CWRU REC Answers to RFQ

Transcription

1 CWRU REC Answers to RFQ 1) Should consultant resumes be included in the intent propose due on 9/24 or just include them in the actual proposal for 10/1? I have four resumes that I could present today based on similar work we have done in the past. Since it wasn't specified in the bid they can send them at either time. 2) Will we have the opportunity to submit additional candidate resumes aside from those that we can send with the proposal? Any resumes must be accompanied by the rest of the required information, (i.e. company history). 3) Please clarify the references portion- are you looking for our company s references from our other clients in addition to our consultants references? A reference from a provider practice where they provide workflow consulting would be of interest. 4) How many consulting firms were invited to respond to this RFQ? Not a material question. 5) How many consulting firms indicated a positive intent to respond? Not a material question. 6) Who developed the RFQ Statement of Work content and if external to Case Western Reserve University, will they be allowed to bid on the RFQ? Gap Consulting developed the initial draft. Yes they will be allowed. 7) Will all questions by all candidate consulting vendors be shared with all vendors that are bidding? Yes.

2 8) Is there an overall timeline or target date to complete all PPCP s through all services and deliverables? February 12, ) Is it a requirement of CWRU-REC that all consulting vendors be located in the state of Ohio? If not, is travel reimbursable or should it be packaged into the proposal pricing? First pass is to select consultants residing in Ohio, however if residents are not available the most qualified nonresident will be selected. Mileage is included as part of the established pricing. 10) On page 4 of the RFQ, it says provide assistance via Regional Extension Centers (REC s) to Priority Primary Care Providers (PPCP s) in the Ohio counties of Ashtabula, Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake, and Lorain. Where would the primary work effort takes place? Would travel be required throughout these counties to specific PPCP offices? Work will take place on-site and remotely as required to suppor the PPCP s office. Onsite visits are required as follows: workflow assessment and go live. 11) On page 4, Scope of Work & Deliverables for core services the RFQ indicates that there is a defined methodology for service delivery and that you have a project support tool that will be utilized by consultants. Will the consultants be limited to only these approaches and tools or will CWRU-REC be open to additional approaches and tools that the consultants bring to bear based on their extensive experience in delivering assessments and project management/change management? Consultants are required to use the Welch Allyn tool for practices that do not have an EHR. Consultants are expected to leverage their experience and knowledge to enable successful implementation of the EHR and MU. Any additional value add processes, approaches etc. are welcomed as well. 12) Once CWRU-REC awards the business to the pool of consultants will their approach be to choose on consultant/vendor to deliver all services & deliverables to a PPCP or will they chose multiple consultant vendors to deliver services & deliverables to a specific PPCP? Decision is made on a case by case situation. In some cases one consultant will provide all deliverables and in other cases multiple vendors may be selected.

3 13) What are the selection criteria for selecting consultants from the consulting pool? Ohio residents are given precedence and beyond that it is on based skills, experience and track record with the REC. 14) Will a consulting vendor be asked to provide a proposal to each PPCP when work is requested, or will work requests be issued by CWRU-REC via a task order? Task order. 15) On page 6 of the RFQ, you indicate that consultants will be paid upon successful completion of stated deliverables. Will CWRU-REC require detailed invoices outlining the labor hours delivered? Will payment be net 30 days? Will payment to consultants be contingent on reimbursement of promised grant funds? And, if so, is there an estimate of the timing for this process? CWRU REC consultants will be paid on the submission of quality deliverables for three milestones to ensure cash flow to the REC and consultants. The CWRU REC is paid on deliverables as well. The State will pay the REC within 15 days of submission and the REC will pay the consultant based on a net 45 day within the monthly payment cycle upon receipt of payment from the state. 16) On page 6 of the RFQ, can you provide further clarification to the statement, CWRU-REC reserves the right to engage one or more responding vendors to conduct pilot project outside of the scheduled timeframe? Specifically to defining a pilot project and the scheduled timeframe. The CWRU REC pilot program is basically intended to occur over the next 30 days to provide the REC with experience. Vendors that submit resumes early in the process may be engaged to assist the REC in performing the first few initial implementations. 17) On page 7 of the RFQ, under the payment schedule: is it to be inferred that payment to consultants for 10 PPCP s without a certified EHR will be a total of $18,100 for all services and deliverables completed? Is that an accurate interpretation? Yes

4 18) How will the PPCPs engage CWRU-REC? Will PPCPs be charged a fee for CWRUREC Services or will CWRU-REC provide these services free to PPCPs? Not at this time. 19) Part of Meaningful Use involves compliance with HIPAA Security Rules like Business Continuity and Information Security (e.g., development of policies and procedures, Business Continuity Planning, security incident procedures, breach notification procedures, classification of information including establishment of retention policies, Business Associate Audits, conducting security Vulnerability Assessments, Penetration Testing, and Awareness Training, establishing access controls, encryption, etc), would these be also part of the engagement? We are currently not charged with providing a security audit of the PPCP s practice. 20) Would CWRU-REC see a need for available support services after implementation (e.g., systems administration, Information Security Trusted Advisors, Disaster Recovery Services)? Not currently part of our deliverables. 21) Can you provide the total number of PPCPs (No EHR, Certified EHRs, Practice Management system only, Number of years PM in use, Number of years EHR in use, No PM etc.) in the Ohio region covered by this project. We do not have these numbers. 22) The Rate Schedule on the link will result in the Consultant s Total Compensation to be more for converting a 3 Provider PPCP as compared to a 10 Provider. Is that consistent with the overall objectives of the project? Yes. The PPCP practices are capped at 10. The majority of the practices are believed to be in the range of 1 to 3 providers. 23) The success in terms of Meaningful Use (MU) is highly dependent on the existence of Regional or State wide Patient ID that is unique. Does the State of Ohio have a separate program to develop such an ID to facilitate Meaningful Use? This is not within the scope of the CWRU RFQ.

5 24) The RFQ talks about Consultants being paid upon meeting the Deliverable requirements. In case of the PPCPs without an HER, the Deliverables include the PPCP/Vendor Go-Live Sign- Off. Consultants will not have good control over this particular item from a timing perspective on account of the following: Vendor s delivery schedule on account of all the EHR activity. Difficulty in meeting the MU requirements for the Laboratory Orders and Results on account of the inability of Office EHR system to appropriately interface with Laboratory Systems of the facilities used by the office for such activity. PPCPs desire to continue with their current Practice Management (PM) system and the vendor s inability to support such configuration. PPCPs not Signing-Off on account of the perceived or real inferiority of the PM functionality of the new EHR System The major responsibility is in the hands of the provider and the vendor. The provider must act as the general contractor of the project and is responsible for selecting the vendor. The REC Consultant serves as the advocate of the provider and must monitor the progress of the vendor. As an advocate it is important that the provider understand that it is important to select an integrated EHR that is MU certified. 25) In case of the offices with certified EHRs, the Sign-Offs were most likely completed without MU requirements for Laboratory Activity. What is the likelihood of modifying the linkage of this deliverable to payment to make it consistent with requirements for an office with a Certified EHRs. REC Consultants are expected to assist the provider in meeting MU Assessment stage 1. 26) Would appreciate getting some clarity on this, the amount allocated per physician to do this task is very low compared to expected deliverables especially an implementation sign-off over which consultants would have little or no control. Has this all been considered? The REC Consultant is acting as the physician advocate while the provider is acting as the general contractor. The vendor is responsible for the implementation and it s planning however, the REC Consultant is expected to review and monitor the plan and escalate as appropriate to the CWRU REC. The REC consultant should be on-site for the go live and ensure that the provider test scripts indicate the agreed upon functionality is available. 27) Will consultant contracts be made on a sole-source basis, or will multiple consultants organizations be participating? The intent of the CWRU REC is to select multiple consultant organizations.

6 28) Will there be a minimum commitment to the number of PPCP s signing up for CWRU-REC services? I don t understand this question. 29) What commitment must be made around meaningful use? Will consultants be expected to achieve meaningful use and what expectations on providers will be stipulated? The REC Consultant will be expected to perform a MU assessment for stage one. The provider will need to attest that they have met MU stage one via the ONC portal to be completed April May timeframe. 30) How will EMR vendors interface with consultants? Is it expected that the consultant will manage the vendor on behalf of the PPCP? The provider serves as the general contractor and makes the final selection of the EHR software vendor. The REC Consultant is expected to perform the role of advocate for the provider. 31) The consulting fee schedule shows fixed price arrears based model. Will these fees be made after all REC milestones have been reached or after each of the 3 stages? The consultant receives their payments in three installments. The installment is upon the completion of MU stage I. 32) I am in receipt of the RFP for the PCP EHR project for Meaningful Use. This information was forwarded via the OHIMA. What is not clear to me is if the consultant is to handle each provider from beginning to end or if the work will be divided based on each consultant's expertise. Is the projected payment category for achieving all of the required steps in each EHR office from beginning to end? In other words, for one PCP office, there is a reimbursement of $ to complete the practice assessment, workflow assessment, EHR selection, implementation and a meaningful use assessment? If the answer is yes, how much time does CWRU estimate that it will take with each office? The number of hours will vary based on the skill of the REC consultant, provider and the vendor. 33) If someone wanted to do independent consulting is that possible? Yes as long as the appropriate requirements are met.