RHTP07: Teleconsult/Telehealth Landscape AssessmenBid Documents

The Indiana Department of Health, on behalf of the State of Indiana, is soliciting proposals through Request for Proposal 26-87449 for a comprehensive Teleconsult/Telehealth Landscape Assessment to support the Rural Health Transformation Program (RHTP) Initiative 7. This mixed-methods assessment will evaluate current telehealth (provider-to-patient) and teleconsultation (provider-to-provider) services across Indiana's healthcare landscape to inform strategic planning, investment, and sustainability in rural communities. The selected contractor must conduct a statewide needs assessment examining current landscape and gaps, identify priority use cases aligned to RHTP goals, coordinate baseline data collection across initiatives, and evaluate cost, return on investment, and sustainability models. Key deliverables include a Project Management Plan, Assessment Methodology and Instruments, Stakeholder Engagement Summary, National Models and Evidence Scan, Gap Analysis and Needs Identification Report, Specialty Care Provider and Program Assessment, Billing/Coverage/Reimbursement Assessment Summary, and a comprehensive Indiana Statewide Telehealth and Teleconsultation Plan with environmental scan, specialty prioritization recommendations, policy recommendations, and baseline key performance outcome measurements. The contractor must engage diverse stakeholders including rural and urban healthcare providers, hospitals, critical access hospitals, federally qualified health centers, specialty providers, managed care organizations, payers, public health agencies, community-based organizations, and patients and caregivers. Minimum qualifications require respondents to demonstrate experience with statewide or multi-region health landscape assessments, telehealth and teleconsultation services, multi-payer reimbursement analysis, rural health systems, mixed-methods research, and stakeholder facilitation, with documented completion of a comparable healthcare, public health, or statewide landscape assessment within the past seven years. The pre-proposal conference is scheduled for April 22, 2026, at 9:30 AM ET; written questions must be submitted by April 27, 2026, by 3:00 PM Eastern Time with responses posted by May 6, 2026; and proposals are due May 18, 2026, by 3:00 PM Eastern Time through the Supplier Portal, with evaluation beginning May 27, 2026, and oral presentations potentially occurring June 1, 2026. Evaluation will be conducted on a 103-point scale (100 base points plus bonuses) comprised of Management Assessment/Quality (50 points), Cost (30 points), Buy Indiana Initiative (5 points), and diversity subcontractor commitments (5 points each for MBE, WBE, and IVOSB with potential bonus points).

The solicitation includes set-aside designations for disadvantaged enterprises, with established participation goals of 8 percent for Minority Business Enterprises (MBE), 11 percent for Women Business Enterprises (WBE), and 3 percent for Indiana Veteran Owned Small Businesses (IVOSB), though failure to meet these goals does not negatively impact proposal evaluation. All proposed subcontractors must be listed on the State of Indiana Certified M/W/IVOSB registry or the Federal Center for Veterans Business Enterprise VETBIZ registry at the time of proposal submission and must provide current certification letters. Respondents must be registered with the Indiana Department of Administration Procurement Division and, if awarded, must be registered with the Indiana Secretary of State. The contract term is one year from execution with potential for optional one-year renewals through year five, with pricing remaining firm for a minimum of 180 days from award issuance. The contract is funded through the Rural Health Transformation Program, a five-year federal grant totaling $206,927,896.80 with 100 percent federal funding provided by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), though only the initial budget period currently has secured funding with subsequent periods subject to future federal funding awards and state needs determination. Respondents must comply with various supplementary requirements including data protection standards aligned with the Indiana Office of Technology Information Security Framework, NIST 800-53 Revision 5 compliance, Federal Bureau of Investigation background checks for all employees and subcontractors, annual independent audits (Service Organization Control 2 or equivalent), and specified cloud hosting solutions preferably utilizing state-owned cloud tenants through Microsoft Azure or Amazon Web Services. No incumbent vendor information has been identified in the solicitation documents.