Veterans Administration – VA VetLink Kiosk Award

By | March 2, 2019

Patient Check-in Kiosk for Veterans – RFP Award

VA Vetlink KioskA continuation of the process at the VA for the check-in kiosks continued. An RFP for 40 units was issued in September and the VA decided to sole-source the RFP to Vecna, the incumbent vendor.

Some of the reasons they decided to sole source according to VA

  • The needed timeframe was too close to do additional testing
  • The magstripe, thermal receipt printer and insurance card scanner could not be reconfigured except by Vecna.

It’s clear that we are disappointed that the VA feels compelled to invest in a proprietary solution especially given their EHR.  With over 6500 units installed paying $7500 a unit for mostly industry-wide hardware is unfortunate.

There was no visible effort to actually increase competition or conduct market research checking with the other bidders or of the Association.  KMA contacted the contracting officers and pointed out several areas of concern including ADA and accessibility nature of the current design.  We did not get a response. We do note they read our email.

As far as we can tell from UL resources, these units are not UL certified.

Below is the official justification document (4 pages) though it appears the final page(s) have been removed.

Our guess is that time of need weighed too heavily on them and that they really had no choice.  At some point the VA facility will be completed in Denver (albeit a billion dollars in cost overruns) and maybe we can see the kiosks there.

Official justification document

FBO Documents

 

Craig is a  senior staff writer for Kiosk Industry Group Association. He has 25 years of experience in the industry. He contributed to this article.
Author: Staff Writer

Craig Keefner is the editor and author for Kiosk Association and kiosk industry. With over 30 years in the industry and experience in large and small kiosk solutions, Craig is widely considered to be an expert in the field. Major kiosk projects for him include Verizon Bill Pay kiosk and hundreds of others.