DOH24-021 RFI Final.pdf

Pursuant to 60A-1.042, an agency may request information by issuing a written Request for Information. Agencies may use Requests for Information in circumstances including, but not limited to, determining whether, or not, to competitively procure commodities or contractual services, determining what solicitation process to use for a particular need, or researching general, special, or technical specifications to be included in a solicitation.

State of Florida

Department of Health Request for Information

DOH24-021

Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Services

I. REQUEST FOR INFORMATION

The Florida Department of Health, Pinellas County Health Department (Department) is requesting information from qualified vendors who are capable of and interested in providing integrated mental health and substance use disorder services to Pinellas County Health Program and Health Care for the Homeless Program patients.

II. BACKGROUND

The Pinellas County Board of County Commissioners, through its Human Services Department (Pinellas County), offers the Pinellas County Health Program and Health Care for the Homeless Program to provide comprehensive, culturally competent, high quality health services to the County’s most vulnerable individuals, specifically those who are low income and uninsured and those experiencing homelessness. These programs provide care that is respectful of, and responsive to, individual patient preferences, culture, needs and values, and ensures that patient values guide all clinical decisions. The programs emphasize coordinated management of patients with multiple health care needs and aim to integrate access to oral health, pharmacy, and mental health and substance use disorder treatment services within the primary care setting to optimize access to care.

Pinellas County contracts with the Department to provide clinical and support staffing and primary care services for the patients of the Pinellas County Health Program and Health Care for the Homeless Program. Together, the programs have an active enrollment of approximately 7,500 patients annually with services provided though six clinic sites along with a Mobile Medical Unit and Street Medicine team. In 2024, over 10,000 mental health and substance use disorder services were provided to 1,400 program patients. Please refer to the following links for additional information regarding the programs.

Pinellas County Health Program:

https://pinellas.gov/programs/pinellas-county-health-program/

Pinellas County Health Care for the Homeless Program:

https://pinellas.gov/programs/health-care-for-the-homeless-program/

Pinellas County and the Department have identified a need for a qualified provider who is capable of and interested in delivering integrated mental health and substance use https://pinellas.gov/programs/pinellas-county-health-program/ https://pinellas.gov/programs/health-care-for-the-homeless-program/ disorder services to Pinellas County Health Program and Health Care for the Homeless Program patients. While mental health and substance use disorder services are currently being provided to program patients by multiple providers with some co-location, a fully integrated approach to care delivery within the primary care sites as part of a Collaborative Care Model in alignment with the key elements of the SAMHSA-HRSA Center for Integrated Health Solutions’ Level 5 to Level 6 collaboration/integration is desired.

Please refer to the following link for additional information on the SAMHSA-HRSA Center for Integrated Health Solutions’ standard framework for levels of integrated healthcare:

https://archive.thepcc.org/sites/default/files/resources/SAMHSA- HRSA%202013%20Framework%20for%20Levels%20of%20Integrated%20Healthcare.p df

III. GOALS

The Department’s goals are to:

1. Fully integrate mental health and substance use disorder services available to Pinellas

County Health Program and Health Care for the Homeless patients into the primary care setting; services include biopsychosocial and level of care assessments, treatment planning, consultation, and psychosocial treatment including therapy, case management, and pharmacological management.

2. Have mental health and substance use disorder services provided as part of a Collaborative Care Model that aligns with the key elements of the SAMHSA-HRSA Center for Integrated Health Solutions’ Level 5 to Level 6 collaboration/integration.

3. Have a scalable staffing model to provide required mental health and substance use disorder services based on patient volume and staff caseload.

4. Make demonstrated improvements in the following performance measures:

a. Patients who engage in initial mental health and/or substance use disorder treatment.

b. Patients retained in mental health and/or substance use disorder care and/or remain on medication at 12 months.

c. Patients diagnosed with depression who achieve a measurable reduction of symptoms (per PHQ-9) within 12 weeks of treatment AND sustain the decrease for a period of nine months.

d. Patients diagnosed with an anxiety disorder who achieve a measurable reduction of symptoms (per GAD-7) within six weeks of treatment AND sustain the decrease for a period of nine months.

e. Patients diagnosed with alcohol use disorder who achieve a measurable reduction of use within 12 weeks and an overall sustained reduction for a period of at least six months thereafter.

f. Patients diagnosed with a substance use disorder who demonstrate reductions in the number of substances used and the frequency of use and experience sobriety/abstinence from any substance use for an average duration of three months at any given month.

g. Patients who achieve at least 60% attainment of identified treatment goals at the time of discharge from the program.

Vendors must provide estimated pricing information or proposed annual budget to provide services and staffing not to exceed $2,565,000.00 dollars per contract year for a total of three years.

https://archive.thepcc.org/sites/default/files/resources/SAMHSA-HRSA%202013%20Framework%20for%20Levels%20of%20Integrated%20Healthcare.pdf https://archive.thepcc.org/sites/default/files/resources/SAMHSA-HRSA%202013%20Framework%20for%20Levels%20of%20Integrated%20Healthcare.pdf https://archive.thepcc.org/sites/default/files/resources/SAMHSA-HRSA%202013%20Framework%20for%20Levels%20of%20Integrated%20Healthcare.pdf

IV. OBJECTIVES

The objective of this RFI is to inform mental health and substance use disorder service providers of the need for a qualified provider to deliver integrated mental and substance use disorder services to Pinellas County Health Program and Health Care for the Homeless Program patients and identify potential vendors and how these potential vendors can perform the services to meet the Department’s goals. The Department recognizes the existence of varied methods of services delivery and welcomes unique staffing and implementation approaches that will satisfy Department goals, takes into account the information and background provided in Sections I and II, and includes how they can perform the following tasks:

1) Conduct comprehensive biopsychosocial (BPS) assessments for all patients who present for services or review BPS assessments for patients who are referred by the Department, as part of a shared Pinellas County electronic health record.

Assessments include the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), General Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7), CAGE, CAGE-AID, Trauma Assessment for Adults (TAA), and the Columbia-Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C-SSRS) and Modified Mini Screen (MMS) as clinically indicated.

2) Assess level of care using LOCUS informed by the BPS and determine continuity of care needs to be provided within the program. Care for patients assessed as Recovery Maintenance and Management and Low Intensity Community Based Services will be provided within the program. Care for those assessed at a level above Low Intensity Community Based Services will be referred externally with coordinated management.

3) Develop treatment plans for patients that are assessed with alignment to the transtheoretical stages of change, to receive routine follow up or supports aligned to their identified needs, symptoms, and associated stage of change. The plan is an ongoing process and will be revised as needed based on the evaluation of the needs and progress toward goals.

4) Review treatment plans with patients to assess where the patient is in relation to the goals, if the treatment plan will continue, be amended, or completely changed based on the progress of the current treatment plan in place. Vendor shall define a cadence for the frequency of this activity which may be in consideration of intensity of service needs as identified by LOCUS, assessed needs, or identified goals for symptom management.

5) Conduct therapy sessions for mental health and/or substance use disorders with the length and duration of the counseling services based on individual patient.

6) Conduct comprehensive case management services to meet patients’ health and human service needs, including making referrals to community agencies for community resources to meet a wide variety of bio-psychosocial needs when appropriate and update progress within the Pinellas County electronic health record.

7) Provide Medication Assisted Treatment, Medications for Opioid Use Disorder, and Medications for Alcohol Use Disorder services to include the use of FDA-approved medications which may be delivered in combination with counseling and behavioral therapies to treat substance use disorders including opioid use disorder and alcohol use disorder.

8) Provide psychiatric consultation as requested by Department medical staff.

Consultation shall be conducted by a qualified psychiatric practitioner and include review of all relevant screenings, assessments, case progress notes, and, if necessary, a face to face or telephone conference with the primary care provider.

The purpose of the review is to determine or affirm the diagnosis and treatment plan, including the prescribing of psychotropic medications by the primary care provider. The qualified psychiatric practitioner shall document treatment recommendations in the Pinellas County electronic health record.

9) Confer with and maintain communication with referring PCHP or HCH provider throughout the course of treatment including documentation of service delivery.

10) Document appointments, treatment plans, services and medications within the Pinellas County electronic health record.

11) Facilitate integrated care team meetings.

12) Attend meetings monthly, or as otherwise scheduled by the Department, which shall occur through face-to-face, telephone, or virtually to address any relevant issues pertaining to the quality of the program and review of required performance requirements as defined by program funders.

13) Submit routine reports on referral status, services provided, discharges, performance, and Pinellas County Optimal Data Set (ODS) data elements.

14) Track and report on any Program Generated Income (PGI) resulting from services provided under Department funding and reinvest any PGI into this program.

15) Keep all patient information confidential unless the patient signs the appropriate release form or as provided by law. Exchange mental health and substance use disorder treatment information among authorized providers of the primary care medical services team for purposes of treatment, coordination of care, billing, and quality management.

Subcontracting may be permitted for the provision of services as long as the tasks and deliverables are completed as specified.

Vendors proposed staffing model must include how they will assign staff to the following locations/teams at a number and frequency to best meet the needs of the patients based on volume, caseload and operating hours.

a. St. Petersburg Health Department 205 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Street North St. Petersburg, FL 33701 Hours: Monday - Friday 7:30am to 5:00pm, (ET)

b. Pinellas Park Health Department 6350 76th Avenue North Pinellas Park, FL 33781 Hours: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday 7:30am to 5:00pm, ET

c. Mid-County Health Department 8751 Ulmerton Road Largo, FL 33771 Hours: Monday - Friday 7:30am to 5:00pm, ET

d. Clearwater Health Department 310 N Myrtle Avenue Clearwater, FL 33755 Hours: Monday - Friday 7:30am to 5:00pm, ET

e. Tarpon Springs Health Department 301 South Disston Avenue Tarpon Springs, FL 34689 Hours: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday 7:30am to 5:00pm, ET

f. Bayside Health Clinic 14808 49th Street North Clearwater, FL 33760 Hours: Monday - Thursday 8:00am to 8:00pm, ET, Friday 8:00am to 5:00pm, ET and Saturday 8:00am to 12:00pm, ET

g. Mobile Medical Unit Mobile team, see calendar of locations and hours at the following link:

https://pinellas.gov/mobile-medical-unit-and-bayside-health-clinic-monthly-calendar/

h. Street Medicine Community based mobile team, various locations and hours.

V. PROCESS

Responses to this RFI will be reviewed by the Department for informational purposes only and will not result in the award of a contract.

The Department will review the responses received from this RFI to determine the feasibility of issuing a competitive solicitation for these services.

Any request for cost information is for budgetary purposes only.

Vendors submitting responses to the Department’s RFI are not prohibited from responding to any related subsequent solicitation.

VI. RESPONSE FORMAT

The Department’s intent is to identify potential vendors that can meet the needs of the Department outlined herein. Potential vendors should address all of the needs above in a statement of work with at least the following sections at a minimum:

a. Background

b. Proposed Implementation Approach (to include information from section III and section IV)

c. Staffing Model

d. Key Agency Staff Contact Information (Name, Phone Number, Email)

e. Cost Estimates/Proposed Budget (annual budget not to exceed $2,565,000.00 for serving as estimated 1,400 to 2,000 patients annually)

VI. RESPONSE DUE DATE

https://pinellas.gov/mobile-medical-unit-and-bayside-health-clinic-monthly-calendar/ https://pinellas.gov/mobile-medical-unit-and-bayside-health-clinic-monthly-calendar/

Responses must be provided no later than 5:00pm ET Monday, March 31, 2025.

Response can be sent via e-mail to: Summer.Lindsley@flhealth.gov Additional information that cannot be transmitted electronically must also be submitted by 5:00pm ET Monday, March 31, 2025, to the following address:

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH

CENTRAL PURCHASING OFFICE

ATTN: Summer Lindsley 4052 Bald Cypress Way, Bin B07

Tallahassee, FL 32399

VIII. QUESTIONS

Questions related to this RFI must be submitted in writing, via email, to Summer.Lindsley@flhealth.gov no later than 5:00 p.m. ET, March 10, 2025.

Verbal questions or those submitted after the deadline will not be addressed by the Department.

ALL EMAILS RELATED TO THIS RFI MUST CONTAIN THE RFI TITLE AND RFI DOH

NUMBER IN THE SUBJECT LINE OF THE EMAIL.

Department responses to questions received by the above deadline will be posted to https://vendor.myfloridamarketplace.com. The Department will reply to questions by 5:00 p.m. ET, March 15, 2025.

IX. PROPRIETARY INFORMATION

Vendors must indicate which portions, if any of the information being provided are proprietary or confidential by marking each page upon which such information appears.

Failure to do so will result in all information submitted being subject to public disclosure in accordance with Florida Statute Chapter 119, Public Records. The information requested may be used to develop specifications for a solicitation.

X. VENDOR COSTS

Vendors are responsible for all costs associated with the preparation, submission, and any potential meeting to discuss this Request for Information. The State of Florida, Department of Health, or Pinellas County Health Department will not be responsible for any costs associated with responding to this request.

mailto:Summer.Lindsley@flhealth.gov https://vendor.myfloridamarketplace.com/