Soldiers Homes EMR RFR_.docx

Request for Responses for the

Soldiers’ Homes

Electronic Medical Record (EMR) System

Issued by:

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts Executive Office of Health and Human Services on Behalf of the Department of Veterans’ Services’ Chelsea Soldiers’ Home and the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home

Date: November 2, 2021

Document Number: 22EHSKAEMRSYSTEM

COMMBUYS Bid Number: BD-22-1039-EHS01-EHS02-65930

RFR: For a Third-Generation Pharmacy On-Line Processing System (POPS) 50 Released: MONTH 2008

Contents

1. Introduction/Background Objective The Commonwealth of Massachusetts Executive Office of Health and Human Services (EOHHS) on behalf of on behalf of the Department of Veterans’ Services’ (DVS) Chelsea Soldiers’ Home and the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home is soliciting competitive responses for an integrated solution inclusive of Electronic Medical Record (EMR) System that will address the core clinical and administrative functions for all facilities. The solution will support the management of client eligibility determination, admission/enrollment, clinical care, regulatory documentation, and reimbursement for provided services. The envisioned EMR System shall be able to serve EOHHS/Soldiers’ Homes and connect with the network of vendor community providers providing continuum of care to Commonwealth clients/patients.

This integrated solution will accomplish the following:

1) improve clinical care and patient access, safety;

2) develop an interoperable, cloud-based, secure, flexible infrastructure;

3) enhance billing and fiscal management;

4) increase efficiencies in workflows; and

5) support the alignment of Commonwealth-operated and funded services with the EOHHS/Soldiers’ Homes systems.

The objective of the new EMR System is to provide a single client record across all clinical settings, and to share the information as appropriate. While the EMR System will allow each Soldiers’ Home to operate as an independent entity, the envisioned solution will be a shared EMR System that also allows each Soldiers’ Home or user agency to make configurations to meet all applicable state and federal regulations.

The EMR System will be a full replacement of existing electronic records systems at the Soldiers’ Homes as well as a replacement for the largely paper-based medical records system and other systems associated with patient care and billing.

The EMR System must meet the Requirements as detailed in this RFR. The Functional Requirements for the Bidders’ proposed system must include an enterprise medical record number, order management with external contractually based partner organizations and clinical documentation with rules and alerts for sub-acute, skilled nursing and long-term care (LTC), and the integration with in-house pharmacy services. The EMR System must have flexible capabilities to expand as the need for additional services arise, must align with best practices in security standards as outlined by the Executive Office of Technology Services & Security (EOTSS) architecture Requirements and the Secretariat Application Reference Manual (SARM), version 3.3 as detailed in Appendix A of this RFR.

In addition to the EMR System, EOHHS/Soldiers’ Homes is seeking maintenance and support services for the ongoing operation of the system, as further described in this RFR. It is essential that all components of the procurement are purchased together from one vendor to ensure all functionalities of the EMR solution are compatible, timely developed, and well suited to the needs and environment of EOHHS/Soldiers’ Homes. It is anticipated that an initial implementation contract resulting from this RFR will be for five (5) years, with the option to renew for an additional ten (10) years in any increments as determined by the Commonwealth. EOHHS/Soldiers’ Homes will be the contracting entity for the solution and related services.

General Information EOHHS is the largest secretariat in Massachusetts, and is responsible for the Medicaid program, child welfare, public health, mental health, disabilities, veterans' affairs, and elder affairs. In total, EOHHS oversees 16 state agencies.

The mission of DVS is to advocate on behalf of all the Commonwealth’s veterans and provide them with quality support services and to direct an emergency financial assistance program for those veterans and their dependents who are in need.

The Soldiers’ Home in Chelsea was established in 1882 and provides sub-acute, skilled and long-term care, and residential programs. A replacement facility is projected for completion in the Fall of 2022. The Soldiers’ Home in Holyoke was established in 1952 and offers skilled and long-term care programs. A replacement facility design and funding has been approved with construction projected to be completed in approximately five (5) years.

0. Introduction: General Soldiers’ Homes’ Environment Overview DVS operates two long-term care (LTC) facilities and one assisted living facility/domiciliary (DOM) on the Chelsea campus. On the Chelsea campus will be the newly constructed 154-bed long term care and 305-bed domiciliary facilities. On the Holyoke campus is the 128-bed long term care facility which will be increasing to 234-beds upon the completion of the planned construction project. The Soldiers’ Homes are funded via Massachusetts State Operating Budget, Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) per-diem, Medicare/private insurance, and by private pay of daily care charges by the residents (veterans).

The LTC facilities are fully accredited by the Joint Commission and the VA. In addition, the Soldiers’ Home in Chelsea is certified by Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Both offer a full standard array and service mix across the skilled and custodial spectrum on long-term care. Each provides dementia related care and hospice, and Chelsea offers post-acute services. It is anticipated that the Holyoke campus will become CMS certified and offer post-acute services in the future.

The services provided to veterans at both LTCs are augmented through vendor contracts for laboratory and radiology/imaging services. Pharmacy services are provided on-site through the Department of Public Health, State Office Pharmacy Services (SOPS) Pharmacy that provides an onsite pharmacist and a dispensing pharmacy at each location. Onsite physical and occupational therapy and speech-language pathology are also provided as are a full complement of ancillary services including, but not limited to: dental, optometry, audiology, podiatry, wound care, psycho/social services, etc. In addition, both homes have on site physician and advanced practice clinician services.

The DOM on the Chelsea campus provides veterans with structured and supported independent living, providing room and board, social services, clinical oversight, recreational services, and community events. The EMR System functionality for the domiciliary is comparable to an assisted living facility model.

In addition to the LTC and assisted living services, the Soldiers’ Homes partner with a number of outside organizations to strengthen their on-site service offerings. These vendors and services vary by location. These partners provide everything from x-ray and ultrasound services to hospice care, physical therapy, pharmacy services, and telemedicine.

The Soldiers’ Homes partner with off-site community organizations for emergency services and specialty services (VA hospitals, Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs), major private teaching hospitals and other area emergency rooms).

The current staffing for Chelsea and Holyoke includes approximately 400 users for the envisioned EMR System.

Definitions The following terms and acronyms are used throughout the RFR and shall have the meaning stated in this section, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

Bidder: An entity that submits a Response to this RFR.

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS): The agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that is responsible for oversight of the federal Medicare and the state Medicaid programs.

Change Order or Change Request: A written amendment to the SOW, directing the Bidder to change the contract price, requirements, or project schedule. Such changes must be within the scope of the SOW and this RFR.

COMMBUYS: The Commonwealth of Massachusetts' sole online procurement record site.

Commonwealth Data: All data used or owned by EOHHS, DVS, the Soldiers’ Homes, or the Commonwealth to which the Bidder gains access through a contract resulting from this RFR.

Contractor or Selected Bidder or Vendor: Bidder who is selected and executes a contract or agreement with the EOHHS under this RFR.

Deliverable: Any work product that the Selected Bidder delivers for the purposes of fulfilling its contractual obligations.

Disaster: A malfunctioning of a critical component without which the system is unavailable to provide the function and features required by this RFR.

Disaster Recovery: The procedures required to ensure continued business operations through adequate alternative facilities, equipment, back-up files, and documentation in the event that a Disaster is declared.

Downtime: Any period of time where Soldiers’ Homes’ users cannot access any portion of the EMR System.

Electronic Medical Record (EMR) System or EMR System: The system of records and interconnected functionality that is an electronic version of a patient’s medical history.

Executive Office of Health and Human Services or EOHHS: A secretariat-level executive agency under the Governor of Massachusetts. EOHHS oversees 16 constituent agencies, in addition to the Soldiers’ Homes and the MassHealth program.

EOHHS IT: EOHHS’ Information Technology Unit that provides a range of centralized IT services for EOHHS, DVS and the Soldiers’ Homes.

Executive Office of Technology and Security Services or EOTSS: Formerly the Massachusetts Office of Information Technology, EOTSS provides a range of centralized IT services; oversees IT policies, standards, and architecture; and promotes cross-agency collaboration and adoption of shared services.

e-Prescribing (Electronic prescribing): The transmission of prescription or prescription-related information through electronic media.

Event: In claim adjudication, the occurrence of a Drug Utilization Review (DUR), coordination of benefit, policy, or other MassHealth-defined condition that conflicts with information derived from the submitted transaction or from clinical practice.

Full-Time Equivalent (FTE): An individual who works forty hours per week or individuals who work in aggregate forty hours per week.

Key Personnel: Personnel directly responsible for management of the contract; or those personnel whose professional/technical skills are determined to be essential to the successful implementation of the contract.

MassHealth: The medical assistance or benefit program administered by EOHHS pursuant to M.G.L. c.118E and Title XIX of the Social Security Act (42 USC 1396) and other applicable laws and waivers to furnish and pay for medical services for eligible individuals.

Massachusetts Management Accounting and Reporting System (MMARS): The system used by the Massachusetts Office of the Comptroller through which payments to Contractors, certain members, and providers are made.

Meaningful Use: Meaningful Use is the set of standards defined by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Incentive Programs that governs the use of electronic health records and allows eligible providers and hospitals to earn incentive payments by meeting specific criteria.

Patient/Client: The individual receiving services or care.

Project Manager(s): Individuals identified and designated as Project Managers who shall perform project management on behalf of EOHHS/DVS/Soldiers’ Homes and Selected Bidder under the contract.

Provider: A provider that furnishes medical services.

Request for Responses or RFR or Bid: This RFR, including the procurement specification and referenced documents. All solicitations (e.g., RFRs, Requests for Quotes (RFQs), etc.) are referred to as Bids in the COMMBUYS system.

Requirements: The functional, technical, and business requirements for the procured EMR System.

Response: Any information submitted by the Bidder in response to the Requirements outlined in this RFR, including any clarifying information provided by the Bidder if requested by Soldiers’ Home. The terms Proposal and Quote are used interchangeably with Response.

Security: Refers to the processes, methodologies, and means which are designed and implemented to protect information systems and information - including print, electronic, or any other form of confidential, private and sensitive information or data - from unauthorized access, use, misuse, disclosure, destruction, modification or disruption, which includes but is not limited to the ability to authenticate and authorize users to provide secure access to the system in a traceable (auditable) manner.

Services: The activities engaged in by Bidder for the purpose of fulfilling its obligations under the terms of this RFR, which may or may not result in the creation of a Deliverable.

Soldiers’ Homes: Refers collectively to Chelsea Soldiers’ Home and Holyoke Soldiers’ Home.

Statement of Work (SOW): A contract resulting from this procurement governing the implementation, licensing and related maintenance and support services of an EMR System for the Soldiers’ Homes. A model SOW is attached hereto as Attachment F.

Task: A material activity engaged in by a Vendor for the purpose of fulfilling its obligations to the Soldiers’ Homes under the terms of this RFR, which may or may not result in the creation of a Deliverable.

Overview of Scope of Work Current Technical Environment Overview – By Location Currently, the Soldiers’ Homes use separate legacy systems to record demographics, admissions, Minimum Data Set (MDS), and billing, which will be replaced by the single EMR System. In addition, the current technology infrastructure includes a portfolio of ancillary systems, comprised of more than 25 medical device products.

Soldiers’ Home Chelsea Chelsea currently uses a legacy system hosted at the Massachusetts Information Technology Center (MITC) in Chelsea, MA. The current legacy system has been in Chelsea for approximately fifteen (15) years but has never been used as a true EMR system. Instead, the system is used to manage patient admission, dietary care plans, billing (no current Medicare A/D or private insurance), and the onsite bank. Patient information is stored in paper charts, and by and large, the care plans, medical records, and reporting are maintained outside of the legacy system, primarily on paper.

This procurement aims to replace the current installation of the existing EMR system in Chelsea, and integrate with disparate systems, both financial and clinical. Chelsea currently lacks a unified technical infrastructure to link its EMR with numerous clinical-related systems such as imaging, glucometers, and patient bracelet tracking. In addition to the EMR System linking with the clinical-related systems, the EMR System should also connect with state finance and accounting software, such as MMARs and state banking services. Other ancillary systems will remain in place and need to be integrated where possible with the new EMR System.

Connectivity to this system is managed using a Citrix identity management layer. This is a cumbersome model, and the Chelsea is seeking a more reliable and modern approach to identity management and administrative controls.

Soldiers’ Home Holyoke Holyoke’s Soldiers’ Home is also characterized by a mix of paper and electronic records across several systems. Holyoke currently uses a legacy system hosted onsite. The system is used to manage the admission process, census tracking, billing, and MDS reporting. The care plans, dietary care plans, and complete medical records are managed outside of the legacy system.

The Holyoke system offers limited functionality and is based on a legacy user interface model. The legacy system offers a minimum of utility and the clinical team is currently dependent on paper files and handwritten orders. Holyoke will similarly benefit from an improved EMR System supporting integration with clinical and financial systems.

Functional Requirements - Attachment A In consideration of the legacy systems as described above, the detailed Functional Requirements needed by the EOHHS/Soldiers’ Homes are set forth in Attachment A. These Requirements must be addressed in the Response. The Bidder will be asked to indicate their ability to meet each requirement and a comments field will be available to clarify that response, if required or necessary, to explain how the proposed solution meets the specific need. The Appendices of the RFR provide more information and materials related to the Functional Requirements. Additional instructions can be found in the “IntroKey” worksheet contained in Attachment A.

Specific instructions for the format of the responses are provided in Attachment A in the “IntroKey” tab. The Bidder will use this spreadsheet with multiple tabs, found in Attachment A, to respond to each requirement.

Section Overview for Attachment A - Functional Requirements The Functional Requirements are separated into a table of contents, information key (IntroKey), and 16 Requirements sections that are organized into logical functional areas:

· Section A: User Interface

· Section B: Patient Information Management

· Section C: Shared Care

· Section D: Assessments

· Section E: Clinical Documentation

· Section F: 42CFR

· Section G: Order Management

· Section H: Medication Administration and Management

· Section I: Infection Control

· Section J: Quality Assurance

· Section K: Reports

· Section L: Patient Portal

· Section M: Assisted Living Facility

· Section N: Ancillary Services

· Section O: Inventory Management

· Section P: Billing Bidders responding to this RFR must support the functionality needed by both Soldiers’ Homes and therefore must review and provide answers for each of the 16 sections (A-P) of Requirements in their Functional Requirements Response.

Technical Requirements - Attachment B In consideration of the legacy systems as described above, the detailed Technical Requirements needed by the EOHHS/Soldiers’ Homes are located in Attachment B. The functionality outlined in this section includes, but is not limited to, security, system administration access, account creation, access control, hosting, integration, etc. These Requirements must be addressed in the Response. The Appendices of this RFR provide more information and materials related to the Requirements.

Section Overview for Attachment B The Requirements in Attachment B are separated into a table of contents (TOC), information key (IntroKey), and two Requirements sections:

· Section A: Technical Requirements

· Section B: Performance Standards Section A – Technical Requirements This section of the document describes the Technical Requirements needed to satisfy the core business and operational processes for a new EMR System. The Bidder shall propose a solution that will address the Requirements laid out within this section.

Several of the listed Requirements are based on processes currently in place. Bidders are encouraged to describe and suggest their own solutions or approaches if they provide an equivalent or more efficient way of satisfying the outlined business needs.

Bidders should review the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Executive Office of Health and Human Services Chief Technology Office’s Secretariat Application Reference Manual (SARM) – as detailed in Appendix A of this RFR. The SARM was created to provide guidance on standards, technology, and tools to be used for EOHHS IT projects.

A1 Security The Bidder may be required to use Commonwealth Data and IT resources in connection with its work on the Project.

The Bidder may be required to use Commonwealth personal data under MGL ch. 66A and/or personal information under MGL ch. 93H, or to work on or with information technology systems that contain such data to fulfill part of its specified tasks and shall be expected to comply with the obligations set forth in the Data Management and Confidentiality Agreement (DMCA) attached to the Attachment F, Model Statement of Work, as Exhibit B. For purposes of this work effort, electronic personal data and personal information includes data provided by EOHHS/Soldiers’ Homes to the Bidder, which may physically reside at a location owned and/or controlled by the Commonwealth or EOHHS or the Bidder.

Care must be taken to safeguard confidential and/or sensitive information that includes Personally Identifiable Information (PII) and Protected Health Information (PHI). Social security numbers and medical records are some of such confidential or restricted personal information. The Bidder must ensure that confidential data is appropriately protected at all times. Bidders must review the EOTSS Security Guidance.

The purpose of auditing is to ensure that an application is compliant with the security policy. A security audit is responsible for collecting, analyzing, and reporting event records within the EMR System. Security audit analysis includes real-time review for intrusion detection, and after-the-event review in defense of repudiation claims. In particular all access to PHI data must be captured and recorded. If PHI and/or PII data is added, removed, or changed, the action must be tracked along with who and when the action occurred. Auditing for accessing the application is done by Enterprise Services. However, the application must also keep track of what actions a user performed within the EMR System.

When real data is used in test environment or outside of the protected production demilitarized zone (DMZ), the data should be masked to ensure that data is protected. The standard toolset and approach for Data Masking for EOHHS is the Oracle Data Masking Pack. PII, PHI, and other privacy laws require that certain personal data are to be protected from viewing or other processing by unauthorized parties. Data masking must be applied whenever exporting data from production databases to QA, Systems Test, and/or Development environments or for transmission to outside organizations that do not have approval to access production data. This requirement does not extend to data being loaded into a “production reporting” or “certification” database.

Confidential and sensitive data requires data encryption that covers data at rest (whether on the database or file system or on backups) and in motion/transit (over the network, between network layers). Types of data that require protection include (but is not limited to) PII, Payment Cards Information (PCI), Social Security Information, Income Tax (IRS) data and PHI.

The EMR System is required to protect data at rest and data in motion using appropriate tools and technologies. Oracle Database 11g Enterprise Edition with Oracle Advanced Security option is used in EOHHS to address the following privacy and regulatory compliance issues and Requirements for protecting sensitive data on the network, on storage media, and within the database from unauthorized disclosure:

Additional encryption and security tools are also in use for SSL, XML Encryptions, file system encryptions etc.

A2 System Administrator (SA) The System Administration function must include all administrative tasks that will be performed by the System Administrator (SA). The SA must be able to configure features listed under the following requirement categories: user interfaces, reports, alerts, notifications, auditing, user management, dashboards, client, and service data management, claims management, imports and exports. The Bidder must describe in detail all SA Functions its solution offers.

A3 Accessibility The Bidder must comply with the Commonwealth's established standards for accessibility as described in the Attachment F, Model SOW.

The Bidder is responsible for addressing accessibility problems in any implementation, configuration, or documentation delivered or performed by Bidder, and in any software published by Bidder and delivered under this solicitation.

The Bidder must ensure that accessibility and usability are addressed at every stage of the project. At the commencement of any project under this RFR, prior to beginning any significant design or implementation work, Bidder’s Project Manager shall meet with EOHHS/DVS Project Manager(s) and appropriate resources to review the Enterprise Accessibility Standards, the AT/IT List, and any accessibility guidance provided by software Bidders, to review their impact on the project. On an ongoing basis, Bidder must incorporate accessibility testing into all test plans, and include users of assistive technology in end user testing.

A4 Software Integrity Controls The Bidder recognizes the serious threat of fraud, misuse, and destruction or theft of data. These threats could be introduced when unauthorized or inappropriate modifications are made to a production system. The Bidder must implement the required controls for the purpose of maintaining software integrity and traceability throughout the software creation life cycle, including during development, testing, and production.

A5 Operations Support The Bidder must provide support for the EOHHS/Soldiers’ Homes application support team to address the required types of capabilities (Note: it is expected that only a very small number of individuals will be authorized to utilize this help desk).

A6 Integration and Interoperability All modules of the proposed system must be fully integrated, i.e., the data must be centralized and accessible by all service and administrative modules. The system must support interoperability with outside entities such as ACO, and other community health partners.

A7 HIway Service Suite – HIE Service Offerings for EMR\EHR Interoperability Bidders must adhere to required HIE service(s) offerings as identified in Attachment B.

A8 Mobile Device Functionality It is expected that mobile devices will be the primary source of entry for the EMR System. The Bidder’s solution should be able to interface with multiple devices and platforms.

A9 Authentication and Identity Management Mutual SSL authentication, also called certificate based mutual authentication, refers to two parties authenticating each other by verifying the provided digital certificates to ensure the other party's identity. In technology terms, it refers to a client authenticating themselves to a server that hosts a web service and a server authenticating itself to the client by verifying the public key certificate/digital certificate issued by the trusted Certificate Authorities (CAs).

A10 Account Creation and Access Account creation is the mechanism to obtain secure, role-based access to the system. As part of account creation, the Bidder shall describe in detail its access and identity management processes.

A11 Authorization and Access Control In the EOHHS/Soldiers’ Homes environment, based on the Separation of Concern (SoC) design principle, the Application Security implementation has been separated from the core application implementation. This separated EOHHS Application Security implementation is AIMS (Access Information Management System), which is an enterprise shared service for Identity and Access Management for EOHHS applications (Appendix B).

A12 System Hosting The EOHHS/Soldiers’ Homes prefer for the Bidder to suggest a hosting solution that optimizes the performance of the Bidder’s proposed solution. The EOHHS/Soldiers’ Homes prefer the system to be fully cloud-based. Bidders should review Exhibit C: Cloud Procurement Terms in the Attachment F, Model SOW for additional Requirements that the Bidder would be expected to comply with in connection with its provision of the EMR System.

A13 Data Analytics The Bidder must provide a comprehensive cost modeling, forecasting, self-service analytics, and reporting tool that will reduce IT support or intervention for critical and timely client reporting.

Section B – Performance Standards This section is for the Bidder to confirm the systemic quality of the new EMR System. This Requirements list is not exhaustive but is intended to capture the most important Requirements for Service Level Agreement (SLA) Performance Standards) and other Performance Standards. Bidders must refer to Exhibit C to Attachment F, Model SOW (Cloud Procurement Terms) for additional obligations that the Bidder would be expected to comply with in connection with its provision of the EMR System.

Project Milestones and Deliverables The EOHHS/Soldiers’ Homes have identified the following major milestones for delivery of various components and features outlined in this RFR. Each milestone has a defined scope and will follow its own system development lifecycle. For each milestone, EMR System components will be tested, and released if they pass all types of testing up through and including User Acceptance Testing.

Table 1 Project Milestones and Deliverables

List of Deliverables The Selected Bidder will be responsible for producing, revising, and updating the following Deliverables at each project milestone in order to accomplish the goals of each milestone:

1. Project Management Plan

2. Project Work Plan

3. Project/Iteration Schedule

4. Quality Assurance and Risk Management Plan

5. System Hosting Plan

6. Business Continuity Plan

7. Data Migration Plan

8. Communication Plan

9. System Testing Plan

10. Environment Plan

11. Security Plan

12. Integration Plan

13. Contingency/Recovery Plan

14. Change Management Procedure Plan and Documents

15. System Design

16. Training Plan and Materials

17. Test Results & Reports

18. Customer Support Services Plan Additional Deliverables The following shall be made available on an agreed upon schedule identified in the project plan:

1. Training Plan and Materials

2. Project Implementation Plan

3. Use Cases Documents

4. User Interface Wireframes

5. System Architecture Document

6. Database Design Document

7. Information Security Risk Assessment

8. User Manuals

9. Operation Manuals

10. Customer Support Services Document Verification and Testing The Selected Bidder must conduct the following verification and tests as appropriate for the system components produced within each milestone:

1. Unit Testing

2. Automated Code Review

3. Integration Testing

4. Regression Testing

5. Functional Testing

6. Performance/Stress Testing

7. Security/Vulnerability Testing

8. Accessibility & Usability Testing

9. Release Dry Run

10. Post Release Validation System Documentation, Manuals and Training Materials In the course of the EMR development and implementation, the Selected Bidder shall provide a number of documents, manuals, and training materials to EOHHS/Soldiers’ Homes as described below.

Table 2: Deliverable Due Dates

Proposed Alternate Date

Revised: Ten (10) business days following receipt of written comments from EOHHS/Soldiers’ Homes

· Requirements validation and system specification documentation

· Testing Documents, incl. Used Cases, scripts, test reports

· Training Manual

· Administrations and Operations Manual

· Technical Manual

· Reports Manual

· Database Design

· Interface Design

· Development Manual

· System architecture

· Environment Manual Preliminary: Within forty-five (45) calendar days prior to EOHHS/Soldiers’ Homes and 3rd party testing

Response Requirements Response Process/Response Submission Requirements General Procurement Information

One Ashburton Place, 11th floor Boston, MA 02108

Procurement Timetable Table 3: Procurement Timetable - Note: All times are Eastern Standard/Daylight Savings (US), as displayed on the COMMBUYS system clock displayed to Bidders after logging in. If there is a conflict between the dates in this Procurement Timetable and dates in the Bid’s Header, the dates in the Bid’s Header on COMMBUYS shall prevail. Bidders are responsible for checking the Bid record on COMMBUYS for Procurement Timetable updates. EOHHS/Soldiers’ Homes may adjust this schedule, as it deems necessary. Notification of any adjustments to the RFR timetable shall be posted on COMMBUYS.

Bidders’ Questions Bidders may make written inquiries concerning this RFR until the questions due date and time set forth in Section 3.1.2, Table 3, Procurement Timetable.

Written inquiries may be sent via email to the RFR contact listed in Section 3.1.1. Microsoft Word is the preferred file format; the questions should be numbered but not in a tabular format. A plain text email is also acceptable. The subject line of the e-mail should read Questions Regarding the Soldiers’ Homes EMR RFR.

Bidders are prohibited from communicating directly with any employee or contractor of the procuring department or any members regarding this RFR except as specified in this RFR, and no other individual Commonwealth employee or representative is authorized to provide any information or respond to any question or inquiry concerning this RFR. Bidders may contact the Procurement Coordinator using the contact information provided in Section 3.1 above in the event that this RFR is incomplete or information is missing. Bidders experiencing technical problems accessing information or attachments stored on COMMBUYS should contact the COMMBUYS helpdesk at commbuys@mass.gov.

No other individual(s) should be contacted regarding any aspect of this procurement.

Questions that are not provided in non-tabular Word format or plain text email or received after the deadline may be disregarded. Bidders must not include any information that could be considered personal, security sensitive, inflammatory, incorrect, collusory, or otherwise objectionable, including information about the Bidder’s company or other companies. The Strategic Sourcing Team (SST) reserves the right to edit or delete any submitted questions that raise any of these issues or that are not in the best interest of the Commonwealth or this Bid, or are duplicative of other submitted questions. Questions may also be edited for brevity or clarity.

EOHHS/Soldiers’ Homes shall review timely inquiries and will identify questions for which written answers will be prepared, at its discretion. Any written answers of general interest and relevant to the preparation of a Response to the RFR will be posted on the COMMBUYS website for this procurement. EOHHS/Soldiers’ Homes reserves the right to accept additional written questions after the date and time specified in the Procurement Timetable in Section 3.2 – Procurement Timetable of this RFR and, at its discretion, prepare written responses to those it determines to be of general interest and relevant to the preparation of an application in Response to the RFR. These additional responses will also be posted on the COMMBUYS website. However, EOHHS/Soldiers’ Homes makes no guarantee that it will answer questions received after the deadline.

All answers are final when posted. Any subsequent revisions to previously provided answers will be dated.

Notice of Intent to Respond Bidders are not required, but strongly encouraged, to submit a letter by email stating their intent to respond to the RFR to the individual named in Section 3.1.1 no later than the deadline listed in the Procurement Timetable, Section 3.1.2 Table 3. Bidders may email the Notice of Intent to the email address provided in Section 3.1.1.

Complete Responses Deadline Bidders must submit a complete Response via COMMBUYS no later than the date and time specified in the Procurement Timetable, Table 3 in Section 3.1.2. All Responses must include on the first page the official name (if any) of the firm or entity submitting the response.

Quotes must be fully uploaded in COMMBUYS before the Bid Opening Date and time (deadline for submissions) has passed. Responses submitted via COMMBUYS are time stamped by the COMMBUYS system clock which is considered the official time of record. Any Response submitted after this deadline or incomplete will not be evaluated and considered. For further information on the COMMBUYS system, please see Section 4.4.

Complete Response Submission The submission to COMMBUYS must consist of the following seven (7) files organized as follows:

1. Cover Letter (See Section 3.2.1)

2. Functional Requirements Response (See Attachment A)

3. Technical Requirements Response (See Attachment B)

4. Business Response Narrative Outline (See Attachment C)

5. Cost Response (See Attachment D)

6. Supplier Diversity Program (SDP) Plan (See 4.13 of the RFR); and

7. Mandatory Response Forms (See Attachment E)

· Each electronic copy must be labeled with the name of the response document it contains. The originals of the Functional, Technical, Business and Cost Responses must be clearly labeled “Original” on the cover.

· Company marketing and background materials not directly responsive to RFR elements should not be submitted, as this material will not be read or evaluated.

· The sections of the response documents must be labeled to correspond with the section numbering of the RFR. The Bidder’s response must repeat the RFR section number.

IMPORTANT: Bidders must not embed documents in their Response; doing so may be grounds for disqualification.

The Selected Bidder will be required to submit a complete hard-copy original of the entire Bid, including the required documents executed with “wet” signatures prior to contract execution.

Narrative Sections Response Format The Response format has been clarified in each attachment. Where a narrative response is required, the narrative sections of the Response must be formatted as follows:

· Typewritten

· Single-spaced

· Margins of at least one inch

· Six lines or fewer per inch

· Numbered pages

· Times New Roman or similar font, size 12 point or larger (except for charts or graphs; please note, however, that all text, graphics, and illustrations must be legible after reproduction) Specific Response Instructions and Order of Response This section defines the specific order that the Responses must follow. Bidders must adhere to the instructions as failure to do so could lead to disqualification.

Failure to provide Responses in the format and standards specified may be grounds for rejection of the Response.

Cover Letter The Bidder must include a cover letter clearly stating the name of the Bidder organization, principal address, local address (greater Boston area) if applicable, and if different from principal address), and the name, address, e-mail, fax, and telephone number of the Bidder’s primary point of contact.

Electronic media submissions such as videotapes, audiotapes, and diskettes, will not be accepted. Facsimile and e-mailed responses will not be accepted.

The cover letter must:

· Clearly identify all subcontractors, or affirmatively state that there are no subcontractors.

· Be signed by an individual authorized to represent and bind the Bidder in all matters concerning this RFR, and its Response.

· Include a statement that all forms listed in Attachment E are attached to the Response.

· Include a statement that the Bidder’s Response will remain in effect until the Bidder withdraws it or an agreement/contract resulting from this RFR is executed, whichever is earlier.

· Include a statement that Bidder certifies that it is currently in good standing and neither it nor any of its subcontractors are currently debarred or suspended or otherwise prohibited from doing business by the U.S. government, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, or any of its subdivisions.

· Acknowledge the terms and conditions found in this RFR will apply to any contract resulting from this RFR. Bidders may not condition their Response to this RFR or the execution of a contract upon the EOHHS/Soldiers’ Homes’ execution of a Bidder contract form or require that other Bidder Terms and Conditions automatically apply to the proposed contract.

· Provide an Executive Summary that gives an overview of the Response, highlighting the offer and outlining the benefits of the company and product (software, hardware, services, etc.) proposed. This section should include a corporate resolution or other evidence of authority to submit this Bid if applicable.

Functional Response Requirements Workbook - Attachment A Further to Section 2.2, there are 18 worksheets contained in one Excel document – see Attachment A: Functional Requirements Workbook. The first two worksheets, or “tabs”, contain the Table of Contents and information key (IntroKey). The following 16 worksheets contain the Functional Requirements. Bidders must respond electronically to all Requirements in each of the tabs in the workbook. Responses will become part of the final awarded contract.

Most of the responses in these sections will require an X in the appropriate Bidder Response column that indicates the Bidder’s proposed system’s ability to meet a specific requirement, followed by an explanation if needed of how the system meets the requirement. Responses must be entered electronically. Handwritten responses may render the response to Functional Requirements incomplete.

Not every requirement is required to, nor should it contain, additional comments/explanations. The additional comments/explanations should be reserved for the Requirements which instruct the Bidder to describe how their proposed system will meet the requirement or in instances where the Bidder feels additional information is warranted. Bidders must be candid about their system strengths and limitations and realistic in their responses. The response definitions are as follows:

Table 4: Bidder Response Definitions

Several Requirements request a narrative response rather than or in addition to a coded response.

The Bidder must take care to read the…