10.1.6 RFP IS Change Management Plan Sample.pdf

STATE OF NEVADA

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

DIVISION OF HEALTHCARE, FINANCING AND POLICY

INFORMATION SERVICES

CHANGE MANAGEMENT PLAN

July 2021

State of Nevada Information Services Change Management Plan

Division of Healthcare, Financing and Policy

Document control Deliverable Information Systems Change

Management Plan Author Business Process Management Unit

(BPMU)

Revision Control Published / Revised

Version #

Name

Section / Nature of Change

9/2/2020 1.0 Nick Castellanos Initial Version

9/9/2020 1.1 Laura Palotas First review

9/17/2020 1.2 Nick Castellanos Incorporated Laura’s comments, expanded sections, changed focus

9/23/2020 1.3 Nick Castellanos Continued expansion, revised notes

9/24/2020 1.3.1 Robin Ochsenschlager Robin’s first review.

Provided comments for changes

10/21/2020 1.3.2 Nick Castellanos Incorporating changes suggested by Robin O.

11/3/2020 1.4 Nick Castellanos Added color chart, expanded on workflow, removed comments, updated TOC, cleaned up formatting for final review.

11/6/2020 1.5 Nick Castellanos Incorporated April’s recommended changes.

12/18/2020 1.6 Nick Castellanos Added info from Homa, removed signature line, added internal CM plan to TOC, updated CM form.

12/30/2020 1.7 Nick Castellanos Reviewed by Robin O prior to final review.

1/15/2021 1.8 Nick Castellanos Addressed April’s comments

2/19/2021 1.9 Nick Castellanos Made changes suggested after PK review, clarified language, reduced duplication of sections.

7/9/2021 1.9.3 Nick Castellanos Reorganized document to create better flow after feedback from

State of Nevada Information Services Change Management Plan

Homa. Removed specificity to allow for the broader audience this will affect.

7/12/2021 2.0 Nick Castellanos Approved by Robin for final review.

State of Nevada Information Services Change Management Plan

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Contents

INTRODUCTION

CHANGE MANAGEMENT APPROACH

CHANGE CATEGORIES

CHANGE CONTROL PROCESS

CHANGE REQUEST LIFECYCLE TRACKING

CHANGE CONTROL BOARD

INTERNAL CHANGE MANAGEMENT PROCESS

ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

State of Nevada Information Services Change Management Plan

INTRODUCTION

Change Management (CM) is an important part of all projects relating to information and technology systems. All system changes must be vetted and managed to ensure that they meet the business needs of the Division and comply with state policies and federal regulations. This Third-Party Vendor Change Management Plan (CM Plan) was prepared to provide guidance to contractors that do not have a change management plan, or whose change management plan does not meet the needs of the Division of Health Care Financing and Policy (DHCFP), Information Services (IS), Business Process Management Unit (BPMU).

For the sake of clarity, this CM plan uses the general term ‘system’ to refer to the product or service provided by the contracted Vendor to, or on behalf of DHCFP to accomplish the specific business need. This is intended to be all-inclusive and applies to computer, phone, or tablet applications; software provided as a service (SaaS products);

technology solutions offered as a subscription; Commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) products; etc.

Every system that DHCFP procures from a vendor will differ in size, scope, financial impact, and functionality, and DHCFP may be in contract with multiple Vendors at any given time. Over the course of the contract period, a project will likely require some sort of system modification to meet the needs of DHCFP. Sometimes these changes will be the result of new federal regulations, updates to payment rates, or because of Medicaid policy changes. This document is intended to provide an overview of the procedure IS or BPMU will follow to request system changes from the Vendor.

The CM Plan is critical for implementing the Nevada Medicaid Program and Policy initiatives as it enables identification, tracking, and management of changes so the approved scope, cost, and schedule are met. The CM plan approach for Third-Party Vendors ensures that all proposed changes are defined, reviewed, and agreed upon so they can be properly implemented and communicated to all stakeholders. This approach ensures that changes are made thoughtfully, with the appropriate buy-in from necessary stakeholders.

CHANGE MANAGEMENT APPROACH

This section describes the approach DHCFP will use for managing change throughout the contract period with the Vendor. The approach must be consistent and repeatable to provide a quality change management plan and process and document agreed upon changes to ensure an accurate audit trail.

State of Nevada Information Services Change Management Plan

CHANGE CATEGORIES

DHCFP currently uses the following terminology to describe the different categories of changes that may be requested. The use of standardized language allows for changes to be appropriately characterized for purposes such as billing, credits, and accurate communication.

The Vendor is required to provide and maintain a tool or process to manage and track all system changes requested by DHCFP.

The following are generally defined types of changes or requests that may come up during a contract period:

• Enhancement-- A beneficial modification to the system’s source code that is not aimed at remediating a defect. An enhancement could include business needs arising from Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) required updates (Quarterly or Annually), updates to required regulatory forms or notices, or updates to the system caused by previously unanticipated changes in policy, statute, or regulation.

• Configuration-- A modification to the system’s code tables, system logic, rate settings, etc.

• Defect-- A modification to the system code to remediate an issue that does not meet the expected outcome or the business requirements. Could also be the result of a prior system change.

• Emergency-- A modification to resolve/fix a specific problem in the production system that must be corrected immediately. This could be any issue that prevents the system from functioning or impedes recipient services through any means (e.g. prevents providers from receiving payments, inaccurate eligibility or prior authorizations, etc.) See also, Liquidated Damages/Penalties section of the applicable contract.

• Research-- A request for the Vendor to provide a reasonable estimate of project size, cost, or level of effort to implement a proposed change by evaluating existing system functionality or business processes. This may also be a request for the Vendor to propose solutions for an issue or enhancement request.

• Issue Reporting -- A request to investigate operational and/or identified system issues and provide a detailed response that addresses the underlying issue with recommended steps to fix it.

• Deliverable-- DHCFP may require changes to the data or formatting of reports or request new reports from the Vendor on an ad hoc basis.

State of Nevada Information Services Change Management Plan

CHANGE CONTROL PROCESS

A change control process should be a repeatable process that is standardized throughout the organization. By following all the steps, the involved parties can successfully incorporate approved changes, communicate these changes to all stakeholders, and update system-related documentation.

Below is a general walkthrough of the desired workflow for illustrative purposes. The size and scope of the Vendor’s contract will determine the complexity of the workflow.

1) A Stakeholder identifies the need for a change. This person initiates a proposal for change request through the agreed upon method (using the appropriate form, document, email format, or other media). The Vendor logs and processes the request.

2) The DHCFP BPMU Business Analyst is notified of the change proposal. They conduct a preliminary review of the request, checking for scope, risk, cost, and schedule concerns on behalf of DHCFP. They will contact the requestor if additional information is needed, and then forward the completed change request document to the Vendor via the agreed upon procedure (email, form submission, via portal, etc.).

3) The Vendor’s Change Management Coordinator (CMC) will process the request per the agreed upon workflow and filter it to the Vendor’s appropriate SME team for review and design work.

4) The Vendor’s team will research and identify the underlying issue, develop a solution (i.e. Scope of Work), and prepare a report or document explaining how the Vendor plans to resolve the issue, estimated cost or hours needed to complete the solution, and identify any known or possible related outcomes.

5) The Vendor will add the change request to the agenda for the next Change Control Board (CCB) meeting for review and approval.

6) The CCB Chairperson will address agenda items including the proposed change during

CCB meetings. The CCB will decide how to move forward with each request on an individual basis (approve for implementation, send for further review, assign action items to teams, etc.).

7) The BPMU Business Analyst will follow up with the Vendor to coordinate the change implementation and necessary documentation updates (procedures, guides, manuals, amendment, communications, Organizational Change Management (OCM), etc.).

8) The Vendor’s staff will complete the development work needed for the system change and run it through their Test environment (as available or necessary). The Vendor will

State of Nevada Information Services Change Management Plan provide DHCFP with results of the testing to demonstrate that the change resolves the issue without causing unexpected results.

9) DHCFP will review the test results and if acceptable, will approve them for production release.

10) The Vendor will apply the updates/changes to the production environment and if applicable, provide test results from production showing no unexpected outcomes have resulted from the change within the production system.

11) DHCFP will review and approve the production test results (if any), verifying with the original stakeholder to ensure the implementation of the requested change solves the reported issue or request (if enhancement).

12) DHCFP will notify Vendor the change request has been successfully completed and direct them to close the change request ticket.

NOTE: Billable versus Non-Billable work will be defined by the contract.

A visual representation of this workflow. DHCFP steps are orange, the Vendor’s steps are in blue.

Issue or Need Identified

Vendor logs and processes request

BPMU researches need

Vendor reviews request internally

Vendor identifies solutions

Vendor submits solution to DHCFP for approval

DHCFP reviews proposed solution

After approval by DHCFP, Vendor begins work

Vendor tests solution

DHCFP reviews and approves test results

Vendor implements solution

Vendor reviews system for issues

DHCFP reviews system change

Stakeholder verifies satisfaction

Change Request closed

State of Nevada Information Services Change Management Plan

CHANGE REQUEST LIFECYCLE TRACKING

A recurring meeting series will be scheduled with the purpose of establishing consistent and timely communication between the Vendor and DHCFP. These status meetings will be used to provide status updates on all pending change requests, reveal any recently discovered system-related issues, discuss upcoming system upgrades or outages known to the Vendor. These meetings will help identify risks to timely implementation of system changes and mitigate any potential setbacks. The Vendor will be responsible for scheduling, chairing, and maintaining the agenda and minutes for this meeting for the life of the contract.

The Vendor will be required to address any system-related issues brought to their attention by DHCFP or end users. The Vendor’s performance will be measured by whether they are meeting the Service Level Agreement (SLA) timeframes established in the contract. If DHCFP feels the vendor is not resolving issues in a timely manner and/or misses the mark on the SLA’s, the contract may be amended, or sanctions imposed as per the contract for the service. This escalation procedure will be discussed and agreed upon prior to the execution of any contract.

State of Nevada Information Services Change Management Plan

CHANGE CONTROL BOARD

This section describes the Change Control Board (CCB), the purpose of the board, and the members and their roles on the board. As previously stated, the specific system or contract will affect the complexity of the CCB. The following descriptions should be viewed as general in nature and details should be negotiated between the Vendor and DHCFP during the contract acceptance phase or early implementation phase.

The purpose of the CCB is to:

• provide a panel of expert stakeholders to review change requests,

• confirm the business requirements are met,

• mitigate unintended consequences caused by system changes,

• ensure there is a mechanism to cover the expenses of the change,

• prioritize and schedule the implementation, and;

• ultimately approve or deny each change request.

The composition of the CCB will vary based on the complexity of the system or contract.

Representatives from DHCFP may include policy and Information Services staff, supervisors and managers, or other subject matter experts. The Vendor will choose similar members of their staff to include area managers, programming staff, etc. Representatives from other affected systems (NV MMIS, Electronic Visit Verification (EVV), Pharmacy Benefits Manager (PBM), etc.)

or agencies (Aging and Disability Services Division, Division of Welfare and Supportive Services, etc.) may be required to join the CCB depending on the scope of the project or system. CCB meetings will be conducted on an agreed upon schedule (monthly, weekly, etc.) and through a method (video or teleconference, in person, etc.) as determined by DHCFP and other affected parties.

General Description of CCB Meeting:

The Vendor will be responsible for chairing, scheduling and keeping meeting minutes, as well as maintaining a tool to track change requests. In addition to approving changes, these meetings will be used to provide status updates of all known tasks, to address ongoing issues, and other pertinent issues affecting the project. The CCB meeting may be held in conjunction with status update meetings as previously described.

State of Nevada Information Services Change Management Plan

INTERNAL CHANGE MANAGEMENT PROCESS

Changes to internal (DHCFP controlled) systems not including NV MMIS will follow a slightly different procedure as explained in the DHCFP Information Systems Internal Change Management Process.

State of Nevada Information Services Change Management Plan

ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Due to the varied size and scope of potential projects, the roles and responsibilities of the involved parties will have to be scaled appropriately to the individual project or contract and addressed during the contract acceptance or early in the project implementation phase.

Each service provided to DHCFP by a vendor will have its own specific staffing requirements based on the scope of the project. Vendors will be required to manage their staff to satisfactorily perform the necessary functions established in the contracting documents.

Contracted Vendors may be required to work directly with other DHCFP contracted vendors or other agencies to ensure system or application compatibility, troubleshoot issues, and collaborate on solutions.

Below is an example of some roles and responsibilities associated with this CM plan. It should be noted that different projects or contracts may have different needs. These roles should be reviewed by the Vendor and DHCFP during contract negotiations to determine the appropriate level of CM support necessary for the project.

Example:

Owner CM Position Position Function Name

Vendor Project Manager Manages CM on behalf of Vendor

Vendor Vendor CM Coordinator Processes tickets, manages tracking tool, facilitates meetings

Vendor Developer Reviews change requests, develops solution options for

DHCFP review, implements technical solutions.

DHCFP Contract Owner Final decision authority for DHCFP

DHCFP Policy Specialist SME for affected policy or functional area.

Provides technical guidance on requirements, regulation, policy, etc.

DHCFP Systems Analyst Facilitates change requests for DHCFP, obtains approvals, research tickets and helps develop requirements.

State of Nevada Information Services Change Management Plan

Add Sign-offs for DHCFP and Vendor, if required