Amendment 1 - Blueprint QI Facilitator RFP .pdf

SEALED BID

REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL

Blueprint for Health Quality Improvement Practice Facilitators

Requisition Number: 03410-120-24 Amendment 1

This amendment makes the following changes to the RFP:

I. By deleting and replacing the following section in its entirety:

2.1.3. Community Collaborative support for multi-sector population health planning and responsiveness

a) Supporting community collaboratives to measure, monitor, and continuously improve upon population health needs, and specifically addressing:

i. Access to Primary Care;

ii. Access to Specialty Care;

iii. Access to Community Services; and

iv. Community Health Team impact on population health needs.

b) Facilitating cross organization quality improvement projects to improve population health outcomes and increase value of care.

To support the implementation of these components, the Blueprint has developed a team of trained individuals known as QI facilitators with the skills to help practices, integrated care teams, communities, and programs build the capacity to improve care through use of evidence-based guidelines, innovative strategies and quality improvement approaches including data-driven quality improvement methods.

The State is seeking quality improvement facilitators who will participate in QI team and implement these components of care. QI facilitators work with multi-disciplinary teams in primary care practices, pregnancy intention initiative practices and providers, substance use disorder treatment providers, integrated care teams, specialty substance abuse and mental health treatment programs, and community collaboratives to implement and manage continuous quality improvement. Relationships between QI facilitators and practices, integrated care teams, and programs are long term and interventions are based on the needs and vision of the entities served. Interventions may vary based on an organization’s size, patient population, organizational structure, partnerships with other practices and organizations, community, and type of care provided.

Activities of QI facilitators may include:

- Providing training and project implementation support/coaching for the Blueprint models of care.

- Supporting practices to achieve required external and/or internal standards and annual requirements identified by the Blueprint for Health, such as Patient Centered Medical Home (PCMH) National Committee on Quality Assurance (NCQA) recognition/annual reporting.

- Providing QI support in the form of QI methods training, facilitation of improvement projects, and consultation to practice quality improvement teams.

- Guiding identification of improvement aims and objectives, identification and interpretation of data and measures, conduct root cause and process analysis, and facilitate intervention selection.

- Supporting teams to integrate new evidence-based practices and clinical guidelines.

- Assisting teams to document and scale quality practices, participation in shared learning events, and sharing best practices and lessons learned to other teams.

- Effectively using information technology systems such as clinical registries, electronic medical records systems, the Health Information Exchange, Vermont Information Technology Leaders, Inc. (VITL), and portals to improve patient care.

QI facilitators also work to disseminate information among practices, integrated care teams and organizations on innovative strategies to achieve improvements in care. This sharing of knowledge and experiences may occur by connecting entities for one-to-one consultation or mentoring, sharing change cycles from one entity with another, or facilitating collaborative learning sessions for groups of practices, integrated care teams and/or programs. This may include creating and/or participating in learning collaborative opportunities for practices, both locally and statewide.

The bid should indicate which role is being applied for:

A) Contractor will serve as a General Facilitator (0.5 or 1.0 FTE) to work with approximately 8 to 15 Primary Care and/or other participating Medication Assisted Treatment and pregnancy intention initiative practices within a Health Service Area; the specific number of practices will be determined by the needs of the practices and discussion between the State and the Contractor. The Contractor will support the practice to maintain integrity with the Blueprint for Health models of care, and support the practice to use continuous quality improvement practices in response to practice/community identified needs/opportunities, external requirements, and statewide health reform efforts.

B) Contractor will serve as a Specialized Facilitator (0.5 or 1.0 FTE) to support the implementation of Mental Health Care and Substance Use Treatment Integration into Primary Care and other Blueprint practices, and implement standards of care to support social determinant of health, mental health, and substance use needs. This role will work with practice teams and organizations to integrate Behavioral Health Clinicians (Psychologists, Therapists, Social Workers, Nurses, and Community Health Workers) and enhance Primary Care capacity for addressing mental health and substance use needs across geographic regions of the State. The Specialized Facilitator may also support Specialty Care practices that specialize in mental health and substance use treatment to provide greater access and coordination of services across providers.

C) Contractor will serve as a Specialized Facilitator (0.5 or 1.0 FTE) to support to support State identified models of care/system delivery and quality improvement activities related to Blueprint for Health and the State’s Health Reform priorities, such as strengthening local collaboration to address population health, social, and other needs. This role may work with Community Health Teams, Community Collaboratives, or Accountable Communities for Health across the state to support the use of data-driven, quality improvement focused, community engaged, multi-sectoral interventions.

Facilitators may be expected to work in diverse practice settings including substance use clinics, reproductive health and family planning clinics, which may include Planned Parenthood clinics, and primary care practices. Generally, Facilitators are expected to meet weekly or bi-weekly with each multi-disciplinary practice/integrated care/program team. Work will be tailored to help each practice succeed in implementation of the State’s Health Reform system components listed under scope and background.

The Contractor shall ensure that QI facilitation work includes:

• Assisting practices with forming a functional multi-disciplinary quality improvement team;

• Ensuring leadership involvement and communication;

• Encouraging/fostering practice ownership and support for Continuous Quality Improvement to improve patient-centered care;

• Initiating work with the practice team to incorporate a Model for Improvement, such as the Plan-Do-

Study-Act (PDSA) cycle, into daily practice to improve care and measure change;

• Ensuring that practices develop an action plan to prepare for or maintain NCQA recognition.

Supporting specialty practices to meet program standards for the Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) initiative;

• Supporting practices to meet pregnancy intention initiative participation requirements;

• Supporting practice teams in the implementation of continuous quality improvement activities, including use of Blueprint, practice, HSA, and ACO data, shared decision making, self-management support, panel management, or mental health and substance abuse treatment into clinical practice;

• Supporting practices in participating in community forums and participating in at least one (1) community-identified quality improvement project at the community level;

• Supporting the incorporation of CHTs and other health and community services into practice workflow;

• Participating in regular phone calls with the State, regularly scheduled meetings of the QI facilitators, and other ad-hoc conference calls, meetings, or trainings with State and other QI facilitators;

• Encouraging innovative strategies for communication and learning between practices, such as learning collaboratives or online learning environments;

• Participating in learning collaborative activities with assigned practices;

• Assessing QI activities across organizations;

• Supporting community-level quality initiatives, including facilitating workgroup projects as directed by the Blueprint QI Coordinator, community leaders, and statewide collaboratives;

• Leading or participating in the planning team for at least one (1) learning collaborative; and

• Mentoring and being mentored by a peer facilitator.

II. By deleting and replacing the Price Schedule in its entirety and replacing as follows on the page 4:

PRICE SCHEDULE

a. The total contract will not exceed $100,000.00 per 1.0 FTE per year, or $50,000.00 per 0.5 FTE per year. The total contract term shall not exceed five (5) years.

b. Contract issuance is contingent upon funding availability. The maximum dollar amount payable under this contract is not intended to guarantee any amount of payment. The Contractor will be paid at the billable rates for services actually performed, up to the maximum allowable amount.

c. The financial proposal must include:

1. The proposed annual salary, paid at a monthly fixed rate upon successful completion of required deliverables, not to exceed $95,000.00 annually for 1.0 FTE or $45,000.00 for 0.5 FTE.

2. The proposed annual reimbursement budget for travel expenses, trainings, and supplies as utilized. The State requires a minimum budget of $5,000.00 for annual reimbursement expenses, not to exceed $10,000.00.

A. Annual Salary:

Year 1 Annual Salary $ Year 2 Annual Salary $ Year 3 Annual Salary $ Year 4 Annual Salary $ Year 5 Annual Salary $

B. Travel/Training Budget:

Year 1 Travel/Training Budget $ Year 2 Travel/Training Budget $ Year 3 Travel/Training Budget $ Year 4 Travel/Training Budget $ Year 5 Travel/Training Budget $

Name of Bidder:

Signature of Bidder:

Date: