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FBO DAILY - FEDBIZOPPS ISSUE OF FEBRUARY 01, 2013 FBO #4087
DOCUMENT

D -- HMP Usability Analytics Platform (UAP)-RFI Modification to respond to previously submitted questions - Attachment

Notice Date

1/30/2013
 

Notice Type

Attachment
 

NAICS

511210 — Software Publishers
 

Contracting Office

Department of Veterans Affairs;Technology Acquisition Center;260 Industrial Way West;Eatontown NJ 07724
 

ZIP Code

07724
 

Solicitation Number

VA11813I0075
 

Response Due

2/7/2013
 

Archive Date

3/9/2013
 

Point of Contact

Michael Brill
 

E-Mail Address

8-5574<br
 

Small Business Set-Aside

N/A
 

Description

The following are responses to questions asked in connection with Request For Information (RFI) VA118-13-I-0075, T-16 Health Management Platform (hi2) Usability Analytics Task 2 Market Research for Requirements Development. 1.Is there a page limit for the response to the Sources Sought notice? Response: There is no page limit however responses should be limited to a total file size of 5MB or less, and identify a representative to support further Government inquiries and requests for clarification of the information provided, if needed. Marketing materials are considered an insufficient response to this RFI. 2.A key functional specification specified in the RFI included "interoperability with the HMP application stack (e.g., Data Access Layer, Virtual Patient Record, Business Logic, and User Interfaces) and data model." Will the primary scope of this effort encompass the VistA/CPRS instanced, deployed in over 130 Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) medical facilities. Response: The VA's goal is to develop the HMP as a successor to the existing CPRS GUI (graphical user interface). HMP GUI will continue to use VistA as the underlying database. 3.Can you provide examples of current tools and software already implemented in the UAP? Response: UAP is not supported by existing VistA/CPRS. 4.Another functional specification specified in the RFI included "support plug-ins and for 3rd party solutions". Can you provide examples of such software categories? Response: We foresee a need to allow plug-ins and third party solutions to add functionality to UAP. For instance a third party tool such as eye tracking system could be integrated within UAP via a plug-in. Another example would be third party analytic tools for visualization and presentation of UAP data to stakeholders. 5.Are Pharmacists included within the health-care system facing outward component of the HMP? Response: Yes, pharmacists will be users of HMP. 6.Are their special security considerations and safeguards that VA has already contemplated in respect to this initiative? Response: There are no special security considerations. However all software will have to meet existing federal data security and privacy requirements and comply with VA Directive 6500, Information Security Program dated September 20, 2012. This directive provides the specific procedures and operational requirements to ensure Department-wide compliance with a policy that is consistent with VA's information security statutes, 38 United States Code (U.S.C) § § 5722-5727; the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA), 44 U.S.C § § 3541-3549; and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-130, Appendix III, Security of Federal Automated Information Resources. This Directive, in concert with VA Handbook 6500, establishes VA policy and responsibilities for incorporating National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Special Publication (SP) 800-37, Guide for Applying the Risk Management Framework to Federal Information Systems: A Security Life Cycle Approach; SP 800-39, Managing Information Security Risk: Organization, Mission, and Information System View; and SP-800-53, Recommended Security Controls for Federal Information Systems and Organizations, requirements into VA's information system environment to ensure appropriate security for VA information technology assets that store, process, or transmit VA information. 7.What data retention and backup policies need to be adhered to? Response: This data will need to be stored within the VA firewall and comply with appropriate VA retention and back-up policies. 8.Could you provide the compliance standards the VA is required to adhere to? Response: Please refer to the following URL for the public facing VA guidance for software: http://www.voa.va.gov 9.General Information Line 136: HMP will be accessed through a variety of platforms, including tablet devices, smart phones, and traditional PCs. Will medical devices (non-tablet, smart-phones, and traditional PCs) need to access the HMP? Response: No 10.The scope of the effort states that the enterprise architecture should support up to "150+ facilities and 300,000 users". Does this user group include Veterans and their family member receiving care? Response: Yes, it is foreseeable that users may include patients and caregivers who will access HMP via various devices (e.g. tablets, smart-phones, computer kiosks). 11.Is there a timeline or expected date of release for the related RFP? Response: Not at this time. ? 12.Has a budget for the RFP been allocated? If so, will the VA share that information? Response: At this time there is no budget determination. 13.Will this initiative progress in phases, or will it be one large project? If it will be in phases, what are the VA's plans for dividing this effort into phases such as gap analysis, future state definition, build out of foundational architecture, and implementation of functionalities? Response: The UAP initiative is part of the larger hi2 initiative and will progress in phases. The gap analysis and market research for UAP are already underway as part of an existing contract with VA CASE (Center for Applied System Engineering). UAP foundational architecture and implementation of functionalities will be future phases and will be determined based on vendor responses to this RFI. 14.Will Eatontown, NJ, be the primary place of performance should an RFP be released? Response: No. HMP development activities are centered in Salt Lake City, UT. 15.Is there a possibility of the RFP being an SBA 8(a) competitive bid, small business set aside or other type of set aside or will this be a full and open competition? Response: At this time there has been no determination 16.Can the VA provide information about the current IT systems-for example, the number of systems, the predominant technologies used, key vendor applications implemented, and the number of IT staff members and their roles (developers, testers, architects, database programmers, DBAs, etc.)? Response: This information was provided in the RFI: "The HMP platform consists of service orientated architecture that comprises three main abstraction layers. The HMP is implemented in Java and utilizes current technologies such as restful services and JavaScript Object Notation (JSON), to implement next generation modular interfaces that are customizable to the user's needs. Central to the HMP architecture is a design allowing for collaborative development, allowing for development partners to add additional functionality or modules to the Health Management Platform." Please refer back to the RFI. 17.Is there any current-state technology or capability document that the VA can share that will provide some insight (at a high level) of present capabilities? Response: These are internal documents that will be considered for sharing for those who participate if an RFP is issued. 18.Is there an ongoing project for this initiative or will this be a new initiative? Response: The UAP project is part of the VA's ongoing Health Management Platform (HMP) project. The HMP is a key project of VHA's Health Informatics Initiative (hi2). 19.What software products are currently used to collect usability data and for reporting/analysis of the data? (Reference lines 70 - 76 of the RFI)? Response: The VA's existing EMR does not have integrated software tools that allow the collection of user interactions needed to study usability. As a result various off the shelf standalone software tools that allow screen scraping and manual coding of interactions is required. Obviously this approach does not scale up and is very labor intense. 20.What data is currently collected, both by the software tools and manually? Response: There are researchers in the VA who are using screen scraping software and manual coding of user interactions such as mouse clickstreams to study EMR usability in experimental settings only. These usability studies are useful for identifying in-efficiencies such as the need to constantly switch screens to hunt for information or the use of extensive drop down menus in order to complete one clinical task. 21.What is the anticipated size or growth rate of the data for the UAP ? Response: The anticipated size of data that can be collected is extremely large given that thousands of users interact with the EMR on daily basis. For instance in one small VA study EMR usage data was collected from approximately 100 office visits resulted in over 20,000 mouse clicks that can be associated to specific tasks. From an analytic perspective there is an opportunity to capture a lot of data (certainly in the realm of Big Data) yet not every interaction needs to be analyzed and reviewed. Rather our intent is to enable us to monitor selected interactions based on identified needs. 22.The RFI states 300,000 users and real-time like access. What is the concurrency of access? Response: The VA has approximately 300,000 users of its clinical EMR. Some users like physicians or nurses are daily users of the EMR and others such as administrators probably use the system sporadically. While there is no reliable estimate on concurrency of EMR access we do know that the usability analytic platform may not need to log all user interactions for all 300,000 users. Sampling of specific users and their interactions can be used to profile overall system usability. 23.Does VA intend to procure software tools or technology if there is a resulting RFP/RTEP; or, is the program scope only for consulting and advisory services? Response: Yes the VA does intend to procure software tools or technology if there is a resulting RFP/RTEP. 24.The RFI states "This RFI focuses on steps that precede actual development or procurement, paying particular attention to needs for integrative technologies." Will the effort scoped in the eventual RFP do likewise? To what extent should provisions be made for implementation (i.e., coding) of the UAP above and beyond its conceptualization and design? Response: We definitely encourage vendors to emphasize software development, databases, and analytics expertise as part of the response to the RFI. At the RFI phase vendors should focus on conceptualization and design. Implementation will be the focus of future RFP. 25.What contractors are already engaged by the VA for work relating to the HMP? Are they eligible to compete for the present work on the UAP? Response: Multiple contractors are working on various aspects of the HMP. They are not precluded from competing should an RFP be issued. 26.Are there any contractors who have already done work related to conceptualizing the UAP? If so, who? Are they eligible to compete for the UAP work that would be solicited in an eventual RFP? Response: They would not be precluded from competing should an RFP be issued. 27.Is it anticipated that the HMP will directly interface with medical devices, or will the results of patient monitoring be abstracted in some way and entered into the HMP in the form of derived measures? Response: This is not in the current scope of work. The possibility exists that medical devices may be considered in the future. 28.Will the HMP include provisions for management of patient billing or other financial management systems, ordering supplies, or staffing of VA facilities? Response: This is not in the current scope of work. The possibility exists that these will be considered in the future. 29.In the guidance for responding to this RFI, it states "Provide a brief summary of your technical approach to meet the requirements. Address each of the six sections above." Are we correct that this is referring to the six numbered items on page 4, under "The scope of this effort is to provide information regarding:"? Response: Yes that is correct. 30.Is there a description of the platform and architecture details for their HMP systems, published interfaces, and comprehensive list of software used in the platform and environment that can be shared? Response: There are current-state technology or capability documents, but they are internal documents that will be considered for sharing for those who participate in the RFP. Per the RFI: ""The HMP platform consists of service orientated architecture that comprises three main abstraction layers. The HMP is implemented in Java and utilizes current technologies such as restful services and JavaScript Object Notation (JSON), to implement next generation modular interfaces that are customizable to the user's needs. Central to the HMP architecture is a design allowing for collaborative development, allowing for development partners to add additional functionality or modules to the Health Management Platform." Please refer back to the RFI. 31.Could a list of supported devices be shared? Response: HMP will be device agnostic and compatible with any device (desktop or laptop computers, tablets, smartphones) running modern web browser.
 

Web Link

FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/notices/499850afe0dba9aafb0063230b6f33ef)
 

Document(s)

Attachment
 

File Name: VA118-13-I-0075 VA118-13-I-0075_3.docx (https://www.vendorportal.ecms.va.gov/FBODocumentServer/DocumentServer.aspx?DocumentId=601608&FileName=VA118-13-I-0075-004.docx)

Link: https://www.vendorportal.ecms.va.gov/FBODocumentServer/DocumentServer.aspx?DocumentId=601608&FileName=VA118-13-I-0075-004.docx

 

Note: If links are broken, refer to Point of Contact above or contact the FBO Help Desk at 877-472-3779.
 

Record

SN02975365-W 20130201/130130233933-499850afe0dba9aafb0063230b6f33ef (fbodaily.com)
 

Source

FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)

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