Description
The Department of Veterans Affairs, Network Contracting Office 4 (NCO4) intends to sole source a contract for the instrumentation, reagents supplies and services to perform Clinical Laboratory Chemistry, Immunochemistry, Chemiluminescent and Hematology Testing on an automation line with auto-verification. The contract will be for a period of 5 years. The contractor will be required to provide all necessary equipment, reagents, and services to perform the required testing. The contractor will also be required to provide training to VA personnel and to maintain the equipment in good working condition. Some of the key features of the required instrumentation include:
* The capability of performing analysis on 100% of the tests listed in Attachment A Test List
* Sufficient capacity and throughput to meet the volume/service demands as defined in Attachment A Test List
* Safety features to avoid unnecessary exposure to biohazardous and chemical material
* A bi-directional, bar-coded computer interface compatible with the current VA laboratory information system
* Ability to prioritize STAT testing without compromising existing programmed testing
* Menu flexibility to accommodate batch testing
* Minimal daily, monthly, and periodic maintenance
* Ability to store and retransmit records (24 hours of maximal instrument throughput) in case of interface outage
* On board reagent stability sufficient to accommodate both high and low volume use
* Ready to use reagents to ensure less test downtime
* Ability to accept serum/plasma, CSF, urine, body fluids, supernatants and whole blood
* No requirements for sample pre-treatment for most assays
* 6 point calibrators for immune assays preferred
* Capability to detect out of range quality control and ensure ceasing of patient testing until resolution if the quality control is out of range
* Ability to accept various types of sample containers
* Specimen indices (hemolysis, icteric, and lipemia) are required to be determined for each specimen at no additional charge
* On board dilution capability (desired)
* Must have accurate metering capability for monitoring reagent usage or accept CMCVAMC’s monthly LMIP statistics generated from VistA computer system
* Instruments should have the ability to perform infectious disease testing
Some of the key features of the required services include:
* The contractor shall provide all necessary maintenance to keep the equipment in good operating condition
* The contractor shall provide training to VA personnel on the operation and maintenance of the equipment
* The contractor shall provide all necessary procedures manuals, troubleshooting manuals, operator manuals
* The contractor shall provide emergency equipment repair and preventative maintenance on all primary and back-up instrumentation and any incremental support equipment
* The contractor shall provide upgrades to both the equipment hardware and software in order to maintain the integrity of the system and the state-of –the art technology, at no additional charge to the Government