Justification and Approval for an Exception to Fair Opportunity

JUSTIFICATION AND APPROVAL FOR AN EXCEPTION TO FAIR OPPORTUNITY

1. Contracting Activity: Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Procurement, Acquisition, and Logistics Technology Acquisition Center- Austin 1701 Directors Blvd Austin, TX 78744

2. Description of Action: This proposed action is for the award of a firm-fixed-price delivery order issued under the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Solutions for Enterprise-Wide Procurement (SEWP) V Governmentwide Acquisition Contract (GWAC) for brand name Laurel Bridge Compass routers.

3. Description of Supplies or Services: VA Office of Information and Technology, Veterans’ Health Administration (VHA) has a requirement to procure Laurel Bridge Compass Routers for the 11 VISN 10 centers. The newly integrated VISN 10 is comprised of 10 medical centers and the independent Columbus, OH Ambulatory Care clinic and a network of 63 Community Based Outpatient Clinics. Like all health care facilities, VISN 10 is moving from the legacy VistA Electronic Health Record (EHR) and moving to an Enterprise Cerner EHR. This move will require legacy systems to have their existing medical and laboratory devices interfaced and configured to communicate with Cerner. VISN 10 requires a procurement of brand name Laurel Bridge Compass routers to perform conversion of patient identification information in DICOM and HL-7 data streams so that either Social Security Number (SSN) and/or EDIPI identification information can be used. The vendor shall provide both active, passive and test environments for all 11 sites in VISN 10. The vendor will provide also provide all software, installation services and maintenance and support services to provide interoperability with the appropriate patient identifiers between Cerner EHR, Philips PACS and existing VistA Imaging systems and modalities for the VA sites. Interoperability will consist of translating the medical record number (MRN) as needed depending on the requirements of the DICOM archive destination or the DICOM Modality Worklist consuming modality. This system will need to convert HL-7 and DICOM patient identifier data such that both Enterprise Patient Identifier (EDPI) and Social Security Number (SSN) can be used by the following VA systems: VistA, Philips PACS, and Cerner Millenium. Various HL-7 and DICOM data streams (e.g. Orders, Modality Work Lists, Reports) may need translation. Where required, data streams will need to be modified to allow both EDPI and SSN for patient identifiers. Delivery and installation shall be complete within 12 months from the date of award. The total estimated price of the proposed action is .

4. Statutory Authority: The statutory authority permitting this exception to fair opportunity is 41 U.S.C. 4106(c)(2) as implemented by the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 16.505(b)(2)(i)(B), entitled “Only one awardee is capable of providing the supplies or services required at the level of quality required because the supplies or services ordered are unique or highly specialized.”

Laurel Bridge Compass Routers Control Number: VA-21-00017513

5. Rationale Supporting Use of Authority Cited Above: Based on market research described in section eight of this justification, it was determined that limited competition is available among resellers for the required brand name Laurel Bridge hardware and software. Laurel Bridge products are the only products capable of meeting the Government’s requirement. VISN 10 is moving from the legacy VistA EHR and moving to an Enterprise Cerner EHR. On June 5, 2017, VA announced its decision to replace their current EHR system (VistA) with Cerner, referred to as VA’s new EHR. The goal of this initiative is to leverage an existing commercial solution to achieve interoperability within VA, with DoD, and with community care providers. The Office of Electronic Health Record Modernization (OEHRM) oversees the EHR Modernization initiative, which is a crucial piece of a larger effort to transform the way VA delivers health care. This move will require legacy systems to have their existing medical and laboratory devices interfaced and configured to communicate with Cerner. With this transition, compass routers are required to translate DICOM and HL7 streams. VISN 20, the first VISN to deploy the new EHR, completed a procurement for Laurel Bridge Compass Routers. Laurel Bridge Compass Routers are also currently utilized across VHA for DICOM/HL7 routing via VistA Imaging. With this procurement, Cerner and OEHRM developed and approved VA interface for the Laurel Bridge Compass Router. The cost associated with Cerner developing an approved interface for new hardware/software is approximately . By utilizing existing approved interfaces, such as Laurel Bridge, VISN 10 is saving the government this additional cost. Laurel Bridge is the only brand name DICOM router that has an existing interface between VA and Cerner.

In addition, Columbus is also scheduled to Go Live with Cerner in April 2021. This is a congressional milestone that cannot be missed. If a different router was procured, it would not be implemented, installed and available for testing by January 2021. If a new interface would need to be developed via Cerner and VA, VISN 10 would not meet the Cerner Go Live date. Therefore, no other brand name is acceptable for the Government’s requirements. The procurement of alternate hardware rather than continuing to use the existing brand would result in substantial duplication of costs, which would not be recovered through a new competitive acquisition.

6. Efforts to Obtain Competition: Market research was conducted, details of which are in the market research section of this document. This effort did not yield any additional sources that can meet the Government’s requirements. However, it was determined that limited competition is viable among resellers for these brand name items. In accordance with 16.505(a)(4)(iii)(A)(1), this Justification will be provided with the solicitation to all appropriate NASA SEWP V GWAC holders. Furthermore, in accordance with FAR 5.301, 16.505(b)(2)(ii)(D), and 16.505(a)(4)(iii), the award notice for this action will be synopsized on the Federal Business Opportunities website and this justification will be made publicly available within 14 days of award.

Laurel Bridge Compass Routers Control Number: VA-21-00017513

7. Actions to Increase Competition: The Government will continue to conduct market research to ascertain if there are changes in the market place that would enable future actions to be competed.

8. Market Research: VA technical personnel conducted market research in October 2020 by conducting online research of other DICOM routers such as ImageGrid and RamSoft. As a result of the market research, the technical experts confirmed that although the other companies' products provide similar capabilities, no other product will support VA's existing interoperability and compatibility requirements. The Laurel Bridge Compass Routers are currently approved by OIT and standardized throughout VHA to perform conversion of patient identification information in DICOM and HL-7 data streams from imaging modalities. The Laurel Bridge DICOM routers are currently the only routers that have an approved interface with the Cerner EHR for use within the VA.

The Contract Specialist (CS) conducted market research in December 2020 by using the SEWP market research tools. Based on this market research, the CS found resellers under SEWP capable of meeting the full requirement.

9. Other Facts: None.