Major Changes in Procurement of Medical and Surgical Items for VA and DoD | McDermott Will & Emery

On December 18, 2020, the USA Division of Veterans Affairs (VA) and Division of Protection’s (DoD) Protection Logistics Company (DLA) expanded the VA’s adoption of the Protection Medical Logistics Commonplace Help (DMLSS) stock administration system. Over the course of a multi-year rollout, the VA and DoD will undertake a single logistics and provide administration system for medical and surgical objects and providers utilizing the DMLSS platform, leaving open questions on the way forward for the VA Federal Provide Schedule (FSS) program.

Background: On December 18, 2020, the DLA signed an settlement increasing upon the Interagency Settlement signed on August 12, 2019, making a strategic partnership permitting the VA to pilot adoption of the DMLSS stock administration system. DMLSS serves as the first system for DLA’s Medical Surgical Prime Vendor (MSPV) program. VA has applied this program in lieu of the VA’s MSPV 2.0, for which, in response to a lately issued GAO report, the VA delayed implementation from April 2020 to early 2021.

Historical past: The August 2019 settlement was supposed to permit the VA higher high quality of care and entry to medical and surgical objects by leveraging the DoD provide chain and making a centralized ordering system, slightly than utilizing the separate VA and DoD techniques that at present exist. As a part of the pilot program, the settlement allowed VA’s Captain James A. Lovell Federal Well being Care Middle (FHCC) in North Chicago, Illinois, and VA Northwest Well being Community (Veterans Built-in Service Community (VISN) 20) to order medical provides through the DMLSS ordering system and DLA’s Prime Vendor Program. Based on the GAO report, FHCC initially began the DLA pilot utilizing the digital catalog (ECAT) system, then transitioned to DMLSS in August 2020. The pilot’s second section, initially deliberate to start out in October 2019 at two VISN 20 medical facilities, Spokane and Puget Sound, was delayed till July and August 2020, respectively, utilizing ECAT. These facilities are scheduled to maneuver to DMLSS in fiscal 12 months 2021.

Abstract of Modifications: The settlement signed on December 18, 2020, expands this system, permitting all VISNs to make use of the DLA program, and the VA plans on conducting a multi-year rollout of this program. It’s nonetheless unclear how implementation of this program might be coordinated with the VA FSS and current VA agreements.

Key Concerns for VA Contractors: The transition to the DMLSS ordering system is a substitute of current VA provide chain administration techniques, becoming a member of the procurement energy of the DoD for medical provides. This aligns with the extra coordination between VA and DoD associated to digital well being information in addition to monetary administration techniques, but it surely stays to be seen what these adjustments will imply for the present VA FSS program associated to medical and surgical services. We are going to proceed to watch and report on any developments.

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