Department of Veterans Affairs, VA Medical Center (90C), 1100 N. College Avenue, Fayetteville, AR 72703

Q -- MEDICAL SERVICES SOL RFP 564-18-97 DUE 072497 POC Eleanor Dalmut (501) 444-5027 PART I: This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format in FAR Subpart 12.6, as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; proposals are being requested and a written solicitation will not be issued. Solicitation Number: RFP 564-18-97. This solicitation document and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular 90-46 and are applicable. Part II: Description of Services: Furnish one full time physician for the period September 1, 1997 thru February 28, 1998. 6 months @ $__ __ per hour. Total Price $__ __. CONTRACT REQUIREMENTS-1. SERVICES PROVIDED: a. The Contractor shall provide the services of a Board Certified or Board Eligible Internal Medicine/Family Practice Physician to perform the requirements of this contract at the VA Medical Center, Fayetteville, Arkansas. The VA Medical Center 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. b. To facilitate service, delineated clinical privileges are those currently approved by the Professional Standards Board and Medical Center Director. c. Other duties include, but are not limited to: (1) Diagnose, treat, and manage patients with general medical problems according to standard, usual, and acceptable or customary methods and techniques. The physician will report to the Chief, Medical Service, Dr. Bonnie Baker. (2) Contractor will cover four one-half day weekly Medicine clinics weekly in addition to assisting with walk-ins and/or covering other one-half day medical clinics for staff physicians who are on leave. This will be accomplished in an ambulatory care setting. (3) Referral, when indicated, of patients with complex health problems to other providers within the medical center or the VA Medical Center at Little Rock; consultations with physicians and others, when requested, to augment the care of their patients. (4) Access to Veterans Health Systems and Technology Architecture (VISTA), the medical center computer program. 2. The Contractor shall not supervise any VA employee and will perform only authorized contract work at the VA Medical Center in strict accordance with the schedule of prices/costs shown in the contract. 3. AUTOMATED INFORMATION SECURITY: Computer access and security is applicable to all Contractor personnel engaged in the provision of any services under this contract wherever termed "Contractor Employee": a. Each Contractor employee shall have a designated security level. b. To authenticate positively the identity of each Contractor employee user, all requests for system access shall be completed by the Service Application Coordinator. The Service Chief shall sign the access form after reviewing for appropriateness, after which the IRM Service Staff will coordinate the assigning of access and verify codes to each Contractor employee. c. Each Contractor employee shall be trained in and be given a copy of the current Automated Information System (AIS) Security Policy by the Service AdPac. This training is required prior to accessing any sensitive information and annually thereafter. d. Personnel Clearances and Privacy Act Considerations: All Contractor personnel shall be required to observe the requirements imposed on sensitive data by law, federal regulations, DVA statutes and policy, VHS&RA policy, and the associated requirements to ensure appropriate screening of all personnel. Because of the inherent sensitivity of data at the facility concerned, the level of security clearance required of the Contractor shall reflect the same level of security clearance carried by their Health Care Facility personnel for the function under contract. The Contractor shall ensure that his personnel and all involved subcontractor personnel meet the above restrictions and that confidential and proprietary information shall be divulged only to those officers and officials of DVA authorized to receive such information. e. The DVA system(s) or records to which the Contractor personnel will have access in order to maintain patient medical records and associated hardware is/are assigned by the Service Chief and will be subject to IRM control and AIS security. Contractor employees who obtain access to hardware or media which may manipulate or store substance abuse, sickle cell anemia, HIV or AIDS treatment records or medical quality assurance records protected by 38 USC 4132 or 3305, as defined by the DVA shall not have access to the records unless absolutely necessary to perform their contractual duties. If access is obtained, these records will be seen by no more individuals than are absolutely necessary to perform the contracted duties. Any individual who has access to this data will disclose it to no one, including other employees of the Contractor not involved in the performance of the particular contractual duty for which access was obtained. Violation of these statutory provisions, as stated in DVA regulations, by the Contractor or Contractor employees, may involve imposition of criminal penalties. 4. CREDENTIALING AND PRIVILEGING: The Contractor shall adhere to 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. 5. INSURANCE: The Contractor will attain and hold an in-force Professional Malpractice Insurance in an amount not less than one million dollars ($1,000,000.00) during the contractual period. 6. APPROVAL OF CONTRACTOR PERSONNEL: The Department of Veterans Affairs 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 unsatisfactory performance at the Medical Center or for any other valid reason, is considered by the Contracting Officer to be objectionable. 7. CONTRACT MONITORING PROCEDURES: a. Record-Keeping Monitoring System: The Contracting Officer's Technical Representative (COTR)is the VA official responsible for verifying and monitoring contract compliance. The COTR will be the Chief, Medical Service, Dr. Bonnie Baker. b. 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. c. 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. 8. RECORDKEEPING: A recordkeeping system of contractor work shall be established by the Contractor and VA. 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 during each billing cycle. Billing periods will be monthly. Contractor to submit an invoice each month. Upon receipt of an invoice, VA records will be reviewed for verification. 9. CONTRACT COMPLIANCE: a. Any incident of contractor non-compliance as evidenced by the monitoring procedures, shall be reported immediately by the COTR to the Contracting Officer. b. Specific performance of the contract requirements will be monitored by the COTR for this contract. 10. TORT CLAIMS: Contractor employees are not covered by the Federal Tort Claims Act. When a contractor employee has been identified as a primary provider in a tort claim, the contractor employee is responsible for notifying the Contractor's legal counsel and/or insurance carrier. Any settlement or judgment arising from a contractor employee's action or non-action is the responsibility of the Contractor and/or insurance carrier. 11. WORKHOURS: Work hours shall be Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. excluding Federal Holidays. SPECIAL CONTRACT REQUIREMENTS-1. SERVICES: a. 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. b. The services 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. 2. TERM OF CONTRACT: This Scarce Medical Contract is effective for the month of August 1997. 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. 3. QUALIFICATIONS: Personnel assigned by the Contractor to perform the services covered by this contract shall be licensed in a State, Territory, or Commonwealth of the United States or the District of Columbia. 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. 4. 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. 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. The solicitation clauses incorporated herein are: 52.212-1, Instructions to Offerors; 52.212-4 Contract Terms and Conditions -- Commercial Items; 52.212-5 Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes on Executive Orders -- Commercial Items, 52.217-8 Option to Extend Services, 52.224-1 Privacy Act Nofication, 52.224-2 Privacy Act, 52.232-33 Mandatory Information for Eelctronic Funds Transfer Payment, 52.232-19 Availability of Funds for the Next Fiscal Year, 852.237-7 Indemnification and Medical Liability Insurance,852.271-70 Nondiscrimination in Services Provided Beneficiaries. EVALUATION FACTORS FOR AWARD: 1. Proposals will be evaluated based on the following evaluation factors: FACTOR 1: Qualifications-1. Documentation of current certification and licensure. 2. Qualification background and experience in the assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of patients within treating specialty. 3. Proof of medical malpractice insurance. FACTOR 2: Past Performance-1. A minimum of 3 current letters of recommendation from companies/individuals for whom you have or are providing services which address ability to provide these services in a reliable manner. References shall be applicable to the physician(s) being offered and not company reference. 2. A complete work history for the past five years. Include facility/practice name, address, contact person, telephone number and reason for termination. (Former employees may be contacted by evaluators. 3. Include past and/or pending litigations. Documentation shall include the outcome of any past litigations and a brief description of all pending instances. 4. Current Curriculum Vitae. FACTOR 3: COST. It is NOT ACCEPTABLE for the offeror to submit information relative only to their company as a whole as it will be the candidate actually performing the work. Candidate may be interviewed by evaluators. Factors are listed in ascending order of relative importance. Award will be made to the offeror whose proposal is most advantageous to the Government, price and other factors considered. In evaluating the proposal the offeror should be aware that the technical evaluating factors are given more weight than the cost evaluation. Include a completed copy of 52.212-3 Offeror Representations and Certifications -- Commercial Items with offer. Offers are due July 24, 1997 at 4:30pm to Eleanor Dalmut (90C), VA Medical Center, Fayetteville, AR 73703. For information call (501) 444-5027. (0195)

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