Chat Bot for VA Substance Use Disorder Program

Key Details

• What exactly do they need? The VA needs a small business to develop and optimize a clinical chatbot for substance use disorder treatment. The contractor will provide support for iterative design, testing, and revision of clinical workflows and protocols, optimization and versioning of the chatbot, in-clinic piloting, formative evaluation, and development of an implementation toolkit.
• What's the contract structure and timeline? The contract is a firm-fixed-price contract with a base year and two option years. The base year runs from August 15, 2026, to August 14, 2027. Option Year 1 runs from August 15, 2027, to August 14, 2028. Option Year 2 is limited to sustainment, maintenance, and policy-driven updates only.
• How will they pick the winner? The VA will evaluate capabilities statements based on the offeror's specific technical knowledge of and experience with the SOPHROSYNE chatbot system, qualifications in AI/chatbot development, software engineering, and clinical workflow consulting, ability to begin effective performance within 30 days of contract award, and current SBA SDVOSB or VOSB certification status.
• When and how do you bid? Interested parties should submit a written capabilities statement to the Contract Specialist no later than June 26, 2026. Capabilities statements should be limited to five pages and should address the offeror's specific technical knowledge of and experience with the SOPHROSYNE chatbot system, qualifications, ability to begin effective performance, and current certification status.