** Updated March 27, 2018 UPDATE: The lone protest has been withdrawn related to this 3-year contract to provide a framework and proof of concept to improve access to care and increase engagement for patients suffering from SUDs, as well as the development of mobile tools aimed at recovery monitoring, predictive analytics, patient support and relapse prevention. A big first win for the newly formed SDVOSB Syms Strategic Group, led by former VA IT Executive and recent FedHealthIT100 award winner Ed Syms.  More details can be found below as to the scope of this effort and the makeup of the team SSG pulled together to win this pilot.   ** Updated February 15, 2018 G2X TAKE: A protest has been filed with GAO related to this 3-year $5M contract to provide a framework and proof of concept to improve access to care and increase engagement for patients suffering from SUDs, as well as the development of mobile tools aimed at recovery monitoring, predictive analytics, patient support and relapse prevention. The protest was put forth by Colorado-based SDVOSB, Forward Federal Systems, LLC.  Details as to the grounds for the protest have not been released at this time, but will be provided here as they are made available. A due date for resolution is currently listed as May 21, 2018. ** Posted February 1, 2018 G2X TAKE: Syms Strategic Group, led by former VA IT Executive and recent FedHealthIT100 award winner Ed Syms has been awarded a 3-year $5M contract to provide a framework and proof of concept to improve access to care and increase engagement for patients suffering from SUDs, as well as development of mobile tools aimed at recovery monitoring, predictive analytics, patient support and relapse prevention. The winning SSG team is understood to include several partner firms who will be quite familiar to VA, to include Mountain Lakes Associates, led by Scott Gould (Former VA DEPSEC) and Dr. Raul Henze (Former Assist VA DEPSEC); Amida led by Dr. Peter Levin (Former VA CTO); and SBG, led by Carlos Del Toro, a T4NG Prime and longtime VA contractor. The full solicitation can be found here, but some specific objectives of the contract include: A framework for improving access to care and increasing engagement for patients suffering from SUDs A detailed set of institutional and enterprise requirements for the supervision, management, and clinical services to deliver care The technological interfaces, data interoperability and exchange frameworks, and deployment guidelines necessary to support care A set of implementation metrics for use in future model replication and scaling Develop mobile tools aimed at recovery monitoring, predictive analytics, patient support and relapse prevention A Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR)-based exchange for the SUD program that can be used as a model for any program to scale secure access across the enterprise. Now officially out on his own as President and CEO of SSG, Ed Syms is certain to receive his fair share of calls offering him congratulations on his first win and his new endeavor, while firms look to better understand how they can partner with and leverage the relationships and experience he has gained over his long career with government and as an executive with several highly successful industry players.