State of South Carolina

Request for Proposal

AMENDMENT ONE

Solicitation:

Date Issued:

Procurement Officer:

Phone:

E-Mail Address:

Mailing Address:

5400023796 10/27/2022

LISA ROLAND

803-898-0533 ROLANDLD@dhec.sc.gov

SC DHEC

Attn: Procurement Services Division 301 Gervais Street, 4th Floor Columbia SC 29201-3073

DESCRIPTION: Cancer Registry Data Abstracting Services

USING GOVERNMENTAL UNIT: SC Dept of Health & Environmental Control

The Term "Offer" Means Your "Bid" or "Proposal". Your offer must be submitted in a sealed package. Solicitation Number & Opening Date must appear on package exterior. See "Submitting Your Paper Offer or Modification" provision.

SUBMIT YOUR OFFER ON-LINE AT THE FOLLOWING URL: http://www.procurement.sc.gov (See Pages 3 and 4 for Instructions)

SUBMIT OFFER BY (Opening Date/Time): 11/17/2022 @ 2:30 PM ET (See "Deadline For Submission Of Offer" provision)

QUESTIONS MUST BE RECEIVED BY: 10/18/2022 @ 5:00 PM ET Date has passed (See "Questions From Offerors" provision)

NUMBER OF COPIES TO BE SUBMITTED: *See Pages 3 and 4 for instructions*

CONFERENCE TYPE: Not Applicable

DATE & TIME:

(As appropriate, see "Conferences - Pre-Bid/Proposal" & "Site Visit" provisions) LOCATION: Not Applicable

You must submit a signed copy of this form with Your Offer. By signing, you agree to be bound by the terms of the Solicitation. You agree to hold Your Offer open for a minimum of thirty (30) calendar days after the Opening Date. (See "Signing Your Offer" provision.)

NAME OF OFFEROR

(full legal name of business submitting the offer) Any award issued will be issued to, and the contract will be formed with, the entity identified as the Offeror. The entity named as the offeror must be a single and distinct legal entity. Do not use the name of a branch office or a division of a larger entity if the branch or division is not a separate legal entity, i.e., a separate corporation, partnership, sole proprietorship, etc.

AUTHORIZED SIGNATURE

(Person must be authorized to submit binding offer to contract on behalf of Offeror.)

DATE SIGNED

TITLE

(Business title of person signing above)

STATE VENDOR NO.

(Register to Obtain S.C. Vendor No. at www.procurement.sc.gov)

PRINTED NAME

(Printed name of person signing above)

STATE OF INCORPORATION

(If you are a corporation, identify the state of incorporation.)

OFFEROR'S TYPE OF ENTITY: (Check one) (See "Signing Your Offer" provision.)

___ Sole Proprietorship ___ Partnership ___ Other_____________________________

___ Corporate entity (not tax-exempt) ___ Corporation (tax-exempt) ___ Government entity (federal, state, or local)

COVER PAGE - PAPER ONLY (MAR. 2015)

SAP

SAP

PAGE TWO

(Return Page Two with Your Offer) HOME OFFICE ADDRESS (Address for offeror's home office / principal place of business)

NOTICE ADDRESS (Address to which all procurement and contract related notices should be sent.) (See "Notice" clause)

Area Code - Number - Extension Facsimile

E-mail Address

PAYMENT ADDRESS (Address to which payments will be sent.) (See "Payment" clause)

____Payment Address same as Home Office Address ____Payment Address same as Notice Address (check only one) ORDER ADDRESS (Address to which purchase orders will be sent) (See "Purchase Orders and "Contract Documents" clauses)

____Order Address same as Home Office Address ____Order Address same as Notice Address (check only one)

ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF AMENDMENTS

Offerors acknowledges receipt of amendments by indicating amendment number and its date of issue. (See "Amendments to Solicitation" Provision)

DISCOUNT FOR PROMPT PAYMENT

(See "Discount for Prompt Payment" clause)

PREFERENCES - A NOTICE TO VENDORS (SEP. 2009): On June 16, 2009, the South Carolina General Assembly rewrote the law governing preferences available to in-state vendors, vendors using in-state subcontractors, and vendors selling in-state or US end products. This law appears in Section 11-35-1524 of the South Carolina Code of Laws. A summary of the new preferences is available at www.procurement.sc.gov/preferences .

Preferences do not apply to Request for Proposals per the South Carolina Consolidated Procurement Code Section 11-35-1524, Part (E)(5)(b).

PREFERENCES - ADDRESS AND PHONE OF IN-STATE OFFICE: Please provide the address and phone number for your in-state office in the space provided below. An in-state office is necessary to claim either the Resident Vendor Preference (11-35-1524(C)(1)(i)&(ii)) or the Resident Contractor Preference (11-35-1524(C)(1)(iii)). Accordingly, you must provide this information to qualify for the preference. An in-state office is not required, but can be beneficial, if you are claiming the Resident Subcontractor Preference (11-35-1524(D)).

Preferences do not apply to Request for Proposals per the South Carolina Consolidated Procurement Code Section 11-35-1524, Part (E)(5)(b).

____In-State Office Address same as Home Office Address ____In-State Office Address same as Notice Address (check only one)

PAGE TWO (SEP 2009)

End of PAGE TWO

AMENDMENT ONE

Solicitation No. 5400023796

DESCRIPTION: Cancer Registry Data Abstracting Services

AMENDMENTS TO SOLICITATION (JAN 2004)

(a) The Solicitation may be amended at any time prior to opening. All actual and prospective Offerors should monitor the following web site for the issuance of Amendments: www.procurement.sc.gov (b) Offerors shall acknowledge receipt of any amendment to this solicitation (1) by signing and returning the amendment, (2) by identifying the amendment number and date in the space provided for this purpose on Page Two, (3) by letter, or (4) by submitting a bid that indicates in some way that the bidder received the amendment. (c) If this solicitation is amended, then all terms and conditions which are not modified remain unchanged. [02-2A005-1]

QUESTIONS FROM OFFERORS – AMENDMENT (JUN 2017)

This solicitation is amended as provided herein, information or changes resulting from questions will be shown in a question–and-answer format. All questions received have been reprinted below. The “State’s Response” should be read without reference to the questions. The questions are included solely to provide a cross-reference to the potential offeror that submitted the question. Questions do not form a part of the contract; the “State’s Response” does. Any restatement of part or all, of existing provision of the solicitation in an answer does not modify the original provision except as follows: underlined text is added to the original provision. Stricken text is deleted. [02-2A097-1]

The following prospective offeror questions and agency responses are hereby incorporated into the solicitation.

VENDOR QUESTION 1: Is SC Health targeting a specific price range in terms of the hourly rate and extended service charges?

STATE’S RESPONSE: This is a Request for Proposals of which offerors are to submit their price along with a technical proposal. The hourly bid price is proposed by the offeror.

VENDOR QUESTION 2: Is SC Health targeting the lowest bidder for this RFP?

STATE’S RESPONSE: This solicitation is a Request for Proposals, and the award factors are found in the Solicitation in Section VI. AWARD CRITERIA, EVALUATION FACTORS -- PROPOSALS (JAN 2006).

VENDOR QUESTION 3: From the RFP; page 2:

“PREFERENCES - A NOTICE TO VENDORS (SEP. 2009): On June 16, 2009, the South Carolina General Assembly rewrote the law governing preferences available to in-state vendors, vendors using in-state subcontractors, and vendors selling in-state or US end products. This law appears in Section 11-35-1524 of the South Carolina Code of Laws. A summary of the new preferences is available at www.procurement.sc.gov/preferences.

Preferences do not apply to Request for Proposals per the South Carolina Consolidated Procurement Code Section 11-35-1524, Part (E)(5)(b).”

Q: Please confirm that the above provision, “PREFERENCES – A NOTICE TO VENDORS” per the RFP is not applicable for this RFP. If it is, please further define how it applies to your vetting process in choosing your solution.

STATE’S RESPONSE: The preference clauses were inadvertently included in the solicitation and should be stricken and disregarded.

VENDOR QUESTION 4: From the RFP; page 2:

“PREFERENCES - ADDRESS AND PHONE OF IN-STATE OFFICE: Please provide the address and phone number for your in-state office in the space provided below. An in-state office is necessary to claim either the Resident Vendor Preference (11-35-1524(C)(1)(i)&(ii)) or the Resident Contractor Preference (11-35-1524(C)(1)(iii)). Accordingly, you must provide this information to qualify for the preference. An in-state office is not required, but can be beneficial, if you are claiming the Resident Subcontractor Preference (11-35-1524(D)).

Preferences do not apply to Request for Proposals per the South Carolina Consolidated Procurement Code Section 11-35-1524, Part (E)(5)(b).”

Q: Please confirm that the above provision, “PREFERENCES - ADDRESS AND PHONE OF IN-STATE OFFICE” is not applicable for this RFP. If it is, please further define how it applies to your vetting process in choosing your solution.

STATE’S RESPONSE: The preference clauses were inadvertently included in the solicitation and should be stricken and disregarded.

VENDOR QUESTION 5: From the RFP; page 3:

“To submit bids vendors must use Internet Explorer 8, 9 or 10, which is compatible with SAP. Other browsers such as Internet Explorer 11, Google Chrome, or Mozilla Firefox will not function properly and may prohibit bid submissions.”

Q: Please confirm that only Internet Explorer 8, 9, or 10 will work to submit our bid properly. If there are any other browsers that are acceptable, please confirm what they are.

STATE’S RESPONSE: If you experience trouble submitting your bid online, a paper copy is acceptable. See bid submission instructions outlined on pages 3 and 4 of the solicitation. For further information and assistance with online bid submission, contact the Help Desk number indicated on page 3 of the solicitation.

VENDOR QUESTION 6: From the RFP; page 11:

“DRUG FREE WORKPLACE CERTIFICATION (JAN 2004) By submitting an Offer, Contractor certifies that, if awarded a contract, Contractor will comply with all applicable provisions of The Drug-free Workplace Act, Title 44, Chapter 107 of the South Carolina Code of Laws, as amended. [02-2A065-1]”.

Q: Are there any reports, verification, standards, in which vendors need to comply with on an ongoing basis to verify the vendor is meeting the standard of the Act?

STATE’S RESPONSE: No.

VENDOR QUESTION 7: From the RFP; page 16:

“CONTENTS OF OFFER (RFP) (FEB 2015) (c) The contents of your offer must be divided into two parts, the technical proposal and the business proposal. Each part should be bound in a single volume.”

Also, From Page 20 in the RFP:

4.1 “TECHNICAL PROPOSAL

Critical Elements of the Technical Proposal

· The Technical Proposal shall be organized in the order specified in this RFP.

· The Offeror must provide written, point-by-point narrative response to each proposal requirement in Section III. Scope of Work/Specifications.

· Each response shall clearly indicate how the Offeror’s proposal meets or exceeds the requirements of the RFP.

· It is very important to state the RFP requirement and then respond below it.

· Supplemental technical information, product literature and other supporting materials that further explain or demonstrate the proposed services may also be included with the proposal.

· If your proposal includes any comment over and above the specific information requested below, you are to include this information as a separate appendix to your proposal.

· It is the responsibility of the Offeror to ensure all elements of the RFP have been responded to in accordance with the RFP.

· The Technical Proposal must not include any price/cost information. The price information is to be submitted separately within the Price – Business Proposal.

· If the proposal does not follow the RFP requirements point-by-point, it may be scored accordingly.

· Failure to provide information required by this RFP may result in rejection of the proposal.”

Q: As solutions can be delivered in a myriad of ways, please specifically define what would be ideal in terms of delivery of services from a technical standpoint being sought to ensure we are properly aligned based on your vision.

STATE’S RESPONSE: Please see instructions under Section IV.

3.1.3.1. Additional years will be submitted as they become available unless the contract is either terminated and/or it has reached the End Date of the contract period.

3.1.4. Estimated newly diagnosed cancer cases from hospital without a cancer registry and non-hospital data sources (e.g., physician offices).

3.1.4.1. 4500 cases annually

3.1.5. Transmission of Cases

3.1.5.1. Cases must be transmitted on a bi-weekly basis to SCCCR according to SCCCR security standards.”

Q: What is the completion date/standard for 2022, 2023 and years beyond for cases, as there is a completion date provided for the 2021 cases?

STATE’S RESPONSE: For 2022 cases: October 2024; 2023 cases October 2025; Will be the same for each additional year.

VENDOR QUESTION 9: From the RFP; page 18:

3.2.2. Most of the case review will be via electronic remote access to facility electronic health records.

Q: Is the expectation of the registry staff to abstract only what is available to them in the facility EHR they have access to? Are there expectations to procure information on work-up or treatment that was conducted outside of the reporting facility? For example, if a patient was diagnosed outside of the facility and there is no definitive information on biopsy date in the EHR, is the expectation that the CTR work to find that information or would that be documented as unknown and hopefully handled during case consolidation? Please provide more specific details regarding expectations in this area.

STATE’S RESPONSE: Yes, only abstract what is available in the EHR you have access to. CTR will not be responsible for acquiring outside facility information

Q: Please specifically define what the travel expectations are from contractor staff for the duration of the five-year contract in terms of frequency, in-person meetings, hours/days.

STATE’S RESPONSE: There will be no travel – everything will be completed remotely

VENDOR QUESTION 11: From the RFP; page 23:

“QUALIFICATIONS OF OFFEROR (MAR 2015)

(1) To be eligible for award, you must have the capability in all respects to perform fully the contract requirements and the integrity and reliability which will assure good faith performance. We may also consider a documented commitment from a satisfactory source that will provide you with a capability. We may consider information from any source at any time prior to award. We may elect to consider (i) key personnel, any predecessor business, and any key personnel of any predecessor business, including any facts arising prior to the date a business was established, and/or (ii) any subcontractor you identify. (2) You must promptly furnish satisfactory evidence of responsibility upon request. Unreasonable failure to supply requested information is grounds for rejection. (3) Corporate subsidiaries are cautioned that the financial capability of an affiliated or parent company will not be considered in determining financial capability; however, we may elect to consider any security, e.g., letter of credit, performance bond, parent-company corporate guaranty, that you offer to provide. Instructions and forms to help assure acceptability are posted on procurement.sc.gov, link to "Standard Clauses & Provisions." [05-5005-2].”

Q. Please be more specific concerning what is necessary in demonstrating the full capability, financial or otherwise, in fulfilling the requirements of this area of the RFP.

STATE’S RESPONSE: Please see instructions under Section V.

VENDOR QUESTION 12: From the RFP; pages 25 and 26:

DISCOUNT FOR PROMPT PAYMENT (JAN 2006)

(a) Discounts for prompt payment will not be considered in the evaluation of offers. However, any offered discount will form a part of the award and will be taken if payment is made within the discount period indicated in the offer by the offeror. As an alternative to offering a discount for prompt payment in conjunction with the offer, offerors awarded contracts may include discounts for prompt payment on individual invoices.

(b) In connection with any discount offered for prompt payment, time shall be computed from the date of the invoice. If the Contractor has not placed a date on the invoice, the due date shall be calculated from the date the designated billing office receives a proper invoice, provided the state annotates such invoice with the date of receipt at the time of receipt. For the purpose of computing the discount earned, payment shall be considered to have been made on the date that appears on the payment check or, for an electronic funds transfer, the specified payment date. When the discount date falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday when Federal Government offices are closed and Government business is not expected to be conducted, payment may be made on the following business day.”

Q: Please be more specific in terms of what payment terms are expected once the invoice is sent by the contractor in terms of payment due, and what types of discounts for early or prompt payments are suggested.

STATE’S RESPONSE: The terms of the clause are as stated.

VENDOR QUESTION 13: What has been the process internally over the last five years in general in terms of meeting your abstracting needs? In other words, was everything done with your own registrars, a hybrid of a blend of some contractors and FTEs / PTEs, fully outsourced contractors, using your own software or other software(s)?

STATE’S RESPONSE: Previously, we have utilized our own in-house CTRs (FTE & PTE) for the majority of cases using our own software. We have also utilized some contractors to assist with data collection.

VENDOR QUESTION 14: What has changed internally leading to the decision to put together the RFP and not continue doing what has been done in the last five years? How did this decision come about?

STATE’S RESPONSE: There hasn’t been a change – we have utilized a mix of in-house CTRs and contractors in the past, and are continuing this with this model image1.png