NOTICE OF INTENT TO AWARD SOLE SOURCE I. The Network Contracting Office (NCO) 16, located at Galleria Financial Center, 5075 Westheimer Rd, Ste 750, Houston, TX 77030, intends to solicit and award a Sole Source, Firm-Fixed-Price, Task Order with a base year and four one year option periods to one Veteran Owned Small Business (SB) source under their GSA Federal Supply Schedule GS-35-0408X, Acustaf Development Corporation. Located at 7900 International Plaza, STE 710, Bloomington, Minnesota 55425. The Task Order will be for Gulf Coast Veterans Health Care System, 400 Veterans Ave, Biloxi, Mississippi 39531. Acustaf Development Corporation is the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) for the Labor Management Software. Contractor shall provide 3001-1 AcuStaf LMS Software Service Labor Management Software as a Service for 760 Licenses with increase to Licenses on an as needed basis. 3001 1 AcuStaf LMS Software Services Labor Management Software as a Service is the only known software product that has an Human Resource (HR) and Health Level-7 (HL7) interface to the Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture (Vista) and mirrors the language for VA Time and Attendance System (VATAS). Acustaf Development Corporation is currently the only authorized provider of 3001-1 AcuStaf LMS Software Service Labor Management Software as a Service. Description Unit of Issue Estimated Annual Quantity 3001-1 AcuStaf LMS Software Service Labor Base Year Management Software as a Service for 760 Licenses YR 1 3001-1 AcuStaf LMS Software Service Labor Option Year 1 Management Software as a Service for 760 Licenses YR 1 3001-1 AcuStaf LMS Software Service Labor Option Year 2 Management Software as a Service for 760 Licenses YR 1 3001-1 AcuStaf LMS Software Service Labor Option Year 3 Management Software as a Service for 760 Licenses YR 1 3001-1 AcuStaf LMS Software Service Labor Option Year 4 Management Software as a Service for 760 Licenses YR 1 Introduction This request seeks a solution to automate scheduling and staffing processes; provide decision support for staff assignments based on the objective and variable data; improve patient care by matching nursing competency to required needs. Contractor software shall provide self-scheduling options to nursing providers and data for outcome measurements. Pull data from Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture (VistA); Decision Support System (DSS); VA Nursing Outcomes Database (VANOD) and Paid Enhancement for VANOD (PEV); Office of Nursing Service (ONS) to create strategic plans based on retrievable and accurate data. The system shall accommodate today s increasing staffing challenges by using 21st century technology. The request is to have a seven-year contract, one base year and six option years. This system will accommodate all Gulf Coast Veterans Administration facilities. The system shall automate labor-intensive time-consuming processes that are now manually interfaced with multiple applications that increase efficiencies, data quality, and to support decision making. Staffing schedules are currently created several weeks in advance; however, as a patient population and available resources can change in a matter of hours, it is critical to have access to employee information to be able to adjust staffing arrangements to manage the clinical nursing needs of Veterans and to facilitate communication in changing needs within the facility and with the employees. Because nursing care is delivered 24 hours/7 days a week, ability to access and modify scheduling by managers, supervisors and chiefs in needed. Resource management not only involves staff planning, but also scores of managerial tasks including adherence to directives limiting hours of work in a given time period, regulatory dictates, and special pay and time accounting accordance to defined payment schedules. Nurses functioning as managers must have the flexibility to determine the appropriate level of nurses/nursing staff for patient care needs while considering a constellation of important variables, including the various education scope of practice and experience levels of staff. The number of staffing orientation, the number of temporary staff on the unit, the acuity of patients, anticipated acuity on a particular shift, the physical layout of the unit, the availability of hospital resources, the technology on the unit, and the unit turbulence (such as the number of admissions, discharges and transfers.) Potential use in other Services is under consideration. Scope An integrated system and automated data extraction tools are necessary to effectively assign staffing resources and monitor standards of care. This system will pull from systems that have data stored to avoid duplicate effort and to feed the other downstream data systems. The primary use of the system will be staffing scheduling, so managers can coordinate schedules, capture data, produce reports, and coordinate work assignments to meet patient care needs. The primary users of the system are nurse managers, supervisors, service chief and secretaries, who will coordinate schedules, capture data, produce reports, and coordinate work assignments. Tasks or Requirements Appropriate response to the fluctuations in patient census and acuities by using embedded decision support tools. Adequate staffing levels based on patient acuity and other care related variables. Collection of nationally comparable hours per patient day (HPPD) data. Collection of data to prepare staffing reports, develop strategic plans and improve hiring practices. Compliance with public law and other regulatory mandates for staffing regulations and monitors. Ability to consolidate multiple administrative needs in one package (licensure, certifications, emergency notifications, etc.) Generation of predefined and adhoc reports. Self-scheduling ability (major nursing satisfier). Accurate accounting of contract/agency nursing utilization. Success factors: production of accurate HPPD data, increase in efficiencies in managing staffing scheduling issues by 50%. Selection Criteria Vendor must meet or exceed all requirements as specified below. Deliverables or Deliver Schedule Specifications Utilizes an HL7 interface with Vista that brings in real-time Admit, Discharge, and Transfer information. Utilizes an HR interface that brings in several points of data validation for VANOD including series, position, grade, step, licensure information, EOD, degrees, other schooling, BOC, ALBCC, Occupation Series Code and more. Utilizes the census interface to correlate with budgeting and reporting to databases like VANOD, DSS, NDNQI and more. Required Functional capabilities: An automated staffing package is required to provide: Demographic Tracking tools: maintains employee contact/ emergency contact information. Maintains employee-preferred method of communication. Vendor shall provide any software updates and installation as they become available Staffing Scheduling Tools Maintain prospective schedules. Audit Trails for changes to the system Schedules can be created prospective across 12-month period. Allow staff to switch shifts amongst peers Allow staff to make themselves available for overtime and advise of current OT use in comparison to regular clients Manage Position Control Proficiency System: Ability to staff and maintain repositories of anecdotal notes for proficiency input, specialty certification tracking, licensure tracking, education (all degrees earned) tracking, skill-based competencies tracking, ACLS/BLS/131.5 tracking, and continuing education tracking. Mandatory tracking, mandatory health information. Tools for staff to self- report professional portfolio. Rule engines to facilitate scheduling: Apply regulations hour limits, time off requirements, staffing ratios, etc.) as they apply to individuals being scheduled to work: Apply union requirements stored in the system to create staffing schedules Use staff preferences to create staffing schedules. Match competencies to staffing needs. Match nursing staff with patient needs across the system while maintaining balanced patient workloads. Apply unit preference to competencies, e.g. ICU nurses are ACLS certified. Apply permanent schedules requests to when generating schedules. Apply rotating shifts rules when generating schedules. Capabilities to accommodate scheduling changes based on patient census scheduling. Apply patient acuities to staffing needs Track hours per patient day Generate alternate work schedules Capability to allow or restrict swapping unit assignments based on competencies. Capabilities to restrict overtime assignment based on regulations I. Predict staffing needs based on previous trends (e4g. high surgery days) Provide functionality to maintain disaster preparedness (notifications and call backs). Communication Tools: Creates a personalized web-based dashboard for all stakeholders Web-based for employee access Web-based for managers access for staff bidding Staff bidding on open positions (Staff to staff communication, e.g. to swap shifts) Exchange shifts between co-workers Alert applicants for checking status Produce real time reports for long-term strategy for hiring staff. Training/Implementation Vendor to provide on-site training at each facility to super users on general functionality, staff scheduling for end-users, and management reports for resource analysis. On-site implementation of the system is required as follows: Project Definition Establishing Project Goals Assigning Project Roles & Workgroups Define Interfaces Workload Define and Document Existing Workflow Processes Label configuration of job codes and units and leave schedules Present Projections for Workflow Process System Configuration System Administrator Training Security Configuration Workload and Unit Budget Validate Interface Data User Training Pilot Unit Training User Training System-Wide Project Role Out Employee Access Position Tracking Courses and Consultation Staffing Methodology Class Executive Analytics Class Reports Workshop Data Mining & Scorecards Set Up Alerts Government-Furnished Equipment and Government-Furnished Information Utilizes VA computer workstations, laptops, monitors Due to PII and employee data used by AcuStaf, all data will be stored on VA servers, behind the VA firewall which can be access through a VPN tunnel. II. The North American Industry Classification (NAICS) code for this acquisition is 541511 Custom Computer Programming Services, size standards: $34,000,000 (34M) III. This purchase will be made under Required Sources of Supplies and Services in accordance with FAR Part 8.405 and Limited Sources, as authorized by FAR 8.405-6. The Government intends to award a Firm-Fixed-Price contract, in accordance with FAR 16.202-1. IV. The anticipated award date is March 22, 2023. The Government intends to award a Firm-Fixed-Price Task Order. V. Please note that this is not a request for competitive quotes and is being posted for informational purposes only. Interested contractors, in addition shall provide the following information as an attachment to your response: 1. Identify any other companies owned (wholly or in-part) by the owners of this business who provide goods or services under the same or a related NAICS codes. Contractors shall provide their point(s) of contact name, address, telephone number, and email address; and the companys business size, and SAM Unique Entity Identification Number. 2. Is your company a small business, SDBs, HUBZone, or 8A concern? Please provide proof of qualifications. Is your company considered small under the NAICS code: 541511? 3. Do you plan on responding to a solicitation for this requirement with a Joint Venture utilizing multiple owned companies as majority or non-majority owner? Yes ___No ___ If yes, please identify which companies you are considering a Joint Venture and the ownership of each company. 4. Do you have an existing BPA s, GSA or VA, Federal Supply Schedule contract to procure the product being requested, please include the contract details in your response. 5. Do you (Contractor) manufacture the product itself or a distributor of the items being researched above? 6. Are you an authorized distributor/reseller? Provide evidence from original equipment manufacturer (OEM). 7. Do you (Contractor) supply a product manufactured by another domestic small business, if it is a nonmanufacturer? 8. Do you (Contractor) supply the product of any sized manufacturer if SBA has granted a waiver to the nonmanufacturer rule? 9. Is your (Contractor) Buy American Certificate completed in SAM? Please provide evidence with response. 10. Is your (Contractor) Trade Agreement Certificate completed in SAM? Please provide evidence with response. 11. Information for the product being requested, is it manufactured outside the US-Domestic non-available? 12. Information for the product being requested, is it a foreign manufactured end product under the trade agreement? 13. What is your schedule of delivery after receipt of order for the product? VI. Interested parties shall identify their interests and capability in response to this notice within Seven (7) calendar days of the publication of this notice. Any response to this notice shall show clear and convincing evidence that competition would be advantageous to the Government. VII. Questions regarding this notice should be sent to Contracting Officer Ross Futch no later than March 10, 2023 by 6:00pm (est) at ross.futch@va.gov.

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