SOURCES SOUGHT
65 -- EYE GLASSES PROCUREMENT FOR VISIN 1 HEALTHCARE FACILITIES
- Notice Date
- 8/25/2010
- Notice Type
- Sources Sought
- NAICS
- 339115
— Ophthalmic Goods Manufacturing
- Contracting Office
- Department of Veterans Affairs;VA Boston Healthcare System;Contracting Officer (90C);940 Belmont Street;Brockton MA 02301
- ZIP Code
- 02301
- Solicitation Number
- VA24110RP0568
- Response Due
- 9/1/2010
- Archive Date
- 9/6/2010
- Point of Contact
- Audrey Wooten
- E-Mail Address
-
cting
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- Scope of Work: The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has an ongoing program to furnish eyeglasses to those veterans that require them and for those that are eligible for assistance. It is the VA's intent to solicit offers and award a contract or contracts on a competitive basis under the authority of Title 38 U.S.C. Section 8123 for a firm fixed price. Pricing Schedule: Under this contract, the Contractor is required to provide a complete pair of glasses. However, the VA reserves the right to purchase any item in the Schedule as well. Solicitation: This solicitation adheres to the format defined in FAR 12.303 for the acquisition of commercial products. Solicitation of Beneficiaries: The Contractor agrees not to directly or indirectly, through agents, solicit eligible veteran beneficiaries. VA personnel shall not direct, guide or prompt a veteran beneficiary to a specific contractor except when a physician determines that it is a medical necessity. All eligible veteran beneficiaries shall be given the name of the awarded provider with the following header statement in bold face type: ANY ATTEMPT TO INFLUENCE YOUR DECISION OR TO DIRECT YOU TO ANY PARTICULAR CONTRACTOR SHOULD BE REPORTED TO THE MEDICAL CENTER DIRECTOR OF THIS FACILITY. Standards of Performance: The Contractor shall fabricate all eyeglasses in strict conformance to the eyeglass prescription that has been provided by the VA Clinic Team, Chief, Prosthetics, and/or authorized designee. The Contractor shall not add or substitute components or alter the beneficiaries' prescription in any way without prior approval and written authority from the VA Clinic Team, Chief, Prosthetics, Network COTR (Contracting Officer Technical Representative) and/or authorized designee. All items provided by the Contractor shall be new. Substitutions: If contract frames are not available and substitutions are requested, the contractor shall notify the Network COTR and the Prosthetic Services at the respective medical center notifying them of the requested substitute. All substituted frames shall be of equal or greater quality at no additional cost. Substitutions shall not be made without prior notification to the Network COTR and facility. Lenses: a. All lenses shall be fabricated and provided in accordance with the standards set forth in the current edition of American National Standards Institute for Ophthalmic Lenses - Recommendation ANSI Z80.1, 2005 Edition. All ophthalmic lenses shall be in accordance with Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Regulation (2) CFR, Parts 3 and 4 for impact resistance, unless otherwise specified in the order. Glass ophthalmic lenses shall be chemically strengthened for impact resistance. All glass and plastic ophthalmic lenses shall be corrected curved lenses. Ophthalmic lenses with cylinder power of less than 1.5D or greater than 1.5D shall be fabricated in minus cylinder form, unless positive cylinder form is specified in the order. b. Single Vision Lenses. Lenses shall be available in glass, plastic or polycarbonate and need certain hi-index, i.e. 1.65. Construction of single vision lenses shall include spheres, plano-cylinders and sphero-cylinders in all powers. Clear, framed lenses and oversized blanks shall be available. For single vision patients, suitable pieces of broken lenses can be used for fabricating blank/plano lens. c. Bifocal Lenses. Lenses shall be available in glass, plastic or polycarbonate and hi-index. Construction of bifocal lenses shall include spheres, plano-cylinders, and sphero-cylinders in all powers. Add +0.50 to +4.00D. Clear, framed lenses and oversized blanks shall be available. Lenses shall be available in glass with flattop, executive and round segments, and polycarbonate with flattop segments. For single vision patients, suitable pieces of broken lenses can be used for fabricating blank/plano lens d. Trifocal Lenses. Lenses shall be available in glass, plastic or polycarbonate. Construction of trifocal lenses shall include spheres, plano-cylinders and sphero-cylinders in all powers. Add +1.50 to +4.00D, 50% intermediate power. Clear, framed lenses and oversized blanks shall be available. Lenses shall be available in glass with flattop, executive and round segments and polycarbonate with flattop segments. For single vision patients, suitable pieces of broken lenses can be used for fabricating blank/plano lens. e. The Contractor shall provide any special lens design. Special lenses shall be available in opaque, frosted or black, balanced lens, prismatic lens, cataract lens, aspheric lens, and slab-off prism. These requirements will be specified by the Government on the prescription/order. Charges shall be in accordance with the Contractor's current regular published list price (to be provided immediately after award). Updates shall be furnished upon publication. Frames: a. All frames shall be fabricated in accordance with the current edition of the American National Standards Institute Requirements for Dress Ophthalmic Frames ANSI Z80.5, 2004 Edition. All items provided by the contractor shall be new. The Contractor shall provide completely assembled eyeglass frames placed in standard alignment and include mounting of lenses. b. Eyeglass Case: One eyeglass case shall be provided at no additional cost to the Government with each pair of eyeglasses furnished. Eyeglass cases shall be the sliding style or snap style at the discretion of the beneficiary. c. Upon contract award, the Contractor shall provide free sample frame sets to each medical center and eye clinic in each available size combination and color of each men s, women s and unisex frame to allow for different eye sizes, bridge sizes, temples and colors. New frame samples shall be provided with each contract renewal at no charge. d. Metal frame samples shall include both adjustable nose pads and fixed bridges. New frame samples shall be submitted prior to each contract renewal. These frames must be approved by the VA prior to contract performance. Any proposed substitutes for, or changes to; the approved frames must be approved in writing by the Contracting Officer s Technical Representative (COTR). Upon contract award and upon COTR written approval of the submitted frames, the contractor shall provide, to the VA Healthcare System, two (2) sample kits and two (2) display cases for frames at no charge. e. The contractor shall maintain an adequate inventory of all items covered by this solicitation and shall provide a similar or equal item if stock is not immediately available or in case of emergency. The contractor will work with their suppliers to ensure stock is maintained at all times and no undue delays are incurred. Any substitute items shall be approved by the COTR. The Contractor shall be staffed and stocked to render prompt service and shall be equipped and trained to render satisfactory and courteous service at all times to the veteran beneficiaries. Prescribing Errors: The Contractor shall make corrections in prescribing errors at no cost to the Government. Mounting Lenses: Contractor shall mount lenses for patient owned frames when requested. Government will deliver patient owned frames to the Contractor. Contractor is responsible to meet the five-day delivery schedule after receipt of the eyeglass frame and delivery order. Error/Defect Limitation: No more than-two percent error/defect tolerance of prescribed of prescribed frame measurements and lens refraction will be acceptable. Exceeding the two (2) percent requirement for orders placed by any one given facility will be grounds for possible termination. This requirement will be strictly monitored. Direct Mail: Direct mail from the Contractor to the veteran shall be available upon request of the ordering facility at no additional charge. Contractor shall mail (at the least via priority mail) eyeglasses in sufficient time to meet the five-calendar day delivery. Contractor shall submit written notification to the ordering facility, noting to whom the eyeglass was addressed, delivery order number and date of mailing. Orders: Contractor must have the capability to receive orders via facsimile and/or electronic encrypted transmission. Batching: The Government will submit all orders to the Contractor as soon as possible after they are made available to VA purchasing staff. It is acknowledged that batching may occur by either the Government or the Contractor, but both parties shall make a good faith effort to avoid batching whenever possible. Salvage: In the event that a veteran beneficiary dies prior to delivery and acceptance of eyeglasses, VA shall pay the Contractor for the work performed up to the point that they are notified to stop work. The price to be paid shall be mutually agreed upon and shall not exceed the contract price of the eyeglasses less the salvage value of the unused components. Performance, Delivery, Inspection and Acceptance: a. Under normal circumstances, the Contractor is required to deliver items under this contract no later than five Federal working days after receipt of a purchase/delivery order. The Contractor shall notify the VA Prosthetic Representative and/or the Network COTR in the event he/she is unable to deliver the required items in accordance with the Government's required delivery date. Failure by the Contractor to provide a written notification within 48 hours as specified above constitutes receipt of an order. b. In the event the Government desires expedited delivery, the ordering activity shall telephonically contact the Contractor and inquire into the feasibility of obtaining this condition. The Contractor shall respond within 24 hours to such a request and an expedited delivery date shall be mutually agreed upon. Failure by the Contractor to deliver the ordered eyeglasses on an expedited basis, or otherwise fulfill the agreed upon requirements shall constitute an event of default, and the Contracting Officer shall undertake any action authorized pursuant to this solicitation, or otherwise in accordance with applicable statues and regulations. c. During the 90-day period after acceptance, all necessary adjustments (i.e., material defects, distortion, etc.) shall be made by the Contractor. The Contractor warrants/guarantees the eyeglasses against defective and/or workmanship for a minimum of one year from the date of acceptance. Manufacturer's warranties of eyeglass components that extend beyond the minimum one-year period shall be expressed and also enforced. The Contractor agrees to furnish without additional cost to the Government, all labor and materials necessary to correct defects that were detected during the guarantee period. Should the prescription be incorrectly filled, the Contractor agrees to make corrections at no additional cost to the Government. These conditions do not apply to adjustments incidental to the wearing of eyeglasses, adjustments required by physical change of the wearer, or where there is evidence of deliberate misuse of alteration by anyone other than the Contractor. If eyeglasses are returned to the Contractor for correction for a problem due to their error, the corrected glasses shall be returned to the VA facility within three calendar days of receipt of the defective glasses. d. The Contractor shall immediately notify all affected VA facilities and contracting activities in the event of a product recall, removal, required adjustment, or required modification that is suggested or mandated by the Contractor, distributor, manufacturer, or nay other regulatory or official agency. The information that shall be included in this notification includes: 1. A complete item description, identification; 2. Administrative identification data including contract number, order numbers and order date; 3. Reasons for recall, removal, adjustment or modification; and 4. Instructions for appropriate corrective action. e. A waiver/exception to the product service delivery requirements stated above may be granted on a case by case basis by the VA Prosthetic Representative and/or the Network COTR in the event that it is determined these requirements would place an undue burden on the veteran or that circumstances warrant it. Delivery Locations: VA Medical Center VA Medical Center 200 Springs Road 150 South Huntington Avenue Bedford, MA 10730Boston, MA 02130 VA Outpatient ClinicVA Medical Center 251 Causeway Street940 Belmont Street Boston, MA 01730Brockton, MA 02301 VA Outpatient ClinicVA Outpatient Clinic 130 Marshall Road605 Lincoln Street Lowell, MA 01852Worcester, MA 01605 VA Connecticut - Newington CampusVA Medical Center 555 Willard Avenue421 North Main Street Newington, CT 06111Leeds, MA 01053 VA Medical CenterVA Medical Center 830 Chalkstone AvenueOne VA Center Providence, RI 02908-4799Augusta, ME 04330 VA Medical CenterVA Connecticut - West Haven Campus 1400 VFW Parkway950 Campbell Avenue West Roxbury, MA 02132West Haven, CT 06516 VA Medical CenterVA Medical Center 215 North Main Street718 Smyth Road White River Junction, VT 05009Manchester, NH 03104 Exact delivery points will be indicated on each individual delivery order. Authorization Form: The Government will use VA Electronic Eyeglass Request Consult Form 513 to place orders with the Contractor. The Contractor shall submit VA Form 513 order and an invoice, if used, upon delivery of an order back to the VA Medical Center. The Contractor must be able to accept facsimile and/or electronic encrypted transmission of eyeglass orders. Contract Period: This contract shall cover a base year period to take effect upon award with four (4) one year options to renew, subject to the availability of funds. Federal Holidays: The ten holidays observed by the Federal Government are: New Year s DayLabor Day Martin Luther King, Jr.'s BirthdayColumbus Day Presidents DayVeterans Day Memorial DayThanksgiving Day Independence DayChristmas Day or any other day specifically declared by the President of the United States to be a national holiday. Contractor shall not be responsible for providing services on Federal Holidays. *** When a holiday falls on a Sunday, the following Monday shall be observed as a legal holiday. When a holiday falls on a Saturday, the preceding Friday is observed by U.S. Government agencies Contracting Officer: The Contracting Officer is the only person authorized to approve changes or modify any of the requirements under this contract. The Contractor shall communicate with the Contracting Officer on all matters pertaining to contract administration. Only the Contracting Officer is authorized to make commitments or issue changes, which will affect price, quantity, or quality of performance of this contract. In the event the contractor effects any such change at the direction of any person other than the contracting officer, the change shall be considered to have been made without authority and no adjustment will be made in the contract price to cover any increase in costs incurred as a result thereof. All correspondence and any questions will be directed to the Contracting Officer for advisement. The Contracting Officer's address is 940 Belmont Street, Brockton, MA 02301. Any technical questions pertaining to this contract should be directed to the Contracting Officer's Technical Representative (COTR) as delegated by the CO. (Refer to Delegation of Authority issued after award). The COTR has duties and limited responsibilities as detailed in the Delegation of Authority, which the Contractor is cautioned to read. The Contractor may be held liable if they follow direction for which the COTR has no authority to issue. Payment and Invoices: Invoices submitted for payment shall include the contract number, purchase/delivery order number, beneficiary s name; detail of work accomplished, HCPCS Codes for each item, and must be accompanied by a copy of the signed acceptance receipt. All invoices will be submitted in accordance with the addresses provided on the purchase/delivery order. The preferred method of payment will be the Government Purchase/Visa Credit Card and the Contractor must be capable of accepting it for payment. The contractor will also need to be able to process at Level II. If this involves additional machinery or computers, this will be at the contractor s expense. In using the Government Purchase Card/Visa, a credit card receipt with the invoice and signed acceptance receipt must still be forwarded to the appropriate VA facility as soon as the transaction has been completed in accordance with the guidelines and time frames in utilizing the Government Purchase/Visa Credit Card. The Government Purchase Card should not be charged until the eyeglass pair(s) are delivered and accepted. The contractor must be capable of submitting invoices via electronic encryption transmission to the appropriate VA facility. If this involves additional machinery or computers, this will be at the contractor s expense. JOINT COMMISSION ON ACCREDITATION OF HEALTH CARE ORGANIZATIONS (JOINT COMMISSION), CMS AND OTHER SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS Where the contract does not require Joint Commission accreditation or other regulatory requirements regarding worker competency, the Contractor must perform the required work in accordance with Joint Commission and CMS standards. The Contractor must demonstrate that he/she has met or exceeded Joint Commission and CMS requirements. The contractor is required to develop and maintain the following documents for each Contractor employee working on the contract: credentials and qualifications for the job; a current competence assessment checklist (an assessment of knowledge, skills, abilities and behaviors required to perform a job correctly and skillfully; includes knowledge and skills required to provide care for certain patient populations, as appropriate.); a current performance evaluation supporting ability of the Contractor employee to successfully perform the work required in this solicitation; and listing of relevant continuing education for the last two years. The Contractor will provide current copies of these records at the time of contract award and annually on the anniversary date of contract award to the VA Contracting Officer s Technical Representative (COTR), or upon request, for each Contractor employee working on the contract. The Contractor will be responsible to ensure that Contractor employees providing work on this contract are fully trained and completely competent to perform the required work. The Contractor is required to maintain records that document competence/performance level of the Contractor employees who participate in this contract are in accordance with Joint Commission, CMS and other regulatory body requirements. The Contractor will provide a current copy of the competence assessment checklist and annual performance evaluation to the COTR for each Contractor employee working on this contract. When changes in Contractor personnel are approved in accordance with the Key Personnel clause of the contract, the Contractor must provide evidence of orientation, the current competence assessment, and current performance evaluation that supports the above. Where the contract does not require Joint Commission accreditation or other regulatory body requirements, the Contractor must perform the required work in accordance with Joint Commission and CMS standards. A copy of these standards may be obtained from the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, One Renaissance Blvd., Oakbrook Terrace, IL 60181. The websites for Joint Commission and CMS are: http://www.jointcommission.org/Standards/; http://www.cms.hhs.gov/ SPECIAL CONTRACT REQUIREMENTS 1. KEY PERSONNEL AND TEMPORARY EMERGENCY SUBSTITUTIONS: The Contractor shall assign to this contract the following key personnel: all individuals providing supplies and services to VA Beneficiaries AND for whom information about education and training is required to be submitted as a part of the response to this Request for Proposal including, but not necessarily limited to, those individuals who must meet the training requirements set forth in the GENERAL REQUIREMENTS SECTION. a. During the first ninety (90) days of performance, the Contractor shall make NO substitutions of key personnel unless the substitution is necessitated by illness, death, or termination of employment. The Contractor shall notify the Contracting Officer, in writing, within 15 calendar days after the occurrence of any of these events and provide the information required by paragraph (c) below. After the initial 90-day period of the contract, the Contractor shall submit the information required by paragraph (c) to the Contracting Officer at least 15 days prior to making any permanent substitutions. b. The Contractor shall provide a detailed explanation of the circumstances necessitating the proposed substitutions, complete resumes for the proposed substitutes, and any additional information requested by the Contracting Officer. Proposed substitutes shall have comparable qualifications to those of the persons being replaced. The Contracting Officer will notify the Contractor within 15 calendar days after receipt of all required information of the decision on the proposed substitutes. The contract will be modified to reflect any approved changes of key personnel. If the VA does not agree with the proposed substitutes and their qualifications, then VA will terminate the contract and the contractor will not get the $4000 minimum. c. For temporary substitutions where the key person will not be reporting to work for three (3) consecutive work days or more, the Contractor will provide a qualified replacement for the key person. This substitute shall have comparable qualifications to the key person. Any period exceeding two weeks will require the procedure stated in paragraph (b) above. 2. HHS/OIG To ensure that the individuals providing services under the contract have not engaged in fraud or abuse regarding Sections 1128 and 1128A of the Social Security Act regarding federal health care programs, the contractor is required to check the Health and Human Services - Office of Inspector General (HHS/OIG), List of Excluded Individuals/Entities on the OIG Website: www.hhs.gov/oig for each person providing services under this contract. Further the Contractor is required to certify in its proposal that all persons listed in the contractor s proposal have been compared against the OIG list and are NOT listed. During the performance of this contract the Contractor is prohibited from using any individual or business listed on the List of Excluded Individuals/Entities. 3. CONFIDENTIALITY OF PATIENT RECORDS The Contractor is a VA contractor and will assist in the provision of health care to patients seeking such care from or through VA. As such, the Contractor is considered as being part of the Department health care activity. The contractor is considered to be a VA contractor for purposes of the Privacy Act, Title 5 U.S.C. 552a. Further, for the purpose of VA records access and patient confidentiality, Contractor is considered to be a VA contractor for the following provisions: Title 38 U.S.C. 5701, 5705, and 7362. Therefore, Contractor may have access, as would other appropriate components of VA, to patient medical records including patient treatment records pertaining to drug and alcohol abuse, HIV, and sickle cell anemia, to the extent necessary to perform its contractual responsibilities. However, like other components of the Department, and not withstanding any other provisions of the sharing agreement, the Contractor is restricted from making disclosures of VA records, or information contained in such records, to which it may have access, except to the extent that explicit disclosure authority from VA has been received. The Contractor is subject to the same penalties and liabilities for unauthorized disclosures of such records as VA. The records referred to above shall be and remain the property of VA and shall not be removed or transferred from VA except in accordance with U.S.C.552a (Privacy Act), 38 U.S.C. 5701 (Confidentiality of claimants records), 5 U.S.C. 552 (FOIA), 38 U.S.C. 5705 (Confidentiality of Medical Quality Assurance Records) 38 U.S.C. 7332 (Confidentiality of certain medical records) and federal laws, rules and regulations. Subject to applicable federal confidentiality or privacy laws, the Contractor, or their designated representatives, and designated representatives of federal regulatory agencies having jurisdiction over the Contractor, may have access to VA s records, at VA s place of business on request during normal business hours, to inspect and review and make copies of such records. The contractor will have and maintain access to digital certificates for all key staff for the safe electronic transmission of patient information via patient encryption (e.g. PKI). The VA can assist the contractor in getting PKI access. Any initial or recurring costs that may be incurred are the responsibility of the contractor. 4. PRIVACY POLICY TRAINING All contractor and subcontractor employees performing work under this contract and having access to patient records and other privacy act information are required to complete the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) s mandatory VHA Privacy Policy training course. The course is available on-line at the VHA Employee Education System (EES) website: https://www.ees-learning.net/librix/loginhtml.asp?v=librix Instructions: The basic course is designed to be finished in 50-60 minutes. If you choose to read information behind the MORE buttons, self-test questions, and scenarios, it may take you an additional 30 minutes to finish. When the course is successfully completed, a training certificate will be issued on-line. First-time users will set up a profile and choose a username and password. After login, choose Available Courses on the left. Enter Keyword: Privacy, then choose Search. Courses will come up on the screen; choose SIGN ME UP for the listing: VHA Privacy Policy Web Training. A new screen will come up with the course click the course link and proceed with the online training and print the certificate at the end of the web training. Submittal: Training completion certificates or proof of training for contractor furnished training for all applicable contractor and subcontractor employees shall be forwarded as one submittal package to the Contracting Officer within ten (10) calendar days of Contract or Purchase Order Award. Business Hours: The administrative business hours for the VA are 8:00am - 4:30pm, Monday through Friday, Federal Holidays and weekends excluded. Contact for Contract Administration: Offerors are requested to designate a person to be contacted for prompt contract administration. 1. CONTRACTOR S NAME/ADDRESS/CITY/STATE-ZIP (Please print or type): _________________________________________ ________________________________________ _________________________________________ Point of Contact/Title:___________________ Telephone: ___________________________ Facsimile #: __________________________ E-mail: _______________________________ DUNS NO:________________________________ 2. CONTRACTOR'S REMITTANCE ADDRESS: All payment by the Government to the contractor will be made in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Clause 52.232-34, Payment by Electronic Funds Transfer Other than Central Contractor Registration (31 U.S.C. 3332): ADDRESS:___________________________________________ ___________________________________________ __________________________________________ ___________________________________________
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