MUSE Maintenance and Service Agreement

Active

Contract Opportunity

**This is a SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE for market research purposes and not for solicitation.**

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. Additionally, the Government reserves the right to revise the Performance Work Statement (PWS) before the release of any associated solicitation. This notice is not a Request for Proposal (RFP) or Request for Quote (RFQ). Information provided in this notice is subject to change prior to release of a solicitation. You will find the PWS which describes the requirement market research is being conducted for. If based upon the market research information the Government deems a solicitation is necessary a solicitation action will be posted in Contract opportunities on www.SAM.gov.

Small business requirements for market research purposes, all responses to this notice will be reviewed, regardless of small business/socioeconomic category, including those firms that are identified as large business. Review of response to this notice will support later determination of set-aside requirements, if a solicitation becomes available, where the rule of two is met regarding a set-aside, including set-asides under 38 U.S.C. 8127 and 8128 for Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Small Businesses (SDVOSBs) and/or Veteran Owned Small Businesses (VOSBs) firms registered in the SBA Dynamic Small Business Search (SBA, DSBS) database; https://dsbs.sba.gov , in accordance with priorities set by regulation.

NAICS code for this requirement is 811210, Electronic and Precision Equipment Repair and Maintenance. Interested companies can respond, via email to Monique.Cordero@va.gov with the following information; (a) company point of Contact, including name, title, phone number, and email address, (b) Company name, SAM UEI number, small business/socioeconomic status of company, and address of the applicable office, (c) any relevant certifications and/or licenses to perform these services, (d) capabilities statement, and any additional information may be requested by the Contracting officer at a later time. The Point of Contract is Monique Cordero, Contract Specialist, Network Contracting Office (NCO) 6, Veterans Health Administration U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs at Monique.Cordero@va.gov. Dur Dates for Responses: This notice closes Wednesday, May 28, 2025 at 4:00pm Eastern Standard Time (EST).

CONTRACTOR RESPONSIBILITY: A potential source for the purpose of this notice, is considered to be any company meeting the following requirements. Some of the below requirements may be modified prior to the release of any solicitation. The potential source is registered in the System for Awards Mangement (SAM) database at https://www.sm.gov . The potential source is registered with the Small Business Administration, Dynamic Small Business Search (SBA, DSBS) at https://dsbs.sba.gov . The potential source has favorable (satisfactory) past peformance information for federal contracts, if applicable, as documented in the Contractor Assessment Reporting System (CPARS) or Government databases, including the Federal Awardee Performance and Integrity Retrieval System (FAPIIS), and Past Performance information Retrieval System (PPIRS), where applicable.

Below is an example of the Performance Work Statement that the market research is being conducted for.

I. GENERAL REQUIREMENTS

The Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration (VHA), VISN 06 loacted at 3518 Westgate Drive Durham, NC 27707 has a need of a non-personnel service contract for to provide support for the GE Healthcare MUSE Cardiology Information System. The Government shall not exercise any supervision or control over the contract service providers performing the services herein. The Contract service providers shall be accountable solely to the Contractor who, in turn is responsible to the Government.

Requirement Information:

Based on the determination of the Government if this requirment should be solicitated with a contract to be awarded, the contract will have a one (1) year base contract, and one (1) 12-month option year. The Period of Performance is as follows;

Base Year

FY2025

Option Year I

FY2026

1. INTRODUCTION

The Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration (VHA), VISN 06 requires a non-personnel service contract to provide support for the GE Healthcare MUSE Cardiology System and all resources necessary to perform service support as defined in this Performance Work Statement (PWS). The Contractor shall perform to service support in accordance with all terms, conditions, clauses and provision and Performance Work Statement.

1.Durham VA Healthcare System (VAHCS) - 580 Fulton Street, Durham, NC 27705-3875

2.W.G. Bill Hefner VA Medical Center (Salisbury VAMC)- 1601 Brenner Ave., Salisbury, NC 28144-2515

3.Central Virginia VA Healthcare System (Richmond)- 1201 Broad Rock Blvd., Richmond, VA 23249-0002

4. Western North Carolina VA Healthcare System (Asheville)-1100 Tunnel Rd., Asheville, NC 28805-2043

5. Salem VA Medical Center-1970 Roanoke Blvd., Salem, VA 24153

6. Fayetteville VA Costal Healthcare System (VAHCS)- 2300 Ramsey St., Fayetteville, NC 28301-3856

7. Hampton VA Medical Center (VAMC)- 100 Emancipation Dr., Hampton, VA 23667-9900

2. BACKGROUND

This Performance Work Statement outlines the requirements for a service maintenance agreement between Veterans Affairs (hereinafter referred to as "Client") and qualified Contractor (hereinafter referred to as "Contractor") for the maintenance and support of the GE MUSE Cardiology System, deployed in a virtualized server environment with the VISN 6 Mid-Atlantic Network. The MUSE system is critical to the VISN 6 operations and requires timely and effective maintenance, including patching and cybersecurity measures, to ensure uninterrupted service, data integrity, and compliance with government regulations.

3. SCOPE

The Department of Veterans Affaris, VISN 06 has need of a contractor who shall provide comprehensive maintenance and support services for the GE MUSE Cardiology Information System, including but not limited to the following;

4. EQUIPMENT

The Contractor shall provide support for the equipment and support is limited to the MUSE software system and does not include hardware or OS support for the servers or workstations. Service includes support for software sold by GE Healthcare:

1. MUSE Application Server(s) (Software Only. Hardware Excluded)


2. MUSE Database Server(s) (Software Only. Hardware Excluded)


3. MUSE Modem/Web Server(s) (Software Only. Hardware Excluded)


4. MUSE Interface Server(s) (Software Only. Hardware Excluded)


5. MUSE Test Server(s) (Software Only. Hardware Excluded)


6. MUSE Client Workstations (Software Only. Hardware Excluded)

5. PREVENTATIVE MAINTENANCE & SOFTWARE SUPPORT

The Contractor shall provide scheduled preventative maintenance activities, including software updates, patches, and upgrades as recommended by GE Healthcare. Frequency of these activities shall be monthly for patching if required and as released by GE Healthcare for other activities.

1. Contractor shall provide a service contract to include coverage for major, minor, and service pack software upgrades/updates.


2. The contract shall also include installation, testing, and validation of updates within the virtualized environment.


3. Contractor shall provide proactive monitoring of the MUSE Cardiology Information System databases and the underlying virtualized environment for performance issues and potential problems.


4. Contractor shall provide their own tools to complete any type of maintenance.


5. Contractor shall provide regular review and application of security patches and updates for the MUSE Cardiology Information System and associated applications (i.e. Zio). This includes timely patching following vulnerability disclosures.


6. The Contractor shall perform Preventative Maintenance completion rate of 100%.


7. The high-severity patches shall be applied within 30 days of release.

6. CORRECTIVE MAINTENANCE

The Contractor shall provide remote troubleshooting and resolution of software/database issues, including:

1. Response Time: Guaranteed response time for service calls based on severity level:


2. Critical (System Down/Data Loss): 1-hour Response Time


3. High (Significant Impact/Major Outage): 3-hour Response Time


4. Medium (Minor Impact/Partial Outage): 4-hour Response Time


5. Low (Minimal Impact/No Outage): 6-hour Response Time

7. RESOLUTION TIME

The Contractor shall comply with the resolution time and provide a target resolution time for identified issues within two (2) to four (4) hours of being notified by the VA facility and/or VISN 6 office.

8. CYBERSECURITY SUPPORT

The Contractor shall comply and provide Cybersecurity support as follows;

1. Contractor shall collaborate with the VA cybersecurity team to ensure the MUSE system and its virtualized environment meet applicable security standards and regulations (e.g., NIST, HIPAA, etc.).


2. Contractor shall provide implementation of security best practices, including access controls and data encryption.


3. Contractor shall provide support for incident response in the event of a security breach.


4. The contractor shall notify VA within 24 hours of the discovery or disclosure of successful exploits of the vulnerability which can compromise the security of the Systems (including the confidentiality or integrity of its data and operations, or the availability of the system). Such issues shall be remediated as quickly as is practical, but in no event longer than 7 days.


5. Contractor shall ensure that all other vulnerabilities be remediated in a timely manner based on risk, but within 60 days of discovery or disclosure.

9. TECHNICAL SUPPORT

The Contractor shall provide technical support to include;

1. The Contractor shall provide 24/7 access to telephone and/or online technical support for troubleshooting and issue resolution.


2. Contractor shall provide contact information for VA staff to call a dispatch a contractor field service engineers/technician.


3. Contractor shall provide availability of emergency remote support outside of normal business hours.


4. Contractor shall assist VA with any configuration changes as requested and/or needed.

10. CLINICAL APPLICATION SUPPORT

The Contractor shall provide Clinical Application support as follows;

1. The Contractor shall provide Clinical application support Monday through Friday, 8:00 am to 5:00 pm Eastern Standard Time.


2. The Contractor shall provide MUSE application education credits throughout the life of the contract. Redeemable for both off-site and onsite training options.

11. REMOTE SUPPORT

The Contractor shall provide remote support to include;

1. If remote support via site-to-site virtual private network (VPN) is required, contractor shall work with the COR and the facility Information Security Systems Officer (ISSO) to meet the requirement prior to connection, A national site-to-site MOU-ISA is the preferred method to complete this connection.


2. The Contractor shall inform via email or any other means of communication to the COR or VA designee when remote access is being initiated by the Contractor.

12. CONTRACTOR REQUIREMENTS

The Contractor shall comply with all requirements as listed in the Performance Work Statement and;

1. All contractor personnel performing services on the equipment shall have manufacturer training and experience in the maintenance and repair of the Cardiology System.


2. The Contractor shall provide copies of training certificates for the contractor personnel performing work on-site or remote upon the request of the Government.

13. SYSTEM DOCUMENTATION

The Contractor shall provide system documentation to include;

1. Maintenance of up-to-date system documentation, including configuration changes, maintenance logs, patching history, and troubleshooting guides in PDF, Excel, or Word format. This documentation shall be accessible to VA personnel.


2. Contractor shall provide a copy of the service report, complete with test data, to the contract COR within three working days after completion of any corrective and preventative maintenance in PDF, Excel, or Word format.


3. Service reports shall include; (1) identifying information about the software/ equipment, (2) all services provided during service visit, (3) any issues found during visit, (4) technician/engineer names of the personnel performing work, and (5) date the service was provided in PDF, Excel, or Word format.

14. REPORTING

The Contractor shall provide an overall summary report on system performance, maintenance activities, patching status, security events, and service call history. Reporting Frequency should be quarterly in PDF, Excel, or Word format.

15. PATIENT HEALTH INFORMATION (PHI)

The Contractor shall comply with protecting Patient Health Information (PHI) to ensure it is secure and there are no breaches to include;

1. Contractor shall safeguard PHI.


2. Contractor shall report to the Biomedical Engineering Department and COR of the contract and any issues with disclosed or unsecure PHI.


3. Contractor shall not remove any hard drives, storage devices, or anything containing PHI from the VA work site.

16. ACCEPTENCE CRITERIA

The services provided by the Contractor shall be considered acceptable when the following criteria are meet;

1. The MUSE software and/or is operating within the agreed-upon resolution times.


2. All reported issues are resolved within the agreed-upon resolution times.


3. All preventative maintenance activities including patching, are completed as scheduled.


4. All software updates and upgrades are successfully installed, tested, and validated in production environments.


5. Security requirements and standards are met.


6. The Contractor provides timely and accurate reports as required.


7. System(s) should have an uptime of 98%.

17. QUALITY ASSURANCE

Contractor shall provide quality assurance to include the following;

1. End-users, Biomedical Engineering, and/or the contract COR shall perform system verification tests to ensure the system is fully functional following service/repairs.


2. Issues with the quality of the Contractor’s work will be communicated through the Contracting Officer to the contractor point of contact for resolution.


3. Documentation shall be completed through Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System.

18. QUALITY CONTROL

The Contractor shall develop and maintain an effective quality control program to ensure services are performed in accordance with this PWS. The contractor shall develop and implement procedures to identify, prevent, and ensure non-recurrence of defective services. The contractor’s quality control program is the means by which quality control assures that the work complies with the requirement of the contract. After acceptance of the quality control plan the contractor shall receive the contracting officer’s acceptance in writing of any proposed change to the QC system.

19. PHYSICAL SECURITY

The contractor shall be responsible for safeguarding all government equipment, information and property provided for contractor use. At the close of each work period, government facilities, equipment, and materials shall be secured.

20. CONTRACTING OFFICER REPRESENTATIVE (COR)

The (COR) will be identified by separate letter. The COR monitors all technical aspects of the contract and assists in contract administration. The COR is authorized to perform the following functions: assure that the Contractor performs the technical requirements of the contract, perform inspections necessary in connection with contract performance, maintain written and oral communications with the Contractor concerning technical aspects of the contract, issue written interpretations of technical requirements, including Government drawings, designs, specifications: monitor Contractor's performance and notifies both the Contracting Officer and Contractor of any deficiencies; coordinate availability of government furnished property, and provide site entry of Contractor personnel. The COR is not authorized to change any of the terms and conditions of the resulting order.

21. KEY PERSONNEL

The follow personnel are considered key personnel by the government: Database or Systems Engineer. The contractor shall provide a contract manager who shall be responsible for the performance of the work. The name of this person and an alternate who shall act for the contractor when the manager is absent shall be designated in writing to the contracting officer. The contract manager or alternate shall have full authority to act for the contractor on all contract matters relating to daily operation of this contract. The contract manager or alternate shall be available between 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday thru Friday except Federal holidays or when the government facility is closed for administrative reasons.

22. CONTRACTOR TRAVEL

Contractor will be required to travel CONUS and within the NCR during the performance of this contract if needed. The contractor may be required to travel to locations within VISN 6 for training and on-site support in support of this PWS. Contractor will be authorized travel expenses consistent with the substantive provisions of the Joint Travel Regulation (JTR) and the limitation of funds specified in this contract. All travel requires Government approval/authorization and notification to the COR.

23. DEFINITATIONS & ACRONYMS

DEFINITIONS:

1. CONTRACTOR. A supplier or Contractor awarded a contract to provide specific supplies or service to the government. The term used in this contract refers to the prime.

2. CONTRACTING OFFICER. A person with authority to enter into, administer, and or terminate contracts, and make related determinations and findings on behalf of the government. Note: The only individual who can legally bind the government.

3. CONTRACTING OFFICER'S REPRESENTATIVE (COR). An employee of the U.S. Government appointed by the contracting officer to administer the contract. Such appointment shall be in writing and shall state the scope of authority and limitations. This individual has authority to provide technical direction to the Contractor as long as that direction is within the scope of the contract, does not constitute a change, and has no funding implications. This individual does NOT have authority to change the terms and conditions of the contract.

4. DELIVERABLE. Anything that can be physically delivered but may include non-manufactured things such as meeting minutes or reports.

5. KEY PERSONNEL. Contractor personnel that are evaluated in a source selection process and that may be required to be used in the performance of a contract by the Key Personnel listed in the PWS. When key personnel are used as an evaluation factor in best value procurement, an offer can be rejected if it does not have a firm commitment from the persons that are listed in the proposal.

6. PHYSICAL SECURITY. Actions that prevent the loss or damage of Government property.

7. QUALITY ASSURANCE. The government procedures to verify that services being performed by the Contractor are performed according to acceptable standards.

8.QUALITY ASSURANCE Surveillance Plan (QASP). An organized written document specifying the surveillance methodology to be used for surveillance of contractor performance.

9. QUALITY CONTROL. All necessary measures taken by the Contractor to assure that the quality of an end product or service shall meet contract requirements.

10. SUBCONTRACTOR. One that enters into a contract with a prime contractor. The Government does not have privity of contract with the subcontractor.

11. WORKDAY. The number of hours per day the Contractor provides services in accordance with the contract.

12. WORK WEEK. Monday through Friday, unless specified otherwise.

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