Q702--Sources Sought - Nephrologist Contractor to provide inpatient dialysis services to Veterans with the Veterans Health Care System of the Ozarks Hospital located in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE HEMODIALYSIS SERVICES Page 3 of 3 The Veterans Health Care System of the Ozarks Hospital, 1100 North College Avenue, Fayetteville, Arkansas, The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has a requirement to purchase inpatient dialysis services from community-based dialysis service providers. The period of performance will be June 1, 2021 through May 31, 2025. General Information: The contractor shall meet the requirements of the contract and be in compliance with Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) quality standards. The contractor shall provide, deliver, supervise, and monitor inpatient dialysis services to Veterans with the Veterans Health Care System of the Ozarks Hospital located at 1100 North College Avenue, Fayetteville, Arkansas. Inpatient dialysis services shall utilize contractor resources, contractor owned and maintained equipment, contractor staff, clinical and technical staff and the contractor equipment necessary or required for inpatient dialysis services. The contractor shall provide the services and associated health care in a manner consistent with the clinical needs of the Veteran and extend the same or superior standards of quality care as delivered to the facility s non-VA patients. The contractor shall utilize Registered Nurses to perform all inpatient treatments. Each nurse performing those services shall be responsible for the composition of the dialysate, administering IV solutions, blood and blood products and medications as ordered into the dialyzer blood line system necessary for treatments. Contractor shall conduct all equipment water testing and equipment maintenance, including cleaning of the dialysis equipment. Contractor shall be responsible for patient monitoring during the procedure. Inpatient Hemodialysis (HD) - Inpatient Hemodialysis treatment and technical services: Sunday through Saturday 24/7, on-call as needed basis to include Holidays VA will use the Dialysis Inpatient Consult for ordering Inpatient Hemodialysis. The contractor shall utilize a licensed nephrologist to manage the dialysis and any dialysis related complications. Orders may be given by the contractor s nephrologist to the contractor s nurse over the phone; the nephrologist need not be physically present at the bedside during each treatment. However, the nephrologist shall be available via pager and cell phone at all times. Verbal/telephone orders must be signed by the nephrologist per VHSO facility policy. At the discretion of VHSO, the nephrologist may be asked to evaluate the patient in person through submission of an Inpatient Consult with patient contact. Dialysis access will be placed by VHSO. Dialysis consent will be completed by VHSO prior to the dialysis treatment. For emergency dialysis (to be available 24 hour per day, seven (7) days per week), the contractor shall respond (be on site at VHSO) within six (6) hours from placement of the dialysis access and the call from the ordering VHSO physician. The VHSO physician will manage the patient s primary medical and/or renal problems. Contractor physician personnel will manage the dialysis treatment. Any emergencies (code blue, cardiac arrhythmia, respiratory failure, etc.) will be attended by the VHSO staff. Contractor personnel shall report to Ward 2B Nurses station upon arrival at VHSO to obtain the Inpatient Dialysis room key. Inpatient dialysis will take place in the dedicated inpatient dialysis room or in the ICU. Contractor shall document the services provided via a paper hemodialysis flow sheet, will maintain patient information, medical records, including results of tests, and will follow appropriate procedures to ensure the patient confidentiality rights are not violated in accordance with applicable state and federal confidentiality laws. In the event the nephrologist issues a verbal or telephone order to the registered nurse, that order will be written down and read back to the provider to assure accuracy. The order will be signed by the provider per VHSO facility policy after the order is given. The contractor will document the hemodialysis procedures on each patient treatment duration of dialysis, type of dialysis used, any difficulty with the procedure on the hemodialysis flow sheet. Any ancillary reports will be completed as necessary. This will be in addition to notes of any notable change in a patient s condition. The use of disposable, single-use only items for providing service under this contract is mandatory. Fistula clamps are one-time use/disposable items and need to be supplied as such. It is not acceptable to use them and wipe down/clean them for reuse. Contractor shall assure compliance with all relevant regulatory agencies and standards for their personnel, including but not limited to the Joint Commission (JC) or equivalent accreditation program, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), and the State of Arkansas, for all hemodialysis services rendered under this contract. If the contractor is not JC accredited, contractor shall provide documentation, upon request that ensures it has the resources to meet the quality requirements of the contract. Such documentation must be approved by the Chief, Quality Management. CONTRACTOR EQUIPMENT The contractor shall provide dialysis equipment and shall maintain and document all required preventative maintenance and repairs; shall comply with all relevant regulatory agencies and standards for its equipment; shall be responsible for monthly bacterial water testing and chemical water testing, and shall assure compliance with AAMI analysis guidelines; shall be responsible for quality assurance requirements related to bacterial cultures; and shall provide the VHSO with quarterly reports of preventative maintenance, biological testing, and monthly water quality testing results and all yearly reporting requirements. The Contractor will make corrections as needed to comply with VHSO policies, the Joint Commission Standards and additional accrediting bodies. The contractor shall comply with all applicable requirements of Federal, State, and local hazardous waste regulations. Documentation related to water logs, equipment checks, culture results, temperature logs, and dialysis support supplies will be inventoried on a weekly basis and an inventory check list will be provided to the COR on a monthly basis. A copy of all required documentation will be kept in a separate binder in the dialysis unit and be readily available at all times to the appropriate VHSO personnel. The Contractor shall provide a copy of any additions to the documentation to the COR on a monthly basis. Routine items and services related to the Inpatient Hemodialysis treatment included in the contract Price per treatment: Medically necessary dialysis equipment and dialysis support equipment; Purchase and delivery of all necessary dialysis supplies; All dialysis services furnished by the contractor s staff. Flushing of dialysis access and any supplies used; Staff time used to administer non-routine parenteral items; All dialysates, artificial dialyzers, bloodlines, and other supplies; Dialysate additives (e.g. Bicarbonate); Cardiac monitoring; Dressing changes of dialysis catheter or peripheral dialysis access. Drugs to be provided: Apresoline (hydralazine) Formulary Antiarrythmics Formulary Insulins Formulary Local Anesthetics Mannitol Dopamine Formulary Pressor drugs Lidocaine Dephenhydramine Solu-cortef (Hydrocortisone) Lanoxin (Digoxin) Formulary Antihypertensives Glucose Tablets Dextrose Propranolol Verapamil Levophed Non-Intravenous Antibiotics (when used at home by a patient to treat an infection of the catheter site) Normal Saline Heparin Protamine Epogen Calcitriol Activase Medications prescribed as part of hemodialysis treatment will be administered by the contractor RN. This administration (contractor staff time) is covered in the Price per treatment and may not be billed separately. Drugs that are used as a substitute for any of these items or are used to accomplish the same effect will be furnished by VHSO. As part of the hemodialysis treatment, the contractor is responsible for monitoring access, and if occlusions occur, the contract nephrologist shall be contacted for orders to provide appropriate patient care. The contractor may not monitor access through noninvasive vascular studies such as duplex and Doppler flow scans and bill separately for these procedures. Noninvasive vascular studies are not covered as a separately billable service if used to monitor a patient s vascular access site. The technical component of the procedure is covered in the Price per treatment. The contractor is required to provide documentation on the hemodialysis flow sheet for all treatment/services provided on the day of the service. Note: The NAICS Code for this procurement is 621492; size standard $38.5 million. The Service Contract Labor Standards will also apply to this procurement. This Sources Sought Notice is for market research purposes only and shall not be considered as a request for quote or an obligation on the part of the Government to acquire any services. No entitlement to payment of direct or indirect costs or charges by the Government will arise as a result of the contractor submission of this Sources Sought Notice or the Government s use of such information. The Government reserves the right to reject in whole, or in part, any contractor s input resulting from this Sources Sought Notice. No contractual arrangement will be made as a result of this notice. Information submitted in response to this Sources Sought Notice will not be returned. All interested parties that are capable of providing the required services shall submit a response via email to [email protected] no later than April 9, 2021, at 3:30 PM/CST. The responses shall be limited to 15 pages and address the information below. Contractor names, DUNS number, address, point of contact, title, phone number, and email address Brief description of the company background, capability to meet this requirement (may include nurse resumes, facility/company accreditations, type of equipment used, etc.), and past or current performance under contract (civilian or government). Contractor s Business Size and socioeconomic status, including Vendor Information Pages (VIP) verification, if applicable. Copy of current certificate of liability insurance. Contractor s interest in responding to a solicitation if issued. Point of Contact(s): Billy R. Morris, Contracting Officer [email protected]