U--Ophthalmology Biometry Training

This Sources Sought Notice is for planning purposes only and shall not be considered as an invitation for bid, request for quotation, request for proposal, or as an obligation on the part of the Government to acquire any products or services. Your response to this Sources Sought Notice will be treated as information only. No entitlement to payment of direct or indirect costs or charges by the Government will arise as a result of contractor submission of responses to this announcement or the Government use of such information. This request does not constitute a solicitation for proposals or the authority to enter into negotiations to award a contract. No funds have been authorized, appropriated, or received for this effort. The information provided may be used by the Department of Veterans Affairs in developing its acquisition approach, statement of work/statement of objectives and performance specifications. Interested parties are responsible for adequately marking proprietary or competition sensitive information contained in their response. The Government does not intend to award a contract on the basis of this Sources Sought Notice or to otherwise pay for the information submitted in response to this Sources Sought Notice. The purpose of this sources sought announcement is for market research to make appropriate acquisition decisions and to gain knowledge of potential qualified Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Businesses, Veteran Owned Small Businesses, 8(a), HubZone and other Small Businesses interested and capable of providing the services described below. Documentation of technical expertise must be presented in sufficient detail for the Government to determine that your company possesses the necessary functional area expertise and experience to compete for this acquisition. Responses to this notice shall include the following: (a) company name (b) address (c) point of contact (d) phone, fax, and email (e) DUNS number (f) Cage Code (g) Tax ID Number (h) Type of small business, e.g. Services Disabled Veteran Owned small Business, Veteran-owned small business, 8(a), HUBZone, Women Owned Small Business, Small disadvantaged business, or Small Business HUBZone business and (i) must provide a capability statement that addresses the organizations qualifications and ability to perform as a contractor for the work described below. The VA Heartland Network 15, Contracting Office located at 3450 South 4th Street, Leavenworth, KS, 66048-5055 is seeking a potential qualified contractor to furnish all labor, supervision, materials, and equipment necessary to conduct an on-site seminar in August, 2017, that is accredited by the Joint Commission for Allied Health Personnel in Ophthalmology to the Columbia VA Health Center: 800 Hospital Drive, Columbia, MO 65201-5275. Important information: The Government is not obligated to nor will it pay for or reimburse any costs associated with responding to this sources sought synopsis request. This notice shall not be construed as a commitment by the Government to issue a solicitation or ultimately award a contract, nor does it restrict the Government to a particular acquisition approach. The Government will in no way be bound to this information if any solicitation is issued. No sub-contracting opportunity is anticipated. The North American Classification System (NAICS) code for this acquisition is 611430 (Professional and Management Development Training). Notice to potential offerors: All offerors who provide goods or services to the United States Federal Government must be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM located on the web at www.sam.gov). Additionally, all Service Disabled Veteran Owned Businesses or Veteran Owned Businesses who respond to a solicitation on this project must be registered with the Department of Veterans Affairs Center for Veterans Enterprise VetBiz Registry located at http://vip.vetbiz.gov. All interested Offerors should submit information by e-mail: to contact@example.gov. All information submissions should be received no later than 9:00 am CST on January 30, 2017. After review of the responses to this announcement, the Government intends to proceed with the acquisition and a subsequent solicitation will be published. See Statement of Work below. STATEMENT OF WORK FOR BIOMETRY AND IOL CALCULATIONS SEMINAR I: Ophthalmic Assistants, technicians, ophthalmology residents and fellows, in addition to faculty, are expected to have thorough, up-to-date knowledge of axial eye length measurements (both optical and immersion ultrasound), keratometry, lens constants, calculation formulas and toric calculations, in addition to being able to manage challenging calculations like those patients that are highly myopic with staphylomata and those that have had prior refractive surgery. II: Statement of Work a. The vendor will provide an 8 hour program using lecture, power point presentation, video demonstration, live demonstration, handouts, question and answer, and a hands-on session on available CVAMC equipment for up to 20 participants. b. The seminar will be conducted on-site at the Columbia VA Medical Center, 800 Hospital Drive, Columbia, MO 65201-5275, in August 2017. c. The seminar will be accredited by the Joint Commission for Allied Health Personnel in Ophthalmology (JCAHPO). Each participant should receive 8 JCAHPO credit hours if they attend both the lecture and hands-on workshop, or 6.5 credit hours if they attend the lecture portion only. d. The lecture will cover Refractive States, Standard Dimensions, Intraocular Lens Constants and Personalization, Current Calculation Formulae, Standardizing Keratometry, Toric Calculations, Optical Biometry, Immersion Biometry, B-Scan Biometry, Best Practices for Measuring High Myopes and Patients with Macular Disease, and Post-Refractive Surgery Calculations. The hands-on portion will cover both optical and immersion ultrasound biometry, in addition to B-Scan biometry. e. The course description is as follows: Accurate axial eye length measurements and IOL calculations are essential in any practice where cataract or refractive lensectomy is performed. Knowledge of the principles of intraocular lenses, calculation formulas, lens constants, keratometry, ultrasound principles and measurements, and optical biometry principles and measurements is vital to meet the demands of today s patients. Accurate techniques for both immersion ultrasound and optical biometry will be presented, as well as recognition of common errors. Current recommended IOL calculation formulae, standardization of keratometry, and the handling of challenging ocular situations such as high myopia, macular pathology, and post-refractive surgery calculations will be discussed at length. The hands-on workshop will cover both optical and immersion biometry with students asked to volunteer as patients for each other. f. The instructional objectives include: 1. Understand the basic principles of both ultrasound and optical biometry. 2. Describe how to perform accurate immersion ultrasound and optical biometry. 3. Understand when one method of biometry if preferable over the other. 4. Identify the most common errors in biometry, and how they can be avoided. 5. Evaluate the quality of scans obtained with ultrasound and optical coherence. 6. Describe how to best standardize keratometry in their practice. 7. Describe how to perform biometry and lens calculations in challenging ocular situations such as high myopia, staphylomata, macular disease, and post-refractive surgery patients. 8. Describe the intraocular lens constant and the various formulae recommended for calculating intraocular lens power for varying axial lengths. g. The vendor will provide the VA with attendance records and with course evaluations following the workshop if requested. Credit hours will be awarded as per above, based on individual attendance.