STATEMENT OF WORK A. GENERAL INFORMATION Title of Project: Enhancing an Intervention for Smokers with Chronic Pain using IVR: A Randomized Clinical Trial of Smoking Cessation Counseling for Veterans (PASS-IVR) Scope of Work: The Contractor shall provide services in support of the PASS-IVR project within the VA Center for Patient Engagement Tracking and Long-term Support (PETALS) platform. The Contractor must work closely with the PASS-IVR and PETALS teams to provide on-going maintenance and support for the duration of the period of performance. B. GENERAL REQUIREMENTS 1. Support and Maintenance 2. Security Requirements Summary This is a service contract request and is a requirement of an ongoing funded VA study, Enhancing an Intervention for Smokers with Chronic Pain using IVR: A Randomized Clinical Trial of Smoking Cessation Counseling for Veterans (PASS-IVR). In this study, Veteran participants with chronic pain who smoke will receive interactive voice response (IVR) calls after enrollment. The IVR system will collect nightly smoking status, pain, activity, and adherence data and will allow counselors to provide personalized, asynchronous feedback/support and reinforcement between sessions and during a 4-week follow-up period. Additionally, the IVR system will be set up to collect surveys from participants at 3 time points (baseline, 6-month follow-up, and 12-month follow-up). The enrollment, randomization, and treatment of participants will occur at VA Connecticut Healthcare System. The Contractor will provide services in support of the intervention and assessments (services will include management of the Interactive Voice Response (IVR) in the PETALS platform, viewing of the results of the assessments in Dynamics 365 (limited data set of identifiable patient data (patient first name, patient last initial, phone number, VA medical center, and birth year)) for the VA Connecticut-based study). The IVR platform is built and hosted by PETALS. The PETALS platform holds an Authority to Operate (ATO), eMASS ID: 1341. C. SPECIFIC MANDATORY TASKS AND ASSOCIATED DELIVERABLES Specific Tasks The Contractor will work with the VA Researchers and PETALS team to provide support for the project s IVR system and on-going project maintenance. Specific tasks for Enhancing an Intervention for Smokers with Chronic Pain using IVR: A Randomized Clinical Trial of Smoking Cessation Counseling for Veterans (PASS-IVR) are as follows: Task - System Modifications The Contractor will work with PETALS staff and be responsible for coordinating IVR script review and modification, recording of IVR scrips, modifications on the system programming, tailoring the front-end application dashboard (e.g., Dynamics 365) to monitor participant engagement and responses, and review and testing of completed modifications. Task - System Access The Contractor will provide 5 licenses for project personnel (staff and therapists) to securely access the system according to PETALS platform protocols. The Contractor will be responsible for maintaining licenses with the PETALS staff and Microsoft. Task - System Support and Maintenance Project management and support. The Contractor shall be available during business hours to answer any study team questions, trouble shoot problems during the service period, and implement solutions to remedy issues. Mid project revisions and/or updates based on lessons learned, including possible modifications to Dynamics 365 or IVR/phone components of the system. Conduct meetings with study team to orient users to the configured modifications. Task Data Privacy and Security Study data will be entered by study staff, whereas study staff will abide by PETALS on-boarding protocols, using SSOi to access Dynamics 365 for the PASS project, maintained by PETALS staff and the contractor. Participant data will be securely entered via Dynamics 365 and data will include: first name and last initial, study ID, phone number, time zone, and birth year. Numeric survey data entered by patient during IVR interactions over their approximately 12-month enrollment period will also be stored. The Contractor will have access to view this data and be responsible for observance of all conditions of use and for establishment and maintenance of administrative, technical, and physical security safeguards to prevent unauthorized use and to protect confidentiality of all data. The Contractor will work alongside PETALS staff and be responsible for supporting and maintaining the IVR system through the PETALS platform. The Contractor will complete a VA-provided Contractor Security Control Assessment (CSCA) form within 30 days of contract approval and then on an annual basis for the term of the contract. The CSCA form will assess the NIST-800 security controls that impact the security of VA data that will reside on the contractor s system. Place of Performance The contractor will be using a VA laptop for the services in this contract. The contractor will not be connecting personally owned devices to the VA Network for the work within this contract. The A&A requirements do not apply, and a Security Accreditation Package is not required. Deliverables Deliverables include Project Management/Consultative support, Modifications, Sign-off reviews, Implementation, and Mid-Project revisions/updates, which will be accomplished from the start of contract throughout its entirety. Monthly updates from the Contractor to the PASS-IVR team. Microsoft Dynamics 365 licenses (quantity: 5). For successful completion, Contractor shall render services to maintain and support a fully functioning Interactive Voice Response system in accordance with this Statement of Work. Other VA will retain ownership of the questionnaires, databases, forms, information, statistics, records, contact information for Veterans including personal identifiers, computer tapes and other electronic media for data storage, computer programs, draft and final versions of reports, and other items generated by these services. This is a source sought announcement ONLY and is NOT a request for proposals or quotes. A Response to this sources sought is not a request to be added to a prospective bidders list or to receive a copy of a solicitation. Information received as a result of this notice will be considered solely for the purpose of determining competition. In response to this announcement, please provide the information below: Company Name; Address; SAM UEI Number; Contact Name: Phone No; Email; and Business Size Information - Select all that apply: Small Business; Emerging Small Business; Small Disadvantaged Business Certified under Section 8(a) of the Small Business Act; HUBZone;  Woman Owned;  Certified Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Small Veteran Owned Small Business; Large Business;  and Effective Date/ Expiration Date. This notice is neither a request for competitive quote/proposal or solicitation of offers. This notice is to assist the VA in determining sources only; a solicitation is not available. If a solicitation is issued it will be announced at a later date, and all interested parties must respond to that solicitation announcement separately from this response. This notice does not represent a commitment by the Government to pay for costs incurred in the preparation and submission of information or any other costs incurred as a response to this announcement. Inquiries will only be accepted in writing via email to portia.fredua-agyeman@va.gov on or before 28 October 2024 at 10:00AM, EST.
