Request for Information Electronic Health Records Vendors Central Florida Health Information Technology Initiative (CFHITI) 11486 Corporate Blvd., Ste. 120 Orlando, FL 32817 T: (407) 309-4789 F: (407) 309-4788 E: RFI@UCF- REC.ORG This document was developed by the CFHITI through funding from the United States Office of the National Coordinator, Department of Health and Human Services Grant 90RC0043/01.
To: From: RE: Electronic Health Records Vendors University of Central Florida College of Medicine Regional Extension Center Request for Information ************************************************************************ 1. Statement of Objectives: 1.1. RFI: This Request for Information ( RFI ) is issued solely for information and planning purposes it does not constitute a Request for Proposal ( RFP ) or a promise to issue an RFP in the future. Responses to this RFI will not obligate the University of Central Florida College of Medicine Regional Extension Center ( UCF REC ) to contract for any supply, commodity, or service under any circumstances whatsoever. All respondents are advised that UCF REC will not pay for any information or administrative costs incurred in responding to this RFI. All costs associated with responding to this RFI, including, without limitation, preparation, submission and any presentation will be solely at the interested parties/respondent s expense. 1.2. Purpose: This RFI is designed to solicit information regarding the qualifications of a vendor in implementing and maintaining Electronic Health Records ( EHR ) systems for physicians and specialists throughout Florida. The information gathered from different vendors will be used to evaluate and identify vendors for purposes of assisting physicians and/or specialists with adopting, implementing and maintaining EHR systems, if any. One of the ultimate goals for the implementation and maintenance of an EHR system is for the EHR system to achieve and support meaningful use as defined by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services ( HHS ), Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services ( CMS ). 2. Background: UCF REC is the Regional Extension Center as designated by the Office of the National Coordinator ( ONC ) of HHS. Pursuant to ONC directives, UCF REC has been tasked with providing technical assistance, guidance, information and support to physicians in Brevard, Lake, Orange, Osceola, Polk, Seminole and Volusia Counties, Florida for adoption and implementation of EHR system(s) and to support meaningful use for their respective EHR system(s) by April 5, 2014. Consequently, and in order to accomplish the above directives, UCF REC will identify qualified vendors who will commit to work with UCF REC and the physicians in achieving the ONC s EHR directives. Specifically, the UCF REC provides
technical assistance, guidance, information and support for the PCPs in EHR adoption and implementation as follows: Education and Outreach Participation in the National Learning Consortium Vendor Selection Options Implementation and Project Management Practice and Work- Flow Design Functional Interoperability and Health Information Exchange Privacy and Security Best Practices (in accordance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 ( HIPAA )) Progress Towards Meaningful Use Local Workforce Support Additionally, the UCF REC provides services for Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), Accountable Care Organizations and County Health Departments. Beyond the scope of the ONC directive, the UCF REC provides assistance with privacy and security assessments, audit preparedness, billing auditing, ICD- 10 training, and Patient Centered Medical Home (PCMH) recognition and transformation services. 3. RFI Response Procedure: 3.1. Qualifications to Respond: UCF REC requires each vendor that wishes to submit a response to this RFI meet the following minimum qualifications: Vendor must be certified or already applied for certification by an ONC- Authorized Testing and Certification Body (ONC- ATCB). o The Product Classification must be a Complete EHR. o If the vendor s Product Classification is a Modular EHR, the vendor MUST submit in conjunctions with other vendors to make a Complete EHR. Vendors must provide both an electronic medical record (EMR) system and practice management system (PMS). o If the vendor does not provide a PMS they are permitted to submit in conjunctions with another vendor.
o The submission must be complete in interoperability between the two systems. Any interface costs must be included in the quotes. Statement about VAR s (Value Added Resellers) or non- direct distribution channels: The intent of the RFI is to solicit responses from the manufacturer of the software. The manufacturer is responsible for all the items listed in section 3, Terms. UCF REC will only accept one (1) response per product. If the manufacturer does not sell directly, the manufacturer will select one VAR with which to co- submit the response. The manufacturer must always be involved with the response. 3.2. Directions for Completing and Submitting a Response: UCF REC requires each vendor to submit a $200 non- refundable (U.S. Dollars) RFI submission fee. Payments should be mailed to: University of Central Florida Regional Extension Center 11486 Corporate Blvd., Ste. 120 Orlando, FL 32817 UCF REC accepts credit card payments using MasterCard, Visa, Discover, and American Express. Online payments can be made via the following URL: https://www.velocitypayment.com/client/bankofamerica/ucf/ucfcomrec/index.htm UCF REC is not responsible for any costs incurred by the vendor or their partners in the RFI response preparation or presentation. This non- refundable fee is for submission processing expenses only and is not a consideration for any future contract. Any questions regarding this RFI must be sent via e- mail to RFI@ucf- rec.org. NOTE: Any other form of communication will not be accepted and could result in your response being disqualified. Please see UCF COM Industry Relations Policy and Guidelines.pdf at:
http://ucf- rec.org/wp- content/uploads/2013/07/ucf- COM- Industry- Relations- Policy- and- Guidelines1.pdf Answers to frequently asked questions will be posted on the REC s website at: http://ucf- rec.org/vendors/interested- vendors/vendor- rfi- faqs/ which is required to check for updates. All responses must be sent via e- mail to: rfi@ucf- rec.org (Confirmation of receipt of your response will be provided via e- mail as soon as possible following receipt). If the vendor intends to submit multiple products, each product should be submitted separately. Responses must include the following files which are available for download on the UCF REC website: http://ucf- rec.org/vendors/interested- vendors/non- ehr- vendors/ http://ucf- rec.org/vendors/interested- vendors/ehr- vendors/ 3.3. Required files to be submitted using UCF REC approved templates Main RFI Questionnaire Privacy and Security Policy o This is a separate and distinct policy in addition to the privacy and security questions collected from the main RFI questionnaire. o Please provide this information using only the approved form. Other forms and documents will not be accepted. Executive Summary o Maximum 2000 characters in length with 12pt font. References o Please provide four (4) client references using the only the approved form. 3.4. Additional Required Items (no templates) Certified Financial Statements
o Please submit one (1) complete hardcopy of certified financial statements for the most recent fiscal year, to be mailed to the below address: University of Central Florida Regional Extension Center 11486 Corporate Blvd., Ste. 120 Orlando, FL 32817 o Do not transmit or submit confidential financial statements electronically to rfi@ucf- rec.org or to any other REC email address. o Financial statements will be used for internal evaluation only and will not be accessible to anyone outside of the RFI selection committee. Logo o Please provide a high resolution logo with transparent background to be utilized in various UCF REC marketing efforts. o Type format: Please provide one (1) compressed zip file that includes the logo in EPS and PNG formats, minimum 300dpi resolution. PowerPoint Presentation o Please provide 15-20 slides with product screen shots. o Presentation cannot exceed 3mb file size. Case Studies (maximum of 2) o Please provide up to two (2) case studies that provide consumer outcomes, to be used in various UCF REC marketing efforts. o Case Studies cannot exceed 3mb file size. If the vendor intends to submit additional material it must be in one (1) additional file only. This additional information may or may not be used in the evaluation process. File format: Please submit using one (1) of the following formats: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, or PDF. Maximum number of files to submit for this section is one (1) file. Failure to follow this format could result in your response being disqualified. Please check the FAQ s regarding this topic. The maximum number of files you can electronically submit is ten (10) files.
3.5. Contact: E- mail address: RFI@ucf- rec.org 4. Evaluation and Selection Process: Qualification: Upon receipt of the RFI response from the vendor, the RFI response will be reviewed by the UCF REC selection committee (or a sub- committee of the selection committee) for completeness to ensure that each question has been answered. Then completed responses will be reviewed and evaluated by the UCF REC selection committee. The UCF REC selection committee s evaluation of the responses will result in the vendor being invited to demonstrate their product via a standardized demonstration via WebEx. The demonstration will emphasize meaningful use functionality and reporting capabilities of the EHR system. This demonstration will be recorded to allow the UCF REC selection committee to review and evaluate the presentation. All evaluation criteria above will be established by the UCF REC selection committee in its sole discretion and in accordance with applicable federal and Florida laws, rules, and guidelines including, without limitation, HHS, CMS and/or ONC guidance. Participation: Once the presentation has been evaluated by the UCF REC selection committee, the selection committee will consider the responses received, demonstration and references provided by the vendor. The UCF REC selection committee will qualify the vendor and invite the vendor to join the UCF REC Participating Vendor Program. Once formally accepted by the vendor, the UCF REC will provide a list of the Participating Vendors to its physicians and/or specialists for their respective consideration for assistance with adopting and implementing an EHR system for their respective medical practice. UCF REC invites its Participating Vendors to assist UCF REC in identifying potential physicians and/or specialists who may be in need of EHR system adoption and implementation assistance. Notwithstanding anything in this RFI to the contrary, nothing contained in this RFI shall guarantee that any vendor that responds to this RFI will be identified, evaluated, qualified, and/or selected to participate in the UCF REC Participating Vendor Program. In addition, nothing contained in this RFI shall guarantee that any physician and/or specialist will engage or contract with any vendor in adopting and implementing an EHR system.
5. Terms: UCF REC seeks to evaluate and identify qualified vendors to provide the above listed services to UCF REC provider members. Once qualified, the UCF REC will invite vendors to join the UCF REC Participating Vendor Program. UCF REC will develop the model contract or addendum for use by the provider members with the UCF REC Participating Vendor. UCF REC anticipates that the model contract will include, without limitation, the following terms, provisions and vendor commitments: Vendor is required to obtain written approval for any use of our name (University of Central Florida, the College of Medicine, the UCF REC, and/or the Central Florida Health Information Technology Initiative) in any type of activity. Vendor will protect and safeguard all information about the UCF REC healthcare provider members ( Proprietary Information ) during and after the termination of a Letter of Acceptance and will not use the Proprietary Information for any purpose other than in connection with this Letter of Acceptance, or discuss, disclose or transmit Proprietary Information to any third party, and upon termination you will return to UCF REC all originals and copies of the Proprietary Information. Vendor s EHR system must maintain Stage 2 Meaningful Use Certification from an ONC (Office of National Coordination for Health Information Technology) designated entity. o The Product Classification must be a Complete EHR. o If the vendor s Product Classification is a Modular EHR; the vendor MUST submit in conjunction with other vendors to make the Product Classification a Complete EHR. Vendor s EHR system must be HTECH Act Compliant as well as meet the ICD- 10 coding requirements. Vendor must have personnel and expertise to implement your EHR system. Vendor will provide Stage 2 Meaningful Use system upgrades at no cost to active UCF REC members who are also active, current clients with your company. Vendor agrees to provide active UCF REC members with discounted pricing for your EHR system and related products and services that is otherwise not available to the general public. Vendor will provide an overview of your EHR system to the UCF REC staff and when mutually agreeable, will provide the UCF REC staff with a one- time training session on the use of your EHR system either in person or online. Vendor will provide the UCF REC with support tools to improve implementation and facilitate achievement of meaningful use (i.e., sandbox access for UCF REC exploration, access to vendor portal for support ticket monitoring and submission, meaningful use training guides).
Vendor will indemnify, defend and hold harmless UCF REC, University of Central Florida and its Board of Trustees from and against any and all claims, demands, suits, judgments, liabilities, damages, losses and expenses of any nature (including attorney and legal fees) arising out of or related to the Terms. Vendor shall maintain general liability insurance in the amount of $1 million per occurrence and shall provide evidence of such insurance coverage upon request of UCF REC. The University Of Central Florida Board of Trustees shall be included as an additional insured. The validity, interpretation, and performance of the Terms shall be controlled by and construed under the laws of the State of Florida. Venue for any action to construe or enforce the terms of the Terms shall be in Orange County, Florida. Vendor will pay the annual membership fee of $1,200 to UCF REC, which will allow access to UCF REC educational programs/events and resources. Vendor understands that UCF REC neither endorses nor sanctions your products or services. Vendor s representatives will handle all EHR system implementations at provider practices. Vendor status as a UCF REC Participating Vendor can be revoked at any time if any of the conditions are not maintained. 6. Requests for Confidential Treatment A request for confidentiality must include the legal basis for withholding the materials from public inspection and the facts relied upon in support of the legal basis. The request for confidentiality must be supported by an affidavit executed by a corporate officer or by an individual with personal knowledge of the specific facts. If the materials are requested to be withheld from public inspection for only a limited period of time, the period must be specified. Any documents submitted that contain confidential information must be marked on the outside as containing confidential information. Each page upon which confidential information appears must be marked as containing confidential information. The confidential information must be clearly identifiable to the reader wherever it appears. All materials which are requested to be held as confidential are to be marked confidential, physically separated from the request for confidentiality and all other materials to which the request does not apply, and sealed in a separate envelope marked as confidential. If only a particular item or items on a page are deemed confidential, the page should also be filed with the confidential item or items removed. In their place should be the word "confidential" in bold type. The pages with the confidential item or items removed will be made available for public inspection.
The confidential material must be excised in such a way as to allow the public to determine the general nature of the material removed and to retain as much of the document as possible. Your failure to request confidential treatment of material pursuant to this section and the relevant statutes and administrative rules will be deemed by UCF REC as a waiver of any right to confidentiality which you may have had. 7. Miscellaneous: 7.1. RFI Issuance: The issuance of this RFI does not constitute an offer to contract or to do business with any vendor, individual, entity or organization that responds to this RFI. UCF REC reserves the right to accept any complete response, or portion thereof, or to reject all responses even if all stated requirements are met. Responses that do not completely answer all questions contained within this RFI may be excluded from further consideration and alternative information responses may not be considered. All responders are cautioned to make no assumptions since EHR vendor candidates that are selected by the selection committee to give a presentation in accordance with this RFI may not be ultimately selected as a qualified EHR vendor. UCF REC reserves the right to disqualify any vendor in the event the vendor submits the RFI response after the RFI Responses Due/Deadline Date. UCF REC reserves the right to amend or cancel this RFI at any time and for any reason prior to the final selection of any qualified EHR vendor by the selection committee. Once submitted, vendor responses to this RFI will be the sole property of UCF REC and will not be returned to the vendor. Responses of excessive length or containing excessive advertisement are discouraged and may not be reviewed. By submitting a response to this RFI, the vendor represents that it has read and understands this RFI including the attachments, and is capable of fulfilling, and has authority to fulfill, all requirements contained herein. 7.2. Conflict of Interest: Any vendor candidate selection or qualified EHR vendor selection hereunder is subject to the provisions of Chapter 112, Florida Statutes. All responders must disclose with their response the name of any of its officer, director, or agent who is also an employee of UCF REC, UCF, Tews Company, or any of their respective agencies. Further, all responders must disclose the name of any State of Florida employee who owns, directly or indirectly, an interest of five percent (5%) or more in the responder s organization or any of its branches, subsidiaries, etc. Responder acknowledges that this RFI process is an independent assessment of responder s products. Any relationship responder has or has had in the past with UCF, UCF COM, UCF REC, or any agency thereof, or any donations, gifts, scholarships, or other such foundation
support from responder to UCF, UCF COM, or any agency thereof, has no bearing on the current RFI process. 7.3. Legal Requirements: Applicable provisions of federal, Florida, county and local laws, and of all ordinances, rules and regulations shall govern development, submittal and evaluation of all responses received under this RFI and shall govern any and all claims and disputes which may arise between person(s) or organization(s) submitting a response hereto and UCF REC or UCF by and through their respective officers, employees and authorized representatives, or any other person, natural or otherwise. Lack of knowledge shall not constitute a cognizable defense against the legal effect thereof. 7.4. Public Records: All material submitted in response to this RFI will become a public document pursuant to Section 119.07, Florida Statutes. This includes material which the responder might consider to be confidential or a trade secret. Any claim of confidentiality is waived upon submission. 7.5. Equal Employment Opportunity: The nondiscrimination clause contained in Section 202, Executive Order 11246 as amended by Executive Order 11375 relative to equal employment opportunity for all persons without regard to race, color, religion, sex, or national origin and the implementing rules and regulations prescribed by the U.S. Department of Labor Secretary, are incorporated herein. 7.6. Governing Law and Venue: This RFI will be governed by the laws of the State of Florida and shall be deemed to have been issued in the State of Florida. Any activity undertaken through this RFI shall be construed, performed, and enforced in all respects in accordance with the laws and rules of the State of Florida. Venue for any action brought in connection with this RFI shall lie in Orlando, Orange County, Florida. 7.7. No Contract: Each vendor, individual, entity and/or organization that responds to this RFI acknowledges and agrees that this RFI does not constitute an offer to contract or a contract with any of them by UCF REC or UCF. This RFI is being issued for UCF REC to garner information from and identify potential vendors for adoption and implementation of EHR systems by PCP and/or specialist physicians (if at all). Notwithstanding the immediately preceding sentence, UCF REC may, in its absolute and sole discretion, select certain vendors responding to this RFI, or none of them, for purposes of offering EHR systems and services to PCPs and/or specialist physicians as outlined herein.