LabWare Maintenance & Operations (M&O) / Texas Laboratory Online (TLO) Integration

The Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC), on behalf of the Department of State Health Services (DSHS) Public Health Laboratory Division, issued Request for Offers (RFO) No. HHS0016585 on May 21, 2026, seeking a qualified contractor to provide comprehensive maintenance and operations (M&O) support and integration services for the LabWare Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) v.8 and Clinical Health Template v.5.1, coupled with integration of the newly developed Texas Laboratory Online (TLO) electronic test ordering and reporting system. The procured services include software licensing, system integration, configuration services, development services, helpdesk support available Monday through Friday from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Central Time, and supplemental administrative and operational support at 2,080 hours annually. Key deliverables encompass 21 defined work products with due dates ranging from 14 to 60 business days after contract effective date, including a Project Management Plan, Change Management Plan, comprehensive Test Plan, Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity Plan, System Security Plan, and Technical Design Document, with ongoing weekly status reporting and annual updates required throughout the contract term. The contractor must establish a Project Management Office and provide testing services including system integration testing, user acceptance testing, load and stress testing, and penetration testing, with 100 percent remediation of high and medium severity defects required prior to the February 28, 2027 Go-Live date and no more than 5 percent low-severity defects remaining unresolved. Respondents must meet minimum qualifications of five years of business experience or equivalent ownership/executive management experience in LIMS environments, demonstrate financial solvency, and achieve HIPAA and FISMA compliance with HHS MODERATE security baseline equivalent to NIST SP 800-53R5 standards. Evaluation will be conducted using weighted scoring criteria of 20 percent for narrative proposal, 35 percent for qualifications and experience, 15 percent for technical proposal, and 30 percent for cost on a best-value basis. Critical deadlines include a pre-proposal conference on May 29, 2026, written questions deadline of June 3, 2026, and proposal submissions due June 19, 2026 at 10:30 A.M. Central Time, with anticipated contract award in August 2026 and contract commencement on September 1, 2026.

No HUB subcontracting plan or disadvantaged enterprise set-asides are required for this procurement, and the solicitation does not identify any incumbent contractors or preference restrictions based on organizational classification. The contract encompasses an initial three-year term with options for up to two additional one-year renewal periods plus one supplemental option period of up to one year for immediate operational needs, potentially extending the total contract period to sixty months. Historical compensation for similar contracts has been approximately $407,192 per State Fiscal Year, though HHSC reserves the right to adjust this amount based on state funding availability and does not guarantee volume, usage, or total compensation to any contractor. Pricing must be submitted in Microsoft Excel Workbook format (.xlsx) and remain firm and constant throughout the contract term, with all-inclusive unit prices covering labor, materials, tools, supplies, equipment, personnel, travel expenses, and all incidental costs necessary to fulfill solicitation requirements. The LabWare system supports approximately 450,000 samples annually from over 8,000 entities for public health testing including virology, serology, advanced molecular analysis, biothreat analysis, and chemical threat analysis, requiring the contractor to ensure seamless integration with the existing TLO platform and maintain all System Agency data exclusively within the contiguous United States in compliance with HIPAA and FISMA mandates. Service Level Agreements establish maximum response and resolution times ranging from one clock hour for Critical severity issues to 36 clock hours for Low severity issues, with liquidated damages assessed for non-compliance including $200 per calendar day for missed deliverable due dates and $1,000 per percentage point above 5 percent for unresolved low-severity defects at Go-Live.