CommunicationsRFPQandA7_20_07.bin

Massachusetts Health Care Quality and Cost Council

Web Design and Communications Consultant Procurement Questions & Answers Communication Requirements for Website

1. What is the goal of this website?

The goal of the website is to provide comparative quality and cost information about Massachusetts health care providers in a user-friendly format in order to promote quality improvement and efficiency in the Massachusetts health care system.

The Council envisions that a user could, for example, type in his or her zip code and choose a procedure from a list or menu. The site might provide information about the 10 closest providers, including:

· median price paid by all payers to that provider for that procedure

· range of prices paid to that provider for that procedure (for example, 10th percentile and 90th percentile)

· information about the quality of care at each provider site.

2. Are there sites already functioning that provide quality and cost information?

Yes. New Hampshire has a site www.nhhealthcost.org that provides comparative price information for consumers. Minnesota and Wisconsin have similar sites that compare hospitals: www.mnhospitalpricecheck.org, www.wipricepoint.org. A number of internet sites provide comparative quality information including: www.mass.gov/healthcareqc, www.hospitalcompare.hhs.gov, www.ahrq.gov, www.qualitycheck.org, www.mhqp.org, and www.leapfroggroup.org/cp. The Council’s goal is to take existing quality measures that are already available on sites like these, combine it with price information, and make it easily understandable and accessible.

3. What is the goal in terms of presentation?

The goal is to present a very large volume of extremely complex information in a user-friendly, useful, informative way. The Council expects the selected vendor to recommend the best way to present this information based on existing evidence and market research.

4. Is the council looking to provide additional assistance to consumers to help them understand quality and cost information?

Yes, the Council is looking to help consumers understand and use quality and cost information and we encourage your suggestions and strategies on this point.

5. Will the website provide information regarding recommendations of where people should go for care?

No. The website will provide comparative health care quality and cost information and enable users to make informed decisions.

6. Should bidders suggest quality and cost measures to include in the website? Should bidders suggest data sources?

The Council’s Quality Committee will select the quality measures to report on the website, as well as the data sources, although your suggestions are welcome.

7. What does the Council mean by reporting cost information?

The Council’s statute requires that “the internet site shall, at a minimum, include comparative cost information by facility and, as applicable, by clinician or physician group practice for obstetrical services, physician office visits, high-volume elective surgical procedures, high-volume diagnostic tests and high-volume therapeutic procedures. Cost information shall include, at a minimum, the average payment for each service or category or service received by each facility, clinician or physician practice on behalf of insured patients. Cost information shall be aggregated for all insurers and the council shall not publicly release the payment rates of any individual insurer which shall not be deemed to be public record.” St. 2006, c.58, s.136.

The Council is seeking authority from the state legislature to report prices paid by payer as well as by provider and by procedure.

8. Do you expect to report quality data at the individual physician level?

The Council plans to report quality measures that are already vetted and publicly available. There are publicly available measures at the physician group practice level, but not at the individual physician level at this time.

9. Do you have any interest in including quality and cost information for nursing facilities and other long term care providers?

Yes, the Council would like to include quality and cost information on long-term care in the longer term.

10. How much functionality will be useful for consumers? How do we know that this is the best way to reach people?

The Council is looking for recommendations from bidders as to the best ways to communicate this information. Proposals should include market research and strategies to determine the best ways to reach people.

11. What reactions and energy does the council hope to see coming from the targeted audience?

The Council’s goal is to have a pro-active website that is highly utilized by the public. The public as a whole can and should benefit from the website. The council is hoping that the quality and cost information featured on this website is of resource to providers, patients and families. The Council would like consumers to know to look to the website for healthcare quality and cost information and to have confidence in the data, but not feel overwhelmed.

12. Are consumers your primary audience?

Yes, consumers are the primary, but not the only audience. For example, the Council expects providers to use the site to look at their own information relative to their competitors, and to get information about other providers to whom they refer patients. Other audiences include media outlets, health insurance brokers, and policy makers.

13. What is your geographical target?

The Council is looking to provide information across Massachusetts.

14. Is there a domain name already set?

The Council’s website will be www.mass.gov/healthcare.

15. Will the website have to solicit and store user feedback in a database?

It would be helpful if the website had the capacity to solicit and store user feedback; however the RFP requirements do not include the programming to build the website itself. The selected vendor will act as a consultant to the entity responsible for developing the application.

Communications Plan

16. Does the RFP include using other media to provide quality and cost information or just to steer consumers to the website?

Bidders should include a plan to use a variety of media to communicate quality and cost information. It is difficult to include detailed quality and cost information through other types of media, so these might be used to educate consumers about the usefulness of this type of information and how to access it.

17. What are the council’s expectations on Branding? Council as an entity? Commonwealth as a resource?

The Council expects the vendor to provide an evidence-based recommendation as to the branding that consumers will best respond to. The Council would like the site to be seen as a useful, impartial and trustworthy resource of health care quality and cost information for the public. The Council would also like to encourage the participation of consumers and other stakeholders in developing our resources so they are the most responsive to consumer needs. Finally, the Council wishes to effectively communicate and demonstrate its commitment to helping the Commonwealth to improve health care quality and control health care costs.

18. Are you looking for media exposure to the information during the whole time or is there a window period?

The Council will be looking to promote public information about the website after it is up and running.

Accessibility

19. Is the website required to be ADA compliant?

Yes, the website will be ADA compliant; however the RFP requirements do not include the programming to build the website itself. The selected vendor will act as a consultant to the entity responsible for developing the application.

20. Does the site content and information have to be in multiple languages? What about other media?

The Council would like to focus on developing the site in English to begin with. The Council is looking for suggestions to make this information easily accessible to a diverse audience going forward, including developing other media in other languages.

21. What systems are in place to assist people with no internet access? Will you have a telephone system for people who do not have internet access?

In their proposals, bidders may suggest alternative methods to assist people with no internet access. The Council does not have plans at present to support a telephone system for people who do not have internet access.

RFP Requirements

22. What is the budget for this project?

There is no definitive maximum budget for this project. The Council’s total budget for the year is $1 million. The Council may receive an additional appropriation of up to $300,000. The Council will use this funding to pay its staff and expenses, collect claims data from all Massachusetts insurers, analyze this data, develop the website design and communications strategy, and build the website.

23. Is building the website included in the RFP requirements?

No. The selected vendor will act as a consultant to the entity responsible for developing the application. The RFP requirements do not include the programming to build the website itself. The Council is seeking a vendor to develop a communications plan that includes strategies for the best ways to present information through a website and other media. Bidders may include the programming component in their proposals if they wish, but this component must be priced separately in the sealed price proposal.

24. Will the website have to support the ability to print the cost and quality data or a report for dissemination?

Yes. The website should have the ability to print information produced in response to a consumer inquiry; however the RFP requirements do not include the programming to build the website itself. The selected vendor will act as a consultant to the entity responsible for developing the application.

25. Will the website design firm have to design and build the pieces for the website to pull/read data from the warehouse?

No. This RFP does not require bidders to pull in data and build the website. The selected vendor will act as a consultant to the entity responsible for developing the application.

26. Where is the quality data going to be sourced from? Is the data ready? If not, when is it expected to be ready? What format will the data be in?

The RFP requirements do not include importing data or building the application. The selected vendor will act as a consultant to the entity responsible for developing the application.

The quality data will be made available by the various entities that created the measures. Some of this data already exists. The format is yet to be determined.

27. Who will be responsible for testing and how will the accuracy of the data be benchmarked?

The RFP requirements do not include testing or benchmarking data. The selected vendor will act as a consultant to the entity responsible for developing the application.

The quality data that the Council will be using has already been verified. The cost data will be verified by the entity responsible for data analysis, which may be a state agency or may be a vendor procured through a separate RFP.

28. Do you see this developing into a bigger project with login protection to allow access to different levels of data?

Not at this time.

29. Do you have a content management system in mind for the content of the web site?

No. The bidder may recommend a content management system. The selected vendor will act as a consultant to the entity responsible for developing the application.

30. What is the final output of the web design to be—a Photoshop file, a jpeg, functional html, etc?

The Council is seeking a vendor to develop a communications plan that includes strategies for the best ways to present information through a website and other media. The communications plan may include visual aids in any convenient format. The RFP requirements do not include the programming to build the website itself. The bidder will act as a consultant to the entity responsible for developing the application.

Bidder Qualifications

31. Can international or out-of-state firms apply?

Yes, international and out-of-state firms may apply if they meet the qualification requirements in the RFP. International and out-of-state firms should substitute the equivalent Certificate of Tax compliant for their home state or province.

Schedule

32. What is your schedule for actually launching the website?

The Council plans to post price information on the website by March 1, 2008. The Council would like to launch the site with comparative quality information sooner, by January 1, 2008.

33. When do you expect to have the website design component of this RFP completed?

The Council is expecting to have the website design completed by mid-fall, 2007.

34. How soon do you expect the council will have cost information for procedures available to the public?

The Council is aiming to have cost information available to the public by March 1, 2008.

General Information

35. Is there any assistance/support for completing the RFP Application process?

For help using the comm-pass system, there are resources available at https://www.ebidsourcing.com/includes/help.htm or you may call 1-888-MA-STATE. For questions regarding specific required forms, or for Chapter 30B procurement related issues, contact the Inspector General’s office at 617-722-8838.

36. Are you going to be putting out (or would the Council be interested in) an RFP for the development of a web platform that incorporates the functionality and information described in the current RFP and elaborated on at the bidders conference, such as more information and support for end users, more than only the statistical data that has been referred to on cost and quality?

The Council has not yet determined whether it will develop an RFP for the development of a web platform or rely on resources within state government to develop a web platform. At this time, the Council does not anticipate developing an RFP to provide additional support for end users.

37. May bidders combine their capabilities and submit a joint bid?

Yes. For example, a bidder with capabilities in the website design area may choose to join forces with a bidder that has a more comprehensive background in marketing and promotion, or with a bidder with expertise in communicating health information, in order to submit a more responsive and qualified bid on the RFP. However, the joint response must include a clear presentation of the responsibilities of each party for completing deliverables, as well as how these responsibilities will be coordinated.

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