RFI DOH21-012_4-18-22.pdf

State of Florida Department of Health

Request for Information

DOH21-012

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION REGARDING LICENSING AND REGULATORY

SOLUTIONS

I. REQUEST FOR INFORMATION

The State of Florida, Department of Health (DOH), Division of Medical Quality Assurance is requesting information regarding Licensing and Regulatory Solutions.

BACKGROUND

The Florida Department of Health (DOH), through its Division of Medical Quality Assurance (MQA), determines if health care practitioners and some facilities meet minimum licensure requirements to practice a health care profession in Florida. MQA was established under section 20.43(3)(g), Florida Statutes, to regulate health care practitioners for the preservation of the health, safety, and welfare of the public through licensing health care professionals as well as enforcement of state laws and guidelines pertaining to licensed health care professionals. MQA, in conjunction with 22 boards and four councils, regulates over 200 license types in more than 40 health care professions and seven types of facilities. At the end of FY 2020-21, MQA licensed, registered, or certified 1,417,072 health care practitioners, and 24,151 facilities and establishments.

During this period MQA issued 120,996 new licenses and renewed 534,460 licenses.

MQA's three key business processes are licensure, enforcement, and information. MQA uses the Licensing & Enforcement Information Database System (LEIDS), a Versa Regulation solution, to carry out licensure and enforcement business functions.

The DOH is seeking information on licensing and regulation solutions to replace the existing system currently in use at the DOH and four other State of Florida agencies who perform similar regulatory functions. Information related to licensing and enforcement would include the following business processes:

• Application processing

• Mobile inspections

• License renewal

• License updates

• Examination Scores

• Continuing education

• Enforcement activities including complaint intake, investigations, case management, and legal activities

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 a commodity or contractual services, determining what solicitation process to use for a particular need, or researching general, special, and/or technical specifications for a solicitation.

• Payment tracking and audit functions

• Reporting

• Configurable workflow solution

• Interfaces to auxiliary systems such as document management, license look-up, and MQA’s artificial intelligence solution (chat bot)

• Batch and webservice exchanges of information with other agencies

• Cyber security management

II. GOALS

The DOH is seeking information to meet the following goals:

1. Support the licensing and maintenance of health care professions regulated under the MQA.

2. Be configurable by DOH staff and easily deployed when changes are required.

3. User Interface (UI) for online systems should be fully compatible with mobile devices, at the minimum Apple and Android, and developed in technology that allows MQA developers the ability to maintain (example C# .NET).

4. Flexible cost-effective hosting options including public cloud options.

5. Modern and secure web application programming interface service layer for interacting with the back-end applications.

6. Robust security at all levels.

7. Workflow solution that streamlines business processes by multiple groups.

8. Extendable source code designed for future growth that allows MQA technical staff to build extension and enhancements without impairing existing system functions.

9. Seamless conversion of data from existing system to new system.

10. Secure cloud-based solution that is FedRAMP compliant.

11. Automate business processes and communication to reduce application processing times and manual review.

III. OBJECTIVES

The intent of this request for information (RFI) is to gather information on licensing and regulation systems that are robust, scalable, secure, flexible, and efficient in both ease of use and maintenance costs. This request has two (2) objectives. Part One is a list of features needed to maintain or improve our existing processes. Part Two is an opportunity to provide relevant, forward-looking business solutions that address current or emerging business processes or technology not already addressed in Part One.

a. Part One Please complete Appendix A of this document. MQA has compiled a list of high-level requirements along functional areas including applications, license maintenance, cash processing, inspections, enforcement, reporting, and infrastructure and configuration.

The requirements are found in Appendix A of this document. Please indicate how the proposed solution addresses these features by responding with ‘Included in solution’, ‘Not included in solution’, ‘Requires customization or modification to solution’.

b. Part Two Provide information on all the following topics. Include a description of the technology or approach, anticipated outcomes, and examples.

• Describe the steps and timeline of a typical implementation

• Describe licensing options for software

• Regulation software as a service

• Over-lay software for online portal

• Pricing models for typical design, implementation, and operation of solutions

• Efficient mobile inspections

• Case management as part of enforcement activities

• Integration with other state-wide portals already planned or in use

• Other topics and assets of your solution not included above

V. PROCESS

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

MQA 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 answers to an agency’s Request for Information are not prohibited from responding to any related subsequent solicitation.

VI. RESPONSE FORMAT

The intent of this RFI is to identify potential vendors that can fulfill the functional requirements listed in section IV. Potential vendors should address all of the needs listed above in a statement of work with at least the following sections at a minimum:

a. Introduction

b. Background

c. Goals

d. Objectives

e. Deliverables (including both Part One and Part Two)

f. Technical details

g. Personnel assigned and contact information (company name, phone, email)

h. Proposed budget/cost

VII. RESPONSE DATE

Responses should address each RFI request/questions point by point. Please provide the requested information no later than 2:30, May, 05,2022 . Response can be sent via e-mail to: bill.zimmerman@flhealth.gov

VIII. QUESTIONS

Please submit all questions concerning the RFI in writing via electronic mail.

Bill.Zimmerman@flhealth.gov

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 Chapter 119, Florida Statutes, 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, DOH, or MQA will not be responsible for any vendor related costs associated with responding to this request.

mailto:bill.zimmerman@flhealth.gov mailto:Bill.Zimmerman@flhealth.gov

Appendix A – Part One – High-level Requirements

Below are lists of high-level requirements along the functional areas of application processing, license maintenance, cash processing, inspections, enforcement, reporting, system management, and application management.

Please indicate how the solution addresses these features by responding with ‘Included in solution’, ‘Not included in solution’, ‘Requires customization or modification to solution’.

The following ‘Type’ definitions will assist in clarifying where a requirement is relevant.

Administrative Tool - Licensing and enforcement system used by MQA staff to conduct business such as application processing and complaint investigations. System is accessed through a secure login and contains personal identifying information (PII) and personal health information (PHI) that must be protected and secured.

Self-Service – Online portal for applicants, licensees, and facilities to access securely to complete business with MQA such as applying for a license, renewing a license, and paying fees.

Public – Website interface that is available to the public that does not require a user to log into a secure location, such as, but not limited to, licensure verification or certification information.

Device – Hardware used by MQA field staff to conduct facility inspections. Inspectors log in to the machine and the software to conduct in person inspections. Device has mobile data capability and touchscreen features.

Application Management – Ability to adjust settings on the administrative side of the software to accommodate key business processes of licensing and enforcement of practitioners.

System Management – Infrastructure, hardware, services, set-ups, and processes that allow the licensing software and affiliated systems to reliably function with high availability.

Note: The ‘Status’ column is populated with ‘Maintains’ meaning the requirement already exists and ‘Enhancement’ meaning the requirement is not part of the current solution.

Type

High-level Requirement

Status

Please respond with ‘Included in solution’, ‘Not included in solution’, ‘Requires customization or modification to solution’

Response Applications

Administrative Tool

Directly integrates with the existing MQA imaging system Maintains

Administrative Tool

Track all application and licensure activities Maintains

Administrative Tool

Centrally locate and protect licensee personal data Maintains

Administrative Tool

Provide the ability to process applications and assist with the qualification of applicants

Maintains

Administrative Tool Ability to issue license documents Maintains solution’, ‘Not included in solution’, ‘Requires customization or modification to solution’

Response Administrative

Tool Maintain history of license information Maintains

Administrative Tool

Ability to produce data in response to requests for public information

Tool

Provide ability to track requirements met/not met for licensees

Ability to maintain history of pending applications Maintains

Administrative Tool

Ability to track all examination activities Maintains

Administrative Tool

Ability to set up and schedule an examination Maintains

Administrative Tool

Ability to update examination results Maintains

Provide functionality to support the planning, coordinating, scheduling, scoring, and reporting around examinations administered by DOH

Utilize automated workflow to reduce processing time through auto-assignment, dashboard management, and integration with the document management system

Ability for workflow component to be flexible enough to assist individual offices with how they process multiple applications and professions

Enhancement

Ability to pull data from other systems into the database using web services or overnight processes so the information is ready when the application is processed

Ability to configure and send letters by email based on defined set of business rules

Ability to track and view changes to key demographic data such as SSN and Date of Birth

Ability to notify through workflow that documents for a licensee or applicant have been added to the document management system solution’, ‘Not included in solution’, ‘Requires customization or modification to solution’

Response

Ability to automate routine maintenance and clean-up of transactions based on a defined set of business rules

Ability to seamlessly incorporate faxes and associate with correct file in the system

Provide ability to send email or text notifications about applications and license renewal from the licensing system

Self-Service

Provide ability for licensees to be able to submit an information update and have it automatically applied to all related licenses where rules allow

Provide the ability for a licensee to pay an application fee online and update the system in real time (including the occasional additional fees added after submission)

Allow users to submit applications only when the information provided meets the eligibility requirements

Provide ability for applicants to intuitively track the status of their application

Public Provide ability for users to view license information Maintains

Ability for users to upload documentation that is then transferred to the document management system

Provide ability for payment of multiple applications (Current solution provides schools with coupon code to give to students to be used for payment; schools will pay for applications where the code was entered)

Self-Service Ability to prevent application submission without a payment Enhancement solution’, ‘Not included in solution’, ‘Requires customization or

Provide basic data validation input filters for greater data integrity and reduced data entry errors online.

Examples include email addresses, dates, ZIP codes, and SSN based on defined business rules

Ability for data received online to be as concise as possible to improve the efficiency of the application review process (data rules in the backend system require more flexibility)

Combine multiple processes into the renewal for a seamless experience for the user (Examples includes change license status and then renew in one step or renewing a delinquent, inactive license to Clear, active status)

Provide self-service options to the individual practitioner, based on their license status and system qualifications Example: duplicate license request, license verification request, address change, or name change

Ability to provide more descriptive error messages to customer so they can better address how to resolve and continue with application

License Renewals

Integrate, via webservice, the DOH Continuing Education Tracking System before approving a renewal

Tool Track all renewal activities Maintains

Administrative Tool

Maintain history of pending renewals Maintains

Administrative Tool

Ability to generate renewed license certificate via data transfer to printing vendor

Ability for a licensee to pay a renewal fee online and update the system in real time solution’, ‘Not included in solution’, ‘Requires customization or modification to solution’

Self-Service Allow users to apply for renewal Maintains

Provide ability for users to connect to continuing education information maintained by a separate vendor

Ability to generate a confirmation of renewal submission for the licensee

Self-Service Ability to pay for renewal in bulk Maintains

Ability to link to the DOH’s survey tool and complete workforce surveys during renewal (survey tool is currently a separate application)

Self-Service Ability to renew a license from a mobile device Enhancement

Ability for additional authentication methods to verify identity to include control number from current license (certificate number in Licensing System), previous name or address

Licensure Maintenance

Tool Tracks all licensure activities Maintains

Administrative Tool

Centrally locates and protect licensee personal data Maintains

Administrative Tool

Ability to issue duplicate license documents via data transfer to printing vendor

Maintain history of license information Maintains

Administrative Tool

Ability to produce data in response to requests for public information

Tool Ability to print batch letters Maintains

Administrative Tool

Ability to track all contact information with the licensee Maintains

Administrative Tool

Ability to place indicators/alerts on licenses for easy viewing Maintains

Administrative Tool Provide for breadcrumb navigation Maintains

Administrative Tool

Protect data and information to MQA and DOH standards, as specified in Appendix X solution’, ‘Not included in solution’, ‘Requires customization or modification to solution’

Response Administrative

Tool Built-in audit ability Maintains

Administrative Tool

Ability to track continuing education providers, courses and credits earned by licensees

Individual and Organization Name fields lengths are long enough to accommodate existing data

Ability to configure fields, such as ‘notes’ and ‘degrees’ with spell check

Ability to transfer letters to the with minimal steps/clicks

Ability to send and receive information to an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) and Artificial Intelligence Virtual Assistant (chat bot)

Ability to send automated reminders and information via text/SMS to licensees and applicants

Provide for ability for staff to email system generated correspondence directly from the screen they are using

Ability to send email and text notifications about applications and license renewal from the licensing system

Ability to generate an automatic email notifying licensee that license has been printed and will arrive by mail (triggered by the certificate date)

Ability to configure and send letters by email based on defined set of business rules (Examples include renewal notice and license has been printed)

Provide for improved notes functionality Enhancement solution’, ‘Not included in solution’, ‘Requires customization or

Address fields should be intuitive to fill in (current solution has separate field for ‘street number’ from ‘address line 1’ this causes significant address clean-up and results in errors with mail-outs)

Public Provide ability for users to view license information Maintains

Public

Allow consumers to access a licensee’s professional standards violations such as final orders and administrative complaints

Ability for users to upload documentation outside of a specific application that is then transferred to the document management system

Ability for a licensee to have limited visibility of their documents such as final orders and discipline narratives that are stored in the

Ability for consumers to search for license and enforcement actions of health care practitioners and facilities

Self-Service Ability to sign into self-service system securely Maintains

Self-Service Ability for self-service users to sign under penalty of perjury Maintains

Self-Service Provide for self-service password retrieval and resets Maintains

Ability to track and view continuing education credit and summary totals online for certain professions

Cash

Tool Ability to cashier funds Maintains

Administrative Tool Maintain cash deposit history Maintains

Tool Ability to calculate all relevant fees Maintains

Protect data and information in accordance with DOH policies and procedures

Tool Built-in audit capability Maintains solution’, ‘Not included in solution’, ‘Requires customization or modification to solution’

Response

Administrative Tool

Track payment methods separately (Cash, Check, Credit card etc.)

Ability to identify account codes (Each fee type is associated with an object code, a six-digit number identifying a type of expenditure, that is uploaded in the State accounting system)

Ability to track payment to individual beneficiary Maintains

Ability to move or cancel an assigned payment Maintains

Ability to record unassigned payments Maintains

Ability to assign unique identifier for each receipt Maintains

Ability to flag a dishonored cash item (Cash meaning cash, check, or credit card)

Ability to do an ‘administrative add’ Includes payments credited in other DOH sections that should be applied to MQA licensing

Refund of miscellaneous sales as a credit back to the licensee Maintains

Ability to flag refunds in system so that the money cannot be used for other purposes until money is physically refunded

Ability to track movement of receipt and account codes Maintains

Tool Ability to search for receipts Maintains

Self-Service Ability to generate and update invoices Maintains

Provide ability to pay for multiple applications (Current solution provides schools with coupon code to give to students to be used for payment and school would pay for applications where the code was entered) solution’, ‘Not included in solution’, ‘Requires customization or

Ability to pay for more than one service on a single payment (shopping cart functionality)

Ability to link to Florida state agencies’ third-party payment

Ability to set a miscellaneous payment for fees that should have been calculated on the application, but was not because various factors

Self-Service Ability to make partial payments Enhancement

Inspections

Device

Ability for all inspections to be performed electronically through a mobile device, including the ability to sync all data if performed offline

Ability to update real-time from the mobile devices from the field (Existing solution is tied to when the inspector can sync from the mobile inspection solution to the licensing application. Currently use Dell 5289 Tablet/laptop.

Device was selected for broadband capability and touch screen features)

Provide basic data validation input filters on the mobile device to provide for greater data integrity and reduced data entry errors

Allow multiple inspectors to work on the same inspection at the same time in a team environment for specialty inspections

Ability to maintain a stable internet connection (Currently use an air card solution)

Ability to track all inspection activities and record inspection findings

Ability to sort the inspection workload on demand through mobile devices connected to the system in real-time solution’, ‘Not included in solution’, ‘Requires customization or modification to solution’

Response

Administrative Tool

Increase the notes capability.

Currently capped at a character limit

Provide automated reminders to follow-up on inspections and other outstanding items

Ability to have multiple inspectors to be assigned to the same inspection, for specialty inspections

Ability for licensee to view inspections online through secure Self-Service account

Enforcement and Compliance

Tool

Provide reports identifying costs associated with enforcement

Ability to record complaints and assist with conducting investigations

Monitor compliance and voluntary/disciplinary actions Maintains

Ability to record complaint information, monitor enforcement and disciplinary cases, and initiate disciplinary action

Provide the ability to process petitions and appeals Maintains

Administrative Tool

Provide ability to enforce citation and penalty / probations Maintains

Maintain investigation information for reporting and post-investigation actions

Tool Provide enforcement reports Maintains

Administrative Tool

Provide the ability to create enforcement letters Maintains

Provide ability to review enforcement information Maintains solution’, ‘Not included in solution’, ‘Requires customization or

Update enforcement complaints with data including discipline, activities, status and DOH filing information, ‘in mass’ using a list (format allows the data entry staff to update a defined set of data fields without having to go into each case enter the data)

Provide letter/document template capability using current technology

Provide the ability to trend complaints Enhancement

Detailed timekeeping functionality to record internal and external effort applied to specific licensing and enforcement activity

Tool Mass status complaint entry Enhancement

Administrative Tool

Ability to display the actual value on the screen instead of codes Enhancement

Administrative Tool

Ability to pull a complete summary of the case in a format that is readable and not full of codes

Ability to update LEIDS and the DOH’s document management system when changes are made in the other system. This could be status, activities, or changes to a document

Ability to integrate with a case management system for investigations that require legal action

Ability to seamlessly relate multiple cases without accessing each individual complaint

Ability to improve complaint visibility and functionality, to reduce multiple screens for a complete case history

Ability to navigate to a payment history screen (from the enforcement screen) to allocate payment to specific disciplinary action(s)

Public Ability to connect to the separate complaint portal application Enhancement solution’, ‘Not included in solution’, ‘Requires customization or

Ability to receive complaints online with supporting document upload capability

Self-Service Provide ability for licensee to view compliance status Enhancement

Self-Service Provide ability for licensee to pay compliance fines and fees online Enhancement

Ability to pay for Unlicensed Activity or Non-disciplinary citation online. (ULA has case number only, NDC has a license number)

Reporting

Report Development

Ability to use crosstabs for displaying summarized data in a report

Development

Ability to include sub-reports as part of the report

Ability to maintain a replicated environment for reporting Maintains

Report Development

Ability to communicate with multiple database types Maintains

Report Development

Ability to have real-time database access Maintains

Report Development

Ability to build on demand and batch reports as some reports are for a moment in time

Ability to pull back more than one data source or query for each report

Ability to include image and/or signature object into the report for the viewer

Ability for the report to display data inputs Maintains

Report Development

Ability to use APIs to complete data validation (dates, addresses)

Development Ability to use data analytics Enhancement

Ability to build reports with data visualization Enhancement

Ability to have report audit functions/capabilities to fully document any changes in the solution’, ‘Not included in solution’, ‘Requires customization or

Report Use

Ability to have the user interface successfully call the back-end reporting system and the connection is stable

Ability to assign security roles to reports (functional authorization for both updating the database and accessing the report)

Report Use Reporting within the licensing tool Maintains

Report Use Ability to import and export data Enhancement

Ability to export report in all data types (csv, pipe-delimited, text, etc.) from the report viewer

Report Use Ability to track report analytics (e.g. usage statistics) Enhancement

Public Ability for public users to build reports on demand Enhancement

Reporting queue visible to all users and set-up queue for a class of reports

Ability for staff to schedule report at a particular time and delivered to the user

Report Use Built in progress bar for the user to know the report is running Enhancement

Public Voice access capabilities to provide data Enhancement

Report Development

Ability for a report to update the contact history that the report was run

Application and System Management Application

Management Ability to sign into Self-Service system securely Maintains

Management

Allows staff to quickly make modifications to system

Application structure and flow needs to be configurable, modular, and easily modified to address changes in statutes and rules during and post initial implementation

Maintain solution’, ‘Not included in solution’, ‘Requires customization or

Ability to configure workflows that include activities, notifications and users from multiple offices, divisions, and departments/agencies

Ability to control versions of configuration Enhancement

Ability to propagate changes across environments Enhancement

Self-service transactions – Ability to configure a pathway prompting the user to answer questions to select appropriate application type (the user answers questions developed to narrow down available license applications based on their responses)

Allow for configuration data cloning/promotion process to move changes between environments safely, consistently with options to rollback changes if necessary

Provides Role Based Access Control for all system security Enhancement

Allow access to applications using single sign-on for internal users Enhancement

Ability to use Azure Active Directory integration for single sign-On

Realtime up-time monitors and notifications to system maintenance staff and users

System

System Management maintained by the MQA Application Development staff

Ability to provide a permanent test environment that is separate from the production environment (comparable to the production environment to ensure realistic testing) solution’, ‘Not included in solution’, ‘Requires customization or

Ability to meet the State of Florida Cyber Security standards as outlined in Rule 60GG-2, and found at 60GG-2 : Information Technology Standards - Florida Administrative Rules, Law, Code, Register - FAC, FAR, eRulemaking (flrules.org)

Ability to dynamically apply changes while maintaining high availability

Provides audit capability and functions - tracebacks, point in time and reporting

Self-service transactions - provide either a mobile solution OR a responsive design so that the online website is user friendly on a mobile device

The system should be cloud agnostic Enhancement

Allow for integrations to third-party solutions using industry standard APIs to send and receive data from other systems

Provides a modern, robust, and secure web-api service layer providing the same business rules and functions of the licensing

Provides for session management layer that prevents user session interruption when doing system maintenance

User Interface should be developed in a format that can be modified for DOH branding

Ability to handle error messaging and instrumentation on all systems

Ability to support integration with a single identity management provider solution’, ‘Not included in solution’, ‘Requires customization or

Ability to support federated identity management with connections to with multiple identity management providers

Ability to apply configuration management:

1. Software updates

2. System configuration updates done (real-time or batch)

3. Application version updates

Solution has the ability to allow different entities to create and manage its own licenses