VETERANS HEALTH ADMINISTRATION GREATER LOS ANGELES PAGER MODERNIZATION PROJECT: PAGER SOFTWARE AS A SERVICE (SaS) Responses to this RFI #36C26221Q0747 must be received no later than Monday May 17, 2021 at 3:00 P.M. THIS REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) IS ISSUED SOLELY FOR INFORMATION AND PLANNING PURPOSES ONLY AND DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A SOLICITATION. THE SUBMISSION OF PRICING, CAPABILITIES FOR PLANNING PURPOSES, AND OTHER MARKET INFORMATION IS HIGHLY ENCOURAGED AND ALLOWED UNDER THIS RFI IN ACCORDANCE WITH (IAW) FAR 15.201(e). DISCLAIMER This RFI is issued solely for information and planning purposes only and does not constitute a solicitation. All information received in response to this RFI that is marked as proprietary will be handled accordingly. IAW FAR 15.201(e), responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract. Responders are solely responsible for all expenses associated with responding to this RFI. SOURCES SOUGHT DESCRIPTION This is NOT a solicitation announcement. This is a sources sought/RFI only. The purpose of this sources sought/RFI is to gain knowledge of potential qualified sources and their size classification relative to NAICS codes 334614 or (related). Responses to this source sought will be used by the Government to make appropriate acquisition decisions. After review of the responses to this source sought, a solicitation announcement may be published. Responses to this source sought synopsis are not considered adequate responses for a solicitation announcement. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), VISN 22 Network Contracting Office, is seeking sources that can supply the VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System with Software as a Service (SaaS). PAGER SOFTWARE AS A SERVICE: STATEMENT OF WORK Introduction to Required Specifications VA has committed to the FedRAMP requirement for SaaS products. If the product is SaaS the contractor must either demonstrate current FedRAMP certification or commit to getting FedRAMP within 2 years. The Contractor shall provide all necessary and appropriate labor, certified technicians, travel, supervision, materials, parts, equipment, tools, control and disposal of hazardous/nonhazardous licensed material, training, proof of licensing, documentation of required services, and permits when required to perform all services for the Pager Modernization and Optimization Project, as outlined in requirements section of this document, for the Veterans Affairs (VA) Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System (GLA) located at 11301 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90073. Pager related services are integral to the efficient and effective operations of VA medical center personnel, facilities support and intra operations between VA Information Technology (IT) organizations. Pager service as defined for this contract, is the ability to send or receive text messages and patient documents via an on-person device (belt attachment or lab coat device that may include a personal mobile device). This does not include on location paging services within medical facilities (i.e. hospital speaker systems, on location announcements, etc.). Software as a Service (SaaS) is an application delivery model in which the application is hosted on a cloud infrastructure outside the security boundary of VA and is provided to the Cloud Service Customer (CSC) over the internet. (Software hosted in VA Enterprise Cloud (VAEC) does not meet this definition of SaaS.) The CSC uses the SaaS offering via a thin-client interface, such as a web-browser or a program interface. The CSC subscribes to the SaaS offering and is only responsible for limited application configuration settings. The Cloud Service Provider (CSP) offering the application is responsible for management of the application, safeguarding of data stored or processed by the application, and all elements of the underlying infrastructure. In order to qualify as SaaS for use at VA, and to align with Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) requirements, the hosting for the offering must conform to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) 800-145 definition of Cloud Computing. VA has committed to the FedRAMP requirement for SaaS products. If the product is SaaS the contractor must either demonstrate current FedRAMP certification or commit to getting FedRAMP within 2 years. The SaaS solution must be hosted withing the United States and data stored / transmitted within the solution must remain within the United States. System Requirements System shall be a SaaS based messaging solution to replace existing radio based clinical messaging. This solicitation will not include Life Safety based messaging should have the capability for Life Safety messaging (Code Blue and other critical Life Safety team notifications) Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA) compliant and or medical device certification No VA data stored on BYOD device. Application must be administered by trained VA personnel. (Deployment and User Management) Ability to send and view attachments (patient documents, blueprints. schematics etc.) Continuous messaging multiple and simultaneous mode messaging Reporting with multiple mode delivery (API, flat files or BI connectors) Ability to integrate with key VA systems (Cerner, Vocera, Service Now, Solar Winds, Tableau) Ability to integrate with On Call Scheduling Applications (AMION, SPOK OnCall) Message audit trail Message scheduling Message escalation (individual, group, key personnel) Ability to assign On-Call Teams The ability to send a text message or call a phone to deliver a message if no reliable mobile data connection is available, ensuring reliable delivery. Must support escalation of messages if the intended recipient does not read/acknowledge receipt of message. Create escalation rules so priority messages that go unanswered will automatically be escalated to a backup team member within defined timeframes. Escalation of alerts (Type of Tone, Volume of Tone, Alerts continue until acknowledged, override device settings if urgent.). Escalation of messages to other staff members to back up users if primary not available. (Including email) Users can forward their inbox when they are not available, and higher priority messages can be automatically escalated to back-up users. The ability for messages to be marked as urgent vs. non-urgent and to be assigned unique ringtones and delivery options so they are read and responded to first (i.e. persistent alerts, repeated delivery) Push notifications override device settings (i.e. silent, vibrate, Do Not Disturb ) for urgent messages. The ability to track the status of individual messages and whether the user has received or read them. The core functionality of the application is messaging, and user interface is built in a way that requires minimal user training. Ability to page groups of users at one time or create a team of users. Devices/pages must be easily swapped out and reassigned on the fly by users when a device is no longer functioning. Pagers must be able to track and audit for Quality Assurance purposes. Track speed of data/message transmission continuously Track downtime of system System must have the ability to share contacts database with Non-VA partners (University Affiliate) in a secure way (enabling seamless communication with both attendings and residents within the University Medical Center). System must have the capability of integrating with 2-way pagers / traditional radio based pagers using Wireless Communications Transfer Protocol (WCTP). System must support bring your own device in a secure manner. Personal devices with downloaded applications must be able to have communication data wiped remotely by a VA Administrator if the device is lost or stolen Must support IOS and android Patient care roles (charge RN, on-call physician specialties, care managers etc) and in-house ancillary services (respiratory therapy, janitorial, radiology tech, chaplain, etc) must be easily claimed or assigned. Pages can be sent based on a needed service or name of staff member. Instantly see the organizations entire directory by role/title/dept (integrate with an active directory, i.e. Microsoft). The objective is to have a unified, single view of who is on-call with one-click communication, preferably avoiding calls or texts to off-duty physicians using scheduling/routing rules The ability to create message templates for common activities (i.e. consults, orders, admissions) to improve the quality of communications. The ability for users to set-up customized automatic responses to indicate current status. Connectivity and Conformance Standards The middleware system must be compliant with all Office of Information and Technology and Information Security directives. The hardware must meet all VA minimum specifications and the software version must be approved for use on the VA network (Windows 10 and Server 2016/2019). The contractor s performance must be in compliance with all applicable state, federal and local laws and regulations. The SaaS solution supplied by the contractor must appear as an approved technology on the most current VA Technical Reference Model (TRM) or must be within 2 lifecycles of the most recent TRM approved version. https://www.oit.va.gov/Services/TRM/TRMHomePage.aspx. VA has committed to the FedRAMP requirement for SaaS products. If the product is SaaS the contractor must either demonstrate current FedRAMP certification or commit to getting FedRAMP within 2 years. The SaaS solution must be hosted withing the United States and data stored / transmitted within the solution must remain within the United States. The Contractor shall, where applicable, assist with the VA Authority to Operate (ATO) Process to help achieve agency authorization of the cloud service or migrated application. The Contractor shall not release any data without the consent of VA in writing. All requests for release must be submitted in writing to the COR/CO. Support Features Service Maintenance / Warranty The contractor provides 24 hour, 7 days a week Technical Support by calling a toll-free number. The Contractor provides documentation of services performed. The Contractor shall provide a warranty for all items and services provided under the IDIQ for the duration of the IDIQ and all associated delivery orders Additional Features and Requirements Training, instruction, and consultation must be provided by the contractor for both initial installation and post installation operations. Contractor shall at minimum provide on-site training for up to 8 hours per site as requested by the facility. The Contractor shall provide a training program that is coordinated with and timely to installation. Training shall include initial setup and user training; onsite training for go-live support, super user training and follow-up training DELIVERIES & PERFORMANCE Installation/Implementation Implementation/transition timeframe: All sites shall have complete installation and go live of their system within six months of award. Contractor shall execute an implementation plan which includes: Installation -. Testing- Acceptance-Must meet the approval requirements of accrediting agencies and laboratory medical director approval at each facility to meet accreditation standards. Go-Live- Dedicated project management and technical support must be available above the requirements of Section 3.4.1 the day of go-live at each site for 3 days. Post Go-Live Follow Up- Check-in should include at least a two week and 30 day after go-live date. LOCATION VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System 11301 Wilshire Blvd. Los Angeles, CA, 90073. PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE Base + 4Year Contract, Period of Performance will start within 90 days of Purchase Order award. The information identified above is intended to be descriptive, not restrictive and to indicate the quality of the supplies/services that will be satisfactory. It is the responsibility of the interested source to demonstrate to the government that the interested parties can provide the supplies/services that fulfill the required specifications. If you are interested and capable of providing the sought-out supplies/services, please provide the requested information as well as the information indicated below. If you are interested and capable of providing the sought-out supplies/services, please provide the requested information as well as the information indicated below. Response to this notice should include company name, address, point of contact, size of business pursuant to the following questions: (1) Please indicate the size status and representations of your business, such as but not limited to: Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business (SDVOSB), Veteran Owned Small Business (VOSB), Hubzone, Woman Owned Small Business (WOSB), Large Business, etc. (2) Is your company considered small under the NAICS 334614 or (related) identified under this RFI? (3) Are you the manufacturer or distributor of the items being referenced above (or equivalent product/solution)? What is the manufacturing country of origin of these items? (4) If you are a small business and you are an authorized distributor/reseller for the items identified above (or equivalent product/solution), do you alter; assemble; modify; the items requested in any way? If you do, state how and what is altered; assembled; modified? (5) Does your company have an FSS contract with GSA or the NAC or are you a contract holder with NASA SEWP or any other federal contract? If so, please provide the contract type and number. (6) If you are an FSS GSA/NAC or NASA SEWP contract holder or other federal contract holder, are the referenced items/solutions available on your schedule/contract? (7) Please provide general pricing for your products/solutions for market research purposes. (8) Please submit your capabilities with regard to the salient characteristics being provided and any information pertaining to equal to items to establish capabilities for planning purposes? *** Submissions addressing Section (8) should show clear, compelling and convincing*** evidence that all equal to items" meet all required salient characteristics. Responses to this notice shall be submitted via email to
[email protected] referencing RFI #36C26221Q0747. Telephone responses shall not be accepted. Responses must be received no later than May 17, 2021 at 3:00 p.m. PST. A solicitation will be issued and announced at a later date. All interested parties must respond to that solicitation announcement separately from the responses to this request for information. Responses to this notice are not a request to be added to a prospective bidders list or to receive a copy of the solicitation.