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THIS IS A SOURCES SOUGHT (SS) NOTICE ONLY, NOT A SOLICITATION ANNOUNCEMENT AND SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED AS SUCH. The Government will not pay for any information received in response to this notice, nor will the Government compensate any respondent for any cost incurred in developing the information provided to the Government. This notice does not constitute a commitment by the Government. Any information provided in response to this market survey will be used for informational purpose only and will not be released. Vendor participation is not a promise of future business with the Government.
The purpose of this notice is to conduct market research and obtain information from current FSC Group 621 II Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) Contract Holders that are currently providing medical laboratory testing, analysis, courier, and related services at the time of this posting. Adequate information shall be provided for the Government to determine Contractors ability to provide the required services and meet test menu requirements at the time of Contractor s response to this notice.
The South Central VA Health Care Network (SCVAHCN referred to as VISN 16) will be pursuing a VISN-wide firm fixed price Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) in the near future. The BPA will be awarded to a single Contractor for a base year and 4, one year options for comprehensive commercial referral medical laboratory testing and analysis services. The required VISN 16 test menu is provided in the sources sought workbook on the V16 Test Menu tab. Required list of Immunohistochemical Stains (IHC) and Specialty Oncology IHC Stains is provided in the workbook on the Routine IHC Stain List and Specialty IHC Stain List tabs respectively.

Potential sources shall submit:
Business name, address, point of contact and phone number.

Business size, any applicable socio-economic category, DUNS number and SAMS number.

Copy of Contractor s current FSS 621-II contract.

Information for recent/relevant Government projects similar in nature/size and complexity to include customer name(s), contract number(s), period of performance, testing performed and contract(s) value.

A list of Contractor s testing laboratory location(s). Include address, CLIA licensure number, Lab Certification Code(s), effective dates and Lab Director for each testing site.

Contractor s current laboratory accrediting agency for each testing site. College of American Pathology (CAP), The Joint Commission on Laboratory Accreditation (TJC), The Commission on Office Laboratory Accreditation (COLA), etc.)

A list of VHA laboratories with currently established and fully operational LEDI interconnections for automatic ordering and resulting of laboratory tests between Contractor s testing laboratory information system and the sending VHA laboratory s VA VistA Laboratory Information System (LIS). Include the types of tests utilizing the LEDI interconnection at each VHA laboratory.

For tests not performed in-house by the Contractor, provide a list of external laboratories where testing is referred to include Laboratory name, address and CLIA number. Indicate whether or not an agreement with each respective laboratory is in place for the testing.

A list of Contractor s phlebotomy (blood drawing) centers located within 50 miles of each of the participating VISN 16 Laboratories.

A list of Contractor s semen collection and semen analysis centers located within 50 miles of each of the participating VISN 16 Laboratories.

Does your CAP, TJC, or COLA accreditation test activity menu include the complete test menu listed in the V16 Sources Sought workbook ?

Does the scope of IHC staining performed in contractor's laboratory include all IHC stains listed in the V16 Sources Sought workbook?

Detailed documentation demonstrating the Contractor s ability to meet each of the requirements listed in the Requirements section below as well as test menu requirements.

Minimum Requirements:

Contractor Laboratory (ies) shall be certified as meeting the requirements of the Department of Health and Human Services Clinical Laboratory Improvement Act of 1988 (CLIA-88).

Contractor Laboratory (ies) shall be fully licensed and accredited ensuring compliance with CLIA, The College of American Pathologists (CAP), The Joint Commission on Laboratory Accreditation, and/or other state regulatory agencies as mandated by federal and state statues.

Contractor shall accept a single purchase order from each participating V16 laboratory for invoicing purposes.

Contractor shall perform required testing listed on the VISN 16 test menu tab, routine IHC stain and specialty IHC stain tabs within awarded Contractor s laboratory(ies) with minimal referral to external/outside laboratories.

For any testing not performed in-house at Contractors lab, Contractor referred tests shall only be sent to a laboratory meeting all accreditation and licensing requirements.

Contractor shall perform IHC staining with the following ordering options: slides and controls are returned for sending VA lab interpretation, slides and controls are returned with a Contractor provided immunostain interpretation, and Contractor provided full surgical pathology consultation.

Contractor IHC staining interpretation options shall include manual and computer assisted scoring.

Contractor shall have a current, VA approved MOU/ISA for bi-directional interfacing to provide Laboratory Electronic Data Interchange (LEDI) interconnectivity between the awarded Contractor s testing laboratory(ies) lab information system (LIS) and the participating VISN 16 laboratory s VA VistA LIS.

Contractor shall have a successfully established and fully operational LEDI bi-directional interconnectivity for automatic electronic ordering between Contractor s LIS and VHA Laboratories. In addition to electronic ordering, the LEDI interconnection shall automatically populate qualitative and quantitative test results and other relevant information via HL7 messaging directly into the VA VistA LIS. LEDI interconnection shall be immediately available to begin implementation and successful operation at the participating V16 laboratories.

Contractor successfully established and fully operational LEDI interconnectivity between Contractor s testing laboratory information system and referring VHA Laboratories shall be a direct connection and operate without the use of Data Innovations or other middleware.

Contractor s LEDI interconnection supports generation of shipping manifests from each participating V16 laboratory for individual specimen tracking and order accuracy. Manifests shall be generated for each pick-up. (applies to both routine daily and STAT pick-ups).

Contractor shall meet VHA Directive and Handbook 6500 requirements that are applicable to the existing fully operational LEDI interconnection and sustain compliance as delineated in the Contractor s respective VA approved MOU/ISA.

Contractor shall perform pick-up services (routine and stat) for all participating VISN 16 Laboratories, which shall include packaging of specimens to maintain specimen integrity during transport while ensuring Department of Transportation (DOT), International Air Transport Association (IATA), and other applicable requirements for transport are met.

Contractor shall perform routine specimen pick-up from the area identified by each participating VISN 16 participating laboratory (Sources Sought Workbook Lab Info tab). Routine pick-up shall occur daily, Monday through Friday at the same pre-scheduled time. Pick-up times shall be based upon each V16 Laboratory hours of operation, workflow, and staffing.

Contractor shall provide STAT specimen pick-up services within one hour of notification by the requiring VISN 16 Laboratory location.

Contractor shall reconcile specimens for transport against their respective manifest prior to departing each VISN16 laboratory pick up location.

Contractor shall provide transportation/delivery/routing to the Contractor s respective testing laboratory location to perform testing.

Contractor shall provide any special preservatives and/or collection containers required for specimen preservation.

Contractor shall provide an on-line test inquiry (website or SharePoint) for test look-up that includes test name, synonyms as applicable, ordering test code, CPT code, LOINC code, reference range, test methodology, specimen type(s), collection and handling requirements, clinical significance/test interpretation and test turn-around time.

Contractor shall provide automatic email notification in VA VistA to each participating V16 Lab point(s) of contact following test completion, required test order changes, and test cancellations. Test completion emails shall be generated to the respective V16 laboratories no less than once per day. Test order changes and test cancellation emails shall be generated on date of occurrence.

Contractor shall provide automatic printing/faxing of patient results/reports at each participating V16 lab upon completion of testing by Contractor s laboratory.

Contractor shall provide customer service representatives that are available for contact by phone 24 hours per day, 7 days per week.

Contractor performing laboratory shall call critical test results to the respective V16 lab POC(s) immediately following test completion, regardless of time of day.

Contractor shall provide customer service and/or technical support staff to respond to routine inquiries regarding specimen collection requirements. These calls shall be addressed at the time of the initial call. Inquiries for esoteric collection requirements shall be addressed within ½ hour of initial call.

Contractor shall provide technical expertise to address test utilization inquiries shall be addressed within two (2) hours of initial call. Result interpretation inquiries shall be addressed within four (4) hours of initial call.

Contractor shall provide customer service for calls related to account follow-up, supply ordering, test pricing, etc. These questions shall be addressed within four (4) hours of the initial call.

Responses to this notice shall be emailed to Diyonne Williams at Diyonne.Williams@va.gov . Include the following in the email subject line: Referral Laboratory Testing Services . The associated North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) code for this procurement is 621511, Medical Laboratories and the small business size standard of 35.0 million.

This notice is to assist in determining potential sources only. Adequate information shall be provided for the Government to determine Contractors ability to provide the required services and meet test menu requirements at the time of Contractor s response to this notice. There is no solicitation currently available. There is no guarantee, expressed or implicit, that the market research for this acquisition will result in a particular set-aside, sole source award or any other guarantee of award strategy. All information is to be provided on a voluntary basis and at no charge to the Government.

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