AI/LLM System Lifecycle Management & Governance

This contract establishes a framework for the end-to-end governance and oversight of artificial intelligence and large language model systems deployed in teleradiology services under the Department of Veterans Affairs. It mandates strict adherence to federal and VA-specific AI policies, requiring rigorous protocols for bias detection and mitigation, model transparency, auditability, and continuous monitoring throughout the system lifecycle. The focus is on ensuring equitable performance across diverse patient populations and maintaining compliance with evolving regulatory standards for ethical AI use in clinical decision support. The subcontract requires robust processes for documenting model development, validation, deployment, and retraining, with clear accountability structures for incident response and performance evaluation. Emphasis is placed on operational transparency, enabling clinical users and oversight bodies to understand how AI outputs are generated and validated. All systems must be designed to support human-in-the-loop workflows, with mechanisms for flagging uncertain or high-risk predictions, and must align with VA directives on data privacy, security, and clinical safety. Performance is tied to measurable outcomes in diagnostic accuracy, fairness, and regulatory compliance, with regular reporting obligations to ensure ongoing adherence to federal AI governance requirements.