A.General InformationThe Heartland Region, TRBO Region 5, a military integrated delivery network, comprised of 5 Army, Navy, and Air Force, medical treatment facilities in Ohio, Illinois, and Kentucky announces a Request for Regional Incentive Agreement Quotation (RFRIAQ) for the standardization of Disposable Gowns (Protective Apparel). This product line includes, but is not limited to Disposable Procedure/Isolation Gowns, Disposable, Latex-free Yellow Isolation Gowns, Impervious Isolation Gown w/Thumb Loop, Universal Size, & Sterile, Poly-Reinforced, X-Large, X-Long Surgical Gown w/Hand Towel. The primary objective of this program is to standardize the quality of care across this Region based on a best value determination that represents the clinically preferred product or source(s) at the best possible price. It is also intended that standardized products be obtained through the DoD Prime Vendor Program. A single selection is intended in this project; however, the Heartland Region acknowledges the possibility of a multiple selection if no single vendor can meet the total requirements of the region. The major facilities in the area include but are not limited to Wright Patterson Air Force Base Ohio, Scott Air Force Base Illinois, Naval Health Clinics of Great Lakes Illinois, Blanchfield Army Community Hospital Ft Campbell Kentucky, and Ireland Army Community Hospital Ft Knox Kentucky. This standardization action is part of the Medical/Surgical Prime Vendor program executed by the Defense Supply Center Philadelphia, Directorate of Medical Materiel. In order to participate your company must have a Distribution and Pricing Agreement (DAPA) and a separate commercial agreement with the Prime Vendors for the program. This is pursuant to the DAPA clause by which DAPA holders agree to the Standardization process and to allow Prime Vendors to distribute their products. This RFRIAQ is a supplement to the Prime Vendor Program and it is not a contract. For additional information regarding DSCP?s Prime vendor program please access their web site at https://dmmonline.dscp.dla.mil The resulting Regional Incentive Agreement (RIA) will be for a base period of two (2) years (24 months) from date of selection with three (3) 12-month option periods. Anticipated selection date is June 2008. The evaluation will be based on clinical, technical, and pricing factors. The Technical/Company and Clinical/Performance evaluation factors, when combined, are considered significantly more important than cost or price. As the technical and clinical evaluation results become more equal, price will become more important. The selection will be determined utilizing Best value/ trade-off criteria. The selection of a single vendor is anticipated. Point of Contact Phyllis Targett 937-257-9075 [email protected] B. Products & Performance Required The Heartland Region is seeking product line items in the category of Disposable Gowns, which at a minimum includes the high volume lines below. Within this region, this product line has an estimated annual dollar requirement of $147,590.57. This forecast is based on historical prime vendor sales for a 12-month period. The top high volume usage lines for this project include: GOWN ISOLATION/PROCEDURE XL DISPO 1099 Cases/ $53,485.57; MEDC GOWN ISO BLUE POLY W/DISPENSER 790 Cases/ $29,715.33; ISO GOWN,SMS,LATEX FREE,YELL 310 Cases/ $28,258.60; ISO GOWN,XL,LATEX FREE,YELL 241 Cases/ $25,340.84; GOWN ECLPSE ST, SURG, W/HAND TOWEL, X-LGE/180 CASES/$15,482.24; GOWN,UNIV.,BLUE W/THUMBHOO 67 Cases/ $4,536.31; GOWN ISOLATION/PROCEDURE MED DISPO 42 Cases/ $4,383.20; GOWN ISOLATION/PROCEDURE XL DISPO 450 EA/ $774.00; P2 GOWN, UNIVERSAL SIZE, 5 DIS 7 Cases/ $469.67; IMPERVIOUS COMFORT GOWN-UNIV, 3 Cases/ $348.09; ISO GOWN W/THUMB LOOP,POLYET 5 Cases/ $278.96. At the request of the Heartland Region Military Treatment Facilities vendors will provide on-site support and in-servicing, educational resources and tools for clinical use of the product, conversion information, prime vendor order numbers, MSDS information, and itemization of the brands, types and packaging information of the products provided by the vendor. C. Instructions to Vendors DAPA holders interested in participating in this standardization initiative should email their (1) Company name and address, (2) POC (Name and Phone Number, Fax Number, and E-mail address) to [email protected] (937) 257-9075. Submissions must be received by 5:00 P.M. EST on the specified closing date/time of this sources sought notice. Failure of the vendor to meet the submittal deadline will result in exclusion. This process will include vendor requirements of electronic responses to technical criteria, no charge samples for clinical evaluation, and submission of electronic best price quotes. Due to the potential for email to be lost in transmission from network security, etc., vendors are strongly encouraged to confirm with the Region that its initial submission, quote and literature actually arrived at the Regional Tri-Service Business Office (TRBO) via email. Each submitting vendor is advised to confirm receipt, allowing adequate time for resubmission before the due date/time, should a problem occur with the first submission. Failure of the vendor to meet the submittal deadline will result in exclusion. All e-mail communication between vendors and the region will be digitally signed by the issuer D. Evaluation Criteria The Tri-Service Product Review Board (TPRB) is the governing body of the standardization process. This board includes clinicians and logisticians from all of the Military Treatment Facilities within the Heartland Region. They are the deciding officials for this initiative. The Region intends to evaluate price quotes and select a vendor without discussions. Vendor quotes should contain the vendor's best product matches for the products or product lines requested in this announcement. Vendor quotes should contain the vendor's best responses to all technical and/or company questions listed in this announcement. Vendor quotes should contain the vendor's best tiered-pricing discounts off of the vendor's DAPA pricing (based on committed volume of 80% of the total requirements of the MTF?s in the Region). Additionally, the Region reserves the right to conduct discussions and request revised quotes, if it is determined to be necessary. If a down-selection is made during the evaluation process, the Region may limit the number of quotes to the greatest number that will permit an efficient competition among vendors. Phase I-Technical/Company Evaluation Process. Interested vendors are to respond to this FBO announcement by emailing their ?intent to participate? to the above POC by the required response date. Based on vendor responses, the TRBO POC will request detailed responses to the technical/company criteria from each vendor. Vendors are required to meet/provide responses to the technical/company criteria stated below. All technical/company criteria are weighted equally. The responses will be reviewed under the purview of the TPRB by the Clinical Product Team, to determine the acceptability of each vendor. After the review of the technical/company criteria, those vendors who meet the technical/company criteria will be qualified/invited to participate in the clinical/performance evaluation process via e-mail communication with each vendor. All communications of significant milestones, such as invitations to participate, notices of disqualification, etc. must be digitally signed. Acceptability for purposes of evaluation of technical/company criteria: Generally, responses to all questions in this section demonstrate: (1) the business concern submitting the quote is a distributor or manufacturer of a complete line of the subject medical/surgical consumables; (2) based on the vendor?s responses, the evaluators have reasonable confidence that the line or products and/or services submitted meet the medical standards of care of the community, applicable to such products or services; (3) the vendor has or is obtaining a DAPA for the items (vendors that fail to have a DAPA will be disqualified); (4) the vendor has, or is obtaining, an agreement covering the items with Owens & Minor, the Prime Vendor for the region (vendors whose products are not available through the regional PV will be disqualified); (5) the vendor intends to provide discounts off DAPA for all products included in this standardization initiative (vendors that fail to provide a discount from DAPA will be disqualified); and (6) the vendor?s information provided is factually correct. Any misrepresentation of information will disqualify the vendor from further consideration. The following equally weighted Technical/Company Evaluation Criteria have been established for this standardization initiative: 1.Vendors must have a DAPA or be in the process of applying for a DAPA number for the Disposable Gowns product line. Provide the DAPA number or proof of the application process with the initial submittal. (Note that vendors that fail to have a DAPA or show a lack of progress in obtaining a DAPA will be disqualified.) 2.Vendors must have a separate agreement with the current prime vendor Owens and Minor (Note that vendors whose products are not available through the regional PV will be disqualified.) 3.Vendors must identify the brand(s) that your company manufacture and/or distribute your product. 4.Vendors must identify if your products are manufactured under FDA (TIR) standards. Please identify any other standards 5.Vendors must identify if your products meet the AORN standards for use and selection of barrier materials. 6.Vendors must identify what types and sizes of Disposable Gowns your company provides. 7.Vendors must identify what materials your gowns come in and if they are free of latex and toxic materials. 8.Vendors gowns must barrier protection against particulate matter and fluids. Identify if this barrier protection is dependent on the number of layers the fabric has. List the levels of protection. 9.Vendors gowns impervious regions must be labeled or indicated in some way on the item. Identify what is the method of labeling or indication. 10.Vendors must identify if your company manufactures a full line of Disposable Gowns to include but not limited to the high usage gowns listed above 11.Vendors must identify how your company?s gown fabric construction assists in maintaining the wearer?s normal body temperature 12.Vendors must identify if there are any precautions that should be taken to ensure that your company?s gowns perform as intended 13.Vendors must list the ASTM International test method used (and the score) for assessing your Disposable Surgical Gowns propensity to lint (i.e., flexing in air, Helmke drum test etc). 14.Vendors must list the ASTM International test method used to determine breaking strength for your Disposable Gowns (grab or strip tensile strength, burst strength, etc.) and provide the test result score for your product. 15.Vendors must list the ASTM International tear strength test method (and score) used for your Disposable Gowns. 16.Vendors must provide information about how your company?s fabrics used Disposable Gowns perform in a surgical fire, i.e., Meets Consumer Product Safety Commission Standard for Flammability of Clothing Textiles (CPSC 16 CFR 1610). 17.Vendors must list how are your company?s Disposable Surgical Gowns constructed, i.e., spun-lace, spunbond, wet laid etc? 18.Vendors must list what the recommended disposal guidelines are for your Disposable Gowns (If products are incinerated for disposal, what are the potential byproducts?) 19.Vendors must identify what types of educational tools or materials you have for this product line. 20.Vendors must identify what kind of staff training their company provides 21.Vendors must identify if company has history of backorders and /or recalls in the past five (5) years for the product line. Explaining the a) dates and duration, b) cause, c) resolution. Vendors should provide a context to include any mitigating factors for these situations, and any relief of resolution which may have been provided, since there will be no further opportunity to explain these scenarios and their effects. 1.Phase II ? Clinical/Performance Evaluation Process. The multi-disciplinary Clinical Product Team (CPT) formed by the TPRB will request samples (no charge) from the product line to be clinically evaluated at select Military Treatment Facilities. Vendors are required to ship their no cost samples directly to the designated MTF?s and will be allowed 3 weeks (21 calendar days) from the date of notification to complete the delivery. Samples must be shipped to arrive at the MTF by COB, 5PM EST, on the (21st) calendar day after the notice to ship. Vendors failing to deliver by the deadline will be disqualified from further consideration in the standardization process. Note: all vendors must send the TRBO verification regarding the date of shipment from the vendor and anticipated delivery date. The samples to be provided are as follows: Polyethylene-coated, Polypropylene Disposable Gowns X-Large-3 dozen to each facility Latex-free, Fluid Resistant, Medium Weight, Disposable, Yellow, Isolation Gowns Regular Size-3 dozen each facility. Latex-free, Fluid Resistant, Medium Weight, Disposable, Yellow, Isolation Gowns X-Large-3 dozen each facility Impervious, Blue, W/Thumbloop, Disposable, Universal Size-5 dozen to each facility Sterile-Poly-Reinforced, Disposable Surgical Gown W/Hand Towel, X-Large, X-Long-2 dozen to each facility. Specific MTF?s will evaluate the clinical/performance criteria using a Likert like scale, with a one to five rating. 1 = strongly disagree, 2=disagree, 3=neutral, 4=agree and 5 = strongly agree. All clinical/performance criteria are equally weighted. The CPT has established a target threshold of 3.75 for the clinical acceptability of products for standardization. The CPT will analyze this acceptability as being at or 3.75 depending on the "break" in the average scores and how closely scores are clustered near the Acceptability Target Threshold of 3.75. Subject to this review, products below this threshold will be clinically unacceptable and will be disqualified from further consideration for standardization. To determine acceptability, a Clinical Product Team (CPT) comprised of medical professionals will evaluate the products based on the evaluation criteria below. The CPT intends that clinical evaluations be conducted in a clinical setting. The following equally weighted Clinical/Performance Evaluation Criteria have been established for this standardization initiative: Clinical Acceptability Target Threshold: 3.75 1.It is easy to determine the level of barrier protection that the product provides (different levels of protection are needed for different cases) 2.The gown fits the wearer well (size, length, and cuff fit) (closes in the back ,is long enough to cover below knees, cuffs are long enough to cover hands for closed gloving) 3.Gown fabric has limited memory and is flexible enough to conform loosely to wearer?s body (limited memory so gown will not hold folds and conforms loosely so wearer?s body can ?breathe?) 4.The gown has no odor products with any odor are less likely to be accepted by staff because of the length of time a gown is worn) 5.Gown fasteners and ties are constructed well (fasteners and ties should stay fastened during any procedures that the user performs) 6.Gown fabric is lint-free during use (lint can contaminate surgical site and increases the chance for infection) 7.Product does not tear and/or perforate easily during use (tears increase the chance of contaminating the sterile field) Phase III ? Pricing Analysis Process. After the clinical/performance evaluation is completed and analyzed, all vendors in the clinical evaluation group who met the minimum 3.75 threshold (depending on the "break" in the average scores and how closely scores are clustered near the Acceptability Target Threshold as determined by the CPT) will be contacted to submit their lowest pricing quotes (as well as product cross-reference data) based on committed volume of 80% of the total Regional requirement. Vendors will be provided 2 weeks (14 calendar days) to submit their price quotes in a prescribed format via email. Price quotes must be received by 5:00 PM EST on the 14th calendar day. Failure to respond within this timeframe or failure to submit incentive discounts from their DAPA prices will result in the vendor being disqualified from further consideration/ participation. The Region intends to evaluate quotes and select a vendor or vendor(s), without discussions as noted above. However, the Region reserves the right to conduct discussions and request revised pricing, if determined to be necessary. A multiple selection is only a possibility if no single vendor can meet the total requirement of the Region and would be based on a combination of MTF preference and product availability. Clinical/performance and technical/company factors will be weighted more heavily than price. As the technical and clinical evaluation results become more equal, price will become more important. Pricing will be evaluated based on best value to the government and will be based on a committed volume for a two-year period with possible one-year option periods not to exceed a total of 5 years. The following elements will be considered in the pricing analysis: (1) Impact of RIA prices on the Region (Post-Standardization Costs), (2) Potential Cost Avoidance, (3) Impact of Unmatched Lines, and (4) Consideration of stockage keeping units (SKUs) by each vendor. Due to the potential for Base DAPA prices to be inflated, the Impact of RIA prices on the Region is considered more important than other pricing elements.

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