R--Medical Coding Services for Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington DC. Performance period 1 Jun 05 - 31 May 06. EDI solicitation released on May 4, 2005.

The purpose of this amendment is to extend the response date to May 20, 2005, 4:00 PM EST. Even though the Questions/Answers responses have been sent via EDI Amendment and through E-Mail, the same are presented as follows: Item 0001- Q:Was this left blank in error or should items and quantity amounts be listed there? A: This is the introductory line to the line items; No quantity on that line; Item 0001AA Q:Can you clarify what the number of inpatient and outpatient records are within the 18,000 qu antity; A:That is the quantity estimated; Item 0001AB Q:Is there a statistical history regarding the break out of inpatient and outpatient records within the 6000 quantity? A:No, they are separated; Item 0001AC-Simple inpatient records 10,200 quantity; Q :Does the term simple inpatient record signify that these are professional records or facility records? A:ITR = (inpatient treatment record);0001AD- other inpatient records 20,800 quantity; Q: What are other inpatient records? Does this mean inpatient fa cility? Or inpatient professional or both? A:APB (ambulatory procedure visit); CE = (critical encounter outpatient);Item 0001AF 11,200 Quantity; Q:Will the government determine the number of cases a contractor can perform remotely? A:This is a pilo t phase based upon the contingency for off site service; Q: b) Does the government expect to have the majority of the contract coders onsite or will that be determined by the contractor? A:Yes;Q: Can the government give us the statistical breakdown of o utpatient cases based on the medical services? A:The quantities in the solicitation are the quantities you should based your proposal upon; Q: Are emergency room records included in the outpatient quantity? A:Yes; Section 1;1;3 Q:Will these hours apply to the remote coder or only those coders on site? A: Yes;Section 1;2;6- Impatient Rounds; Q:5 per hour, 40 per day;Does this include both and professional inpatient records? A:Inpatient round; Section 2;2;12; Q: Of the medicine and surgery services liste d will the contract coder code both major and minor procedures? A:Both; Q: Will contract coders be responsible for coding general dentistry procedures? A: Not required to code for dental; Q;Radiology- would this include diagnostic and interventional proce dures? A:Combination; Q:Are there contract coders currently performing this task? If so who is the current contractor; A.Yes; You may come in under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to request the information; The information may not be received before this action is closed for review; You may request information from the FOIA from Ms;Cruz (+1 (555) 000-0000); Q: How many coders are currently working at Walter Reed? Are these coders Government employees or Contract and if contract who is the incumbent? A: (Not Applicable) (Can not disclose);Q:What is the pay rate for these coders? A: (Not Applicable) (Can not disclose); Q:Are they certified coders and if so where certification do they hold? A:Requirement of the Contract)(AHIMA, AACP);Q: How many charts do y our coders do per day and what kind? A:Inpatient 22-25, Ambulatory 40+, Clinical Encounter 65 - 80+; Q:Any remote coding? A:Yes); Q: What kind of software is currently being used? A:Standard Software use for DOD business practices) ;Q:How many audits are performed per month and how many charts per audit? A:(Monthly audit - 240 Total);Q: Do you expect to have a Program Manager? A:There will be a Contracting Officer Representative (COR); Q:How many clinics? A:The number of clinics is insignificant; the line items indicate the quantities required. The Government indicates the quantity, the contractor decides how many coders needed to do the task. GS Schedule holders are welcomed. Medical Coding for this facility does not include dental;The number of clinics i s not as important as the quantity requirement shown in the solicitation; Q:Any backlog? A:No; Q:What is the turn around for the coding? A: 5 working days upon receipt; Q:\ Any inpatient coding? A:Yes; Q:How many coders are currently working at Walter Reed? Are these coders Government employees or Contract and if contract who is the incumbent? A: Not Applicable; Can not disclose; Q: What is the pay rate for the se coders? A:Can not disclose; Q:SF 1449 CONTINUATION SHEETS; a: The descriptions under each of the item numbers state INPATIENT/ AMBULATORY/ CLINICAL CODERS it is not clear whether the quantities are for hours or records for certain item numbers; Please clarify for each of the item numbers below whether the quantities refer to hours, records, or some other unit; If for records, please indicate what type: 0001AA Coding Contract FFP, 18000;(Clinical Per Year). ii; 0001AB Transition Period, FFP, 1000: APVs m onthly). iii 0001AF Remote Coding, FFP, 11,180: (Inpatient per year); b; As related to staffing estimates in order to know the number of personnel that must be available to start work upon contract award. A: The Government indicates the quantities in the line items; the contractor decides how many coders needed to do the job. In terms of how all of the item numbers are to be ordered (e;g;, simultaneously) etc., As you know, it will depend upon the flow of customers and records to be coded. Q:The requireme nt states 35 pages plus attachments; Does the government intend that the attachments are beyond the 35 page limitation? A:The 35-pages is the maximum length of the package you will submit for review. IMPORTANT NOTES PERTAINING TO VOLUME I Q.Does the 1;5 ho urs include the time for the government to ask questions and receive answers from the offeror or is the 1;5 hours to cover the offerors presentation time alone? A.(Include time for questions and answers from the presentation);ORDER LIMITATIONS; a;The max imum order for the contractor to fulfill is 12480;At the current staffing level, this amount would only last 3;9 months of service; For a complete year, this would only pay for 6;5 FTEs; This would mean that anyone submitting a bid would only need to provi de up to 6;5 FTEs to be considered acceptable for award; PBWS, Section 1;1;1, SOW; a; The scope mandates remote coding for inpatient and Ambulatory Care (Outpatient) Visits; At present, this is done at the hospital and the key personnel providing such serv ices also support implementation of new initiatives; The contractor shall use alternate remote/electronic coding systems to code/abstract medical records to include scanning of medical records for off-site coding support to achieve workload requirements in the area of Ambulatory Care (Outpatient) Visits and Inpatient Treatment Records (ITR); The estimated quantity of services in the schedule states 11,180; To what extent is remote coding required? Should it begin upon award of the contract? (To be determi ned, one clinical service at the present time) (Yes, to cover the only service where remote coding is performed, this will require access and will not be available immediately upon award of the contract);Q.PBWS, Section 1;1;2, Site Manager. The requirement s for the site manager do not require practical expertise in coding  just knowledge of a broad range of references such as ICD-9-CM, CPT, HCPCS, medical dictionaries, manuals relating to coding textbooks and glossaries  is this the governments intent?. A:Yes, the site manager is expected to be not only certified but poses 3+ years of current coding/auditing experience); 8;PBWS, Section 1;1;3, Availability and Hours of Operations a;This requires services on a regular standard duty hour based on a Monday a nd Friday, 7:45 a;m; 4:30 p;m; with one-hour non-working, non-paid lunch break Monday through Friday. A:Yes, that is correct and is non-negotiable. The Government will only pay for services performed during and at the time the services are required (i.e. 7:45 AM  4:30 PM with one (1) hour, non-working, non-paid lunch breaks. Contractors must factor in their cost with their proposals. Q:Also, for remote coding , there is no reason to specific the hours that should be worked; Would the government consider eliminating this requirement? A:No. Please keep in mind that taking an exception the specifications, Could render your proposal Unresponsive. Q:9;PBWS, Section 1;1;4, Work Roster a; The requirement is to provide the list to the COR by the 20th of the month for the preceding month. A.Yes, the requirement is to be provided to the COR by the 20th of each month. At which time, COR should get the listing of hours wo rked. Work schedule changes must be submitted at a minimum of 48 hours in advance to ensure the services will be provided. Q:PBWS, Section 1;2;1;3, Government Furnished Items/Property. What is EWS-R? A:This is the international classification for diseases (currently using the 9th revision); Q:Who provides the scanning equipment for remote coding? A.Not applicable at this time); Q:Will the government make the required IT connectivity available to support remote coding? Yes, when applicable) Q:Is remote codin g expected to start upon contract award? If not, when? A: No, to be determined); PBWS, Section 1;2;2, Objective The statement Reads Provide accurate and comprehensive ongoing Inpatient, APC Is this a typo  should it be APV? A:(Yes, should be APV, Typo)1 2; PBWS, Section 1;2;12, HEALTH REQUIREMENTS a;What must the pre-employment physical include? This will limit flexibility in assigning personnel to meet workload demands; (Standard pre-employment physical examine); PBWS, Section 2;2;6, TRAINING. Q:It is n ew that the training of all new contractor staff is to be provided at no additional cost to the Government. (A:One (1) Week. );PBWS, Section 3;3;3, ANNUAL REVIEW TRAINING a;What is annual ART training? How long is the training? Who pays for the staff to a ttend  who must attend? Annual Review Training:customer service training, patient safety, infection control, preventive medicine, fire safety programs, 3 hours, WRAMC);15; PBWS, Section 4;1;4, GENERAL a; This states that report hourly services for servic es rendered; What are the hours referring to? A:Total number of productive work hours) 16; PBWS, Section 4;2;4, PRE-CERTIFICATION a; This section does not appear to belong in this SOW; Is this correct? A:Certification is the responsibility of the contract or.; PBWS Q:Presently one coder is assigned to TPOC to help with billing related matters; This is not included in the SOW specifically;Will this requirement continue? What specific clinics will require on-site support?A: Coding support will be provided to all areas as the need is identified by the directorate and validated for support)18; PBWS, Section 5;1;a; Item a; This statement is missing primary diagnosis and evaluation and management services; b;Item b; The requirements relate to inpatient coding only ;c;Item e; In certain departments the coder does all of the coding for cases eligible for third party reimbursement  radiation oncology, radiology, pathology  for other departments they verify.A:The solicitation Performance Based Work Statement is basica lly unchanged.