Virtual Pharmacy Services for the Amarillo VA Medical Center
This is a Sources Sought notice. This is NOT a solicitation for proposals, proposal abstracts, or quotations. The purpose of this notice is to obtain information regarding the availability and capability of all qualified sources, small and other than small businesses, to perform a potential requirement. Respondents are required to be registered and in good standing in The System for Award Management (SAM) https://www.sam.gov/SAM/
Purpose and Objectives: Your responses to the information requested shall assist the Government in determining the appropriate acquisition method.
NAICS code: 541990 and Size Standard is $15M.
NOTE: Respondent claiming SDVOSB and VOSB status shall be registered and CVE verified in VetBiz Registry https://www.vip.vetbiz.va.gov/
Project requirements: Virtual Pharmacy Services for the Amarillo VA Medical Center
Thomas E. Creek VA Medical Center located at 6010 W Amarillo Blvd, Amarillo, TX 79106
Anticipated period of performance:
Base Year: August 5, 2019 August 4, 2020
Option Year One: August 5, 2020 August 4, 2021
Option Year Two: August 5, 2021 August 4, 2022
Option Year Three: August 5, 2022 August 4, 2023
Option Year Four: August 5, 2023 August 4, 2024
Information sought: Response to this announcement shall not exceed 10 pages and should include the following information:
A tailored capability statement indicating the firm s ability to provide the services required in the Description of Service Section. Include any certifications/qualifications for accomplishing repairs the work listed in the Statement of Work.
The respondents DUNS number, organization name, address, point of contact, and size and type of business (e.g., SDVOSB/VOSB, small, etc.) pursuant to the applicable NAICS code;
Information should be provided electronically in a Microsoft Word or Adobe PDF format.
Please e-mail your response with the above information to Victoria.Rone3@va.gov and Rastreva.Upshaw@va.gov with the subject line "Sources Sought, Virtual Pharmacy Services /your company name" by 8:00 AM CST on Tuesday, July 23, 2019.
Disclaimer and Important Notes. This notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay for the information provided in response. The Government reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate. Any organization responding to this notice should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed to allow the Government to determine the organization s qualifications to perform the work. Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted. After a review of the responses received, a pre-solicitation synopsis and solicitation may be published in Federal Business Opportunities. However, responses to this notice shall not be considered adequate responses to a solicitation.
Confidentiality. No proprietary, classified, confidential, or sensitive information should be included in your response. The Government reserves the right to use any non-proprietary technical information in any resultant solicitation(s).
Description of Services:
STATEMENT OF WORK
INTRODUCTION: The Contractor shall provide Virtual Pharmacy services to complete pending medication/supply orders (henceforth referred to as medication orders ) for the Amarillo VA Medical Center. This includes the professional pharmacist review and problem solving needed to assure medication orders are safe and accurate. The contractor must be a U.S. based company capable of providing pharmacy services to be completed via a secure web-based system provided by the contractor. The contractor shall connect to the VA Veterans Health Information System and Technology Architecture (VISTA) computer system utilizing a Virtual Private Network (VPN) via VA Citrix Access Gateway (CAG). The contractor shall have access to the VISTA Pharmacy package and electronic medical record at the Amarillo VA Medical Center. The contractor shall provide a sufficient number of licensed pharmacists to process all orders to completion.
PLACE OF PERFORMANCE:
Amarillo VA Medical Center
Thomas E. Creek VA Medical Center
6010 W Amarillo Blvd
Amarillo, TX 79106
ANTICIPATED PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE:
Base Year: August 5, 2019 August 4, 2020
Option Year One: August 5, 2020 August 4, 2021
Option Year Two: August 5, 2021 August 4, 2022
Option Year Three: August 5, 2022 August 4, 2023
Option Year Four: August 5, 2023 August 4, 2024
OVERVIEW:
This contract is for non-personal services. It does not create employment rights with the U.S.
Government whether actual, inherent, or implied. By agreeing to perform the services described in these specifications, the Contractor acknowledges that he/she is not, and shall not become, an employee of the U.S. Government. The Contractor further agrees that he/she shall not bring any cause of action in any forum claiming that he/she has become an employee of the U.S. Government.
This contract is a non-personal services Contract . It is, therefore, understood and agreed that the Contractor and/or the Contractor s employees or subcontractor:
Shall perform the services specified herein as independent Contractors, not as employees of the government.
Shall manage and administer the work required and bear sole responsibility for complying with any and all technical, schedule, or financial requirements or constraints attendant to the performance of this Contract.
Shall be free from supervision or control by any government employee with respect to the manner or method of performance of the services specified; but
Shall, pursuant to the government s right and obligation to inspect, accept, or reject the work, comply with such general direction of the Contracting Officer, or the duly authorized representative of the Contracting Officer as is necessary to ensure accomplishment of the Contract objectives.
OBJECTIVES: The Virtual Pharmacy Services Contractor and COR from the Amarillo VA Medical Center will work together to increase the efficiency of the virtual pharmacy program, and both parties will collaborate to enhance services and increase efficiency as it relates to the delivery of medication orders.
SCOPE:
VIRTUAL PHARMACY SERVICES PROVIDED BY CONTRACTOR
The Virtual Pharmacy Services Contractor shall provide drug knowledge resources and pharmacist medication order review and entry services as stated for the Amarillo VA medical center. The Contractor shall review authorized physician medication orders that are faxed, scanned, transmitted to or accessed by the contractor during the required time periods identified in the Statement of Work. The contractor shall check for medication orders in the Inpatient (including clinic medication orders and CLC orders) and/or Outpatient VISTA Pharmacy package (e.g., Inpatient Order Entry or Patient Prescription Processing, respectively) pending orders queue (Non-Verified/Pending Orders or Complete orders from OERR, respectively) every fifteen (15) minutes. After review, contractor pharmacists shall process and finish/verify orders via their remote access. The contractor and the Amarillo VA Medical Center shall develop a contingency plan to accommodate the verification process in the event of computer/VISTA shutdown (i.e., faxing). Calls from the Amarillo VA Medical Center shall be for emergency orders and consultations. Emergency orders shall be processed within 15minutes of contact.
The pharmacist shall evaluate each prescription for drug-drug interactions, contraindications for recorded drug allergies, appropriate doses, accurate directions, and, as applicable, appropriate order start time to ensure the final order shall be active at the appropriate time and understandable to the nurse administering or patient taking the medication. Pending medication not meeting standards for completeness, restrictions, lacking clinical information and those requiring consults shall be clarified with the prescriber prior to processing.
Using the VA National Formulary (VANF), which is updated monthly and accessible at http://www.pbm.va.gov/PBM/NationalFormulary.asp, the pharmacist shall review pending orders and make efforts to utilize formulary agents. If efforts are not successful, the order shall be processed, and follow-up actions will be taken by the facility.
The Contractor shall:
Provide daily shift sign off (by fax, voicemail, or web-based as agreed to by the COR at the Amarillo VA Medical Center) to include a summary of outstanding issues for follow-up by VA Pharmacy staff.
Provide monthly report of activities under the contract (i.e., number of orders, number of questions answered, etc.) furnished to the Amarillo VA Medical Center. This report shall be monthly and sent to the COR at the facility.
Provide quarterly reports on quality improvement indicators for Amarillo VA Medical Center including:
Potential prescribing errors and other medication errors
Suspected adverse drug reactions or events
Information on new drugs and subsequent educational needs for VAMC staff
Reports shall be quarterly and sent to the COR.
Upon award provide policies and procedures for the virtual pharmacist services. These shall include orientation via written material and in-services, if required to the COR at the Amarillo VA Medical Center covered by this contract, involving clinical leadership, including night nursing supervisors, as well as pharmacy staff.
Comply with all applicable policies, rules and regulations of the Amarillo VA Medical Center of which they have been duly notified and shall not knowingly engage in any activity detrimental to the interest of the Amarillo VA Medical Center.
Comply with all applicable standards of the Joint Commission including maintenance of competency training for all staff providing services to the Amarillo VA Medical Center.
Complete and input all transcription notes directly into VISTA.
VIRTUAL PHARMACY SERVICES PROVIDED BY GOVERNMENT:
Amarillo VA Medical Center will provide the following:
i. VPN Access
ii. Computer Access to VISTA Pharmacy package
iii. List of Amarillo VA contact telephone numbers
iv. Pager directory
v. List of important medical center points-of-contact; Administrative Officer of the Day (AODs); late shift on-call Pharmacist, phone numbers and pager numbers.
OPERATIONAL DAYS AND TIMES: Administrative Work Hours for the Amarillo VA are stated in the Price Schedule, exclusive of these holidays: New Year s Day, Martin Luther King s Birthday, Presidents Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, and any other day designated a holiday by federal law, Executive Order, or Presidential proclamation.
DEFINITIONS and ACRONYMS:
AQL: Acceptable Quality Level
Acceptable Quality Level: An AQL is the maximum allowable degree of deviation from the standard and it is expressed as either a percentage of deviation from the performance standard or as an absolute number; an AQL with a deviation of zero, for example, means that no deviation from the standard is acceptable.
Business Day: A period between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding Federal Holidays.
Contract: An agreement between two or more parties that is legally binding.
CDR: Contract Discrepancy Report
Contract Discrepancy Report: Formal documentation of a Contractor s failure to some aspect of a Contract that explains why performance was unsatisfactory, how performance will be returned to satisfactory levels and how recurrence of the problem will be prevented in the future.
CO: Contracting Officer
Contracting Officer: A Government official with designated authority to enter into, administer, and terminate a Contract, and to make related determinations and findings on behalf of the Government.
COR: Contracting Officer Representative
Contracting Officer s Representative: A Government official designated by the CO that s responsible for providing Contract oversight and technical guidance to the Contracting Officer.
Contractor: The entity that enters into a Contract with the government resulting from award of any subsequent Contract.
Emergency: An immediate risk to a person's life or long-term health as determined by Veterans Affairs physician or another VA authorized provider.
FAR: Federal Acquisition Regulation.
HIPAA: Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.
HR: Hour
IAW: In accordance with.
Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan (QASP): A written document that s used by the Government to monitor a Contractor s quality assurance program.
Solicitation: A request to submit offers or quotations to the government.
TJC: The Joint Commission
The Joint Commission: An organization that sets standards by which health care quality is measured.
The Schedule: The following portions of a Contract are considered part of the schedule: Contract form (SF 1449), price/cost schedule, performance of work statement, packaging and marking, inspection and acceptance, deliveries or performance, Contract administration data, and special Contract requirements.
THE JOINT COMMISSION AND OTHER SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS: THE JOINT COMMISSION: The Contractor shall be responsible to ensure that contractor employees providing work on this contract are fully trained and completely competent to perform the required work. Although this contract does not require TJC accreditation or other regulatory requirements regarding worker competency, the contractor must perform the required work in accordance with the TJC standards. The contractor is required to provide a current performance evaluation (proficiency or competency) on each pharmacist providing services under the contract. The contractor shall provide current copies of the performance evaluations at the time of contract award and annually on the anniversary date of contract award to the VA Contracting Officer, or upon request.
EXPECTATIONS OF CONTRACTOR:
The Contractor shall review authorized physician medication orders at specified time periods identified in the statement of work. After review, Contractor pharmacists shall process and verify orders remotely.
The Contractor shall provide and document a general orientation for all contractor pharmacists who provide work on this contract before commencement of work. Documentation of the orientation shall be provided to the Contracting Officer. This orientation shall include the following topics:
1. Fire and safety policy and procedure
2. Infection control policy and procedure
3. Emergency Preparedness/Disaster policy and procedure
The VA will monitor the Contractor employees work to ensure contract compliance.
Notwithstanding other contract requirements, upon request of the Contracting Officer, the Contractor shall remove from the work site, any Contractor employee who does not comply with orientation requirements or meet competency requirements for the work being performed.
Where the contract does not require TJC accreditation or other regulatory body requirements, the Contractor must perform the required work IAW the TJC standards. A copy of these standards may be obtained from TJC, One renaissance Blvd., Oakbrook Terrace, IL 60181.
HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (HHS)/OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL (OIG): To ensure that the individuals providing services under the contract have not engaged in fraud or abuse regarding Sections 1128 and 1128A of the Social Security Act regarding federal health care programs, the Contractor is required to check the HHS - OIG, List of excluded individuals/entities on the OIG Website www.hhs.gov/oig for each person providing services under this contract. Further, the Contractor is required to certify in its proposal that all persons listed in the Contractor s proposal have been compared against the OIG list and are not listed. During the performance of this contract, the Contractor is prohibited from using any individual or business listed on the List of Excluded Individuals/Entities.
RECORDS MANAGEMENT:
Citations to pertinent laws, codes and regulations such as 44 U.S.C. chapters 21, 29, 31 and 33; Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. 552); Privacy Act (5 U.S.C. 552a); 36 CFR Part 1222 and Part 1228.
Contractor shall treat all deliverables under the Contract as the property of the U.S. Government for which the Government Agency shall have unlimited rights to use, dispose of, or disclose such data contained therein as it determines to be in the public interest.
Contractor shall not create or maintain any records that are not specifically tied to or authorized by the Contract using Government Records.
Contractor shall not retain, use, sell, or disseminate copies of any deliverable that contains information covered by the Privacy Act of 1974 or that which is generally protected by the Freedom of Information Act.
Contractor shall not create or maintain any records containing any Government Agency records that are not specifically tied to or authorized by the Contract.
The Government Agency owns the rights to all data/records produced as part of this Contract.
The Government Agency owns the rights to all electronic information (electronic data, electronic information systems, electronic databases, etc.) and all supporting documentation created as part of this Contract. Contractor must deliver sufficient technical documentation with all data deliverables to permit the agency to use the data.
Contractor agrees to comply with Federal and Agency records management policies, including those policies associated with the safeguarding of records covered by the Privacy Act of 1974. These policies include the preservation of all records created or received regardless of format [paper, electronic, etc.] or mode of transmission [e-mail, fax, etc.] or state of competition [draft, final, etc.].
No disposition of documents will be allowed without the prior written consent of the Agency Records Manager. The Agency and its Contractors are responsible for preventing the alienation or unauthorized destruction of records, including all forms of mutilation. Willful and unlawful destruction, damage or alienation of Federal records is subject to the fines and penalties imposed by 18 U.S.C. 2701. Records may not be removed from the legal custody of the Agency or destroyed without regard to the provisions of the Agency records schedules.
Contractor is required to obtain the Contracting Officer s approval prior to engaging in any Contractual relationship (sub-Contractor) in support of this Contract requiring the disclosure of information, documentary material and/or records generated under, or relating to, this Contract. The Contractor (and any sub-Contractor) is required to abide by Government and Agency guidance for protecting sensitive and proprietary information.
PRIVACY POLICY TRAINING: Contractor personnel must complete VHA national Privacy Policy training or other VHA approved privacy training for Contractor furnished training that meets the requirements of the HHS Standards for Privacy of Individually-identifiable Health Information as determined by the VHA. Proof of training (e.g., training completion certificate) must be provided to the COR and the Information Security Officer at each facility (to be named upon award) for each Contractor employee providing the services under this Contract.
PROTECTED HEALTH INFORMATION (PHI): Contractor must adhere to the provisions of Public Law 104-191, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA) of 1996 and the National Standards to Protect the Privacy and Security of Protected Health Information.
END OF CONTRACT RESPONSIBILITY: The Contractor agrees to provide self-certification that the data destruction requirements have been met and sent to the VA Contracting Officer within 30 days of termination of the contract.
CONTRACTOR QUALITY ASSURANCE: Contractor personnel processing medication orders must have the education, training and experience appropriate to performing the scope of services needed. It is the responsibility of the Contractor to have an on-going quality assurance (QA) program consistent with the standards that shall support the expectations stated in the SOW, and to resolve identified problems. The written plan shall delineate the objectives of the quality assurance activities, scope of the activities, activities for monitoring and evaluation, methods of implementation of the monitoring and evaluation activities, methods for reporting results, mechanisms for taking follow-up action and responsibilities of staff for each activity of the quality assurance program. Results of the Contractor s QA program shall be forwarded to the COR on a quarterly basis or upon request within 48 hours. The plan shall be provided with the Contractor s proposal and a VA Pharmacist approved copy shall be included as a part of any subsequent award.
QUARTERLY REPORTS: The Contractor shall evaluate the quality of medication orders and document the findings, conclusions, recommendations and actions taken. The report shall include information on special incidents, customer satisfaction, and performance improvement. Copies of aggregated data shall be forwarded to the COR by the due date listed below.
Data Collection Month Report Due on or Before
January, February, March May 10th
April, May, June August 10th
July, August, September November 10th
GOVERNMENT QUALITY ASSURANCE SURVEILLANCE:
a. PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENT SUMMARY: The following Performance Requirement Summary (PRS) lists the Contract s special requirements listed in paragraph 6, their associated performance standards, the Acceptable Quality Levels (AQL), and the methods of surveillance.
b. QUALITY ASSURANCE SURVEILLANCE PLAN (QASP): The QASP be used to document the Contractor s performance. The QASP includes various methods of assessing performance to ensure Contract requirements are being met.
c. EVALUATION OF PRS AND QASP: The PRS and QASP shall be incorporated into any subsequent Contract. The Contractor shall be given the opportunity to correct or address any adverse findings resulting from observations throughout the Period of Performance. Furthermore, failure to correct any major nonconformance could result in termination of the Contract for cause and/or adversely impact the Contractor s ability to be selected for future Contracts as documented in the Contractor Performance Assessment Report System (CPARS).
Service Requirement Performance Standard AQL
1. Privacy Policy Training: Contractor personnel complete Privacy Policy Training annually 0%
2. Ordering Procedures: Medication orders shall be processed in a timely manner 2%
3. Records Management: Maintain 100% accountability of all records without data breach 0%
CLARIFICATION ON THE COVERAGE OF FEDERAL HOLIDAYS, NIGHT SHIFT AND WEEKENDS:
Amarillo
Service Start
Service End
Sunday at 7:00 p.m.
Monday at 7:00 a.m.
Monday at 11:00 p.m.
Tuesday at 7:00 a.m.
Tuesday at 11:00 p.m.
Wednesday at 7:00 a.m.
Wednesday at 11:00 p.m.
Thursday at 7:00 a.m.
Thursday at 11:00 p.m.
Friday at 7:00 a.m.
Friday at 11:00 p.m.
Saturday at 7:00 a.m.
Saturday at 7:00 p.m.
Sunday at 7:00 a.m.
Federal Holidays
Start at 7:00 p.m. on the
holiday and end at 7:00
a.m. the next day
Coverage for Federal Holidays relates to the observed date of the holiday per OPM s Federal Holiday listing at http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/snow-dismissal-procedures/federalholidays/
Coverage Expectation
It is the expectation of the Amarillo VA Medical Center in this contract that coverage periods that include the beginning of a Federal Holiday (i.e., passing 12AM on the Federal Holiday) follow through the usual coverage period through to its end. The required coverage periods for Federal Holiday for the Amarillo VA Medical Center are in regard to the start of a new coverage period beginning on the Federal Holiday.
In contracting with the Federal Government, the vendor agrees to honor Presidential Executive Orders closing agencies (see Presidential Closing of Agencies at http://www.opm.gov/policydata-oversight/pay-leave/pay-administration/fact-sheets/holidays-work-schedules-and-pay/) within the confines of the contract and that the vendor shall not charge any additional fees to provide coverage for these periods as the Department of Veterans Affairs honors such Executive Orders as additional Federal Holidays and, as such, the expectation is that the vendor shall honor these days as Federal Holiday coverage as well.
However, it is the responsibility of the Amarillo VA Medical Center to notify the vendor of these Executive Order holidays to secure coverage and to specify if lesser coverage hours than the full Federal Holiday hours are preferable.
Rastreva Upshaw, Contracting Specialist
Rastreva.Upshaw@va.gov
Victoria Rone, Contracting Officer
Victoria.Rone3@va.gov
Victoria.Rone@va.gov
