Technical Evaluation Criteria.docx

Health Information Management Support Services Technical Evaluation Criteria

1. Plan: The contract officer’s representative shall appoint a panel of five people from the Clinical Center. The panel will review the technical proposals.

2. Criteria: The following criteria will be used in judging the proposals:

TECHNICAL EVALUATION – Health Information Management Support Services Requirement

a. Response to Introduction 10 points

1. Submit a general statement of intent, illustrating knowledge of what the contract entails and the services being offered by the offeror.

2. Submit evidence of experience and qualifications of the firm in providing comparable health information management related customer service experience, coding and abstracting experience, and medical transcription services as required in accordance with these specifications.

3. List names and locations of hospital and/or firms, and list names and telephone numbers of individuals representing those hospitals and/or firms, who may be contacted as references. The information received from these references will be used to assist in the evaluation of the offeror’s proposal.

4. Describe the facilities and resources pertinent to the work to be performed under the terms of this contract (include hours of operation; shifts; a specific plan for use of computer resources, occupational training, new employee orientation, etc.)

5. Describe in detail the security policies and procedures, and provisions for safeguarding the confidentiality of recording media received and any other materials utilized during the performance of this work that include protected health information and/or personally identifiable information.

b. Personnel 20 points

1. The offeror shall provide names and telephone numbers of authorized firm representatives including those of any proposed subcontractors. In addition, the offeror shall identify the key personnel, and their scope of authority and responsibility, to be assigned to this project, and those designated for close coordination with NIH Contract Officer(s) Representative.

2. The offeror shall submit a detailed staffing plan, drawn to accommodate the volume and turnaround specifications that pertain to this contract. Include a listing of personnel, stating full- or part-time and the hours of each tour of duty, to be assigned under this contract. Indicate recognition of the importance of maintaining highly qualified personnel and the ability to provide such staff. State incentives, if any, offered to retain highly qualified personnel. Describe special testing and any occupational training given personnel. Indicate which tasks specific to this contract each staff may be performing.

3. Submit resumes indicating the qualifications and extent of experience of all technical supervisors, task liaison(s), and onsite managers/team leaders for all aspects of this contract. Indicate the qualifications of medical editors and coders and the methods used to monitor the quality of staff performance. Demonstrate experience in hospital and/or clinical research settings. Submit indication that proposed coders maintain certification from one of the American Health Information Management Association’s (AHIMA) or American Academy of Professional Coders (AAPC) certification programs.

4. Submit resumes relating to the qualifications and experience of all staff proposed to perform work related to the tasks outlined in this contract.

5. The offeror shall describe the role and responsibilities of the onsite manager(s), task liaisons and/or onsite supervisor/team leader.

c. Plan of Operation 40 points

1. The offeror shall furnish a “Plan of Operation” to include detailed implementation procedures outlining the general and specific requirements, as specified in this contract, without exception or deviation.

2. Describe in detail the security policies and procedures, and provisions for safeguarding confidentiality of patient information.

3. Indicate the methods to be used in maintaining adherence to the turnaround times and the productivity standards specified in this contract. Include a description of how issues of equipment downtime and employee absenteeism will be handled.

4. Specify the type and process of quality review for all coded and abstracted visits and transcribed/edited medical reports. Describe the overall monitoring and control of work performed under this contract including a plan for close coordination with the contractor’s onsite manager and the NIH Contract Officer’s Representative.

5. Specify the means to be taken to maintain fiscal accountability; access and reporting of medical reports, autopsy reports, pathologic reports, and letters. Include the specific method of line computation to be used in billing under terms of this contract. Include the specific method of billing to be used under terms of this contract. Cost for coding and abstracting is to be identified on a two-tiered basis (i.e. inpatients visits and vs. outpatient visits). Include the means of computing customer services hours’ of work performed and the computation for billing of these services. Customer service billable hours will be on a two-tiered basis (one for portal support and one for all other).

6. Describe the overall monitoring and control of work performed under this contract including a plan for close coordination with the contractor’s onsite manager and the NIH Project Officer(s).

d. Information Technology Resources for Dictation and Transcription 10 points

1. Provide a description of all equipment, identify by make and model and state the quantity to be utilized in the performance of work to be accomplished under terms of this contract; include maintenance provisions for all equipment owned or leased by offeror. Include a detailed statement itemizing the offeror’s equipment compatibility with Health Information Management Division and CC equipment/software. At least 50% of all equipment and software, necessary for the recording and electronic logging of dictation, transcription, network, and telecommunications, and security must be in place and operational upon submission of proposal and prior to award of a contract. For each piece of equipment identified in the proposal, the offeror must identify its capabilities to perform expected operations under the requirements of the Government’s Statement of Work, including the ability of the offeror’s personnel to be assigned under the contract to operate the equipment. Proof of ownership or lease, including serial numbers, and provision of maintenance services must be provided with each offeror’s proposal.

e. Past Performance/Prior Experience 20 points

Past Performance

Past performance will be evaluated from a business and technical standpoint to determine the relative merits of the proposal. The performance of the contractor on earlier work for the Government or the private sector will be a very significant indicator of how well the contractor can be expected to perform the required services. The information presented by the contractor together with that available from sources within the Government will provide the information for this portion of the technical evaluation.

The Offeror’s past performance will be evaluated after determination of the competitive range. Only those offerors included in the competitive range will be evaluated.

The Government will evaluate the quality of the offeror’s past performance based on information obtained from a minimum of two references provided by the offeror, as well as other relevant past performance information obtained from other sources known to the Government.

Evaluation of past performance will be a subjective assessment based on a consideration of all relevant facts and circumstances. It will not be based on absolute standards of acceptable performance. The Government is seeking to determine whether the offeror has consistently demonstrated a commitment to customer satisfaction and timely delivery of services at fair and reasonable prices.

The assessment of the offeror’s past performance will be used as a means of evaluating the relative capability of the offeror and the other competitors. Thus, an offeror with the exceptional record of past performance may receive a more favorable evaluation than another whose record is acceptable even though both may have acceptable technical proposals.

Past performance will be scored, and the Government’s conclusions about overall quality of the offeror’s past performance will be highly influential in determining the relative merits of the offeror’s proposal and in selecting the offeror whose proposal is considered most advantageous to the Government.

By past performance, the Government means the offeror’s record of conforming to specifications and to standards of good workmanship; the offeror’s record of forecasting and controlling costs; the offeror’s adherence to contract schedules; including the administrative aspects of performance; the offeror’s reputations for reasonable and cooperative behavior and commitment to customer satisfaction; and, generally, the offeror’s business-like concern for the interest of the customer.

The Government will consider the number of or severity of an offeror’s problems, the effectiveness of corrective actions taken, the offeror’s overall work record, and the age and relevance of past performance information.

The lack of a performance record may result in an unknown performance risk assessment, which will neither be used to the advantage nor disadvantage of the offeror.

Prior Experience of Contractor and/or Proposed Subcontractor(s)

1. Minimum 5 years’ experience providing dictation and transcription services; coding and abstracting services; and health information management customer support services including patient portal support.

2. Minimum 5 years’ experience with speech recognition solutions.

3. Minimum 5 years’ coding and abstracting experience with inpatient, outpatient, ambulatory surgery, and interventional radiology visits.