to be received.
James P Vickerman
Contract Specialist
(718) 741-4243
Contracting Officer
