Additional_Exemption_Information.pdf

Exemption From Competitive Procurement This form is required to be completed when a department has determined a competitive bid would put the County at a disadvantage. Please complete all relevant sections of the form. When complete, a copy of the form will be sent to Procurement and Contract Services as well as to the approving authority for your department. If your request is approved, the exemption will be posted for 10 business days in OpenGov.

Please note, Court Services and Warranty Work are NOT required to be posted. Once the 10 days are complete, you will receive the form with an approval, which must be entered into WD with the supplier contract or purchase order.

General Information Requestor Name Malissa Shaughnessy

Requestor phone

(253) 306-0416

Department Human Services

Division Developmental Disabilities

Description of Good or Service Professional services to complete system customization in the Visual Vault system, in response to updated data requirements from DSHS and DCYF and program growth. Estimate for system customization to resolve current needs is approximately $26,000. Procurement exemption request is for $60,000 in anticipation of known customization needs to update import processes following DCYF's implementation of a new data management system.

Estimated cost $60,000.00

Does this request include any federal funding?

No

Proposed Vendor Name Visual Vualt

Proposed Vendor E-mail malissa.shaughnessy@piercecountywa.gov

Vendor address 2050 E ASU Circle #103, Tempe, Arizona 85284

Vendor website https://www.visualvault.com/

Vendor Phone

(480) 308-4400

Exemption Request Information Exemption Type Special Facility

Does a secondary exemption apply to this request?

Special Facility

Select Applicable Reason Changing brand/manufacturer/supplier would result in significant costs to the county (ie: standardization of good/equipment) This product or service is of unique design requirement to meet the County's needs

Provide information on compatibility or standardization of equipment The current system is customized to do the following:

Creation of client authorization and demographics:

* Interface with Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) CARE system that allows for automatic creation and update of client authorizations and demographics, and automatic communication to assigned providers about authorization changes.

* Customized report from Department of Children Youth and Families (DCYF) ESIT system that is formatted to allow for creation and update of client authorizations and demographics upon upload and communication to assigned providers about authorization changes.

Billing

* Provider billing spreadsheets are created based on the contracted providers active client authorizations received from the DSHS and DCYF imports. The billing procedures and spreadsheets are customized to capture the service delivery information required by the state and the billing approval process aligns with billing approval procedures of DSHS and the County including, service data is formatted to be uploaded to the DSHS CARE system, service data is embedded in a contract payment request form that segregates costs and lists the assigned WorkDay codes by cost, allows for in-system approval by contracted provider agency, County program and fiscal staff.

* Many contracted providers customized their data systems to produce a formatted report that allows for upload of required billing data in lieu of manual direct data entry. The system also allows for manual direct data entry.

Outcomes and Reporting

* Client Outcome data required by DSHS is collected and populated into a DSHS formatted report template for upload to the CARE system.

* Client Outcome reports meet the DSHS requirements for County and contracted providers to utilize data on number of client jobs, new jobs, job loss, and working hours, by acuity (support level).

* The Visual Vault system was customized to meet the specific and unique needs of the Pierce County DD programs outlined above, including provider, county, and funder requirements for billing, reporting, and quality improvement. The customizations that are in place were developed over a 6-month period, at a cost of $100,000 (not inclusive of IT staff and program staff time) and required considerable time investment from IT, county program staff, and contracted provider staff. The previous data system was utilized during the customization period and for several months following to complete testing and migration of client records, at a cost of approximately $50,000).

Provide information about research conducted An extensive process was completed over a 12-month period and included:

* Review of the existing contracted solution.

* Review of other County Developmental Disability Program Data Management Solutions, including options that were developed by Counties and purchased.

* Feasibility of utilizing existing County resources or creating a customized system

* Pierce County IT led project management that included analysis of needs (requirements and quality improvement opportunities), process mapping, applications of LEAN principles, an extensive review of funder requirements (DSHS, DCYF) and County requirements, WorkDay considerations, contractor considerations, review and analysis of existing reports and reporting needs.

* IT led development and organization of needed system requirements including funder reporting requirements, county system requirements, and sample reports.

Attach a current quote or statement of work Pierce County_SOW_11082024_v8 (002).docx

Please attach any other documentation you believe the Procurement and Contract Services department should consider as part of this exemption request.

PC-DD-BillingSystemRqmts-Final.xlsx

Pierce County Billing and Outcomes Specifications Document V3 Final.docx

Email for Approving Authority (Supervisor, Division Director, Department Director) megan.stanley@piercecountywa.gov

Name of Approving Authority Megan Stanley

Date of Approval 9/15/2026

Requestor Email malissa.shaughnessy@piercecountywa.gov

Exemption From Competitive Procurement