The Department of Veterans Affairs is seeking interested sources for a requirement entitled: HOME OXYGEN DELIVERY & SERVICE Veteran Integrated Service Network 23 (V23) currently serves an estimated 4,861 home oxygen patients in a 10-state area with the bulk of the catchment area residing in the states of Minnesota, North and South Dakota, Iowa, and Nebraska. The Contractor awarded this program requirement will service that entire multi-state area and its home oxygen patients. The contract period will be a base year plus four option years. The Home Oxygen Program is a 24 hour/day service, seven days a week and encompasses (i) the delivery and set up of prescribed Home Medical Equipment (HME); (ii) Veteran/caregiver education on services, equipment, basic home safety review, and establishing the schedule for ongoing deliveries (iii) preventive maintenance / inspection's (PMI) for equipment (iv) pick-up and cleaning of equipment when services discontinued (v) providing 24-hour emergency services with the ability to provide services at the VA beneficiary's (Veteran) home with a maximum of 6 hours of a call (most emergency services to be provided within 2 hours of a call) (vi) compliance with standards and regulatory bodies governing home care and oxygen usage such as: " American Respiratory Care Foundations for Respiratory Equipment Used in the Home " American Society for Testing Materials (ASTM) minimum standards specification for electrically powered home care portable ventilators " Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI) " Joint Commission Standard for Home Care, current year standard (vii) Quarterly reports to VA per contract (e.g. incidents reports, infection control, customer service, etc.) The term "home respiratory care" or "home oxygen therapy" pertains to the provision of home oxygen therapeutic services necessary to assist the eligible Veteran with oxygen in the home setting. Oxygen is a drug and must have a current prescription (minimally renewal is annually) to include necessary equipment and supplies. The program uses a multidisciplinary approach, involving members of Medical Service and Respiratory Therapy, Prosthetic and Sensory Aids Service (PSAS), Contracting, Accounting, and or performance improvement staff for compliance with the Joint Commission (TJC) standards. There are three primary methods for providing oxygen therapy in the home: (1) Compressed gas, (2) Oxygen concentrators, and (3) Liquid oxygen. The contract prices together with the Veteran's physical condition, daily activities, and projected liter flow rate will be the determining factors in choosing the most economical delivery system in each case and will be determined by the prescribing VA practitioner. The state of North Dakota requires a Respiratory Therapist for the initial set up of home oxygen service; otherwise the program itself does not require Contract staff to have a clinical license as the clinical oversight for Veterans in the home oxygen program is the responsibility of the VA clinical staff. The Contract staff is expected to have competencies in equipment delivery and set up, PMI, universal precautions (e.g. infection control), etc. as outlined by the contract's scope of work and most current Joint Commission Standards including National Patient Safety Goals. In addition, the Contractor is expected to adhere to the provisions of Public Law 104-191, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996 and the National Standards to Protect the Privacy and Security of Protected Health Information (PHI). The contractor is required to be in compliance with all the Joint Commission Standards pertaining to home care for the duration of the contract. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for this project is 532291 Home Health Equipment Rental with an associated small business size standard of $32.5 million dollars. This sources-sought announcement is used to identify concerns with the capability to accomplish the work. This is not a solicitation. Only those firms who respond to this announcement by submitting the following information will be used in determining whether to set aside/compete this requirement. Please provide all of the following: 1) A capability statement expressing interest in this requirement, describing your company and its capability to complete this work. Include a statement detailing any special qualifications and certifications, applicable to the scope of this project, held by your firm and/or in-house personnel. The capability statement must directly address home oxygen delivery and service to multiple thousands of home oxygen patients over a multi-state area with the bulk of the catchment area residing in the states of Minnesota, North and South Dakota, Iowa, and Nebraska. 2) A statement or list of your firm's current or past technical experience similar to or the same as the summary scope of work for this requirement. Include a brief description of the scope and schedule for each similar requirement. 3) A statement or list of your firm's current or past performance similar to or the same as the summary scope of work. Include a point-of-contact name, phone number, and email address. 4) A statement of your firm's business size and type (HUBZone, Service Disabled Veteran Owned, 8(a), Woman-Owned, Small Business, etc) utilizing the NAICS code and size standard noted above. Submit this information to Ms. Angela Beck, Contracting Specialist, via email to
[email protected]. Your response to this notice must be received, in writing, on or before 6:00 AM (Mountain Time) on Wednesday, November 12, 2014.