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

Q -- PHYSICIAN SERVICES SOL RFQ 564-6-00 DUE 101599 POC Eleanor Dalmut (501) 444-5027 This Request for Quotation 564-6-00 for Physician Services 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. This procurement is being conducted under the Subpart 13.5 test program, simplified acquisition procedures apply, and conducted with a combination of Parts 12 and 15. This is 100% Set-Aside for Small Business. SERVICES COST PER HOUR 1. Physician Services. ________ Solicitation and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through FAR 97-13. The following Incorporated Clauses and Provisions are applicable to acquisition: 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, 52.217-9, Option to Extend the Term of the Contract, 52.224-1 Privacy Act Notification, 52.224-2 Privacy Act, 52.232-18 Availability of Funds, 52.232-19 Availability of Funds for the Next Fiscal Year, 852.233-70 Protest Content, 852.233-71 Alternate Protest Procedure, 852.270-1 Representatives of Contracting Officers, 852.270-4 Commercial Advertising, 852.237-7 Indemnification and Medical Liability Insurance, 852.271-70 Nondiscrimination in Services Provided Beneficiaries, and 52.212-3 Offeror Representations and Certification-Commercial Items (NOTE Offerors must include a completed copy of Offeror Representations and Certification along with his/her offer). Submit price and technical proposals to Eleanor Dalmut, Contracting Officer (90C), VA Medical Center, Bldg. 4, Room 316-B, 1100 North College, Fayetteville, Ar. by 11:00 am on October 15, 1999. CONTRACT REQUIREMENTS 1. SERVICES PROVIDED: The Contractor shall provide the services of a Board Certified Internal Medicine/Family Practice Physician(s) to perform the requirements of this contract at the VA Medical Center, Fayetteville, Arkansas and the Gene Taylor Community Based Outpatient Clinic located in Mount Vernon, Missouri. Contractor shall provide physician(s) on an as needed basis. 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: (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. Mark A. Enderle and Dr. Bonnie Baker. (2) Dr. Enderle and Dr. Baker will assign specific work area(s) in Primary Care or Urgent Care. This will be accomplished in an ambulatory care setting. (3) Referral, when indicated, of patients with complex health problems to other providers at the Fayetteville VA Medical Center or the VA Medical Center at Little Rock; consultations with physicians and others, when requested, to augment the care of their patients. b. 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. c. 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. d. 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. f. 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. g. 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. 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. The physician(s) must be Board Certified in Internal Medicine/Family Practice by the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) or the Bureau of Osteopathic Specialist (BOS). The only exception to being Board Certified is that physician who has less than four (4) years clinical practice after completion of an approved postgraduate training must become Board Certified within this four-year period or be removed from the contract. 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 for one year from date of award. 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: The services covered by this contract shall be furnished by the Contractor as defined herein. The following terms have the following meaning: a. Work Hours: Work hours shall be Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., excluding Federal Holidays. b. National Holidays: (1) 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. (2) 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: 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. AUTOMATED INFORMATION SECURITY: Computer access and security is applicable to all contractor and subcontractor personnel engaged in the provision of any services under this contract a. Contractor personnel shall each have a designated security level. b. To authenticate positively the identity of individual Contractor personnel 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 ITM Service Staff will coordinate the assigning of access and verify codes to individual Contractor personnel. c. Contractor personnel 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/her 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) of 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 ITS control and AIS security. Contractor personnel 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, no more individuals than are absolutely necessary to perform the contracted duties will see these records. Any individual who has access to this data will disclose it to no one, including other Contractor personnel 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 personnel, may involve imposition of criminal penalties. 7. 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 ECEB CEB. b. 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 at 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. 8. APPROVAL OF CONTRACTOR PERSONNEL: The VA reserves the right to refuse approval under this contract or require dismissal from contract work of 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. 9. 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. 10. 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. 11. 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. 12. CONTRACT MONITORING PROCEDURES: a. The Contracting Officer's Technical Representative (COTR) is the VA official responsible for verifying and monitoring contract compliance. The COTR will be the Dr. Mark A. Enderle, Chief of Staff (Clinic, Mt. Vernon) and Dr. Bonnie Baker, Medical Service (VA, Fayetteville). b. Any incident of contractor non-compliance as evidenced by the monitoring procedures, shall be reported immediately by the COTR to the Contracting Officer. Failure of physician to follow procedure may result in nonpayment or delay of payment. c. Record-Keeping Monitoring System: A record will be established for verification of actual services performed by the Contractor. d. The COTR(s) 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. 13. INVOICES AND 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 (10) workdays following the end of a month in which the Contractor rendered services. VA will verify services performed and certify invoice for payment within five (5) 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. e. Invoices shall be submitted to: Chief, Fiscal Service (04) VA Medical Center 1100 North College Fayetteville, AR 72703 14. SUBSTITUTION OF PHYSICIANS: Contractor shall assign to this contract only those persons whose resumes, personnel data forms, or personnel qualification statements were submitted and approved as required. No substitution of personnel shall be made except as follows: a. All proposed substitutions must be submitted in writing at least 60 days in advance of proposed substitution to the Contracting Officer. Each request shall provide a detailed explanation of the circumstances necessitating the proposed substitutions, a complete resume for the proposed substitute and any other information required by the Contracting Officer to approve or disapprove the proposed substitution. All proposed substitutes shall have qualifications that are equal to or higher than the qualifications of the person being replaced. b. The Contracting Officer shall evaluate requests for substitution of personnel and promptly notify the contractor, in writing, of whether the request is approved or disapproved. 52.212-2 Evaluation -- Commercial Items (Jan 1999) (a) The Government will award a contract resulting from this solicitation to the responsible offeror whose offer conforming to the solicitation will be most advantageous to the Government, price and other factors considered. The following factors shall be used to evaluate offers: FACTOR 1: Prior Experience and Demonstrated Capability: a. Documentation of current certification and licensure. b. Qualification background and experience in the assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of patients within treating specialty. c. Current Curriculum Vitae. d. A realistic backup plan exists to manage cases, if person(s) assigned to this contract is on leave, incapacitated or otherwise unable to manage the VA workload. A minimum one (1) individual is proposed as backup. Qualifications and experience of backup personnel must be addressed. FACTOR 2: Past Performance: a. A minimum of 3 current letters (within last five years) of recommendation from companies/individuals for whom candidate is or has provided services which address ability to provide these services in a reliable manner. References shall be applicable to the candidate(s) being offered and not company reference. b. A complete work history for the past five years. Include facility/practice name, address, contact person, telephone number and reason for termination. (Former employers may be contacted by evaluators. c. Include past and/or pending litigation(s). Documentation shallinclude the outcome of any past litigation(s) and a brief description of all pending instances. FACTOR 3: Cost: Technical and past performance, when combined, are given more weight than cost. ADDENDUM TO FAR 52.212-2 Ensure that each proposal clearly identifies the Offeror and/or Offeror's candidate, offeror address, point of contact and phone number. Offerors are required to submit criteria on each candidate proposed for fulfilling the requirements of the solicitation. It is not acceptable for the offeror to submit information relative only to their company. Candidate(s) may be interviewed by evaluators. Posted 10/07/99 (W-SN389829). (0280)

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