Nuance Communications, Inc. (Unknown)

B-418106 Jan 08, 2020 Jump To VIEW DECISION DOWNLOADS RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Nuance Communications, Inc., of Burlington, Massachusetts, protests the Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) issuance of a task order to Cerner Government Services, Inc., pursuant to indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract No. 3610B18D5000 that was awarded to Cerner in May 2018 for delivery of a comprehensive electronic health record (EHR) system. Nuance asserts that the activities to be performed under the task order are beyond the scope of the IDIQ contract. We deny the protest. View Decision DOCUMENT FOR PUBLIC RELEASE The decision issued on the date below was subject to a GAO Protective Order. The entire decision has now been approved for public release. Decision Matter of:  Nuance Communications, Inc. File:  B-418106 Date:  January 8, 2020 William V. Roppolo, Esq., Baker McKenzie LLP, for the protester. David R. Hazelton, Esq., Dean W. Baxtresser, Esq., and Joshua J. Craddock, Esq., Latham & Watkins LLP, for Cerner Government Services, Inc., the intervenor. Frank V. DiNicola, Esq., and Kerry A. McGrath, Esq., Department of Veterans Affairs, for the agency. Glenn G. Wolcott, Esq., and Christina Sklarew, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST Protest asserting that task order requirements are beyond the scope of the underlying indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract is denied, where the performance work statement for the underlying contract clearly encompassed the specific task order requirements and effectively advised offerors of the potential for the task order to be issued. DECISION Nuance Communications, Inc., of Burlington, Massachusetts, protests the Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) issuance of a task order to Cerner Government Services, Inc., pursuant to indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract No. 3610B18D5000 that was awarded to Cerner in May 2018 for delivery of a comprehensive electronic health record (EHR) system.  Nuance asserts that the activities to be performed under the task order are beyond the scope of the IDIQ contract.  We deny the protest. BACKGROUND The VA and the Department of Defense (DOD) provide medical services to an overlapping patient population of service members and veterans; yet, each agency operates a separate EHR system.  The two agencies have been attempting for several years to make their EHR systems interoperable.  See CliniCorp Int’l, Inc. v. United States, 134 Fed Cl. 736 (Fed. Cl. 2017), aff’d, 904 F.3d 1353 (Fed. Cir. 2018). In 2014, DOD issued a solicitation for the acquisition of a commercial off-the-shelf EHR  system using full and open competition; that procurement resulted in the 2015 award of a contract to Leidos, Inc. for delivery of a comprehensive EHR system to be used throughout the DOD.  Agency Report (AR), Tab 4, VA Secretary’s Determination and Findings (D&F), June 1, 2017, at 2.  The “core” of Leidos’s EHR system consists of “a commercial EHR developed by Cerner” that includes “significant cybersecurity enhancements to protect DOD data.”  Id.  In June 2017, consistent with the objective of making the two EHR systems interoperable, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs executed a Determination and Findings justifying the sole-source award of a broad IDIQ contract to Cerner for acquisition of “the EHR system being deployed by DOD.”  Id. at 5.  In that D&F, the VA Secretary, among other things, noted the high priority of providing healthcare to veterans, recognized that the VA “operates one of the largest and most complex medical organizations, with 1,600 care sites across 50 states,” and concluded: A single common system across VA and DOD will facilitate the transition of active duty military members to VA and improve their timely access to the highest quality of care in a way never before experienced.  Records residing in a single common system will eliminate the reliance on complex clinical interfaces or manual data entry between DOD and VA.  A single common system and the adoption of common clinical workflows and order sets (i.e., pre-defined templates that provide support in making clinical decisions for a specific condition or medical procedure) will significantly reduce, and potentially eliminate, the variations between VA and DOD facilities, thereby facilitating a more consistent patient experience. . .