UNSPSC 80161501: Office administration or secretarial services

UNSPSC 80161501 Office administration or secretarial services is a Commodity code under which state and local governments procure live agent services, enrollment processing and call center operations, enrollment broker and administrative services for Medicaid and healthcare programs, benefits administration and compliance services, financial counseling and community development services, temporary administrative and IT staffing, board and regulatory executive management, and collection agency services. The code's scope spans human-centered administrative support work—ranging from frontline customer-facing operations to behind-the-scenes compliance and financial administration—more than narrowly secretarial tasks. Recent solicitations show county health systems, state health and workforce agencies, school districts, municipal courts, and special-purpose boards all purchasing under this code to outsource core operational and customer-service functions that would otherwise require permanent staff or in-house processing capacity. The issuing-body mix includes state health and workforce departments (Texas HHS Commission, Texas Workforce Commission, Texas Education Agency, South Dakota Department of Social Services), county governments (San Mateo County, Volusia County, Santa Clara County, Collier County, Boulder County), cities (Tucson, Dallas), independent school districts (Elgin ISD), and specialized boards (South Dakota Board of Dentistry, Santa Fe Municipal Court). Geographic spread centers on Texas and California, with activity also visible in Florida, Colorado, Wisconsin, South Dakota, Missouri, Oregon, and Arizona. Representative recent solicitations include the Texas Health and Human Services Commission's RFP for Enrollment Broker Operations (due September 4, 2026) covering call center, enrollment processing, and cost-sharing collection across eight managed care programs with historical compensation of $75 million to $82 million annually; the County of San Mateo's RFP for Live Agent Services (proposals due June 4, 2026) for bilingual patient outreach and appointment scheduling to support a public hospital; and the City of Tucson's RFP for Temporary Employment and Staffing Services (due May 22, 2026) through the Axia Cooperative, seeking multiple vendors for clerical, IT, and finance staffing across municipal departments.

State and local buyers under this code prioritize operational continuity, regulatory compliance, customer service performance, and cost predictability, with most contracts structured as three-to-five-year terms with renewal options. Recent procurements show strong emphasis on HIPAA, cybersecurity, and data-security compliance when healthcare or personal information is involved; many require vendor integration with state systems (Workday, TX-RAMP, Bonfire portals) and carry mandatory insurance requirements ($1 million to $10 million in liability, cyber, and fidelity coverage depending on scope). Benefits administration contracts increasingly demand waiver of setup and termination fees and integration with incumbent carriers (Cigna, Aetna, UnitedHealthcare) and payroll systems. Call center and enrollment work requires bilingual capability, measurable service-level agreements (average speed of answer, resolution timeframes), and detailed weekly or monthly statistical reporting. Set-aside activity includes Texas HUB subcontracting (5% SDVB participation goals), local business preferences in San Mateo and Tucson, and DBE/Section 3 worker requirements in federally funded work. Pricing is typically evaluated at 20–30 percent weight against qualifications (40–55 percent) and approach (20–30 percent), with successful bidders often those demonstrating prior experience with the same issuing agency or comparable public-sector healthcare, education, or workforce systems. The code shows steady activity with no signs of contraction; healthcare system consolidation, state Medicaid program complexity, and municipal budget pressures continue to drive outsourcing of administrative functions that were historically performed in-house.