ESBD_File_327868_RFP 739-SL3519296 Answering Services - Amarillo Campus - Addendum - Vendor Questions v6.26.2023.pdf

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

Answering Services Amarillo Campus

Addendum No. 1

RFP 739-SL3519296

Addendum No. 1

Answering Services Amarillo Campus

RESPONSE TO QUESTIONS

The following responses to participant questions are fully incorporated into the RFP 739-SL3519296.

Question TTUHSC Response

1. Why has this bid been released this time? • Current contract term expires 8.31.2023.

2. Is there a Budget? If so, what is the Budget for this

Contract?

• There is no stipulated budget.

3. Please describe your level of satisfaction with your current or recent vendor(s) for the same purchasing activity, if applicable. Are there any specific business needs for TTUHSC that are not currently being met by the call center? If so, please describe any such business needs. Is the current scope expanding from that of the incumbents?

• Satisfied.

4. If this is a term contract subject to renewal, what is the term and the maximum number of option periods?

• See RFP Section 2.4.

5. Has the current contract gone full term? • Current contract term expires 8.31.2023.

6. Have all options to extend the current contract been exercised?

• Yes.

7. Who is the incumbent, and how long has the incumbent been providing the requested

• Always Answer Inc; Contractually for 3 years.

8. How are fees currently being billed by any incumbent(s), by category, and at what rates?

• See the following link for the process to request information under the Texas

Public Information Act.

https://www.ttuhsc.edu/administration/policies/open-records.aspx

9. What estimated or actual dollars were paid last year, last month, or last quarter to any incumbent(s)?

• The prior Texas fiscal year period payments related to these Services equated to

$44,963.

10. Please provide a complete list of the means of inbound and outbound communication the call center must accommodate.

• Inbound: Phone Calls rolled over from main clinic phone number.

• Outbound: Calling / Texting pager and/or cell phone.

11. Is previous experience with any specific customer information systems, phone systems, or software required?

• No.

12. What is the minimum required total call capacity? • Not specified.

13. What is the minimum simultaneous inbound call capacity?

• Not specified.

14. What is the maximum wait time? • 2 minutes

15. What is the maximum hold time? • 2 minutes

16. What percentage of inbound calls must be answered by a live operator?

• Urgent calls

17. What percentage of calls must be resolved without a transfer, second call, or a return call?

• Most calls will require initial resolution. No percentage is specified.

18. What is the maximum percentage of calls that can be terminated by the caller without resolution?

• 2%

19. Is there a minimum or maximum number of operators and supervisors?

• TTUHSC does not stipulate the number of employees for the call center.

20. What are the call center's hours of operation? • Call Center would be available to take calls after TTUHSC closes for the day, and on holidays and weekends, and in the case of an emergency where clinic is closed. (24hrs) TTUHSC is open 8-5 M-F.

21. What are the required language options? • English, Spanish.

22. Are callers required or allowed to connect with a message verification system or pre-recorded message before connecting to a live operator, or must a live operator be the initial contact?

• Live operator.

23. What are the recording requirements for inbound and outbound phone calls and how long must recordings be maintained?

• Patient name, chief complaint, doctor that was contacted

24. What are the recording and storage requirements for non-phone communications?

• Not specified.

25. What information is to be included in call logs? • Patient name, chief complaint, doctor that was contacted

26. What was your average monthly call volume over the past year?

• 3,739 – combined total across all of our different departments

27. What is the current number of seats for operators and supervisors at your existing call center?

• No internal call center at TTUHSC.

28. What is the current average wait time for phone calls? • 5 minutes.

29. What is the current average handle time for phone calls and other types of communications?

• 3 minutes.

30. What is the current average after-call work time for operators?

• 1.5 minutes.

31. What is the current average after-call work time for operators?

• See Question 30

32. Over the past year, what percentage of calls received were in Spanish?

• Not available.

33. What time of day, days of the week, or times of the year do calls typically peak?

• Varies

34. Will you consider extending the due date for this proposal to allow sufficient time to respond to the responses to vendor questions?

• Potentially, solely at the discretion of the TTUHSC RFP Evaluation Committee.

35. What is the call flow? Will calls go to the TTUHSC internal call center first, then be routed to the provider’s call center? Will there be an IVR prompt that sends calls to the Provider’s call center as appropriate?

• TTUHSC phone centers close at 5 every day and they are automatically routed to the after-hours answering service at 5pm, and on weekends/holidays.

36. Is the toll-free number an existing toll-free number used today? Does the Provider need to provide a separate toll-free number?

• Patients call the TTUHSC clinic number and are routed to the answering service.

37. Does the cloud contact center software include a case management system? If no, will the case management system be required from the provider?

• No case management system provided. Not specified.

38. When outbound calling is required, is that performed through the TTUHSC or would it be through the contractor’s dialer software?

• It would be through the Contractor’s call center.

39. Of the volumes provided, is the Respondent expected to handle all volume or only a percentage of each tier as overflow? If percentage, what percentage of Tier 1 and Tier 2 should Respondent assume ownership?

• All call volume for after hours / holidays/ weekends.

40. Would the Respondent provide a CRM database? • Call Center will be provided with phone numbers and pager numbers for providers only.

41. Please confirm any system uptime will not be impacted by systems outside of the respondent’s control.

• Not anticipated.

42. For documentation of the HIPAA training, what sort of documentation will satisfy this requirement?

• Written affirmation or similar is sufficient.

43. Is there more detailed volume data available that shows incoming call volume by week, day, or interval?

• None available.

44. Are bidders permitted to deviate in any way from any manner of quoting fees you may be expecting? For example, if there is a pricing page in the RFP, can bidders submit an alternate fee structure? If there is no pricing page in the RFP, do you have any preference for how bidders should quote fees or can bidders create their own pricing categories?

• See Section 6.1 of the RFP.

45. To what extent will the location of the bidder’s proposed location or headquarters have a bearing on any award?

• Minimal.

46. How are fees currently being billed by any incumbent(s), by category, and at what rates?

• See the following link for the process to request information under the Texas

Public Information Act.

https://www.ttuhsc.edu/administration/policies/open-records.aspx

47. What is the required degree of dedication for the call center? (Can call centers work on other contracts at the same time as this one)?

• Not specified.

48. What is the required degree of dedication for the operators? (Can operators work on other contracts at the same time as this one)?

• Performance based expectation and contract. Degree of dedication not specified.

49. What is the current average after-call work time for operators?

• See question 30.

50. Are calls allowed to be answered by an announcement while waiting for a live operator?

• Yes.

51. Which additional languages do your callers/patients speak, besides English and Spanish?

• Not specified.

52. Can you provide ratios for which languages your patients speak?

• Not available.

53. What is the current average handling time for phone calls?

• Not available.

54. What is the current average after-call work time for operators?

• See Question 30.

55. Your average call volume is listed as 3,739 calls per month, are all those calls answered by the answering service or do you have a call center that has answered some of these calls?

• All calls are answered by Contractor.

56. Can you provide any call arrival patterns (daily, weekly, monthly) for the number of calls during business hours, after business hours, on weekends, and holidays?

• Not available.

57. Are there any specific reporting requirements or key performance indicators (KPIs) that you would like us to include in our proposal?

• Not specified.

58. Are there any existing systems, software, or platforms that the answering service needs to integrate with?

Any relevant information on the preferred technology or tools would be valuable in developing a seamless solution?

• No anticipated. Technology tools not specified.

59. Does TTUHSC provide their own pagers or are they looking for the answering service to provide the pagers?

• Providers have their own pagers provided by TTUHSC.

60. What is the anticipated start date for these services?

(When will the selected vendor(s) be expected to start taking calls?)

• September 1, 2023.

61. Please confirm if this will be a single award contract or if TTUHSC will select multiple vendors and individual clinics will choose a vendor from the list with which to work.

• Anticipated single award. See Section 4.8 of the RFP.

62. We understand that the answering service must be available 24 hours per day; please clarify if the answering service’s normal hours of operation are 24 hours per day every day or whenever the clinics are closed.

• Typical hours of operation are when the clinic is closed and on the weekends / holidays or when clinic is shut down due to an emergency situation (ie., weather). Our clinics are open M-F 8am – 5pm

63. Please disclose what information is required for the daily call log.

• Not specified.

64. Please clarify the preferred format for the fee schedule. Specifically, are services to be billed under a single campus-wide account for the estimated 3739 calls per month? Or, will each clinic/department need to be billed separately for its usage?

a. If services are to be billed by the clinic, please provide the estimated usage by each clinic/department.

• Each department will have its own account number, and be billed separately.

Customer Name 12 Mth Average

Texas Tech (Family Medicine) 500

Texas Tech (Pediatrics) - Needle Stick 0

Texas Tech (Pediatrics) - Pedi 1825

Texas Tech (Pediatrics) - Hemoc 10

Texas Tech (Pediatrics) - Pedi Providers 1

Texas Tech (Internal Medicine) 600

Texas Tech (Ob & Gyn Dept) 517

Texas Tech (Psychiatry Dept) 84

Texas Tech (University/Clinic) 2

Texas Tech (Surgery) 200

65. Besides English and Spanish, which are the most prevalent languages spoken by your patients? What is the estimated volume/percentage of non-English or

Spanish calls?

• Not available.

66. Is virtual work acceptable? • Yes.

67. What are the service level requirements? Information provided, "Prompt answer, once calls are forwarded to them (Less than 5 rings)"

• Not specified.

68. What is the AHT? • Not available.

69. Is there any historical data to provide to evaluate peak periods and call arrival patterns?

• Not available.

70. Are there any quality assurance requirements? • Not specified.

71. Does the proposer need to provide a ticketing platform or will they use TX Tech Univ. systems? If so what are those systems?

• Individual Departmental invoices are to be sent to the main Accounts Payables email address.

72. Are there any other call types, first contact resolution?

Examples provided seem to be transfer services.

• Not available.

73. At the beginning of the RFP, it states that submissions should be mailed to a physical address. Then, in 3.2 and 3.3, it discusses electronic submission. Which do you prefer?

• TTUHSC prefers that all proposals be submitted using the TechBid system

(https://bids.sciquest.com/apps/Router/PublicEvent?CustomerOrg=TexasTech)

74. Do you currently use a HIPAA compliance messaging app to receive text messages? Does your current provider offer it? Do you have a preference on using the current app?

• We do not need HIPAA training documentation of vendors and their employees.

Awarded vendor will need to sign the TTUHSC Business Associate Agreement.

75. In regard to sending messages to pagers, do you utilize alpha numeric pagers?

• Yes, we utilize alpha numeric pagers

76. Can you break down how many calls you receive per day?

• Not available.

77. What is your average handle time? • Not available.

78. What is the anticipated length of each call? • Not available.