DURO Health, LLC (TOPR-16039)

B-421947 Nov 30, 2023 Jump To VIEW DECISION DOWNLOADS RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights DURO Health, LLC, a small business of Holladay, Utah, challenges the terms of task order request for proposals (RFP) No. FA252123QB123, issued by the Department of the Air Force for medical professional staffing services. The protester contends that the RFP, issued under the Department of Defense, Defense Health Agency's (DHA) Medical Q-Coded Service (MQS) indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract vehicle, should have been solicited under United States Special Operations Command's (USSOCOM) Preservation of the Force and Family Program (POTFF) program. We deny the protest. View Decision Decision Matter of: DURO Health, LLC File: B-421947 Date: November 30, 2023 Randy Ziobro, for the protester. Colonel Frank Yoon, Major Oladipo O. Odejide, and Bradley E. Richardson, Esq., Department of the Air Force, for the agency. Kasia Dourney, Esq., and Alexander O. Levine, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST 1. Protest asserting that task order requirements are beyond the scope of the underlying indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract is denied where the protester has not shown that the principal purpose of the task order is outside the scope of the underlying contract. 2. GAO lacks jurisdiction to consider protest alleging that the agency improperly denied the protester a fair opportunity to compete for a task order, where value of the task order is less than $25 million. DECISION DURO Health, LLC, a small business of Holladay, Utah, challenges the terms of task order request for proposals (RFP) No. FA252123QB123, issued by the Department of the Air Force for medical professional staffing services. The protester contends that the RFP, issued under the Department of Defense, Defense Health Agency’s (DHA) Medical Q-Coded Service (MQS) indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract vehicle, should have been solicited under United States Special Operations Command’s (USSOCOM) Preservation of the Force and Family Program (POTFF) program. We deny the protest. BACKGROUND The Air Force issued the task order solicitation at issue under DHA’s MQS multiple award contract vehicle.[1] Agency Report (AR), Tab 2, RFP Performance Work Statement (PWS) at 1; AR, Tab 10, MQS Ordering Guide at 7. The MQS contract is a mandatory source acquisition vehicle for DHA and “military departments,” seeking “procurement[s] of health care staffing requirements,” including “physician, nurse, dental, and ancillary contract services” at military treatment facilities (MTFs).[2] AR, Tab 6, Memorandum on Mandatory Use of MQS Contract by MTFs at 1; AR, Tab 7, Memorandum on Task Order Set-Asides under DHA MQS at 1. The scope of work for the MQS IDIQ contracts is limited to providing full-time equivalent health care workers, specifically, “supplement[ing] the medical staff at . . . MTFs with a wide range of qualified clinical credentialed . . . and non-credentialed” staff. AR, Tab 10, MQS Ordering Guide at 13. At issue here, the MQS contract contemplates providing “ancillary services,” which the contract defines as: services provided by [health care workers] who deliver patient treatment or assist in the provision of patient treatment including, but not limited to, audiologists, clinical laboratory personnel, dietitians, mid-level providers (i.e., nurse practitioners, physician assistants), occupational therapists, pharmacists, physical therapists . . . and clinical support staff such as medical assistants. AR, Tab 9, MQS Basic Contract PWS at 1. On August 30, 2023, the agency posted the task order RFP to DHA’s ordering portal, Symphony. AR, Tab 10, MQS Ordering Guide at 26. As relevant here, DURO is not an MQS contract holder. Protest at 1-2. The RFP sought proposals for the services of physical therapists, certified athletic trainers, performance dietitians, licensed clinical social workers, and strength and conditioning specialists, to be provided at the 308 RQS compound located at the Patrick Space Force Base in Florida, as well as local and non-local training areas. AR, Tab 2, RFP PWS at 2, 4, 5. Before issuing the RFP, the agency conducted an assessment of whether MQS was a proper contract vehicle for the requirement.[3] COS/MOL at 1-2. In this regard, the contracting officer reviewed the PWS for MQS and determined that the services being sought would fall under the category of “[a]ncillary [s]ervices.” Id. at 2-3. The contracting officer noted that the physical therapist and performance dietitian labor categories “were expressly set forth in the definition of [a]ncillary [s]ervices.” Id. at 3. Additionally, the contracting officer concluded that ancillary services were broadly defined and could include “any clinical support staff, as long as there was an appropriate Q-code in the Product Service Code manual” for that category. Id.