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INVITATION: Sealed proposals, subject to the conditions included in this request for proposal (RFP) will be received in the Office of Contracts Administration at the

University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC) until June 9, 2015, at 2:00 p.m. No proposal will be accepted after this time.

Bidders1 must submit proposals to:

Bidders must submit one hardcopy original of their proposal and nine (9) additional copies on USB flash drive or compact disc (disc) in PDF format (one copy of the proposal per disc/flash drive). To prevent unauthorized opening, the hardcopy original and the USB flash drives/discs must be in a sealed package. The outside of the container must be plainly marked as follows:

Note: Faxed, electronically mailed or unsealed responses will not be accepted. The hardcopy original MUST be signed by an authorized representative of the Bidder. Each disc or flash drive must be plainly marked with the Bidder’s name and RFP number.

UMMC reserves the right to request additional copies on disc or USB flash drive.

Bidder’s Name

PROPOSAL to RFP NO. 1207 Due June 9, 2015, at 2:00 p.m.

Healthcare Contract Management System, as further described in the Specifications section of RFP 1207 needed to assist UMMC in daily operations. NOTE: RFP 1207 CONTAINS MANDATORY REQUIREMENTS TO WHICH NO EXCEPTION MAY BE TAKEN. THOSE SECTIONS INCLUDE:

SECTION II SUBSECTIONS A through I

SECTION V

Contracts Administration Office (Apartment Building C, Suite 12) University of Mississippi Medical Center

2500 North State Street Jackson, MS 39216-4505

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I.

INSTITUTIONAL OVERVIEW:

UMMC is the state’s only academic health science center. The 164 acre campus in Jackson, Mississippi, includes health science schools of medicine, dentistry, nursing, health related professions and graduate studies. The campus houses a large research center, a general acute care teaching hospital, three specialty teaching hospitals and an inpatient rehabilitation facility.

UMMC conducts business in an ethical manner. Therefore, please indicate clearly what you, as a Bidder, propose in response to this request and how it will benefit UMMC.

II.

GENERAL INFORMATION:

A. STANDARD TERMS AND CONDITIONS:

All Bidders MUST be certified through the Mississippi Secretary of State’s Office to conduct business in the state of Mississippi. You will be asked to certify this registration and provide your Mississippi Business Identification Number on the attached RFP Questionnaire and Acknowledgement form. Any proposals found to have been

submitted by Bidders that are not certified with the Mississippi Secretary of State will be disqualified.

MANDATORY: As an agency of the State, there are standard terms and conditions to which all Bidders must agree. By submitting a proposal, the Bidder acknowledges that acceptance/execution of the UMMC Standard Terms and Conditions is a requirement for an acceptable proposal, and which are hereby incorporated by reference into this RFP and any contract resulting from this RFP. These can also be found at

www.umc.edu/contracts /forms.

In addition, if the scope of work for this RFP involves the use of health information of UMMC patients, the Bidder must also sign and enter into a business associate agreement with UMMC, which can be found at www.umc.edu/contracts /forms. B. PAYMENT:

UMMC aims to pay properly submitted invoices within forty-five (45) days of receipt. Original invoices must be presented for payment in accordance with instructions contained on the Purchase Order. The Purchase Order number must be referenced and the invoice must be submitted to the correct address for processing. As a State entity, UMMC cannot pre-pay for any commodities or services.

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C. TAX:

UMMC is tax-exempt (exemption number: 64-6008520). A copy of the exemption letter is available upon request.

D. PRICING:

Prices shall remain firm for the term of the agreement. ANY PRICE ESCALATION WILL BE BASED ON THE TYPE OF SERVICES NEEDED AND INDUSTRY NORMS. ANY SUCH PRICE ESCALATIONS MUST BE CLEARLY IDENTIFIED IN THE COST SECTION OF THE PROPOSAL.

E. CONTRACT TERM:

The initial contract shall be in effect for five (5) years. The contract may be terminated by either party prior to the expiration of five (5) years with or without cause.

F. RIGHTS RESERVED BY UMMC:

i. Right to remove Vendor’s employees - UMMC shall have authority to require a Contractor to remove from the site any employee of the Contractor who shall be deemed incompetent or detrimental to the best interests of the work of the Medical Center.

ii. Right to conduct background checks/secure access - All individuals who work at any UMMC facility must have a background check in accordance with MS state law.

Therefore, UMMC reserves the right to require vendors whose employees will work at any UMMC facility to provide each such employee’s nine (9) digit social security number. The social security number will be used to conduct the background checks. The last four digits of the social security number will also be used to provide secure access to UMMC networks, should the scope of work to be performed by the vendor require such access.

In addition, UMMC reserves the right to require vendors, whose employees will not be physically working at any UMMC facility but who will have access to our networks, to provide the last four digits of each employee’s nine (9) digit social security number in order for UMMC to provide secure access into its network.

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of the State of Mississippi. This RFP does not commit UMMC to contract for any requirements detailed in this document.

iv. Right to reject any or all offers - UMMC reserves the right to reject any or all offers and to waive informalities and minor irregularities in the proposal received. UMMC may deem proposals which meet any of the following criteria as nonresponsive and therefore disqualify the proposal/Bidder from consideration:

 Failure to follow specifications and instructions contained in the RFP;

 Failure to meet the announced requirements of UMMC in some material respect;

 Submission of a response that alters or limits terms contained in the RFP; or

 Submission of a response that UMMC deems to be unreasonable in terms, cost, etc.

v. Right to request best and final offers - UMMC reserves the right to request Best and Final Offers from Bidders when Bidders’ proposed cost are more than the available funding for the project or when UMMC determines none of the proposals present the best value (lowest and best proposal) for UMMC.

vi. Right to include internal costs in cost proposal – UMMC reserves the right to factor into Bidder’s cost proposal any additional internal or external costs it may incur as a result of an Award of this RFP, including implementation, training, downtime, etc. G. USE OF SUBCONTRATORS:

No subcontractors shall be used without the prior written consent of UMMC. H. REGISTRATION WITH VENDORMATE AND MAGIC:

At the time the contract is awarded, the selected Bidder becomes a vendor of UMMC. All Vendors are required to register with the UMMC vendor credentialing system, VendorMate, which requires a fee for registration at the expense of the vendor. VendorMate registration can be completed online at http://vendormate.com/.

Vendors will be expected to register with the Department of Finance and Administration (DFA) for purchases for all State agencies. Registration can be completed online at

http://www.dfa.state.ms.us.

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From the issue date of this RFP until a Bidder is selected for award and such selection is announced, neither Bidders nor their representatives may communicate either orally or in writing regarding this RFP with any statewide elected official, state officer or employee member of the legislature or exception as noted herein. This directive is meant to ensure fair and unbiased selection of a Bidder. To ensure equal treatment of each responding Bidder, all questions regarding this RFP must be submitted in writing to the contact persons listed in Section III, Subsection A, of this RFP.

J. CONTRACT APPROVAL AND EXECUTION:

A contract is not deemed final until it has been signed by the Vice Chancellor of UMMC. All contracts are valid only if signed by the Vice Chancellor of UMMC, and Vendors will be required to sign contracts before the Vice Chancellor of UMMC. All contracts are subject to availability of funds of UMMC and are contingent upon receipt by the winning Vendor of a purchase order from UMMC.

K. INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER LEARNING:

UMMC is governed by the Mississippi Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning (IHL) and is subject to its approval for particular contracts. The time it takes to obtain any approvals required by IHL is not included in UMMC’s internal approval process. Any contracting deadlines will be extended as necessary by UMMC when seeking IHL approval.

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III. SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS:

A. RFP PREPARATION:

The information provided within this RFP is intended to assist Bidders in the preparation of a proper response. It is designed to provide interested Bidders with sufficient basic information to submit proposals meeting minimum requirements; it is not intended to limit a proposal’s content, or to exclude any relevant or essential information or data thereof. Bidders are permitted (and encouraged) to expand upon specifications to evidence service capability under any agreement.

The Office of Contracts Administration of UMMC is the issuing office for this document and all subsequent addenda relating thereto. The reference number for this transaction is RFP No. 1207. This number MUST be referenced on all proposals, correspondence, and documentation relating to this RFP.

The Bidder will absorb all costs incurred in the preparation of a proposal.

Bidders are responsible for examining and following all specifications, terms, conditions, and instructions in the RFP. Failure to do so will be at the Bidder’s risk. Bidders may request in writing an interpretation or correction of any inconsistency or error within the request, which would be evident to any reasonably prudent Bidder. All such

questions, in order to be considered, must be sent via email to John Genin at jgenin@umc.eduand Blakeney Smith at besmith@umc.edu at least five (5) business days prior to the RFP closing date. Questions should be directed in writing or by email only; phone calls will not be accepted. Any unauthorized contact shall not be used as a basis for responding to this RFP and may result in the disqualification of the proposer’s submittal.

Bidders are hereby informed that only the written interpretation or correction so given by the authorized UMMC representative, as noted above, shall be binding and prospective and that no other agent, or employee of UMMC is authorized to provide information concerning, or to explain or interpret the RFP, unless otherwise notified. Such interpretations or corrections, as well as any additional provisions that UMMC may decide to include, will be issued in writing as an addendum to the RFP documents and binding on all prospective Bidders. UMMC will make addenda available to all known prospective Bidders.

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B. CONFIDENTIAL AND/OR PROPRIETARY INFORMATION

Bidders should mark any and all pages of the proposal considered to be proprietary information which may remain confidential in accordance with Miss. Code Ann. §§ 25-61-9 and 79-23-1 (1972, as amended). Each page of the proposal that the Bidders considers trade secrets or confidential commercial or financial information should be on a different color paper than non-confidential pages and be marked in the upper right hand corner with the word “CONFIDENTIAL.” Failure to clearly identify trade secrets or confidential commercial or financial information will result in that information being released subject to a public records request.

UMMC is a public agency of the State of Mississippi and is subject to the Mississippi Public Records Act, Miss. Code Ann. § 25- 61-1, et seq. If a public records request is made for any information provided to UMMC regarding this IFB, UMMC shall promptly notify Bidders of such request. UMMC shall not be liable to Bidders for disclosures of information required by court order or required by law. UMMC also is subject to the provision of the Mississippi Accountability and Transparency Act of 2008, Miss. Code Ann., § 27-104-151, et seq., and is required to provide public access to its financial information and expenditures through the Institutions of Higher Learning Accountability and Transparency website.

C. RFP RESPONSE OUTLINE:

Proposals must be written, concise, and in outline format. Pertinent supplemental information should be referenced and included as attachments. If a Bidder considers its proposal or particular portions thereof as containing trade secrets, information privileged by law, or confidential commercial or financial data, then this should be conspicuously noted in the proposal. All proposals must be organized and tabbed to comply with the following sections:

Tab A: Letter of Transmittal. The letter of transmittal should include an introduction of the Bidder, the name, address, email address, telephone number and fax number of the person to be contacted, along with others who are authorized to represent the Bidder in dealing with this RFP. The letter of transmittal should also contain the

Mississippi Business ID number assigned to the Bidder by the Mississippi Secretary of State’s Office. Any other information not appropriately contained in the proposal itself should also be included in the letter.

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Tab B: Executive Summary. An executive summary will briefly describe the Bidder's approach and clearly indicate any options or alternatives being proposed. It should also indicate any major requirements that cannot be met by the Bidder.

Tab C: Detailed Discussion. This section should constitute the major portion of the proposal and must contain a specific response to the Vendor Specifications section as well as any other requested sections in this RFP.

Tab D: Cost Proposal. The Bidder MUST submit a cost proposal allowing costs to be evaluated independently of other criteria in the proposal. Pricing should only include those items/services specifically requested in this RFP. The cost must be presented in a clear and accurate manner if no cost proposal format is given. If additional items or services are included, they should be clearly identified and priced separately from those items specifically requested. The type and format of any cost proposal will be dependent upon the request type. Omissions, errors, misrepresentations or inadequate details in the Bidder’s cost proposal may be grounds for rejection of the Bidder’s proposal. All costs that are not clearly identified will be borne by the Bidder.

Required Cost Proposal Format **:

Description Total Cost ($)

Implementation/Installation Costs Description Year 1 ($) Year 2 ($) Year 3 ($) Year 4 ($) Year 5 ($) Total ($) Application Software • One-time (or recurring) license fee

• Initial implementation fees (required and optional) • Ongoing annual maintenance fee

• Ongoing annual support fee

Third Party

Application/Tools Software

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• Initial implementation fees • Ongoing annual

maintenance

System Hardware (if applicable)

• One-time purchase • Ongoing annual maintenance fees System Software (if provided by vendor) • Operating System • One-time purchase • Ongoing annual maintenance • System Tools • One-time purchase • Ongoing annual maintenance

• Other system software Upgrade and Configuration Costs • One-time purchase • Ongoing annual maintenance Conversion Costs Additional Costs • Software modules • Development & Implementation fees • Ongoing annual maintenance fees • Training fees Totals ($)

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** Bidder’s cost proposal must clearly separate one-time costs,

implementation/installation costs, and recurring costs. Costs for each component and service should be broken down by initial implementation and ongoing expenses.

Tab E: Financial Reports. The Bidder should furnish a current audited financial report for their most recent fiscal year.

Tab F: Sample Agreement. The Bidder must furnish a proposed contract for all services to be provided. The proposed contract must be fully completed based upon Bidder’s response and cost proposal to the RFP. The proposed contract must not conflict with UMMC’s Standard Terms and Conditions Addendum. The submission of a proposed contract does NOT guarantee an Award of this RFP.

Tab G: Experience and References. The Bidder should submit a breakdown of any experience with performing the same or similar services as requested in this RFP. Bidder should focus on those experiences with customers of like size and complexity as UMMC and the requested service(s). Contact information of such customers should be included, which UMMC may use as a reference in verifying such experience(s) and the customer’s satisfaction with the Bidder. The Bidder should include a listing of the abilities, qualifications, and experience of all persons who will be assigned to provide the required services.

Tab H: Miscellaneous. Additional information and attachments, such as insurance certificates, if required by UMMC, should be located under this tab. The Bidder may also submit information and attachments that are not required by the RFP but which the Bidder considers essential to the proposal under this tab.

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IV.

SPECIFICATIONS:

UMMC is seeking one (1) vendor to provide services and software for a healthcare contract modeling/management system for ad hoc analysis of claims and

underpayments analysis to be utilized by UMMC’s hospital and physician revenue cycle management.

Bidder’s proposal must adequately address all requirements set forth below. If a description or explanation is requested, Bidder must respond accordingly in detail, including screen shots or other pictorial information. If the requirement does not require a description or explanation, the requirement should be acknowledged and agreed to as Bidder’s response. Specifications marked “MANDATORY” are minimum requirements. Bidder may not take exception to these specifications. Failure to comply with the

mandatory requirements will result in invalidation of Bidder’s proposal. 1. System Requirements

1.1 Bidder’s proposal shall include detailed discussion related to its extensive experience in healthcare contract modeling/management systems. 1.2 Bidder’s proposed system shall provide UMMC with optimal solutions in

order to enhance its revenue cycle management through the identification of recovery opportunities and the engagement in contract and patient accounts data mining.

1.3 Bidder’s proposed system must be capable of accepting file extracts from EPIC, UMMC’s hospital patient accounting system.

1.4 Bidder’s proposed system must be compliant with policies and procedures in accordance with all applicable federal, state, and local authorities

including but not limited to The Joint Commission (TJC) and Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) requirements. 1.5 Bidder’s proposal shall include detailed discussion related to providing

support and assistance required for initial contract set-up and monitoring contract changes throughout the life of the agreement, including loading and maintaining governmental payors (Medicare and Medicaid).

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1.6 Bidder’s proposed system shall provide the ability to develop and maintain all payor profiles and contract set-up to satisfy UMMC’s payor portfolio. MANDATORY

1.7 Bidder’s proposed system shall provide comprehensive lists of rules for generating contractual terms and allow flexibility to guarantee the ability to write rules without the need of major configuration or programming of the system that meet with payor’s unique reimbursement methodologies. MANDATORY

1.8 Bidder’s proposed system shall provide the ability to support contract negotiations and renegotiations through contract modeling utilizing

different rate methodologies to also include complex methodology such as carve outs and outlier terms. MANDATORY

1.9 Bidder’s proposed system shall ensure contract modeling capabilities for any payor in an academic hospital environment. MANDATORY

1.10 Bidder’s proposed system must be capable of modeling and comparing hypothetical scenarios including the cloning of existing contracts and modeling a contract against itself and multiple payors. MANDATORY 1.11 Upon request, Bidder must offer adequate demonstration of the proposed

system’s capabilities through an onsite demonstration.

1.12 Bidder’s proposed system shall provide contract compliance monitoring and Ad-hoc report writing.

1.13 Bidder’s proposed system shall provide support to UMMC as needed in creating and adding additional filters to the contracting/reporting module. 1.14 Bidder’s proposed system shall provide the ability to import fee schedules

and grouper mapping tables, weight tables, Diagnosis-related group (DRG) and International Classification of Diseases (ICD9/10) and HIPAA Version 5010 information and maintain these tables and schedules over periods of time, fixed to the appropriate year in which they were used, for historical claims comparison. MANDATORY

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1.15 Information will be transmitted to the successful Bidder on a real-time basis or in aggregate form, no later than a daily basis with volume estimates listed below.

1.16 Bidder’s proposed system shall provide reporting functionalities including, but not limited to: MANDATORY

1.16.1 Summary and detail data for contracts managed; 1.16.2 Identified claim changes;

1.16.3 Contract issues addressing conflicting information; 1.16.4 Trends report for underpayments;

1.16.5 Overpayments;

1.16.6 Ability to select or recalculate a contract model at the patient account level; and

1.16.7 Any other relevant data that may be required.

1.17 Bidder’s proposed system shall provide detailed reporting capabilities with specific drill down by the following: MANDATORY

1.17.1 Plan code; 1.17.2 Patient type; 1.17.3 Facility; 1.17.4 Product line; 1.17.5 Payor;

1.17.6 Individual claim level; 1.17.7 Adjustment code level; 1.17.8 Denial code level; 1.17.9 Physician;

1.17.10 Diagnosis Related Group (DRG); 1.17.11 Diagnosis;

1.17.12 Current Procedural Terminology (CPT)/Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System (HCPCS)

1.17.13 Revenue code; 1.17.14 Admit date; and 1.17.15 Discharge date.

1.18 Bidder’s proposal should provide detailed discussion related to any new processes or technology available to UMMC that may improve efficiency, reduce cost, and provide any additional value to UMMC throughout the term of the resulting contract.

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1.19.1 Standard software license fees;

1.19.2 Variables such as a flat monthly or annual fee; and

1.19.3 Fees based on number of claims processed per month, etc.

1.20 The successful Bidder shall identify and maintain an updated contingency plan in order to ensure continuity of business and any effects in turn-around time that may be caused in case of contingency. Bidder’s proposal shall provide detailed discussion related to its proposed contingency plan. 1.21 The successful Bidder shall provide proper back-up of system data as

necessary to protect functionality of processes and must have the ability to restore these processes within 24 hours. Bidder’s proposal shall provide detailed discussion related to its proposed back-up system data plan. 1.22 Bidder’s proposal shall provide detailed discussion related to the value

added services its proposed system provides, such as data mining analysis, report generation services, contract management related recovery opportunities and other opportunities available to improve accuracy and workflow.

1.23 The successful Bidder shall invoice monthly for all services provided. 2. Hospital Account and Claims Information

2.1 The information provided below is for reference purposes only and is not a guarantee of future account and claims process information.

Number of daily estimated accounts processed

Number of estimated monthly accounts processed

Total Estimated ($) annual claims processed 1,500 35,000 $ 1,590,000,000 Payer mix Payor Hospital % Blue Cross 17 Commercial 8.5 Guarantor accounts 18 Medicaid 27.5 Medicare 25.5

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Other 1.3

Workers' comp 1.3

Tricare 0.9

Total 100

3. Physician Claims Information

3.1 The information provided below is for reference purposes only and is not a guarantee of future claims process information.

Number of daily estimated claims processed

Number of estimated monthly claims processed

Total Estimated ( $) annual claims processed

1,100 33,000 $ 162,000,000

4. Bidder Information and Requirements

4.1 Bidder’s proposal shall include detailed discussion related to its delivery of software products and healthcare contract management systems similar to requirements of this RFP in the previous three (3) years to institutions of similar size and complexity to UMMC. Experience with academic medical centers is preferred.

Bidder’s proposal shall describe its company structure, including number Payer mix Payor Physician % Blue Cross 14.6 Commercial 10.2 Guarantor accounts 18.1 Medicaid 28.4 Medicare 23.8 Other 3.4 Workers' comp 0.8 Tricare 0.7 Total 100

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4.2.1 Total;

4.2.2 Management/Administration; 4.2.3 Marketing /Sales;

4.2.4 Research and Development; 4.2.5 Installation;

4.2.6 Ongoing Application Support; 4.2.7 Technical Support; and

4.2.8 Customer Service/Telephone Support.

4.3 Bidder’s proposal shall provide detailed discussion related to the percentage of its business that is dedicated to contract management services similar to the services requested in this RFP.

4.4 Bidder’s proposal shall provide detailed discussion related to the current releases of the contract management system being proposed and the year it was first available in the market.

4.5 Bidder’s proposal shall include detailed discussion related to its experience with providing a similar system and integration services to institutions utilizing EPIC patient accounting systems.

4.6 Bidder’s proposal shall include detailed discussion related to the automated capabilities of its proposed system to handle individual and aggregate transmission of patient accounts.

4.7 Bidder’s proposal shall include detailed discussion related to its proposed system’s compliance capabilities, including, but not limited to:

4.7.1 Denials; 4.7.2 Appeals;

4.7.3 Underpayments; and 4.7.4 Reporting.

4.8 Bidder’s proposal shall include detailed discussionrelated to its proposed system’s ability to create ad hoc reports using multiple selection criteria, automate/schedule reports, and export in various formats.

4.9 Bidder’s proposal shall include detailed discussion related to its proposed system’s document imaging functionality.

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4.10 The successful Bidder shall provide implementation and on-going training to UMMC’s staff. Bidder’s proposal should provide detailed discussion related to training to be provided.

4.11 Bidder’s proposal shall provide detailed discussion related to any third party products that are required (or generally recommended) for its proposed system and contract management support.

4.12 Bidder’s proposal should include detailed discussion related to its

system’s guaranteed speed and page loading response time (i.e. average screen to screen measurements in seconds).

4.13 Bidder’s proposal should include detailed discussion related to how its system handlesclaims/account information where reimbursement is

calculated outside of the system and if those accounts are passed-through and stored in the system or made available to a data mining database. 4.14 Bidder’s proposal should include a sample of data mining using custom or

ad hoc reporting functionalities.

4.15 Bidder’s proposal should include detailed discussion related to how its system archives and stores transmissions for later audit, including length of time data is archived and stored.

4.16 Bidder’s proposal should include examples of daily, weekly, and monthly reporting by its proposed system and provide detailed discussion related to how it will provide reports and data verifications (i.e. soft and hard copies, sample productivity dashboards, etc.) to UMMC.

4.16.1 Bidder’s proposal should identify which examples provide pre-built reporting versus customizable capabilities.

4.17 Bidder’s proposal should include detailed discussion related to its proposed timeline for implementation of its system, including, but not limited to, an overview of policies and procedures and an outline of training and orientation materials.

4.18 Bidder’s proposal should include detailed discussion related to its policies and procedures to ensure compliance with 5010, ICD-10, and any state and federal laws or regulations applicable to its proposed system.

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4.19 Bidder’s proposal should include detailed discussion related to its action plan for HIPAA privacy and security issues, ensuring compliance with all HIPAA guidelines.

5. System Support and Services

5.1 Bidder’s proposal should include detailed discussion related to the amount of account representatives that it will assign to UMMC.

5.2 Bidder’s proposal should include detailed discussion related to hardware and software support that will be offered to UMMC. UMMC expects support to be available 24 hours a day, seven (7) days a week, inclusive of holidays.

5.3 Bidder’s proposal should include detailed discussion related to its capabilities to provide guaranteed response times for support issues, including a proposed percentage of fees that may be forfeited for failure to comply with guaranteed response times.

5.4 Bidder’s proposal should include detailed discussion related to how its system tracks and provides documentation of contract management related complaints, including how acknowledgement and documentation are communicated to UMMC.

5.5 Bidder’s proposal should include detailed discussion related to its system’s problem resolution escalation procedures for operational information technology issues, including, but not limited to the timing criteria utilized for problem resolution and the level of information available in the system’s audit and reporting of the audit trail.

5.6 Bidder’s proposal should include detailed discussion related to its system’s security features, including, but not limited to:

5.6.1 User authentication process and customizable features (i.e. password length and expiration);

5.6.2 Role-based access controls; and 5.6.3 Audit trail data capture and reporting.

5.7 Bidder’s Proposal should include detailed discussion related to its

process for new version/release distribution and installation of its system, including, but not limited to:

5.7.1 Frequency of new version releases;

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5.7.3 Number of levels of software releases that are supported.

5.8 Bidder’s proposal should include detailed information related to its offering of a standard service report card agreement (or service level agreement) to detail and quantify service support, tracked on a monthly basis. 6. Hosting Requirements and Technical Architecture

6.1 The proposed system must be accessible via any web browser, with no additional client side software required and no dependencies (e.g., .net, Flash, Java). Client computers must require only a standard web browser and Internet, intranet, or extranet access to the server.

6.2 Bidder must describe in detail how hosting, bandwidth, security, backup, and recovery from the web-based application will be provided in response to the hosting requirements listed below.

6.3 All UMMC data must remain within the continental United States

borders. At no time will the transmission or storage of any UMMC data be permitted to any resource outside of the United States.

6.4 All hosting agencies must be able to show an independent security audit at least once (1) every 24 months against the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) HIPAA Audit Protocol. This HIPAA audit must be passed and verified. 6.5 All particular IT services must meet the HIPAA compliant security

standards for protecting Protected Health Information (PHI).

6.6 All hosting agencies must show documented policies and procedures. This is to include SOP (standard operating procedures), Data Breach procedures, and notification procedures.

6.7 Data at rest should be encrypted using AES-256 or greater encryption algorithms.

6.8 All employees dealing with UMMC data must be properly trained to HIPAA policies and procedures. Hosting service must provide most recent proof of training for these individuals.

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6.9 All traffic between UMMC and the hosting agency will need to be encrypted with at least a 128 bit SSL connection. All certificates will be tested by using the Qualys SSL Labs online utility.

6.10 Physical security of the data hosting agency must be verified to insure proper safeguards are in place to prevent any unauthorized access to data. Hardware in the data hosting agency’s data center should be owned by the hosting agency and should not be a sublet or lease from a third party.

6.11 A service level agreement should be developed between UMMC and the hosting agency.

6.12 A business continuity plan must be supplied by the hosting agency. 6.13 Specification 6.1 through 6.12 are subject to audit by UMMC information

security personnel.

6.14 Bidder’s proposal should include detailed discussion related to its

system’s technical architecture (i.e. three-tier client service, two-tier, etc.) 6.15 Bidder’s proposal should include technology requirements/options of its

system. Please use the table below as a guideline for presenting the requested information in the RFP proposal. Bidder should include any additional information related to technology requirements it deems necessary.

6.16 Bidder’s proposal should include a list of all required software for either the server or end user devices that will access the system.

Underlying Technology Description

Hardware platforms (e.g. RS6000, Alpha, etc.) Hardware operating systems

(e.g., Unix, NT, etc.)

Database system/application (e.g. Oracle, SQL* Server, Informix, Sybase)

Preferred Operating System for client use (workstation)

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6.17 Bidder’s proposal should include detailed discussion related to its system’s support of a HTML-compatible interface that would allow the system to be accessed from a web browser application (i.e. Microsoft Internet Explorer).

6.18 Bidder’s proposal should include detailed discussion related to remote accessing capabilities into the system.

6.19 Bidder’s proposal should include detailed discussion related to the amount of downtime and time of day that occurs to the system weekly, monthly, and/or annually, and information related to data backups and rebuilding of indices without bringing the system offline.

6.20 Bidder’s proposal should include detailed discussion related to the following technical functionalities:

6.20.1 System integration requirements; 6.20.2 Web integration requirements;

6.20.3 Systems management and maintenance requirements; and 6.20.4 Security, audit, and compliance.

6.21 Bidder’s proposal should include detailed discussion related to its Application Service Provider (ASP) service offering, including, but not limited to configurations for any hardware, operating system, third-party software, and communication requirements and the length of time data is expected to be stored.

6.22 Bidder’s proposal should include detailed discussion related to how its system modules are interfaced and/or integrated and any technology used to accomplish the interfacing and/or integration.

6.23 Bidder’s proposal should include detailed discussion related to

successfully integrating and/or interfacing its system with EPIC practice plan patient accounting systems.

7. Implementation Support

7.1 Bidder’s proposal should include detailed discussion related to its ability to implement its system within 45 days after the effective date of the resulting agreement. Bidder should provide a functioning test system within the first

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7.2 Bidder’s proposal should include detailed discussion related to its recommended sequence and support personnel required for implementation and task performance responsibilities.

7.3 Bidder’s proposal should include detailed discussion related to its ongoing support offerings after implementation, including what it will provide, as well as what is provided by any third party organizations and the

expectations of UMMC’s staff.

7.4 Bidder’s proposal should include detailed discussion related to major work activities in each project phase and how it plans to organize the project, including, but not limited to:

7.4.1 Discovery and planning; 7.4.2 Design and validation; 7.4.3 System implementation;

7.4.4 Go-live planning and testing; and 7.4.5 Post-live support and acceptance.

7.5 Bidder’s proposal should include detailed discussion related to any

resources that are required from UMMC for implementation and support of its system.

7.6 Bidder’s proposal should include detailed discussion related to any conversion programs or import/export tools that will be required for implementation of the system.

7.7 Bidder’s proposal should include detailed discussion related to upward conversion compatibility for any new product releases. Bidder should provide for any costs associated with conversion to new product releases in its cost proposal.

7.8 Bidder’s proposal should include detailed discussion related to any subcontractors or outside resources it plans to utilize for the

implementation of its system. 8. Documentation and Training Information

8.1 Bidder’s proposal should include detailed description of the documentation provided with its system, including, but not limited to the following:

8.1.1 Application Module overview with detailed feature/options descriptions;

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8.1.2 System administration manuals (including use of application decision and edit tables);

8.1.3 Systems operations manuals (including backup, recovery, archiving, database (DB) reorganizations);

8.1.4 Technical documentation (including detailed Health Level Seven (HL-7) interface specifications and data schema);

8.1.5 End User reference manuals (individual features, functions, reports, work lists);

8.1.6 Training curriculums and manuals; and

8.1.7 Disaster recovery and business continuity procedures. 8.2 Bidder’s proposal should include detailed discussion related to its

procedures for providing documentation updates, including distribution of media options and how frequently updates are distributed.

8.3 Bidder’s proposal should include detailed discussion related to its

approaches and modules available for end user training during installation and on-going training.

8.4 Bidder’s proposal should include detailed discussion related to its training provided to computer operations and technical support personnel

regarding the following items:

8.4.1 Systems operations (daily, weekly, and monthly); 8.4.2 System performance monitoring;

8.4.3 Application and database maintenance;

8.4.4 System and data security tools and exception alerts administration; 8.4.5 Recovery from system failures (hardware or software);

8.4.6 System utilities;

8.4.7 General system “trouble shooting” and diagnostics; and 8.4.8 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) (Customer service

orientation).

8.5 Bidder’s proposal should include detailed discussion related to its proposed training schedule for initial system implementation at UMMC, including training available to personnel from UMMC’s Department of Information Systems and Revenue Cycle Management for product orientation in advance of system go-live.

8.6 Bidder’s proposal should include detailed discussion related to its approach for training on new releases/enhancements.

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8.7 Bidder’s proposal should include detailed discussion related to the level of “role based” training programs it offers for its proposed system.

8.8 Bidder’s proposal should include a copy of its proposed training programs and tools that will be available for its system.

8.9 Bidder’s proposal should include a sample of its proposed training development schedule.

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V.

MEETINGS:

MANDATORY: Bidders may be asked to attend an interview with UMMC Selection Committee. The interview will count toward the evaluation of the proposal. Bidders will be notified of the date and time of their respective interview. This interview is intended to provide the Selection Committee the opportunity to ask questions to the Bidder about the proposal to ensure a complete understanding of the offerings made by the Bidder.

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VI. BASIS OF AWARD:

The award of the RFP will be determined based on a two-step evaluation process as follows:

STEP I – VALIDATION

The first step will be to determine if the proposal is valid. To be valid, the proposal must properly address all specifications and information needed to facilitate a proper evaluation as described in the Evaluation Criteria. Proposals that are found not to adhere to the specifications will be rejected for evaluation.

STEP II – EVALUATION

Each proposal that is not rejected in step one will be evaluated by an appointed Selection Committee. Unless otherwise justified by the nature of the project, UMMC uses a consensus scoring approach to assign points to non-cost criteria.

Cost scores are computed using the total cost of the contract over the entire life of the contract, including any optional renewals contained with the contract. The cost score is computed as a ratio of the difference between a given proposal's total cost and the total cost of the lowest valid proposal. The following cost scoring formula is used for every proposal evaluation:

Points awarded for cost = (1-((B-A)/A))*n

Where: A = Total cost of lowest valid proposal B = Total cost of proposal being scored

n = number of points allocated to cost for this procurement

In simpler terms, lowest price gets a perfect score. A proposal that is 20% more expensive than the lowest priced offering gets 20% fewer points.

When the above formula would result in a negative cost score (i.e. the total cost of the proposal being scored is more than twice that of the lowest valid proposal), the cost score is set to zero, rather than deducting points from the vendor's score.

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Evaluation Criteria: Weight of Score: System Requirements,

Bidder Information and Requirements, System and Support Services

Bidder’s detailed discussions and explanations related to its system capabilities and proposed services to be provided. (Section IV,

subsections 1, 2, and 5)

25%

Hosting and Technical Architecture,

Implementation Support, and Documentation and Training Information

Bidder’s detailed discussion and explanations related to technical capabilities and requirements, and implementation and training

support and services. (Section IV, subsections 6, 7, and 8)

20%

Experience and References

The experience of the Bidder and the results of reference checks, as well as Bidder’s experience providing similar services as requested in the RFP. (Section III, C, Tab G, and throughout Section IV)

15%

Costs Costs to UMMC as presented in Bidder’s proposal. (Section III, C, Tab D)

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VII. AWARD and NEGOTIATION OF A CONTRACT:

All proposals shall remain firm until the proposal has been rejected or, in the case of acceptance, until the Parties can negotiate the contract through their internal approval systems. UMMC reserves the right to reject any and all proposals submitted. A contract will be awarded to the Bidder whose proposal, based upon the evaluation criteria listed in the specifications of this request, is deemed to be in the best interest of UMMC.

All contractual issues MUST be successfully negotiated with UMMC within a reasonable time from the selected Bidder’s notice of award. This initial period of negotiation does not include the time necessary for obtaining approval from IHL when applicable. The contract must be based upon the proposed contract provided in and considered during the evaluation of the proposal. Failure of the Bidder to negotiate a contract within this timeframe may constitute grounds for UMMC to withdraw its award and either begin negotiations with any other ranked Bidder or pursue other options, whichever is in the best interest of UMMC as an Institution of Higher Learning of the State of Mississippi. In submitting a proposal, each Bidder acknowledges its understanding and acceptance of the procedures, terms and conditions contained herein, as well as of all attached documents, including UMMC’s Standard Terms and Conditions. Any contract that is entered into as a result of this process will be based on the contents of this Request for Proposal. Therefore, the contents of this RFP and your responses to it both now and during negotiations will be considered an integral part of the final contract.

References

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