ESBD_File_329630_Addendum - Vendor Questions - RFP 739-SL3523125 Telepsychiatry Platform and Services.pdf

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

Telepsychiatry Platform and Services

Addendum No. 1

RFP 739-SL3523125

Addendum No. 1

Telepsychiatry Platform and Services

RESPONSE TO QUESTIONS

The following responses to participant questions are fully incorporated into RFP 739-SL3523125.

Question TTUHSC Response

1. What population will the Telepsychiatry Platform serve? Please clarify if the 200 referred patients per year are a student only population, a patient only population, or a combination of both. If a combination, what is the percentage of community patients vs.

student patients?

• Student only population.

2. If a student population is covered, are Texas Tech students included as well as TTUHSC students?

• Only Texas Tech students.

3. Does the patient population only consist of adults, or will pediatric and adolescent patients require care as well?

• Patient population will be 17 and older. They are all enrolled students at Texas Tech University.

4. If so, what are the ages ranges of the children that will need a psychiatric provider for the scope of this RFP?

• N/A. No children will be served.

5. What percentage of the total patient population is utilizing services today?

• In FY22, 1% (one percent) of unique patients were referred to Psychiatric care.

6. Are you looking to solve for care at the primary level as well as at the higher acuity level with this service?

• As noted in the RFP: Service provider will offer on call for consultation for Student Health Services primary care clinicians during normal business hours (Monday through Friday 8 a.m. -5:00 p.m. CST).

7. How many and which locations will utilize the telepsychiatry services?

• Patients will be referred from a single primary care clinic location on the Texas Tech University Lubbock general academic campus.

8. Will they be in a Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center facility and/or in the TTUHSC Psychiatry Department? If at other locations or types of facilities, please include as well.

• Patients will be in the Student Health Services clinic on the Texas Tech University Lubbock general academic campus.

9. If at a TTUHSC facility, which locations? • Patients will be in the Student Health Services clinic on the Texas Tech University Lubbock general academic campus

10. Will they be receiving care in their homes? • In most cases, patients will be in the Student Health Services clinic on the Texas Tech University Lubbock general academic campus. If a patent needs to be seen over a break between semesters, it would be helpful to offer continuity of care for Texas-based students.

11. Which EMR record is used, by location? • Cerner (Powerchart).

12. Do you utilize any telemedicine platforms today? If so, which vendors do you use at which locations?

• Our current telemedicine platform is AmWell and is embedded in our Cerner (Powerchart) EMR.

13. Please provide supported integration points your solution may have with other systems.

• Please refer to question 12.

14. Related to 5.4: What are the current ways that patients seek behavioral health care?

• Patients are referred to a Lubbock-based Psychiatry practice when the acuity of their condition is outside of the scope of primary care.

15. Related to 5.4: Can you describe the current access points to care?

• Patients are referred to a Lubbock-based Psychiatry practice when the acuity of their condition is outside of the scope of primary care.

16. Related to 5.4: Please clarify who will be coordinating the scheduling of these telepsychiatry visits?

• We employee a team of three Behavioral Health case managers who will coordinate scheduling.

17. Related to 5.4: What specific areas are you wanting integration outside of the EMR?

• If the telepsychiatry practice utilizes a separate scheduling platform, our team will need access to view the schedule for our patients. This would not require integration.

18. Related to 5.4: Where will the patients be receiving care for the 24 hour on call crisis coverage?

• From their homes.

19. Would you be open to a discovery call to determine the best solutions for your needs?

• Through the initial step in the solicitation process, discovery discussions will not be considered. There is the opportunity for further dialogue and solution refinement in subsequent steps in the evaluation process.

20. How will students pay for these services? Is there a plan to use student insurance to cover costs or will the university absorb the cost?

• The university will absorb the cost.

21. What is your desired implementation date with students?

• Ideally, we would implement in January 2024.

22. Do you have expected and/or estimated number of annual visits expected per student for the 200 students to be served?

• The number of visits would be determined by the needs of the individual patient.

23. Can you please more clearly define what you mean by telepsychiatry? Is it psychiatry only, or are you also including more traditional counseling?

• Psychiatry only.

24. Can a locum tenen’s (temporary staffing for physicians) agency bid?

• This is a public solicitation and open to all interested parties.

25. Can an agency bid on the staffing component only? • No. TTUHSC is seeking a provider of both platform and services.

26. Do you intend to make multiple awards? • A single award is anticipated, however TTUHSC reserves the right to make multiple awards if in the best interest of the institution.

27. Will awardees be allowed an opportunity to negotiate the terms of the contract prior to signing?

• See Section 7 of the RFP.

28. If awarded, should there be contract terms we are unable to accept, is there a penalty for not signing a contract? Example: monetary damages.

• See Section 7 of the RFP.

29. Our providers are considered independent contractors and not employees, can this language be modified throughout?

• See Section 7 of the RFP.

30. Our physicians are Independent Contractors and as such are not employees. Therefore, Worker’s Compensation insurance would not be applicable. Will you waive these requirements for physicians?

• See Section 7 of the RFP.

31. For the last year, can you break down the total staffing hours and spend for each position in this RFP?

• We are not currently using a telepsychiatry vendor.

32. Is there an incumbent and current contract for this service? If so, can you please provide the vendor name and current contract rate?

• We are not currently using a telepsychiatry vendor.

33. If a contract for the proposed services is in place, what areas of improvement over the existing contract would you like to see?

• We are not currently using a telepsychiatry vendor.

34. Are there penalties incurred if unable to fill any of the openings?

• TTUHSC does not anticipate a compensatory contract clause.

35. Will you allow multiple physicians to fill the need or are you requiring that one physician fulfill the need?

• We will allow multiple physicians to fulfill the need.

36. Do we need to submit MD/APN/PA candidates with our proposal?

• TTUHSC does not require candidates as a component of the RFP response.

37. Is your patient population 100% adult patients or do you also treat children and adolescents? If so, can we reflect this in the pricing?

• See Section 6.1 of the RFP.

Please provide pricing in a format that best fits the intended use by TTUHSC as described in Section 5.4.

38. May we add a temporary to permanent placement conversion fee to our pricing?

39. May we supply a rate range as opposed to firm fixed price for each position?

40. Will price adjustments be allowed for the renewal years? Can we submit a rate increase with each option year?

41. Do you want an all-inclusive rate? • See Section 6.1 of the RFP.

42. May we add pricing for Tele Advance Practice specialties?

43. Will providers need to be at one of your locations to provide services? Or will they be able to provide services from any remote location?

• No; they will be able to provide services from any remote location

44. Is scheduling within the platform required? Is equipment (non-proprietary) needed at facilities conducting the encounters?

• No; scheduling is not required. No; equipment is not required.

45. Is coverage pre-scheduled or is it by request only? If pre-scheduled, how many hours per day do you expect to schedule the telepsychiatry service? If by request ("on-demand"), what is the maximum time allowed between request and physician availability?

• While we have flexibility in this area, we currently pre-schedule and expect to schedule 7-8 hours of patient per week day. As stated in the RFP: Initial visits for non-acute patients will be available within two calendar weeks following referral. Initial visits for acute patients will be available within 3 calendar days following referral. Initial or follow up visits will be available within 3 calendar days following discharge from inpatient facility.

46. Will any of your locations need equipment? (Carts, laptops, or special cameras)

• No; equipment is not required.

47. Does the facility have the bandwidth to run video teleconferencing without latency or quality issues?

• Yes.

48. Will your IT team work with the selected vendor’s team to set up remote EMR for telehealth providers?

• Yes.

49. What are your current EMR and ePrescribing systems?

How do you provide remote access?

• Cerner (Powerchart). Remote access is managed by our TTUHSC EMR team.

50. Will the physician need an account and email address from the facility?

• Yes.

51. Does the facility offer technical assistance or have a documented set of procedures for configuring the provider’s system?

• Yes.

52. Is the physician required to provide any software (not purchased or managed by the facility)? Examples Word, Excel, etc.

• No.

53. Will training and orientation for the physician be required? If yes, who will schedule and conduct the training?

• Yes. Members of the Student Health and TTUHSC team will schedule and conduct the training.

54. Will document transfer and eSigning be required? If yes, is this capability provided through applications managed by the facility?

• Yes.

55. For 5.4 Software and Services Specifications: do we need to address every question under general technical, application development, and the information security questionnaire in the proposal?

• Yes. If an item is not applicable, please mark as such.

56. If we are submitting the proposal via TechBid, do we also need to submit paper copies via mail?

• No.

57. For the HUB subcontracting plan: if we do not plan to subcontract work to a HUB subcontractor, will we be considered non-responsive, or will our proposal be penalized?

• The HSP document is a required component of submission. The form does accommodate those that intend to self-perform.