SOURCES SOUGHT
Q -- Q-Locum Tenens
- Notice Date
- 2/7/2002
- Notice Type
- Sources Sought
- Contracting Office
- Attn: Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, (90C), 1100 N. College Avenue, Fayetteville, Arkansas 72703
- ZIP Code
- 72703
- Solicitation Number
- 564-8-02
- Response Due
- 2/22/2002
- Point of Contact
- Point of Contact - Eleanor Dalmut, Contract Specialist, (501) 444-5027, Contracting Officer - Eleanor Dalmut, Contract Specialist, (501) 444-5027
- E-Mail Address
-
Email your questions to Eleanor Dalmut
(eleanor.dalmut@med.va.gov)
- Description
- This RFQ 564-8-02 is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format in Subpart 12.6 as supplemented with additional information contained in this notice. This procurement is being conducted under Simplified Acquisition Procedures in accordance with FAR Part 13. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; quotations are being requested and a written solicitation will not be issued. This acquisition is a small business set-aside. NAICS Code is 621111. The VA intends to award a firm-fixed priced, non-personal services contract for Health Care Resources in accordance with Public Law 104-262 and the authority of Title 38 USC Section 8153. IM/FP Physician $_______________Per Hour. 1. SERVICES PROVIDED: The Contractor shall provide to the VA Medical Center, Fayetteville, Arkansas, the services of an Internal Medicine/Family Practice Physician (IM/FP) to perform the services of this contract. Physician must be available to begin March 18, 2002. a. To facilitate service, delineated clinical privileges are those currently approved by the Professional Standards Board and Medical Center Director. b. Other duties include, but are not limited to: Diagnose, treat, and manage patients with general medical problems according to standard, usual, and acceptable or customary methods and techniques. The IM/FP will report to the Chief, Medical Service. A detailed and complete history and physical will be accomplished. Establishes plans for follow-up care including appropriate consultations and appointments. Effective communication of plan of care with patient and/or family. Admission privileges through full-time staff. Write orders (including initial admission orders as well as to write changes in current treatment plan). Write progress notes. Order appropriate tests for patients. Write prescriptions (restricted to formulary). Order diagnostic laboratory procedures for patients. ICU privileges. Peer review of selected cases. Referral, when indicated, of patients with complex health problems to other providers within the medical center, other VA Medical Centers, at times, private facilities (when approved), consultations with physicians and others, when requested, to augment the care of their patients. The co-management of patients in consultation with and under the supervision of the attending physician. c. Emergency or Urgent Care: The Contractor shall report any patient?s need of immediate medical attention (including surgery). d. The services specified may be changed by written modification to this contract. The modification will be prepared by the VA contracting officer and, prior to become effective, shall be approved by the Under Secretary for Health or designee. e. Other necessary personnel for the operation of the services contracted for at VA will be provided by VA at levels mutually agreed upon which are compatible with the safety of the patient and personnel and with quality medical care programming. f. The services and documentation to be performed by the Contractor will be performed in accordance with VA policies and procedures and the regulations of the medical staff By-laws of the VA facility, Code of Ethics, Medical Center Memorandums, American Medical Association and JCAHO. Contracted provider will comply with JCAHO and Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) requirements pertaining to patient treatment, privacy and documentation; the VAMC Quality Assurance Requirements; locally accepted tenets of standards of care; the Network Performance VISN Plan; and Mission of the VA. Non-compliance of these requirements may result in the revocation of clinical privileges. g. The services to be performed by the Contractor will be under the direction of the Chief of Staff or designee. h. The VA will provide all necessary equipment and operating supplies for use in the performance of the work by the physician under this contract. The Chief of Staff is the final authority of what is or is not necessary equipment and operating supplies. i. The Contractor shall not supervise any VA employee and will perform only authorized contract work for the VA Medical Center in strict accordance with the schedule of prices/costs shown in the contract. j. Physician shall speak, understand, and write the English language fluently; be computer literate with basic computer skills to access and input electronic medical documentation. All documentation must be entered into chart within 24 hours. Specific electronic training will be provided using VA?s VISTA/CPRS system. 2. QUALIFICATIONS: a. Personnel assigned by the Contractor to perform the services covered by this contract shall have an active, unrestricted license in a State, Territory, or Commonwealth of the United States or the District of Columbia. b. Board Certification is preferred but not mandatory. Physicians who are not ABMS/BOS Certified in the specialty will have completed an approved residency and/or Fellowship in the required specialty. c. The qualifications of such personnel shall also be subject to review by the VA Chief of Staff, Chief, Medical Service, and approval by the VA Facility Director. 3. TERM OF CONTRACT: This contract is effective from date of award up to one year. The contract is subject to the availability of VA funds. No service shall be performed by the contractor after September 30, until the Contracting Officer authorizes such services in writing. 4. WORKHOURS: a. The services covered by this contract shall be furnished by the Contractor as defined herein. b. The following terms have the following meaning: (1) Work Hours: Normal work hours shall be Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., excluding Federal Holidays. (2) National Holidays: (a.) The 10 holidays observed by the Federal Government are: New Year's Day, Washington's Birthday, Martin Luther King's Birthday, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas; or any other day specifically declared by the President of the United States to be a national holiday. (b.) Except in case of an emergency as determined by the Chief of Staff or his designee, work will be not be required on a national holiday observed by the Federal Government or on Saturday or Sunday. 5. ABSENCES: (a) The nature of this contract does not provide for any sick leave, holiday or vacation time. The payment for any leave, including sick leave, holiday, or vacation time, is the responsibility of the contractor, and appropriate coverage as per contract terms and conditions must be supplied by the Contractor. 6. CREDENTIALING AND PRIVILEGING: a. The Contractor shall complete the Credentialing and Privileging process as prescribed in the VHA and VA Medical Center, Fayetteville, AR Bylaws and Policy and Procedures. No services shall be provided by any contract physician prior to obtaining approval by the VA Medical Center Physicians' Professional Standards Board\Executive Committee of the Clinical Executive Board and Medical Center Director. As stated in the Bylaws, appointments should be acted upon by the Medical Center Director within 90 calendar days of receipt of a fully completed application including all required verifications, references and recommendations from the appropriate Service Chief and PPSB\CEB. b. The process of credentialing within the VA includes the requirement that all applicants submit information via Internet in addition to hard copy forms. This automated credentialing program is called VetPro. Each accepted applicant shall be enrolled and given an access code in order to complete this information and submit it for processing. Passwords, electronic signatures, and data entry are the legal responsibility of the applicant and fall under authority of the Privacy Act of 1974. c. Privileges shall require renewal at least every two (2) years in accordance with Medical Center and Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) requirements. Physicians assigned by the contractor to work for the Medical Center will be required to report specific patient outcome information, such as complications, to the Service Chief. Quality improvement data provided by the physicians and/or collection by the Service will be used to analyze individual practice patterns. The Service Chief will utilize the data to formulate recommendations for the Professional Standards Board to consider in the renewal of clinical privileges. 7. APPROVAL OF CONTRACTOR PERSONNEL: a. The VA reserves the right to refuse approval under this contract or require dismissal from contract work at any time any Contractor or subcontractor personnel who, by reason of unsatisfactory performance at the Medical Center or for any other valid reason, is considered by the Contracting Officer to be objectionable, not subject to appeal. b. Any employee of the contractor may be removed at any time from this contract, not subject to appeal. The services of an individual who fails to meet the established performance standards of the VAMC, as determined by the COTR and verified by the Contracting Officer, will be removed from this contract immediately if the contractor employee is determined to be; negligent, a danger to themselves or patients, or gross misconduct, i.e. patient abuse, sexual harassment. The contractor will assume responsibility for providing an acceptable replacement for completion of the contract. 8. TORT CLAIMS: Contractor personnel are not covered by the Federal Tort Claims Act. When contractor personnel has been identified as a primary provider in a tort claim, the contractor personnel is responsible for notifying the Contractor's legal counsel and/or insurance carrier. Any settlement or judgment arising from a contractor personnel?s action or non-action is the responsibility of the Contractor and/or insurance carrier. 9. INSURANCE: The Contractor will attain and hold an in-force Professional Malpractice Insurance in an amount not less than one million dollars during the contractual period. 10. PERSONNEL POLICY: The Contractor shall be responsible for protecting the personnel furnishing services under this contract. To carry out this responsibility, the contractor shall provide the following for these personnel-worker?s compensation, professional liability insurance, health examinations, income tax withholding, and social security payments. The parties agree that such personnel shall not be considered a VA employee for any purpose and shall be considered employees of the contractor. 11. CONTRACT MONITORING PROCEDURES: a. The Contracting Officer's Technical Representative (COTR) is the VA official responsible for verifying and monitoring contract compliance to include JCAHO requirements. This will be accomplished by utilizing clinical review and provider specific profiling. The COTR will be the Chief, Medical Service. b. If performance issues arise with an individual, the COTR will address the issue with the contractor. If performance continues at an unacceptable level, the COTR will contact the contracting officer for appropriate action, to include removal of the individual from the contract. All performance concerns will be documented and reported immediately to the contracting officer. Medication errors are to be processed the same as for any VA employee. Failure of physician to follow procedure may result in nonpayment or delay of payment. c. Record-Keeping Monitoring System: Contractor shall check in with the Contracting Officer's Technical Representative, or designee, upon arrival and sign in on contractor log-in sheet. Contractor will sign out at the end of the workday at the same location. A record will be established for verification of actual procedures performed by the Contractor. The COTR will maintain a logbook. d. The COTR will furnish a statement in writing to the Contracting Officer at the close out of the contract to include summary of contractor actions and a statement that all requirements of the contract were fulfilled as agreed. e. A summary evaluation of contractor performance, based upon the compliance or noncompliance of contract requirements as evidenced under the monitoring procedures shall be forwarded by the monitoring official to the Contracting Officer prior to exercising any option. 12. INVOICES & PAYMENT FOR SERVICES: a. Payment for services rendered by the Contractor under the terms of this contract will be made monthly upon receipt of a properly executed invoice. Invoice to be submitted within ten workdays following the end of a month in which the Contractor rendered services. VA will verify services performed and certify invoice for payment thirty workdays following date of receipt. Any identified discrepancy(s) in billings shall be cause for extending provisions of this paragraph until such time as the discrepancy, or other identified problem with the billing invoice has been resolved. b. The Contractor shall accept payment for services rendered under this contract as payment in full and will not bill the veteran or their third party insurer for any services covered under this contract. c. The Contractor must be present at the VA Medical Center and must actually perform the required services for the period specified in the contract, or the contract cost will be decreased accordingly for each clinic missed during each billing cycle. d. Contractor and VA will establish record keeping systems to verify contract performance. Data will be recorded and retrieved as necessary. Contract will be monitored and validated against monthly billings. 13. JCAHO AND OTHER SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS: a. The Contractor will be responsible to ensure that Contractor employees providing work on this contract are fully trained and completely competent to perform the required work. b. Contractor will provide and document a general VA orientation for all Contractor employees who are providing work on this contract before the commencement of work on site. VA will provide the content of the orientation to the Contractor at the time of contract award. Documentation of the orientation will be provided to the VA COTR. This orientation will include the following topics: Fire and safety policy and procedure Infection control policy and procedure Emergency Preparedness/Disaster policy and procedure Patient Abuse reporting mechanisms and interventions that must be taken when violence should occur Violence in the workplace which includes intervention techniques used when violence should occur. c. Contractor employees will attend an area/program/unit-specific orientation meeting before the commencement of work on site. The VA will schedule, conduct and document this meeting, which will include discussion of the following area-specific topics: Fire and safety policy and procedure Infection control policy and procedure Emergency preparedness/disaster policy and procedure Area/program/unit specific orientation. d. The contracted employee will complete, on site, annual mandatory VA facility training provided by the service to which the provider is assigned. e. The VA will monitor the Contractor employees? work to ensure contract compliance. f. Not withstanding other contract requirements, upon request of the Contracting Officer, the Contractor will remove from the work site, any Contractor employee who does not comply with orientation requirements or meet competency requirements for the work being performed. g. When changes in Contractor personnel are approved in accordance with the ?Substitution? clause of the contract, the Contractor must provide evidence of orientation, the current competence assessment, and current performance evaluation that supports the above. h. Where the contract does not require JCAHO accreditation or other regulatory body requirements, the Contractor must perform the required work in accordance with JCAHO standards. A copy of these standards may be obtained from the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, One Renaissance Blvd., Oakbrook Terrace, IL 60181.i. Where the contract does not require JCAHO accreditation or other regulatory requirements regarding worker competency, the Contractor must perform the required work in accordance with JCAHO standards. The contractor is required to develop and maintain the following documents for each Contractor employee working on the contract: credentials and qualifications for the job; a current competence assessment checklist (an assessment of knowledge, skills, abilities and behaviors required to perform a job correctly and skillfully; includes knowledge and skills required to provide care for certain patient populations, as appropriate.); a current performance evaluation supporting ability of the Contractor employee to successfully perform the work required in this solicitation; and listing of relevant continuing education for the last two years. The Contractor will provide current copies of these records at the time of contract award and annually on the anniversary date of contract award to the VA COTR, or upon request, for each Contractor employee working on the contract. 14. HHS OIG EXCLUSION LIST: The contractor is to ensure that individuals do not appear on the current Office of Inspector General?s Exclusionary List from participation in Medicare, Medicaid and other Federal Health Care Programs (http://epls.arnet.gov/epl/owa/cpls) or http://jupiter.psc.gov/cgi-bin/oig_counter.pl. CLAUSES: Full text of clauses and provisions are available at Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR): http://www.arnet.gov/References/References.html and Veterans Affairs Acquisition Regulations (VAAR): http://www.va.gov/oa&mm/vaar. The solicitation document and incorporated provisions and clauses applicable to this acquisition are those in effect through FAC 2001-02: 52.252-2 Clauses Incorporated By Reference (Feb 1998); 52.212-1 Instructions to Offerors Commercial Items; 852.270-1 Representatives of the contracting officers. The following clauses apply to this acquisition and may be obtained from the web: FAR 52.212-4, Contract Terms and Conditions Commercial Items; 52.216-18 Ordering. Such orders may be issued for up to one (1) year from the date of award plus a six month option that may be exercised; 52.216-19 Order Limitations; 52.216-21 Requirements; 52.217-8 Option to Extend Services; 52.217-9 Option To Extend The Term Of The Contract-Services; 52.224-1 Privacy Act Notification; 52.224-2 Privacy Act; 52.237-7 Indemnification and Medical Liability Insurance; VAAR 852.216-70 Estimated Quantities for Requirements Contracts; 852.237-70 Contractor Responsibilities (as required by the laws of the State of Arkansas); 852.270-4 Commercial Advertising; 852.271-70 Services Provided Eligible Beneficiaries; 52.212-5 Contract terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive Orders-Commercial Items; 52.212-2 Evaluation--Commercial Items (a) Award will be made to the offeror whose quote conforms to the requirements of the solicitation; best meets the minimum needs of the Government and offers the lowest price. Best value to the Government and veterans shall determine award considering past performance, technical/qualifications and cost considering (1) Prior experience, demonstrated capability and continuity; (2) Past performance/experience and references (preferably VA); and (3) Cost. Quotations for furnishing the services in this announcement will be received at this address: Contracting Officer, (90C), VA Medical Center, Attn: Eleanor Dalmut, 1100 North College, Fayetteville, AR 72703 or by FAX to (501) 444-5031. The offeror shall submit a completed copy of provisions at 52.212-3 Offeror Representations and Certifications-Commercial Items and a completed Standard Form 1449 which can be found at www.gsa.gov/forms/farnum, with its quotation. Submit with proposal the CV of the proposed physician available to begin March 18, 2002.
- Web Link
-
RFQ 564-8-02
(http://www.bos.oamm.va.gov/solicitation?number=564-8-02)
- Record
- SN00023839-W 20020209/020207213211 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps.gov Link to This Notice
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