ATTM 009 Q&R.pdf

Question # RFP Page # RFP Subsection RFP Language Questions SCDHHS Response

Can you provide information on the length of calls? Average handle time? See Section 4, Provision 4.2.C

Are there different types of calls or campaigns? Can they vary in length?

Review the Solicitation in its entirety.

See Amendment 1, Section 3.

3 Can you provide your current script?

See Amendment 1, Section 9, Procurement Library Document PL 001

Is there a web form to fill out during the call? How are we documenting the call? See Amendment 1, Section 4, Provision 4.2 C

5 Is there any post call work involved? See Amendment 1, Section 3, Provision 3.2.1.C

6 22 4.4 Is minority participation mandatory? Does it come with a preference? No

7 18 3.2.1.A.

Development of a secret shopper plan that incorporates current SCDHHS MCO Contractual guidelines and applicable federal requirements. Is the contractor permitted to communicate with the MCOs?

Only with SCDHHS moderation and facilitation.

See Amendment 1, Section 3, Provision 3.2.1 A.

8 18 3.2.1.A.

Development of a secret shopper plan that incorporates current SCDHHS MCO Contractual guidelines and applicable federal requirements.

Is the contractor permitted to request electronic copies of provider directories from the MCOs or will electronic copies of the provider directories be supplied to the contractor on a periodic basis? If so, on what periodic basis will this information be available?

No, the Contractor will not request information from the MCOs.

See Amendment 1, Section 3, Provision 3.2.1 A.

9 18 3.2.1.A.

Development of a secret shopper plan that incorporates current SCDHHS MCO Contractual guidelines and applicable federal requirements.

Is SCDHHS willing to provide the contractor with electronic copies of South Carolina Medicaid provider enrollment information on a periodic basis? If so, on what periodic basis will this information be available?

Yes, See Amendment 1, Section 3, Provision 3.2.1 A.

10 18 3.1

Contract with an independent entity to conduct secret shopper surveys.

Would the contractor's independence be impaired if it provides services to health plans or health care providers participating in the South Carolina Medicaid program?

Would this prohibit award since the contractor would not be independent of the providers or health plan?

The requirement is that the Contractor must be independent of SCDHHS. Offeror must also complete ATTM 006, Organizational Conflict of Interest Disclosure.

11 18 3.2.1.B Training on call types of secret and revealed calls.

Please provide a definition of revealed calls and under what circumstance a call would be revealed rather than secret.

Also, what percentage of calls does SCDHSS estimate would be revealed rather than secret?

See Amendment 1, Section 2, Provision 2.2 and Section 3, Provision 3.2.1 B.

ATTM 009 - 5400026950 - QUESTIONS AND RESPONSES

12 19 3.2.1.B

Complete a minimum of one thousand (1000) calls per month, four (4000) calls per quarter.

How does SCDHHS plan to accommodate providers who only schedule through online platforms rather than via the phone? Will SCDHHS allow for the minimum call volumes to include a portion of the secret shopper calls to be through online appointment scheduling? If so, is there a maximum percentage?

See Amendment 1, Section 3, Provision 3.2.1 B.

13 18 Requirements

Have adequate staff to complete the required quarterly call volume. Can you share AHT of typical calls? See Amendment 1, Section 4, Provision 4.2 C

14 NA NA NA Is work from home permitted? See Amendment 1, Section 4, Provision 4.2 C

15 NA NA NA What are the desired hours of operations? See Amendment 1, Section 3, Provision 3.2.1 B

16 NA NA NA

Does the work have to be done in the State of South Carolina?

No See Amendment 1, Section 7C, Provision 7.51

17 23 5.3

Include the most current financial statement and financial statements for the last two fiscal years.

As a privately owned corporation, we do not typically distribute our financial statements publically. Are we able to provide under separate cover that will be protected as private under NDA?

See Amendment 1, Section 4, Provision 4.3 for information and instructions for submitting a redacted offer.

18 18 3.1 "Each MCO is required to maintain a Provider Directory"

Can the State provide the number of Providers currently in the provider directory across all five (5) MCO's? See Amendment 1, Section 3, Provision 3.1

19 41 8.1

"A completed call is defined in accordance with the Solicitation and Offeror Proposal. The Quantity listed is the annual required call volume multiplied by five (5 years) which is the total potential life of the Contract"

Can the State please clarify if the price should be a fixed price or a per-unit price? Section 8.1 lists a "unit price" and "extended price" to be completed.

If the price is to be a fixed price, should there be a fixed price for each individual year of the potential life of the contract?

For example, a price proposed for 9/1/24-8/31/25,9/1/25- 8/31/26, 9/1/26-8/31/27, and so on through 8/31/29?

If the Offeror completes their Pricing through the online system, the system will extend the "Unit Price" automatically. If the Offeror is submitting the pricing via an Attachment included in their proposal the Offeror will need to extend their "Unit Pricing" manually.

See Amendment 1, Section 8

20 18 3.1 Background

The purpose of the Contract is to complete Goal 2.3.2 of the SCDHHS Fiscal Year 2024 Strategic Plan (https://www.scdhhs.gov/about/ strategic-plan); this goal states, “Contract with an independent entity to conduct quarterly secret shopper surveys.” Insights we can achieve include the accuracy of our provider network directories, insights into possible provider network “ghost networks”, and accessibility barriers beneficiaries face while seeking services. Beneficiaries have reported a barrier to appointments being the inaccuracies or provider directories which this procurement seeks to remedy.

Does SC have an existing system for tracking networks, and performing similar tasks to this scope, or is the contractor allowed to utilize their preferred call center analytics platform for this scope of work?

There is no current system. Call centers must be compliant with Section 7C, Provision 7.51 also Proposal must provide detailed information described in Section 4, Provision

4.2 B.

21 19

3.2.1 Program

Goals and Deliverables

Collect, analyze, and submit a monthly report for Secret Shopper call data to include: • Methodology and process used,

• Number of completed calls, • Number of calls attempted, • Barriers to call completion, • Recommendations for improvement, • Summary of Results, and i. Summary statistics of data collected to include responses and response rates. • Data file of all responses as collected How will / does SC define a "completed call"?

See Amendment 1, Section 4, Provision 4.2 C, 8th bullet.

22 28

7.10 Fixed Pricing

Required

Any pricing provided by contractor shall include all costs for performing the work associated with that price.

Except as otherwise provided in this solicitation, contractor's price shall be fixed for the duration of this contract, including option terms. This clause does not prohibit contractor from offering lower pricing after award. [07- 7A040-1]

For pricing, are we to include all costs associated with the scope of work in the volume-based pricing outlined in the bid, or would SC like project management & data analytics costs priced separately?

Project Management is not an element of this Contract. Data Analytics cost for the elements described in Section 3, Provision 3.2.1 C must be included in the Completed Call Unit Pricing.

See Amendment 1, Section 3, Provision 3.2.1 D for Additional data analytics.

23 34-35, 39 7.36; 7.49

7.36: You shall maintain your records for three years from the date of final payment, or longer if requested by the chief Procurement Officer. The state may audit your records at reasonable times and places. As used in this subparagraph (b), the term "records" means any books or records that relate to cost or pricing data submitted pursuant to this clause.

7.49: Contractor shall assure that all Contractor and Subcontractor books, documents, papers, accounting records, or other evidence pertaining to costs incurred under this Contract will be maintained for a period of at least five (5) years after the final payment under this Contract.

Will the State please clarify its record retention requirement for documents, books, records, and other evidence pertaining to pricing data and costs incurred under this Contract?

See Solicitation Section 7B, Provision 7.36, and Section 7C, Provision 7.49

24 N/A

ATTM 004; ATTM

It appears that ATTM 004 Disclosure and Interest Statement is for healthcare providers who are enrolling in the State’s Medicaid program. Can the State please confirm that non-providers should complete ATTM 006 Organizational Conflict of Interest Disclosure?

Yes, ATTM 006 must be completed and returned with the Offeror's Proposal.

25 N/A ATM 004

Attached to the RFP, the State has included ATTM 004 Disclosure and Interest Statement. Can the State please clarify whether being selected as the Contractor automatically designates you as a Medicaid Provider? No it does not.

23 21 4.2.G

Attachments:

o ATTM 003 CERTIFICATION

REGARDING DEBARMENT

SUSPENSION INELIGIBILITY AND

VOLUNTARY EXCLUSION

o ATTM 004 HIPAA BUSINESS

ASSOCIATE AGREEMENT

o ATTM 005 ORGANIZATIONAL

CONFLICT OF INTEREST

DISCLOSURE

o ATTM 006 CERTIFICATION FOR

CONTRACTS GRANTS LOANS

AND COOPERATIVE

AGREEMENTS

Some of the attachment numbers provided in the list of attachments required to be submitted with the proposal don't appear to align with the titles provided. Can the State please confirm that the following attachments are the only ones that must be completed and returned with the proposal:

ATTM 003 Certification Regarding Debarment, Suspension, Ineligibility and Voluntary Exclusion – Lower Tier Covered Transactions

ATTM 005 HIPPA Business Associate Agreement

ATTM 006 Organizational Conflict of Interest Disclosure

ATTM 007 Certification for Contracts, Grants, Loans and Cooperative Agreements

Correct, See Amendment 1, Section 4, Provision 4.2 G

27 18 3.1

The purpose of the Contract is to complete Goal 2.3.2 of the SCDHHS Fiscal Year 2024 Strategic Plan (https://www.scdhhs.gov/about/ strategic-plan); this goal states, “Contract with an independent entity to conduct quarterly secret shopper surveys.”

Section 3.1 Background indicates that the State is seeking to contract with an "independent entity." Can the State please provide a clarifying definition of "independent entity?" Or provide insight into what conflict of interest rules may apply in relation to determining independence?

The Contractor must be independent of

SCDHHS.

See Amendment 1, Section 3, Provision 3.1 and ATTM 006.

28 41 8.1; 8.2 See table in RFP

RFP Section 8.2: Price Proposal asks offerors to "submit the following price information" but provides nothing following.

Can the State please confirm that Offerors should complete the second table provided in Section 8.1 for the price proposal?

If the Offeror completes their Pricing through the online system they do not need to submit a hard copy of their pricing listed in Section 8.

If the Offeror does not complete their pricing electronically in the system they must submit a had copy of Section 8 completed, and submitted in accordance with Section 4, Provision 4.2 F.

29 N/A N/A N/A Are there any restrictions on the file size that can be submitted?

File attachments larger than 10 MB should be uploaded as separate files. If a file exceeds the size limit multiple files may be submitted clearly indicating the order of each in the file name.

30 18 3.1

Insights we can achieve include the accuracy of our provider network directories, insights into possible provider network “ghost networks”, and accessibility barriers beneficiaries face while seeking services.

Please confirm that the scope of services is for calls only.

Can bidders separately price and propose other channels, such email or website/online portal visits, to conduct research on Provider accuracy and responsiveness?

Confirmed, calls only. Pricing must be in accordance with Section 8.

31 19 3.2.1.B Complete a minimum of 1000 calls per month . . .

It is typical for providers to check eligibility before allowing patients to make an appointment. Will the State provide the Contractor with fictitious data to use to prove eligibility when contacting providers?

Initial first two (2) quarters of Contract calls will be revealed. Calls will not use fictious Medicaid IDs/names.

See Amendment 1, Section 3, Provision 3.2.1 B and

32 19 3.2.1.B Complete a minimum of 1000 calls per month . . .

Will Contractors be provided with actual data that includes PHI and requires the Contractor to implement appropriate security measures? No

33 19 3.2.1.B Complete a minimum of 1000 calls per month . . .

Is the Contractor expected to make and cancel an appointment with a provider or simply to confirm availability? See Amendment 1, Section 3.2.1 A

34 19 3.2.1.B

Minimum number of calls required, per month and per quarter, may change with a thirty

(30) day notification to the Contractor from SCDHHS

What is the mechanism that will be used to adjust Contractor's price based on changes in required call volumes? Will the State commit to a minimum number of calls they will not drop below each year without revisiting price?

No, SCDHHS will not commit to a minimum number of calls, however our 4000 estimate is accurate based on the current requirements.

Call volume is not expected to decrease year to year. If there would be any significant change to the estimated volume a Change Order to the Contract would be negotiated.

35 21 4.2.C average length of call being eight

(8) minutes for two (2) studies per secret shopper/study.

Please clarify what is meant by "two studies per secret shopper/study." Does this mean two calls together equal 8 minutes, or that each provider is contacted on average twice before contact is made?

Two separate studies done internally by SCDHHS had an average total call time of 8 minutes.

See Amendment 1, Section 4, Provision 4.2 C.

36 22 4.4 Minority Participation Will there be any preference given to Certified Minority Businesses? No

37 23 5.2 Staff must be located domestically.

Please clarify if domestic means the United States and territories or just the 50 states. See Amendment 1, Section 7, provision 7.51

38 18 3.2.1.A Limit calls to the times and days agreed to by SCDHHS.

Please provide the likely times and days that SCDHHS will agree to. Can Contractors assume typical 8am to 5pm business hours, Monday through Friday, excluding state holidays? See response to Question 15

39 6 1.2

Start date: 09/01/2024 End date:

08/31/2029. Dates provided are estimates only. Any resulting contract will begin on the date specified in the notice of award.

See clause entitled "Term of Contract - Effective Date/Initial Contract Period".

Can SCDHHS provide an anticipated timeline for start-up activities before the Contractor begins conducting the surveys? See Amendment 1, Section 4, Provision 4.2 C.

40 6 1.2

Start date: 09/01/2024 End date:

08/31/2029. Dates provided are estimates only. Any resulting contract will begin on the date specified in the notice of award.

See clause entitled "Term of Contract - Effective Date/Initial Contract Period".

When is the Contractor expected to go-live after the contract effective date? See Answer to question 39 above.

41 18 3.2.1.A

Receive call lists quarterly or other intervals as agreed upon by SCDHHS

Please confirm the Contractor will not need to track entities evaluated in the secret shopper process and SCDHHS will track and monitor to ensure compliance with CMS regulations (e.g., is the Contractor expected to re-evaluate providers who have been found to have inaccuracies). Confirmed.

42 18 3.2.1.A Report secret shopper call results monthly.

Please confirm how the Contractor should send directory inaccuracies to the State within three days of discovery to align with CMS’ 3 business day reporting requirement for inaccuracies.

MCOs are required, through their Contract with SCDHHS, to update their directory 30 days post notification. Findings will be required to be submitted to SCDHHS monthly.

This information can be found in the MCO Contract and Policy and Procedures, Provision

3.12.3.4. The link to the MCO Contract

information can be found at:

https://www.scdhhs.gov/resources/health-managed-care-plans/managed-care-organizations-mco/policy-and-procedure-pp

43 19 3.2.1.B

Complete a minimum of one thousand (1000) calls per month, four thousand (4000) calls per quarter. Minimum number of calls required, per month and per quarter, may change with a thirty (30) day notification to the Contractor from SCDHHS.

Is the requirement to complete 1,000 calls per month or 4,000 calls per quarter? For example, could a vendor comply by completing fewer than 1,000 calls in a given month yet more in subsequent months to achieve 4,000 in the quarter?

The requirement is a minimum of 1,000 a month and a minimum of 4,000 a quarter.

See Amendment 1, Section 3, Provision 3.2.1 B.

44 41 8.1

Tendering Text: A completed call is defined in accordance with the Solicitation and Offeror Proposal.

The Quantity listed is the annual required call volume multiplied by five (5) years which is the total potential life of the Contract.

Section 3.2.1.B states the requirement to be 1,000 completed calls per month, or 12,000 completed calls per year. The Quantity listed in Price Proposal table is also shown as 12,000 completed calls, however the Tendering Text states that the quantity is representative of the 5-year contract period. Please clarify what quantity will be used. See Amendment 1, Section 8.

45 21 4.2.c an average length of call being eight (8) minutes

Is time spent in queue, waiting for an answer included in the 8 minute average? If yes, how much time on average was spent waiting for an answer vs. interacting with provider?

Yes, the typical time spent "in queue" was typically 2-4 minutes.

46 19 3.2.1.B

Complete a minimum of one thousand (1000) calls per month, four thousand (4000) calls per quarter. Minimum number of calls required, per month and per quarter, may change with a thirty (30) day notification to the Contractor from SCDHHS.

Please confirm that attempted calls that don't result in a completed Secret Shopper survey will not count toward minimums or be billable units.

Confirmed. Please reference Amendment 1, Section 4, Provision, 4.2.C, 8th bullet.

47 18 3.2.1.A Receive call lists quarterly or other intervals as agreed upon by SCDHHS. Can you share the lead file template?

See Amendment 1, Section 9, Procurement Library Document PL 001

48 18 3.2.1.A Receive call lists quarterly or other intervals as agreed upon by SCDHHS.

Please Identify if any information is considered PII or confidential in the leads file No

49 18 3.2.1.A

Report secret shopper call results monthly.

Can you share the file template the you would like to get the data back in.

Currently there is not a required template. An example of the template used for Call documentation during internal studies is provided.

See Amendment 1, Section 9, Procurement Library Document PL 001

50 18 3.2.1.A Report secret shopper call results monthly. Will vendor access any South Carolina provided tools? No.

How long is new hire classroom training

See Amendment 1, Section 3, Provision 3.2.1 B. Training is applicable to Contractor staff.

See Section 4, Provision 4.2 C, 10th bullet.

How long is the nesting / transition phase?

SCDHHS is not transitioning from an old service to a new service.

See Amendment 1, Section 4, Provision 4.2 C, 1st bullet

Is the volume intended to be 12,000 completed surveys total over 5 years as stated on page 43 of the RFP? If so, using the guidance in tendering text section we calculate 200 completed survey's per month. Is that accurate? See Amendment 1, Section 8.

Confirm that you will be passing through 16,000 records in bulk

No, See Amendment 1, Section 3, Provision

3.2.1 A, Bullet 3.

55 Do agents need to be in center or is at home acceptable? See Question 14

Please confirm that pricing must be per completed survey only. Confirmed

Please clarify who is the intended recipient of the call and what SCDHHS is seeking from making the calls. Said differently, what is the secret shooper aiming to identify?

Please review the Solicitation in its etirety. For Background see Amendment 1, Section 3, Provision 3.1.

If we are intended to make appointments, how do secret shoppers provide the required Medicade informaiton and other PII?

Contractor will not make appointments.

Please review the Solicitation in its entirety.

See Amendment 1, Section 3.

If the intent is to soley validate the provider details, how is that information verified?

Please review the Solicitation in its entirety.

See Amendment 1, Section 3.

Can you please provide historical data and results from your pilot effort? This will enbale per completed survy pricing inputs.

Yes.

See Amendment 1, Section 9, PL 002

61 n/a n/a n.a Is there an incumbent? No 62 n/a n/a n/a If there in an incumbent, who is the incumbent? See answer above

63 23 5.2 Qualifications

Three (3) Completed projects with a similar scope of work within the last (3) consecutive years

Will SCDHHS allow the bidder to submit three (3) completed projects with a similar scope of work from the last five (5) consecutive years? Extending this timeframe would enable more variability and inclusivity for bidders to showcase directly relevant experience, and thus providing for a more comprehensive evaluation of their capability to complete the work successfully. See Amendment 1, Section 5, Provision 5.2

64 23 5.3 Qualifications

Include the most current financial statement and financial statements for the last two fiscal years.

Should the financial statements be submitted with this initial bid? If yes where should the bidder submit the statements?

With the technical proposal or the business proposal?

Yes, see Amendment 1, Section 5, Provision 5.3, you may include in the Technical Proposal or upload as an individulal document.

65 20

4.2 B.

Introductory Documents:

Executive Summary – A one (1) or two (2)-page executive summary

The executive summary is the only mention of page limits.

Do any other sections of the technical or price proposal have a page limit? No

The RFP stipulates that the same training the staff receives is required for the contractor. Who will conduct this training? Will it be a one-time training or on a regular basis as the contractor adds new staff? Will the contractor be allowed to train their own staff or will the client conduct the training? What will be the format of the training?

See Amendment 1, Section 3, Provision 3.2.1 B. Training is applicable to Contractor staff.

See Section 4, Provision 4.2 C, 9th bullet.

Required training is for Contractor staff only.

What days and time should the calls be made? Are weekends included? See Question 15

68 Should the calls be recorded?

There is no requirement for calls to be recorded.

Please provide additional information on the reveal shops.

When should the reveal occur? What is the percentage or number of shops that should be revealed shops? What is the purpose of the reveal- to provide the representative with feedback of their performance on the call or just to let them know they were secret shopped?

See Amendment 1, Section 3, Provision 3.2.1 B, Bullets 4 and 5.

Should the calls be evenly distributed between the five companies?

No, SCDHHS will provide list of 4,000 providers per quarter and information to be verified.

See Amendment 1, Section 3, Provision 3.2.1 A.

Since some of the calls/scenarios will require current subscribers, will the contractor be allowed access to a list of subscribers or will fake profiles be set up for the contractor to use?

No, See Amendment 1, Section 3, Provision

3.2.1 B, Bullets 4 and 5.

72 21 and 42 4.2 and 9.1

"G. Additional Documents Additionally, the Offeror must submit the following information. Additional Documents may be submitted as separate documents or included at the end of the Technical Proposal:

• Minority Participation (DEC 2015): Complete and submit the Minority Participation in See Section 4.4.

• Attachments:

o ATTM 003 CERTIFICATION

REGARDING DEBARMENT

SUSPENSION INELIGIBILITY AND

VOLUNTARY EXCLUSION

o ATTM 004 HIPAA BUSINESS

ASSOCIATE AGREEMENT

o ATTM 005 ORGANIZATIONAL

CONFLICT OF INTEREST

DISCLOSURE

o ATTM 006 CERTIFICATION FOR

CONTRACTS GRANTS LOANS

AND COOPERATIVE

AGREEMENTS"

In section 4.2, subsection G. Additional Documents, the attachments required for submission are;

ATTM 003 CERTIFICATION REGARDING DEBARMENT

SUSPENSION INELIGIBILITY AND VOLUNTARY EXCLUSION

ATTM 004 HIPAA BUSINESS ASSOCIATE AGREEMENT

ATTM 005 ORGANIZATIONAL CONFLICT OF INTEREST

DISCLOSURE

ATTM 006 CERTIFICATION FOR CONTRACTS GRANTS LOANS

AND COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS

In section 9.1 Attachments List, attachments 4-6 are labeled differently;

ATTM 004 DISCLOSURE AND CONTROL INTERST STATEMENT

ATTM

ATTM 005 HIPAA BUSINESS ASSOCIATE AGREEMENT

ATTM 006 ORGANIZATIONAL CONFLICT OF INTEREST

DISCLOSURE

Can the State please clarify which attachments are required for submission? The discrepancies have been corrected. See

Amendment 1, Section 4, Provision 4.2 G

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