Commonwealth of Massachusetts Center for Health Information and Analysis
Commonwealth of Massachusetts Center for Health Information and Analysis Request for Quotation Electronic Record Retention and Information Management Consulting Project 2014-RFQ-021 February 10, 2014 THIS RFQ AND ALL RESPONSES HERETO INCLUDING THE WINNING BID SHALL BECOME PUBLIC RECORD AND CAN BE OBTAINED FROM THE CENTER FOR HEALTH INFORMATION AND ANALYSIS, LEGAL UNIT BY SENDING AN EMAIL TO
[email protected]. ANY PORTIONS OF A RESPONSE THAT ARE LABELED AS CONFIDENTIAL WILL STILL BE CONSIDERED PUBLIC RECORD.
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Contents 1.
General Procurement Information .........................................................................................................................1
2.
Description, Purpose of Procurement and Requirements ......................................................................................2
3.
Information about ITS51DesignatedITD ...............................................................................................................4
4.
Payment Method and Term ...................................................................................................................................4
5.
Order of Precedence ..............................................................................................................................................4
6.
Event Calendar ......................................................................................................................................................5
7.
Submission Requirements .....................................................................................................................................5
8.
Bidder Responses ..................................................................................................................................................5
9.
Miscellaneous ........................................................................................................................................................8
1. General Procurement Information a.
General Information
Purchasing Department:
Center for Health Information and Analysis
Procurement Contact Address:
2 Boylston Street, 5th Floor Boston, Massachusetts 02116
Procurement Contact:
Sarah Ragland
Telephone:
617-988-3221
E-Mail Address:
[email protected]
RFQ File Number and Title:
2014-RFQ-021 Electronic Record Retention and Information Management Consulting Project
This Request for Quotes (“RFQ”) does not commit the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (“Commonwealth”) or the Center for Health Information and Analysis (“CHIA”) to approve a Statement of Work, pay any costs incurred in the preparation of a Bidder’s response to this RFQ or to procure or contract for products or services. CHIA reserves the right to accept or reject any and all proposals received as a result of this RFQ and to contract for some, all or none of the services as a result of this RFQ. CHIA further reserves the right to negotiate with any or all
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qualified Bidders and to cancel in part or in its entirety this RFQ if it is in the best interest of CHIA or the Commonwealth to do so. CHIA reserves the right to amend this RFQ at any time prior to the date the responses are due. Any such amendment will be posted to the Commonwealth’s procurement website, CommPASS. Bidders are advised to check this site regularly, as this will be the sole method used for notification of changes. Bidder Communication. Bidders are prohibited from communicating directly with any employee of the procuring department or any member of the PMT regarding this RFQ except as specified in this RFQ, and no other individual Commonwealth employee or representative is authorized to provide any information or respond to any question or inquiry concerning this RFQ. Bidders may contact the contact person for this RFQ in the event this RFQ is incomplete or the bidder is having trouble obtaining any required attachments electronically through CommPASS. This RFQ is restricted to vendors on the statewide contract ITS-51DesignatedITD.
2. Description, Purpose of Procurement and Requirements The Center for Health Information and Analysis was established in November 2012 as a result of the passage of Chapter 224 of the Acts of 2012. As a result of this legislation, CHIA assumed much of the work formerly conducted by the Division of Health Care Finance and Policy (“Division”), assumed new responsibilities and transferred some of the of the work formerly performed by the Division to different state agencies. CHIA also inherited the Division’s electronic records. CHIA is currently housing about 275 gigabytes of data in 1.1 million electronic files (primarily Word, Excel, PowerPoint) that need to be appropriately categorized to ensure that CHIA is maintaining only those files that it is legally required to maintain. CHIA also is maintaining nearly a terabyte of data in SAS datasets that also need to be organized and categorized for record retention purposes. CHIA is seeking a consultant experienced in information management and electronic records retention to assist CHIA in the development of an information management program. The consultant will work with CHIA’s legal and information technology staff to develop a plan that will enable CHIA to efficiently apply the statewide record retention schedule to electronic records currently held by CHIA. The consultant will further assist CHIA in developing policies and procedures in support of a formal information management and record retention program. The goal of the project is to mitigate the risks and expenses associated with storing unnecessary or duplicative electronic files while ensuring compliance with applicable laws, regulations and contractual requirements. Throughout the Project, the records and data at issue must be accessible, subject to appropriate security controls, and in conformance with applicable privacy laws. a. Description of Requested Services
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The consultant will:
be able to work effectively with legal and IT staff.
develop a plan for the review and categorization of electronic records that will identify documents CHIA must maintain in conformance with state records retention law, as well as those records that are duplicative, not subject to state record retention law or, as a result of Chapter 224 of the Acts of 2012, the responsibility of another agency.
assist in the development of policies and procedures in support of an information management and records retention program.
manage work within budgetary targets and constraints. b. Qualifications.
Mandatory: • • • • •
Minimum of five years experience in electronic information management, with at least three years of project management experience on information technology projects, records retention or e-discovery projects. Demonstrated experience with information management program development, such as requirements definition; project plan development; scheduling and estimating; resource management; communications management; quality assurance, etc. Must have excellent communications and analysis skills; planning and organizational proficiency; and sound business judgment. Excellent understanding of data security and privacy. Proficient at office tools such as Microsoft SharePoint and Office Suite, spreadsheets and producing simple reports and presentations.
Desired: • • • •
Familiarity with the privacy and security laws governing CHIA’s health care and personal data Familiarity with Massachusetts records retention law Familiarity with standard project management methodologies and implementations JD
The successful consulting partner will work with CHIA’s legal counsel and information technology staff to accomplish the following tasks during this contract: •
By April 15, 2014: Develop a plan to categorize, organize, and review CHIA’s electronic documents to ensure compliance with state record retention policies and contractual obligations.
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•
By May 15, 2014: Train appropriate CHIA staff to implement a plan to categorize, organize, review and, where appropriate, dispose or transfer, CHIA documents.
•
By June 15, 2014: Recommend an ongoing electronic information management program, including written policies and procedures, that uses SharePoint and other CHIA tools for organizing and maintaining documents consistent with state record retention requirements. Bidders may propose alternative dates for the above milestones.
3. Information about ITS51DesignatedITD ITS51DesignatedITD is the primary statewide contract for e-Discovery-related services. The services provided under the statewide contract cover the entire Electronic Discovery Reference Model (“EDRM”). More information on the EDRM is available at the EDRM website (http://www.edrm.net/resources/edrm-stages-explained). In addition, the services provided under this agreement can be used for any agency projects involving electronic document search, retrieval, segregation, analysis and production, including without limitation investigations, administrative litigation, and public records requests. The services include, but are not limited to, information management, identification, data preservation, collection, processing, searching, culling, production, data hosting, report writing, and staffing in connection with contracted services.
4. Payment Method and Term This is a rate-based contract payable on a time and materials basis, with a maximum obligation. Unless otherwise agreed upon by CHIA and the successful Bidder, the term of this agreement shall be through June 30, 2014, with two (2) options to renew for one year each.
5. Order of Precedence The contract resulting from this RFQ shall consist of the following documents in the following order of precedence: (1) the Commonwealth’s Terms and Conditions; (2) the Commonwealth’s Standard Form Contract; (3) RFR ITS51DesignatedITD; (4) the Bidder’s response thereto; (5) this RFQ (as it may be amended, including without limitation by amendments to the RFQ, requests for clarification and requests for best and final offers); (6) the Bidder’s response hereto, inclusive of all attachments, as it may be amended, including without limitation by the Bidder’s response to any request(s) for clarification and/or request(s) for a best and final offer; and (7) the SOW, inclusive of any modifications thereto subsequent to negotiations between the parties.
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6. Event Calendar All times in this RFQ are prevailing Eastern Time.
Event Calendar CALENDAR EVENT
DATE
TIME
RFQ Posting and Release RFQ Responses Due Contract Award Posted on Comm-PASS
February 10, 2014 3:30 PM February 20, 2014 4:00 PM February 27, 2014 4:00 PM
7. Submission Requirements All responses must include one original signed submission and 3 copies, as well as an electronic version in Microsoft Word or similar format and should be received no later than 4:00 P.M. on Thursday, February 20, 2014 at: Center for Health Information and Analysis Attn: Tim Flaherty Two Boylston St., 5th Floor Boston, MA 02116 All submissions should be in a sealed envelope and clearly marked 2014-RFQ-021.
8. Bidder Responses Bidders’ responses should include, at a minimum, the following: 1.
A cover letter in which the Bidder states that they agree to the terms of this RFQ.
2.
A Business Response that includes the following: i. The name and role of the proposed Bidder who will perform the services described in this RFQ. ii. A description of the proposed resource’s qualifications and experience and how they correspond to the tasks and mandatory and desirable qualifications set forth in sections 2a-b. iii. The resume(s) of the proposed consultants working on the project.
3.
A cost response indicating the hourly rate for the proposed consultant(s) and the estimated time to complete the tasks. The Bidder must agree to hold the hourly rate at the initial level for the first year of the contract (should it be extended beyond June 2014).
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4.
References from three customers, preferably Massachusetts state government customers.
Evaluation criteria Bidder scores will be used to rank Bidders and will determine which Bidders will proceed to subsequent stages of the evaluation and/or enter into negotiations with the Commonwealth to receive a Contract award. Mandatory requirements Mandatory Specifications must be met in order for a Bid to be evaluated and may be used to disqualify Bidders. In addition, certain mandatory specifications have desirable components to them that may be evaluated by the PMT. The PMT reserves the right, in its discretion, to determine if non-compliance with a Mandatory Specification is insignificant or can be easily corrected. Solicitation sections that include terms such as: “must”, “shall”, “will” and “required” are “mandatory.” Failure to meet the requirements of a mandatory specification without providing an alternate that is acceptable to the evaluators may result in the disqualification of a Bidder's proposal. Desirable specifications Desirable specifications will be scored according to the Evaluation Criteria. RFQ specifications prefaced with language such as: "desirable", "could," "can," "should," "preferably," "prefers," "suggested," and "requested" identify a desirable or discretionary item or factor that is considered by the issuer to be "desirable." The issuer has listed all desirable specifications which will receive points in the evaluation criteria. RFQ Proposal Review Process All qualified proposals will be reviewed and ranked by the Review Committee. Review committee member composition must adhere to conflict of interest laws. All Review Committee members shall be familiar with all parts of the Request for Quotation Package. Committee members are instructed to evaluate each proposal against the criteria on the ranking sheet. Comparison among or between proposals is not appropriate. All qualified proposals shall be reviewed using the RFQ Submission Evaluation Scoring Table, the RFQ Proposal Review Evaluation Form and the RFQ Rating Sheet tailored specifically for the RFQ proposal. The number of evaluation points for each section varies according to the value assigned to that particular aspect of the program. More points are possible in those sections deemed valuable by the Center. The ranking system to be used is as follows:
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Score
RFQ Submission Evaluation Scoring Table Criteria
0
Inadequate or unacceptable response. The bidder did not respond to the requirements or the response reflects no understanding of the requirements.
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Minimal Acceptance. The bidder demonstrates a minimal understanding of the requirements, but does not provide adequate detail or reflects more deficiencies than strengths.
2
Fair. The bidder’s response meets minimal requirements and demonstrates some strengths, but also demonstrates weaknesses.
3
Good. The bidder’s response reflects a solid understanding of the issues and satisfies all the requirements. The strengths outweigh the deficits.
4
Very Good. The bidder’s response satisfies all the requirements; exceeds some.
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Excellent. The bidder’s response is complete and exceeds all requirements. The committee members may use sources other than the written proposal to evaluate programs. Other sources of information may include oral presentations by bidders, and verbal or written responses to questions posed by committee members. The final award decisions will be based on a determination as to the best value to the Commonwealth. In addition to the above evaluation criteria, the Center will select and enter into contracts with those candidates whose proposals, in our opinion, provide the best value for the services required. Lowest price will not be the sole determining factor in awarding the contract. The Center may expand the list of selected contractors as needed. Proposal submissions, review scores and rating sheets, a list of Review Committee members, a ranked list of proposals, and any written reports summarizing the work of the Review Committee shall be available for public inspection after contracts have been awarded. Evaluation Components The following components will be some of the criteria considered by the team when evaluating each Response/bid:
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•
Bidders who have relevant educational and professional qualifications, and quality references.
•
Demonstrated and relevant expertise in information management, information technology records retention and electronic discovery program development, implementation, and management.
•
Demonstrated and relevant experience in the development of records retention policies and procedures.
•
Willingness to adhere to the tight timeline and strict budget.
•
Best value based on qualifications and pricing.
Price Please note that price will carry a significant weight in the evaluation process. The following price components will be evaluated: • Prompt Pay Discounts (PPD) 9. Miscellaneous
A.
General.
By submitting a proposal in response to this RFQ, Bidders agree to the following terms: 1.
All bids submitted in response to this RFQ must be valid for a minimum of 90 calendar days.
2.
Extraneous marketing or promotional materials are discouraged and such information will not be factored into the evaluation of vendors
3.
CHIA will not pay any costs related to Bidder’s bid submission.
B.
Bid/Response Rejection.
CHIA reserves the right to reject any or all bids (responses), in whole or in part and for any reason deemed non-compliant or non-responsive to this RFQ, its attachments or any subsequent changes. Bidders are advised to check prior to submitting a response to ensure that they have the most recent RFQ files. Bidders may not alter (manually or electronically) the RFQ language or any RFQ component files. Modifications to the body of the RFQ, specifications, terms and conditions, or which change the intent of this RFQ are prohibited and may disqualify a response. CHIA reserves the right not to enter any agreement under this RFQ.
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C.
Contract Amendments.
CHIA reserves the right to amend this RFQ or any contract resulting from this RFQ. CHIA may negotiate changes to the original performance measures, reporting requirements or payment methodologies tied to performance at any time during the contract duration if they are consistent with the specifications of this RFQ. CHIA reserves the right to negotiate and execute contract amendments with the contractor(s) which CHIA determines as necessary to result in the intent of this RFQ, to amend the specifications for necessary requirements, or to result in a better valued contract. Negotiation would be with the successful contractor(s) of this RFQ. Amendments may include, but are not limited to, contract dollars, contract performance, increased or decreased obligations, scope of work, quantity, etc. D.
Limitations.
This RFQ does not commit the Commonwealth or CHIA to approve a Statement of Work, pay any costs incurred in the preparation of a Bidder’s response to this RFQ or to procure or contract for products or services. CHIA reserves the right to accept or reject any and all proposals received as a result of this RFQ and to contract for some, all or none of the products and services as a result of this RFQ. CHIA further reserves the right to negotiate with any or all qualified Bidders and to cancel in part or in its entirety this RFQ if it is in the best interest of CHIA or the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to do so. E.
Review Rights.
Responses to this RFQ may be reviewed and evaluated by any person(s) at the discretion of CHIA including non-allied and independent consultants retained by CHIA now or in the future, for the sole purpose of obtaining an analysis of responses. Any and all respondents may be asked to further explain or clarify in writing areas of their response during the review process. CHIA retains the right to request further information from respondents. F.
Nonresponsive Bids.
CHIA reserves the right to exclude from further consideration nonresponsive bids that fail to meet the submission requirements of this RFQ. G.
Proprietary Notices.
All bids submitted in response to this RFQ shall be public record. All notices included in such bids to the effect that bid content is confidential or proprietary, that the distribution of such bids is prohibited or that by opening or accepting the bid CHIA is accepting such terms, are null and void, and any portions of the response so marked shall still be considered public record.
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