Loren Data's SAM Daily™

FBO DAILY ISSUE OF MARCH 05, 2009 FBO #2656
SOLICITATION NOTICE

B -- SMOKING CESSATION FOR VETERANS-VISN 4 has a requirement to provide smoking cessation counseling services to veteran participants.

Notice Date

3/3/2009
 

Notice Type

Presolicitation
 

NAICS

621999 — All Other Miscellaneous Ambulatory Health Care Services
 

Contracting Office

Department of Veterans Affairs, Wilmington VAMROC, Department of Veterans Affairs Medical and Regional Office Center, Department of Veterans Affairs;Acquisition (460);1601 Kirkwood Hwy.;Wilmington DE 19805
 

ZIP Code

19805
 

Solicitation Number

VA-244-09-RP-0161
 

Response Due

3/16/2009
 

Archive Date

5/15/2009
 

Point of Contact

Irene J. Mancuso302-994-2511 x7525<br />
 

Small Business Set-Aside

N/A
 

Description

DESCRIPTION/SPECIFICATIONS/WORK STATEMENT 1. Definitions: a. "Program" shall mean the tobacco cessation program as described herein. b. "Participant" shall mean those Client Eligibles who are at least 18 years old and who are enrolled in the Program. c. "Registration Specialist" means an individual employed and/or retained by the vendor Contractor who enrolls Eligibles into the Program, and are pre-screened by the contractor and appropriately trained in the contractor tobacco cessation registration practices. d. "Tobacco Treatment Specialist" means the individuals employed and/or retained by the contractor to provide telephonic support, information and counseling to Beneficiaries. Each Tobacco Treatment Specialist is pre-screened by the contractor and appropriately trained in the contractors tobacco cessation practices to provide telephonic support, information, and counseling to beneficiaries under this Contract. e. Contract Officer Technical Representative (COTR): Robert Malec, VISN 4. f. Program Launch Date is July 1, 2009 2. GENERAL REQUIREMENTS: a. General Intention - The VISN 4 Healthcare System has a requirement for a Contractor to provide telephonic smoking cessation counseling services as described herein to veteran beneficiaries. The VA will provide pharmacotherapy to veterans enrolled as participants in this program. The telephonic smoking cessation program shall be fully operational no later than six (6) weeks from date of award of this contract. The program launch date shall be mutually agreeable to both parties, and term of contract shall be one year from issuance of Notice to Proceed. Notice to Proceed will be issued on agreed upon program launch date. b. The Contractor will provide up to five (5) outbound telephone interventions, and one additional end-of-program data collection call per participant enrolled in the program. The Contractor will determine where and when the participant would like these calls to be delivered. Participants can initiate a call to the Contractor at any time during the work hours indicated and as often as he/she feels the need for additional help for twelve (12) months from the date of enrollment in the program. c. Enrollment is anticipated to be approximately 5000 veteran participants by the end of the twelve-month contract period beginning no later than two (2) months from the date of award of this contract. Veterans will be referred through entry of electronic consults to this program via VA nursing staff and providers and self-referrals who are enrolled in VISTA. d. The Contractor will provide to each Participant a "quick kit" of printed materials to assist with tobacco cessation. These materials will be stage appropriate and may include materials for individuals with special needs. e. The Contractor will provide to all participants enrolled in the program a toll-free telephone access to a Registration Specialist and Tobacco Treatment Specialists employed by the Contractor within the work hours identified. f. There shall be offered to every Participant veteran five (5) counseling calls. Each counseling call will be documented as a Progress Note, the content of which will be mutually agreed upon by the Contractor and the VA during implementation planning. When an outbound counseling telephone call is attempted three (3) times without reaching the Participant, a follow-up letter will be sent to the Participant and documented as a Progress Note. All Progress Notes will be entered within two (2) business days of the contact. g. The Contractor will provide to participants decision support and recommendations for tobacco cessation based on criteria developed by the Contractor. After the Contractor's Tobacco Treatment Specialist assesses the need for pharmacotherapy for a veteran participant and the recommended quantity, this recommendation will be documented in the VA CPRS Progress Note which is entered to document counseling. A VA employee who has prescription privileges will be designated to enter the prescription into CPRS for the veteran. The Tobacco Treatment Specialist will notify this employee (employee's name to be furnished upon award) through having that employee listed as an "additional signer" of the Progress Note. The NRT will then be provided to the veteran through the usual VA pharmacy process. Contractor standard protocol for the nicotine patch is an eight-week course of therapy, and standard protocol for the nicotine gum is a 4- or 5-box course of therapy, depending on level of addiction. h. The Contractor will provide on-going consultation to the VA with an assigned Contractor's Client Services Manager (CSM) regarding the most effective means of marketing and distribution of the Program to veterans. i. The Contractor will provide a monthly Contractor's Participant Activity Report that includes the status of the veterans enrolled in the program for each of the 9 facilities in VISN 4 which are entering into this contract. The Contractor reserves the right to revise the format and content of the Reports for its own business reasons. j. VA will pay for all eligible individuals enrolled in the Program. Names of all enrollees will be made available by the Contractor for a cross-check by the VA. k. The VA will develop with Contractor and carry out a mutually agreeable recruitment plan to encourage self-referrals of eligible veterans to the Program. l. The Contractor shall provide all hardware, software, peripherals, communications lines, maintenance and equipment as mutually agreed by the parties and necessary to access the VISTA system. The Contractor shall be responsible for installation and maintenance of the network infrastructure within the facility including, but not limited to, cabling located inside the walls of the structure. The Contractor shall provide necessary antivirus software for PC's and ensure that data definition files are current. In addition, the Contractor will ensure that all Microsoft critical updates and patches are current. The Contractor will provide connectivity to the Internet via cable modem, DSL or T1 circuits and provide firewall security for this circuit. Connectivity to the VA will be through a VA VPN account utilizing Contractor provided Internet Service Provider (ISP). The Contractor shall be responsible for obtaining a One-VA client VPN account and software to be provided at no charge by the VA. The Contractor shall be responsible for maintenance and on-going technical support for all local network hardware and communications lines installed in support of this contract. The Contractor is responsible for all long distance phone charges related to the use of Contractor installed data lines. m. The Contractor will be required to provide the specific requirements for all of the ten (10) listed items: (1.) Ability to provide intense smoking cessation counseling via the telephone to a large population of smokers. (2). Ability to initiate the program throughout the healthcare system within 2 months of award of the contract. (3). Capable of assessing degree of nicotine dependence and making recommendation about pharmacotherapy for smoking cessation. (4.) Extensive experience in smoking cessation telephonic interventions that would indicate a high chance of success with patients, many of whom who have smoked for many years (5). Evidence of prior success showing smoking cessation one year quit rates that exceed 20%. Evidence of this success should include counting all smokers who enter counseling in the denominator and those who report being totally tobacco free 1 year later as the numerator (also known as intent to treat). Evidence of success should be available in scientific publications based on randomized controlled trials by authors who conducted investigations with the vendor, such that there is high confidence that the rate of tobacco cessation claimed is accurate and conclusions about the success of the program is valid. (6). Ability and track record of ability to work with a large complex geographically disperse organization (7). Counselors who have competency in providing counseling to economically disadvantaged populations and to a population with high prevalence of racial minorities. (8). A well developed approach and evidence of success in recruiting smokers to make a quit attempt with the assistance of telephonic counseling (9). Willingness to document smoking counseling in the VA electronic medical record system. (10). Ability to track quit rates on an ongoing basis and provides frequent data to the VAPHS regarding the number of enrolled patients and employees, and quit rates during the program, at the end of counseling, and after 1 year. Significant interactive discussion" between the vendor's counselors and veterans are required. 3. CONFLICT OF INTEREST: VHA Handbook 1660.3, "Conflict of Interest Aspects of Contracting for Scarce Medical Specialist Services, Enhanced Use Leases, Health Care Resource Sharing, Fee Basis and Intergovernmental Personnel Act Agreements (IPAs)," dated July 24, 2002, is incorporated into this contract as Attachment #1. Any VA employee who is employed by the contractor is prohibited from participating on behalf of the Government in a VA contract with the contractor. 4. APPROVAL OF CONTRACTOR PERSONNEL: The VA reserves the right to refuse employment under this contract or require dismissal from contract work of any contractor employee or subcontractor employee who, by reason of previous unsatisfactory performance for the VA or for any other valid reason, is considered by the Contracting Officer to be objectionable, as long as thirty (30) days written notification of unsatisfactory performance has been provided to the Contractor; and the problem has not been cured in the thirty (30) day period. 5. NON-SOLICITATION: Neither the Contractor nor any employee, agent, or subcontractor of the Contractor shall solicit or attempt to convince or otherwise persuade any patient not to participate or to discontinue participation in the services provided under this contract. 6. THE JOINT COMMISSION 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. Although this contract does not require Joint Commission accreditation or other regulatory requirements regarding worker competency, the Contractor must perform the required work in accordance with Joint Commission standards. The Contractor is required to maintain records that document competence/performance level of Contractor employees working on this contract in accordance with Joint Commission and other accepted regulatory body requirements. The Contractor is required to develop and maintain the following documents for each Contractor employee working on the contract who provides patient care services: credentials and qualifications for the job; a written job description; 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 copies of the above-described records at the time of contract award to the Contracting Officer, or upon request, for each Contractor employee working on the contract. c. Contractor employees will attend a program specific orientation conference call before the commencement of work. This meeting will be coordinated by the COTR and the Contractor's designee. The VA will conduct and document this meeting which will include discussion of the following area-specific topics: VISTA Enrollment of patients Billing Documentation Confidentiality d. The VA will monitor the Contractor employees' work to ensure contract compliance. e. Not withstanding other contract requirements, upon request of the Contracting Officer following written notice and a cure period, the Contractor will remove from the VA Program, any Contractor employee who does not comply with orientation requirements or meet competency requirements for the work being performed. f. When changes in Contractor personnel occur, the Contractor must provide the same documentation as required in paragraph 7.b. above. g. Where the contract does not require Joint Commission accreditation or other regulatory body requirements, the Contractor must perform the required work in accordance with Joint Commission 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. 7. 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. 8. 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. 9. COMPUTERIZED PATIENT RECORD SYSTEM: a. The contractor is responsible for utilizing the Computerized Patient Record System (CPRS) in Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture (VISTA) at the VAPHS. Access and training will be provided. The contractor will be expected to fully use the system since CPRS will be the sole means of patient record keeping. Record keeping should ensure compliance with applicable Joint Commission and VA requirements to include data entry into CPRS by attending physicians for documentation of medical records. b. Contractor will provide health care to patients seeking such care from or through VA. As such, the contractor is considered part of the Department health activity for purposes of the following statues and the VA regulations implementing these statues: the Privacy Act, 5 U.S.C. 552a, and 38 U.S.C. s 5701, 7705 and 7332. Contractor and its employees may have access to VA Patient medical records to the extent necessary for the contract or to perform this contract. Notwithstanding any other provision of this contract, contractor and its employees may disclose patient treatment records only pursuant to explicit disclosure authority for VA. Contractor and its employees are subject to the penalties and liabilities provided statutes and regulations for unauthorized disclosures of such records and their contents. Records created by the contractor in the course of treating VA patients under this agreement are the property of the VA and shall not be accessed, released, transferred or destroyed except in accordance with applicable federal law and regulations. Upon the expiration of this contract or termination of the contract, the contractor will promptly provide the VA with the individually identified VA patient treatment records. 10. CONTRACTOR PERSONNEL SECURITY REQUIREMENTS: a. All contractor employees who require access to the Department of Veterans Affairs' computer systems shall be the subject of a background investigation and must receive a favorable adjudication from the VA Office of Security and Law Enforcement prior to contract performance. This requirement is applicable to all subcontractor personnel requiring the same access. If the investigation is not completed prior to the start date of the contract, the contractor will be responsible for the actions of those individuals they provide to perform work for VA. The investigation must be initiated prior to being granted access to VA computer systems. (1) Position Sensitivity - The position sensitivity has been designated as Low Risk. (2) Background Investigation - The level of background investigation commensurate with the required level of access is National Agency Check with Written Inquiries (NACI). Non-citizen contract personnel appointed to Low Risk or Nonsensitive positions will be subject to a National Agency Check with Law Enforcement and Credit Check (NACLC). (3) Contractor Responsibilities: (a) The contractor shall bear the expense of obtaining background investigations. If the investigation is conducted by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), the contractor shall reimburse VA within 30 days. The estimated cost of the NACI or NACLC is $200.00 per person. (b) The contractor shall prescreen all personnel requiring access to the computer systems to ensure they are able to read, write, speak, and understand the English language. (c) The contractor employees shall download, complete, and mail the documents required for a Low Risk Position found on the following website within fourteen (14) calendar days of the individual's appointment to the position: http://www.va.gov/vabackground_investigations Electronic fingerprinting can be performed at the University Drive Human Resources Office. The contractor employees shall also complete Attachment #2, Electronic Fingerprinting Memo. All documents shall be mailed by the contractor, along with a copy of the request worksheet completed by the Contracting Officer and the Electronic Fingerprinting Memo, to: VA Law Enforcement Training Center/SIC 2200 Fort Roots Dr., Bldg. 104 North Little Rock, AR 72114 (d) The contractor, when notified of an unfavorable determination by the Government, will withdraw the employee from consideration from working under the contract. (e) Failure to comply with the contractor personnel security requirements may result in termination of the contract for default. (4) Government Responsibilities: (a) Upon receipt, the VA Office of Security and Law Enforcement will review the completed forms for accuracy and forward the forms to OPM to conduct the background investigation. (b) The VA facility will pay for investigations conducted by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) in advance. In these instances, the contractor will reimburse the VA facility within 30 days. (c) The VA Office of Security and Law Enforcement will notify the contracting officer and contractor after adjudicating the results of the background investigations received from OPM. (d) The contracting officer will ensure that the contractor provides evidence that investigations have been completed or are in the process of being requested. b. Contractor personnel performing work under this contract shall satisfy all requirements for appropriate security eligibility in dealing with access to sensitive information and information systems belonging to or being used on behalf of the Department of Veterans Affairs. The contractor will be responsible for the actions of those individuals they provide to perform work for the VA under this contract. In the event that damages arise from work performed by contractor provided personnel, under the auspices of this contract, the contractor will be responsible for all resources necessary to remedy the incident. Printed output containing sensitive VHA data will be stored in a secured area, and disposed of properly by shredding or similar methods. Under the provisions of the Privacy Act of 1974 as amended, personnel performing work under this contract have an obligation to protect VA information indefinitely. Furthermore, it is the contractor's responsibility to notify the Information Management staff when access to Information Management systems is no longer needed by personnel performing work under this contract. c. Contractor employees are required to complete the online training classes entitled "VA Cyber Security Awareness" and "VHA Privacy Awareness Training" prior to receiving an account on the VA network and annually thereafter. The Education Coordinator must create an account for each contractor employee in the VA Learning Management System (LMS). An LMS account request form may be obtained from Pamela Lipka, Education Coordinator, 302-633-5319. The link to the training web site is http://www.lms.va.gov. A Certificate of successful completion will be generated. The certificate shall be mailed to Mary K Jones, internal mail routing symbol 003I-H or faxed to 302-633-5591. d. In performing this agreement, the Contractor shall be considered part of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for purposes of 38 U.S.C. 5701 and 7332. Its employees may have access to patient medical records to the extent necessary to perform this contract. Notwithstanding any other provision of this agreement, the contractor and its employees may disclose patient records and individually-identified patient information, including information and records generated by the Contractor in performance of this agreement, only pursuant to explicit disclosure authority from VA. e. The VA may provide Contractor and subcontractor employees with access to VA automated patient records maintained on VA computer systems only to the extent and under the same conditions and requirements as VA provides access to these records to its own employees. f. All Contractor personnel and any subcontracted employees, if applicable, accessing the VISTA system will be required to sign and abide by all VA security policies, and applicable VA confidentiality statutes, 38 U.S.C. 5701, 38 U.S.C. 7332, and the Privacy Act, 5 U.S.C. 552a. The VA will provide access applications and security agreements. Contractor shall ensure the confidentiality of all patient information and shall be held liable in the event of the breach of confidentiality. Due to the confidential nature of medical reports, all transcription must be completed in areas that provide reasonable security. All documents are confidential and are protected under the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended. All vendor personnel shall be required to observe the requirements imposed on sensitive data by law, federal regulations, VA statutes and policy, DM&S policy and the associated requirements to insure appropriate screening of personnel. g. The database utilized by the Contractor under this agreement, the adverse drug event reports provided to the Contractor by VA, and documents created from analyzing this database, the adverse drug event reports, and patient medical records are medical quality assurance records protected by 38 U.S.C. 5705, its implementing regulations at 38 U.S.C. 17.500-.511 and VHA Directive 2002-043, Quality Management (QM) And Patient Safety Activities That Can Generate Confidential Documents. These records may be disclosed only as authorized by 5705 and the VA regulations. Disclosure of these records in violation of 5705 is a criminal offense under 38 U.S.C. 5705(e). h. The treatment and administrative patient records created by, or provided to, the contractor under this agreement are covered by the VA system of records entitled "Patient Medical Records - VA (24VA136). i. Records created by the contractor in the course of treating VA patients under this agreement are the property of the VA and shall not be accessed, released, transferred or destroyed except in accordance with applicable federal law and regulations. Upon expiration of this contract or termination of the contract, the contractor will promptly provide the VA with any individually identified VA patient treatment records. j. All portable media (including but not limited to thumb-drives, CD-ROMs, etc) utilized by the contractor under this contract must be encrypted in accordance with the security requirements identified in FIPS 140-2. Only thumb drives and encryption software explicitly approved by the VA may be used. k. No VA data is permitted to be stored on a desktop or laptop computer hard drive. Any portable computer used under this contract must have the hard drive encrypted in accordance with FIPS 140-2.
 

Web Link

FedBizOpps Complete View
(https://www.fbo.gov/?s=opportunity&mode=form&id=94d36071a9e0f56c920a3ee9487daa66&tab=core&_cview=1)
 

Place of Performance

Address: Mutual use of health care resources provided by;the contractor to the VISN 4 Veterans. Locations;are: Philadelphia PA, Coatesville PA, Erie PA,;Wilkes-Barre PA, Wilmington DE, Butler PA,;Clarksburg PA, Altoona PA, and Lebanon PA,<br />

Zip Code: 19805<br />
 

Record

SN01760965-W 20090305/090303221142-94d36071a9e0f56c920a3ee9487daa66 (fbodaily.com)
 

Source

FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)

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