This is a Request for Information (RFI) for Commercial Service in accordance with the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 12.1, (FAR) 13.5 under Simplified Acquisition Procedures, (FAR) 37.1 Personal Services Contracts, and 5 USC Sec 3109. No proposals are requested by this announcement; all responses shall be solely in the form of information and materials. In accordance with FAR 15.201(e), responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract. The Government is under no obligation to issue a solicitation or to award any contract on the basis of this RFI. Further, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is not seeking proposals and will not accept unsolicited proposals or any cost or pricing data. Personal Services contractors are advised that the Government will not pay for any information or administrative costs incurred in response to this RFI. All costs associated with responding to this RFI will be the sole responsibility of the contractor. All submissions will be treated as business confidential materials, become Government property, and will not be returned. Background The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Office of Information and Technology (OI&T), is responsible for effective administration of Veterans monetary and cemetery benefits thereby producing a high level of customer satisfaction for our nation's Veterans. In meeting these goals and striving to perpetuate high quality, prompt and seamless services to Veterans, the VA requires Contractor services to provide necessary software support to sustain the VA's Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture (VistA) Compensation and Pension Records Interchange (CAPRI) application while legacy computer applications are modernized in-house and/or under separate contractual vehicles. VistA utilizes the Massachusetts General Hospital Utility Multi-Programming System (MUMPS). CAPRI was written using the Embarcadero Delphi application development language. The CAPRI project is an Information Technology (IT) initiative to improve service to disabled veterans by promoting efficient communication between the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) and Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA). Online access to medical data enhances the timeliness of the benefits determination. The CAPRI software acts as a bridge between the VBA and VHA information systems. It offers VBA Rating Veteran Service Representatives and Decision Review Officers help in building the rating decision documentation through online access to Electronic Health Record (EHR) data found in the Computerized Patient Record System (CPRS). It also offers VHA Compensation and Pension (C&P) staff an easy, standardized way of recording C&P Examination reports. CAPRI is available at all VA Medical Centers and Regional Offices at more than 1,300 sites of care. Features include: a national user account option with a single access code from which authorized users can view a Veteran's entire VA health record from any site where the Veteran has been seen; customizable reports and health summaries; C&P exam requests and results; a search feature that enables users to review progress notes and discharge summary text; access to current and past Automated Medical Information Exchange (AMIE) C&P claims activity; Federal Health Information Exchange (FHIE)/Department of Defense (DoD) health data; and access to VistAWeb for quickly viewing data at remote locations. CAPRI builds upon existing VHA information security approaches. In addition to using established mechanisms to ensure only authorized access to medical data, CAPRI adds a level of security by allowing VBA users to read but not alter electronic medical record information. CAPRI also provides innovative improvements for medical centers by integrating highly detailed C&P Rating examination results into the Veterans' medical records. Previously, these reports were not retained online in medical center computer systems but were archived onto paper. This procedure precluded the sharing of clinically useful data. Initially developed specifically for VBA, the utility of CAPRI has been expanded to other user groups that include VHA, Office of the Medical Inspector, Office of Information, Research, and Veteran Service Officers. Recently, most of the newest features of CAPRI are specifically targeted at adding features to be used by VHA C&P providers and staff. Requirements The scope of this work effort is the Operations and Maintenance (O&M) of CAPRI with support for Development, Modernization, and Enhancements (DM&E) to the application, as determined and approved by the Government. The Government anticipates that there will be bimonthly [every two (2) months] releases for CAPRI. Additionally, there may be emergent releases based on emergent requirements. The Contractor shall perform all activities needed to support the program including: Project Management, application administration and maintenance (to include, but not limited to, defect repairs and regulatory updates to examination templates), end user support, documentation development, and DM&E. Additionally, the Contractor shall provide support as needed to VA in response to mandates or requirements set forth by the Administration and Congress, specifically related to the tasks referenced below. Written responses should address the following: 1. It is requested that interested contractors submit a response (electronic submission) of no more than 10 pages in length, single spaced, 12 point font minimum that addresses the above information, and the requirements of the attached DRAFT Performance Work Statement (PWS). In response to the RFI, interested contractors shall submit the following information by May 4, 2011. 2. Capabilities/Qualifications - Description of the capabilities/qualifications/skills your company possess to perform the work. 3. Teaming Arrangements - Description of Teaming Partners, Joint Ventures that your company would consider to perform the work. 4. Socio-Economic Status - Indicate whether your company, subcontractors, teaming partners, joint ventures have a Federal Socio-Economic status, e.g., Small Business, Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business, Veteran Owned Small Business, Woman-Owned Small Business, Disadvantaged Small Business, and Hub Zone. If Service-Disabled or Veteran Owned Small Business, is your company and or partners certified in VA's VetBiz (www.vip.vetbiz.gov) repository? 5. Price information - Provide your commercial price history and rough order of magnitude for the same or similar products/solutions. 6. Other Market Information - Provide any other relative information, however this information must be included within the 10 page limitation. Additional Submission Information Required Please include, at a minimum, the following information in the initial paragraph of the submission: " Vendor Information, including point of contact " Website " GSA and/or GWAC. Please include number, expiration date, etc. " Socioeconomic data " Tax ID Contact Information Following are the Points of Contact (POC) for this RFI: Carol Newcomb Contracting Officer
+1 (555) 000-0000 contact@example.gov Joshua Cohen Contract Specialist
+1 (555) 000-0000 contact@example.gov Please submit electronic responsesby the deadline date, 2:00PM, Wednesday, May 4, 2011, to the POC's at the e-mail addresses listed above. PDF files should contain transformed Microsoft Office applications; Word, Excel and Visio, as appropriate for the individual reports. You may submit questions by email regarding this RFI until close of business Tuesday, May 3, 2011 to the email addresses listed above. Questions received after this date may not receive a response in time to meet the submission deadline.
