Clinicomp International, Inc. v. United States

134 Fed. Cl. 736
CourtUnited States Court of Federal Claims
DecidedOctober 18, 2017
Docket17-1115C
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 134 Fed. Cl. 736 (Clinicomp International, Inc. v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Court of Federal Claims primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Clinicomp International, Inc. v. United States, 134 Fed. Cl. 736 (uscfc 2017).

Opinion

Pre-Award Bid Protest; Competition in Contracting Act (“CICA”); 41 U.S.C. § 3304; FAR § 1.704; FAR § 6.302-7; Judgment on the Administrative Record; RCFC 52.1; Injunctive Relief; RCFC 65; Supplementing the Administrative Record; Standing; Subject-Matter Jurisdiction; RCFC 12(b)(1).

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

GRIGGSBY, Judge

I. INTRODUCTION

Plaintiff, CliniComp International, Inc. (“CliniComp”), brought this pre-award bid protest matter seeking to enjoin the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (the “Secretary”) from (Erectly soliciting a sole source contract to Cerner Corporation (“Cerner”) for the next generation electronic health records (“EHR”) system for the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (the “VA”), pursuant to the public interest exception to the Competition in Contracting Act (“CICA”). CliniComp has moved for preliminary and permanent injunctions, pursuant to Rule 65 of the Rules of the United States Court of Federal Claims (“RCFC”). See generally Pl. Mot. The government and Cerner have also moved to dismiss tins matter for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction, pursuant to RCFC 12(b)(1). See generally Def. XMJAR; Int. XMJAR.

In addition, the parties have filed cross-motions for judgment on the administrative record, pursuant to RCFC 52.1. See generally Pl. MJAR; Def. XMJAR; Int. XMJAR. CliniComp has also moved to strike several documents attached to Cemer’s motion to 'dismiss and three citations contained in the government’s motions to dismiss and for judgment on the administrative record, and to amend its motion to strike. See generally Pl. Mot. to Strike; Pl. Mot. to Amend; Def. XMJAR at 21-22, 46. Lastly, Cerner and CliniComp have moved for leave to file supplemental briefs. See generally Int. Mot. to Supp.; Pl. Mot. to Supp.

For the reasons discussed below, the Court GRANTS CliniComp’s motions to strike and to amend its motion to strike; GRANTS the government’s and Cerner’s respective motions to dismiss this matter for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction; DENIES as moot the parties’ cross-motions for judgment on the administrative record; DENIES Clini-Comp’s motion for preliminary and permanent injunctions; and DENIES Cerner’s and CliniComp’s respective motions for leave to file supplemental briefs.

II. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND 1

A. Factual Background

CliniComp is headquartered in San Diego, California, and the company is a global provider of hardware, software, and support for clinical documentation systems. Compl. Ex. 10 at 1. In this pre-award bid protest matter, CliniComp challenges the Secretary’s decision to make a .sole source award of a contract to provide the VA’s new EHR system to Cerner (the “Cerner Contract”), based upon the public interest exception to CICA. See generally Compl. Cemer developed the current core EHR system for the United States Department of Defense (“DoD”). AR at 2.

CliniComp raises eight challenges to the Secretary’s sole source award decision, namely, that: (1) the Secretary’s Determination and Findings (“D <& F”) regarding the Cemer Contract, dated June 1, 2017, fails to comply with Federal Acquisition Regulations (“FAR”) § 1.704; (2) the Secretary cannot rely upon the public interest exception to CICA to award the Cerner Contract under FAR § 6.302-7(b); (3) the Secretary cannot rely upon the public interest exception to CICA to award the Cerner Contract, because the VA failed to engage in advance planning; (4) the Secretary’s award decision is a brand-name justification; (5) the Secretary’s award decision is arbitrary and capricious; (6) the Secretary improperly failed to consider cost in making the award decision; (7) the Secretary’s award decision violates FAR § 34.005-1, because the Cerner Contract involves a major system; and (8) the Secretary failed to comply with the obligation to timely notify Congress of the award of the Cerner Contract, as required under 41 U.S.C. § 3304(a)(7)(B). Pl. MJAR at 13-39. As relief, CliniComp requests that the Court enjoin the Secretary from awarding the Cemer Contract. See PI. Mem. at 33; PI. MJAR at 39-40; PI. Resp. at 29-30; see generally PI. Mot.

1. The VA’s Efforts To Improve EHR Interoperability

As background, the VA and the DoD provide medical services to an overlapping patient population of service members and veterans. See AR at 2. These two government agencies have attempted to make their respective EHR systems interoperable for almost twenty years. Id. at 24-32, 2134-35. To date, this ongoing effort has achieved mixed results. Id. at 15-61,348-82.

In April 2017, the VA issued two requests for information from providers of EHR systems to help inform the VA’s efforts to improve the interoperability of the EHR systems for the VA and the DoD. Id. at 1197— 215, 1820-38. The VA also engaged a private auditor, Grant Thornton, to assess the market’s ability to meet the VA’s needs. Id. at 233. A May 17, 2017, Grant Thornton report found that the best option for the VA to accomplish the goal of improving interoperability with the DoD would depend upon the agency’s own evaluation of the benefits and risks of modernizing its existing EHR system—the Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture, known as VistA—or selecting another eommercially-available system. Id. at 233.

Ultimately, the VA concluded that continuing to modernize its existing EHR system, or selecting a different commercial EHR system, would “result in the VA having to develop and maintain an increasingly complex technical architecture without providing seamless care.” Id. at 3, 2142. And so, the Secretary decided to issue a solicitation directly to Cemer for the acquisition of the EHR system currently being used by DoD for deployment and transition across the VA. Id. at 5, 2135.

Cemer currently serves as a sub-contractor under the DoD’s EHR contract, and the company provides software and cybersecurity services to the DoD. Id. at 2. The DoD’s contract is based upon Cerner Millennium, a commercially-available EHR product provided by Cerner. Id.

2. The Secretary’s Determination & Findings

On June 1, 2017, the Secretary issued Determination & Findings regarding his decision to award the Cemer Contract. Id. at 5, In the D & F, the Secretary states that it is in the public interest to directly solicit a sole source contract to Cemer to achieve a single common EHR system with the DoD. Id. at 1-5, 436. A “single common system” is one which “will be technically implemented in a way to enable adoption of common work-flows, cybersecurity architecture, order sets, and terminology ... that results in seamless care regardless of whether a patient ... receives care at a VA or DoD facility.” Id. at 436.

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Bluebook (online)
134 Fed. Cl. 736, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/clinicomp-international-inc-v-united-states-uscfc-2017.