Q513--Onsite Orthopedic Surgery Services for the Oklahoma City VA

Questions and Answers for RFP 36C25926R0018 Onsite Orthopedic Surgery Services for Oklahoma City VA Healthcare System

Question 1: Is this a new requirement or are there incumbents?

Answer 1: SF 1449, Block 20 of the solicitation states this is a new requirement.

Question 2: While on call, what is the average number of calls received during weeknights? Weekends?

Answer 2:

Weeknights: 2/night

Weekends: 4/weekend

Question 3: While on call, how often is the Physician called back into the Hospital on average?

Answer 3: On average, once per week (typically weekend days).

Question 4: What support staff is available?  (Advanced Practice Providers, RN s, other specialty Physicians)

Answer 4:

Surgeons

2 hand specialists

1 foot and ankle specialist

2 joint specialists

Advanced Practice Providers

1 Nurse Practitioner

4 Physician Associates

Please note: these advanced practicer providers run their own clinics and maintain their own workload. They may assist with some functions but are not assigned to incoming providers.

Nurses

Prior to rooming patient review chart for any xr orders and send patient to xray prior to appointment if needed.

Room the patients/turn-clean exam rooms

Take vitals signs on all post op patient s 1st post op appt

Obtain all medications/injections from omnicell given on a daily basis for every injection scheduled & non scheduled.

Draw up steroid injections per surgeon/mid level s preference

In clinic PRP injections- set up/operate Arthrex angel system, complete blood draw for injection.  Since start of tracking November 2024 to now November 2025 we have completed 95 PRP s in clinic.Â

Assist surgeons/mid level s with joint aspiration (sterile procedure)>deliver specimens to lab as needed

Assist surgeons with Sterile debridement/wounds as needed

Assist Surgeons with closed reductions utilizing the c arm (obtain and draw up local anesthetic lidocaine)

Assist providers when they place cast/splints/wound dressings

Assist with ultrasound guided injections if ultrasound is available for use during clinic hours

Cast removal

Suture/staple removal

Splint removal

Stock exam room carts daily

Complete Daily crash cart check and daily log

Answer/return Orthopedic Clinic nurse line telephone calls daily

Apply Cam boots/wrist braces/neck braces/ etc.  (orthotics supplies) as ordered by the provider and educate the patient

Chaperone patient s with providers as needed during exams

Question 5: What are the most common surgeries and how often will the Physician see trauma patients?

Answer 5:

In the past year, OKC VA has conducted approximately 50 fracture/trauma cases.

In the past year, here are the most common surgeries (not accounting for specialties):

Row Labels

Count of ScheduledProcedure

Right Open Carpal Tunnel Release

56

Left Open Carpal Tunnel Release

40

Right Total Knee Arthroplasty

38

Left Total Knee Arthroplasty

31

Right Intra-Articular Hip Injection

15

Bilateral Intra-Articular Hip Injections

12

Left Intra-Articular Hip Injection

12

Right Open Carpal And Cubital Tunnel Release

11

Question 6: What days are surgeries performed?

Answer 6: OR days are dependent on case load and OR availability. Orthopedic Department has a full day s OR block on Mondays and Tuesdays. The department has two OR blocks Thursdays and Fridays.

Question 7: How many surgeries per day on average?

Answer 7: Two to three cases per OR day for Ortho.

Question 8: B.2, paragraph 6 outlines reimbursement for daily lodging and DM&I. Can the Government please clarify whether these expenses are reimbursable only when a provider resides more than 50 miles from the local duty location, or if a different mileage threshold applies?

Answer 8: Expenses are reimbursable only when a provider resides more than 50

miles from the local duty location.

Question 9: Section 3.6 requires providers to send four separate timekeeping emails daily from a VA workstation. For surgical providers who may be in the OR for extended periods or have only brief meal breaks, stepping away to log into a government computer multiple times per day may disrupt patient care. Would the Government consider alternative, less disruptive timekeeping methods (e.g., a single start/end confirmation, supervisor-validated time, or periodic attestation), or provide exceptions for OR cases and other patient-care scenarios where stepping away to send emails is not feasible?

Answer 9: Single start and end confirmation will suffice if provider is not taking a lunch break. The Federal Government does not pay for lunches.

Question 10: f the timeclock email method in Section 3.6 remains as written, can the Government clarify whether billing and invoicing will follow standard 15-minute rounding practices (e.g., 7 minutes rounding down and 8 minutes rounding up), or if a different rounding method will be required?

Answer 10: Rounding to be done to the next hour on total time accrued for the month. Example: Provider A completed 11.2 hours of work for the month. Provider B completes 10.4 hours of work. In total, 21.6 hours of work was completed. Vendor will bill for 22 hours completed, NOT 21 hours.

Question 11: Under Section 3.6.4, if a provider must work past the designated shift for patient care (including rounding), will the Government allow those additional hours to be billed under CLIN 0003 Emergency Call Back (includes any surgical services), or should they be billed under the standard hourly CLIN?

Answer 11: Hours should be billed under the standard hourly. Emergency Call Back is reserved for when a provider is called in while on call status.

Question 12: For line item 0004 it reads 24/7 call while physician is at work and its expressed in hour format.  We usually only charge for 16 hours of weeknight call, as the physician is receiving an hourly rate while in clinic/surgery.Â

Answer 12: Billing shall be based on an hourly rate for both hours worked and hours on-call. If a provider works 10 hours, then on-call shall only be billed for 14 hours for that calendar day.