Cognosante MVH, LLC (T4NG-0646)

B-421150,B-421150.2,B-421150.3,B-421150.4,B-421150.5,B-421150.6 Published: Jan 10, 2023. Publicly Released: Jan 23, 2023. Jump To FULL REPORT VIEW DECISION RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Cognosante MVH, LLC and Pro Sphere-Tek, Inc. (ProSphere), of Falls Church and Arlington, Virginia, protest the issuance of a task order to Booz Allen Hamilton Inc. (BAH), of McLean, Virginia, under request for task execution plan (RTEP) No. T4NG-0646, issued by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for program management support services. The protesters contend that BAH has an unmitigatable organizational conflict of interest (OCI). The protesters also raise a number of challenges to the agency's evaluation of proposals and resulting best-value tradeoff. We deny the protests. View Decision DOCUMENT FOR PUBLIC RELEASE The decision issued on the date below was subject to a GAO Protective Order. This redacted version has been approved for public release. Decision Matter of: Cognosante MVH, LLC; Pro Sphere-Tek, Inc. File: B-421150; B-421150.2; B-421150.3; B-421150.4; B-421150.5; B-421150.6 Date: January 10, 2023 Alexander B. Ginsberg, Esq., and Michael J. Anstett, Esq., Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP, for Cognosante MVH, LLC; John E. McCarthy, Jr., Esq., James G. Peyster, Esq., and Issac D. Schabes, Esq., Crowell & Moring LLP, for Pro Sphere-Tek, Inc., the protesters. Michael McGill, Esq., Kristen E. Ittig, Esq., Amanda J. Sherwood, Esq., and Julia Swafford, Esq., Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP, for Booz Allen Hamilton Inc., the intervenor. Christopher Murphy, Esq., Desiree A. DiCorcia, Esq., and Krysta Ku, Esq., Department of Veterans Affairs, for the agency. Heather Self, Esq., and Peter H. Tran, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST 1. Protests that the awardee had an impaired objectivity organizational conflict of interest are denied because the awardee’s work on the protested task order does not enable it to steer work to or oversee the work of one of its subsidiaries on a separate task order under the same indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract. 2. Protests challenging the agency’s evaluation of proposals are denied because the record reflects the evaluation was reasonable, consistent with the solicitation’s evaluation criteria, and not conducted in a disparate manner. 3. Protests challenging the agency’s selection of a higher-rated, higher-priced proposal are denied because the record reflects the best-value tradeoff was reasonable, consistent with the solicitation, and adequately documented the technical merits of the awardee’s proposal that justify payment of its associated price premium. DECISION Cognosante MVH, LLC and Pro Sphere-Tek, Inc. (ProSphere), of Falls Church and Arlington, Virginia, protest the issuance of a task order to Booz Allen Hamilton Inc. (BAH), of McLean, Virginia, under request for task execution plan (RTEP) No. T4NG‑0646, issued by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for program management support services. The protesters contend that BAH has an unmitigatable organizational conflict of interest (OCI). The protesters also raise a number of challenges to the agency’s evaluation of proposals and resulting best-value tradeoff. We deny the protests. BACKGROUND On June 27, 2022, using the procedures of Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) subpart 16.5, the agency issued the solicitation to holders of its Transformation Twenty‑One Total Technology Next Generation (T4NG) indefinite-delivery, indefinite‑quantity (IDIQ) contracts. Agency Report (AR), Tab 5, RTEP Questions & Answers (Q&A) No. 1, Final Revised Instructions to Offerors and Evaluation and Award Basis (RTEP-Instructions, Eval., Award) at 1; Cog. Contracting Officer’s Statement (COS) at 1; Pro. COS at 4.[1] The VA issued the solicitation as part of its Electronic Health Record Modernization (EHRM) Program. AR, Tab 4, RTEP--Performance Work Statement (PWS) at 4. As part of this effort, in May 2018, the VA awarded a contract to replace its current electronic health records system with the same solution being deployed by the Department of Defense (DOD) and the United States Coast Guard--the Cerner Millennium product. Id. The purpose of the task order at issue here was to re-procure contractor support for the VA’s EHRM Integration Office (IO) related to the “planning, management, and implementation of the Cerner EHRM solution across VA.”[2] PWS at 4. Specifically, the task order sought proposals for the provision of “program management, administrative, clinical subject matter expertise, clinical informatics subject matter expertise, executive, and technical support to EHRM IO, VHA [Veterans Health Administration], OIT [Office of Information Technology], and FEHRM [Federal EHRM] program office” for the tasks set forth in the PWS. Id. at 5.