Request for Proposal Eligible Professional Expansion Program (EP2) New York State Medicaid Meaningful Use Support Issued: November 16 th, 2017 Proposal is Due: December 1 st, 2017 Page 1 November 16, 2017
Table of Contents Introduction... 3 NYeC Background... 3 Overview of the EP2 Program... 3 Subcontractor/Technical Assistance Agents (TA) Overview, Role and Expectations... 4 Objective of this RFP... 6 Target Audience... 6 Subcontractor/TA Regional Assignment... 6 RFP Response and Review Assessment... 7 Project Timeline... 9 Miscellaneous... 9 Page 2 of 9 November 16, 2017
NYeC Background Introduction The New York ehealth Collaborative (NYeC) is a not-for-profit organization, working to dramatically transform the healthcare system where health information exchange is universally used as a tool to make lives better. A key component in our is mission helping providers understand the value of health information technology (HIT) and EHRs and how their use can improve health care for individuals and communities. NYeC was founded in 2006 by healthcare leaders, in partnership with the New York State Department of Health (DOH). We are primarily supported by federal and state funding; and we serve as a focal point for HIT in the State of New York. NYeC develops policies and standards, assists healthcare providers in making the shift to electronic health records, and coordinates the network to connect healthcare providers statewide. DOH has appointed NYeC to be the State- Designated Entity (SDE) for the Statewide Health Information Network for New York (SHIN-NY), a network-of-networks that interconnects New York s eight regional health information organizations (RHIOs)/Qualified Entities (QEs). NYeC was also an Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) designated Regional Extension Center (REC), a program that helped healthcare providers choose the right software and learn how to use it effectively. Since 2012, NYeC has successfully administered the Medicaid Specialists Program (MSP), which has evolved into the EP2 grant. To date, NYeC has enrolled 4,238 providers across the 57 counties in New York State into the program. NYeC is also currently administering the federal Transforming Clinical Practice Initiative (TCPI) grant for all of NYS; the NYSDOH Data Exchange Incentive Program (DEIP); and the Behavioral Health Information Technology (BHIT) grant for the Office of Mental Health (OMH). Our grant programs assist providers across the state adopt EHR and Electronic Billing System (EBS); increase health information exchange (HIE) adoption; transform their clinical workflow; and gauge readiness to report on several different quality programs. Overview of the EP2 Program The New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) has contracted with New York ehealth Collaborative (NYeC) to assist eligible providers in New York ROS (rest of state) in the 57 counties outside of the five Boroughs of NYC achieve Meaningful Use under the Medicaid EHR Incentive program. As of 2017 all eligible providers for this program should have implemented a certified EHR System to qualify for the MU program. By adopting a certified EHR system, Medicaid providers now have the technology in place to meet advanced objectives under this program. NYeC will work with regionally-based technical assistance (TA) subcontractors to support up to 6,000 eligible professionals statewide. To provide the best provider assistance experience and to keep providers engaged in the Medicaid Meaningful Use program, the EP2 Full service model program has four achievable milestones, as outlined below. Milestone 1: Successful attestation to Meaningful Use (Including Modified Stage 2) for the provider s first time Milestone 2: Successful second or subsequent attestation to Meaningful Use Stage 2 (including Modified Stage 2 in payment year 2017 or later) Milestone 3: Successful attestation to Meaningful Use Stage 3 for the provider s first time Milestone 4: Successful second or subsequent attestation to Meaningful Use Stage 3 * A milestone is considered valid if the provider was paid for their successful Meaningful Use attestation. *Note: TAs are expected to provide service for all 4 milestones and may not assign to or pay for milestones work to be self-serviced by enrolled provider practices Page 3 of 9 November 16, 2017
Subcontractor/Technical Assistance Agents (TA) Overview, Role and Expectations New York ehealth Collaborative (NYeC) has successfully utilized a network of subcontracted agents, or Technical Assistance Agents (TA s) to deliver services for the Regional Extension Center (REC), Behavioral Health IT (BHIT) and TCPI (Transforming Clinical Practices Initiative). NYeC s EP2 program, developed in conjunction with the state, will utilize a similar approach to deliver MU services to NYS Medicaid providers. Subcontractors will be considered a representative of NYeC in their designated territories by providing Full Service MU assistance which includes hand-holding throughout Fee-For Service enrollment, ETIN enrollment, workflow development and attestation assistance. Some current TA s may choose to not respond and indicate they are no longer interested in providing services for the EP2 Program. NYeC is seeking subcontractors for each of these five (5) territories: Long Island Westchester Central NY Rochester Western NY The TA subcontractors will have the following roles: Provide Full Service MU and attestation support and expertise, including assisting practices develop and implement workflow changes and coaching and engaging staff and leadership. Assist the practice with establishing and/or strengthening their use of their certified EHR System. They will serve as the liaison between practices and the NYeC EP2 Team in their designated territories. TA Subcontractors will ensure that Medicaid FFS and ETIN enrollment is up to date, and Meaningful Use attestations are occurring by established deadlines. Lead Qualification & Outreach Practice Signup Readiness Assessment Workflow Redesign & Documentation Preparation Attestation Audit Preparedness In addition, subcontractors will be required to provide Meaningful Use education to the TA s designated geographic territory, each TA will be required to host (at a minimum) one quarterly in-person event and two supplementary qualifying education activities (example quarterly schedule below). Outreach events and activities should be coordinated by the EP2 Team to ensure the messaging of each event is aligned with the Department of Health s grant objectives. NYeC may supply subcontractors with education materials for use at these events. Page 4 of 9 November 16, 2017
Quarter Date Subcontract or (Host) Example of minimum expectation of events per quarter: Type of Event & Topic In- Person or Virtual Targeted Number of Attendees and Geographic Territory Represented Back-Up Documentation which will be required (Sign-in sheet, presentation, URL to website) Q4 2017 10/10/17 ABC Consulting Webinar- MU Stage 3 requirements Virtual 100 Providers Targeted in WNY Region www.nyehealth.org/webinar Q4 2017 11/16/17 ABC Consulting Meet & Greet for WNY Primary Care MD s and best practices for transitions of care. Inperson 150 Providers targeted in Rochester region Sign-in sheet, presentation Q4 2017 12/1/17 ABC Consulting Newsletter Virtual 1500 Email blast or link to newsletter on website Once awarded, NYeC will finalize the scope for each TA subcontractor territory and will be documented in the subcontractor agreement. The EP2 Team will continuously monitor the adequacy of the TA network and expand existing contracts and/or solicit additional TA providers to ensure geography coverage and the availability of needed expertise. TA performance will be evaluated on a quarterly basis via the EP2 Subcontractor Scorecard on a specific set of criteria agreed upon by the DOH: Program Knowledge (Meaningful Use expertise) Attendance during scheduled progress meetings (Bi-Weekly Check-In Calls with the EP2 Team) Outreach Activities and Events (One In-Person regional education event per quarter and two supplementary preapproved outreach events with supporting documentation) Enrollment of new providers or re-enrollment of providers previously enrolled in the EP2 program Documentation (Timeliness and thoroughness of data in provider contract documentation) NYeC administered practice quality check (NYeC will reach out to 5 randomly selected enrolled organizations to ensure quality full service is being provided) Page 5 of 9 November 16, 2017
Objective of RFP The Objective of this RFP is to formalize and ratify the process to complete the vetting, selection and contracting of Technical Assistance (TA) organizations to support the EP2 Program. NYeC shall assess each TA s capabilities and to report to the DOH on a regular basis with confidence that the EP2 program has credible, knowledgeable and capable TA resources with enough capacity to support our program targets. This Request for Proposal asks the TA to provide information about their organizations in the following areas: Organization capabilities and resources Territories they service (Zip Codes / County Names) Identification of key clinical organization relationships. Capacity (number of concurrent providers or organizations that can be serviced). Specific examples of meaningful use services that have been provided in past 12 months that indicate capabilities to support EP2 initiative work. Current staff bios, resumes Staffing plan to support the EP2 program Target Audience Current TA subcontractors New TA subcontractors will also be made aware of the formal process whereby the RFP will be posted externally on the NYeC RFP page. Subcontractor/TA Regional Assignment NYeC, will assess potential demand for each region (county) based on eligible providers and data available via NYeC Provider Tracking System and DOH data that is provided on a regular basis. Each TA approved to be contracted will be assigned to specific regions (counties). This will be determined based first on their response updates, existing capabilities and capacity. NYeC will create an Assignment and Allocation table summarizing each region, its potential demand, TA assignment and TA capacity. A gap assessment will be completed to determine where regional gaps exist. NYeC will assess and discuss with each respective TA their allocation of providers to ensure that demand and capacity numbers are conservative and achievable. Regional assignments and allocation will be maintained in a NYeC controlled Program Document and available via the Provider Tracking System (Salesforce). This will be referenced in the sub-contracts with each TA The following regional coverage models are likely to be in place for the EP2 Team: 1. Single Source Full Capacity A single TA entity covers entire region with no overlap. 2. Multiple Source Full Capacity Multiple TA organizations are involved in covering a defined region. Decision making and rules of engagement to be reviewed to ensure proper distribution of clinicians. 3. Regional Gap Capacity Multiple TA organizations are involved in covering a region, but volume allows for additional organizations to be involved. Region will be monitored and addressed as per the needs assessments. Page 6 of 9 November 16, 2017
RFP Responses Review and Assessment The following summarizes the decision-making criteria to be used to assess the TA Proposal and to facilitate decision making for TA subcontracting to support the EP2 program. The EP2 team, in conjunction with NYeC leadership review the proposals provided by the TA. The review team will assess and discuss the responses and participate in the qualitative assessment interviews. This review team will collaboratively complete the quantitative assessment of the TA responses and summarize the assessment of the TA for the qualitative criteria. Quantitative Criteria Criteria Experience Organization / Personnel Skills Data Systems Experience Historical Performance Capacity Service Deployment Methodology Territory Description Meaningful Use experience, with specific practice sizes indicated. Provide a detailed example of direct Meaningful Use program management experience with providers in New York State or elsewhere. Specific projects and success in attesting for Meaningful Use within NYS. Experience with clinical quality measures interpretation for providers, measuring, analysis Teamwork experience with physicians and prior experience with other grant programs Lean, Six Sigma, other relevant experience Current staffing skills Team members names, bios, skills Ramp up plan/timeframe if additional staffing is planned to support EP2 Internal training capabilities Other capabilities of the organization that may benefit the EP2 program Clinical, billing, clinical quality measures, other data systems experience at practice level Aggregation, analysis, closed loop corrective action experience with data If previously contracted with NYeC for TA services (REC, HEAL-22, EP2, PTN, BHIT) enrollment, full service capabilities and program knowledge Capacity with current staffing model Planned capacity if staffing increased planned Ability to quickly support spike in demand or flexibility to move resources to EP2 services TA specific approach to Full-Service delivery onsite, remote, combination and frequency of service Summary of regions served (zip codes, counties) If Remote Services are offered for services, how are they offered Weight (1-5) 5 4 4 4 3 3 3 Comments Once awarded, subcontractors will be required to pass quarterly quizzes as required by the DOH on Meaningful Use standards within NYeC s LMS (Learning Management System). Skills related to MU services, but also adjacent capabilities (EHR adoption, PTN, Clinical Quality Measures, KPIs, Billing, Practice Management) Tools & systems in place or in progress Performance against commitments, responsiveness, follow through on events/outreach, use of tools (Salesforce), accuracy of documentation, invoicing Resourcing needs to be in place within 45 days of TA subcontracting To be assessed against probability of successful implementation of services Territories served will not be considered an advantage or disadvantage but may inform how to address regional gaps in service Page 7 of 9 November 16, 2017
In addition to the quantitative analysis of the TA proposals, NYeC will work with the review team to complete a qualitative assessment of each TA against the following areas. This will be performed via a phone or in person interview by the review team. Area Description Comments Collaboration Transparency References Willingness to support NYeC s approach, methods, tools and content Willingness to share best practices, methods, lessons learned and improvement areas Assessment of practice level references Assess if the TA will commit to using the DOH s methodology or does the TA desire to use their own Related to providing MU services to NYS organizations. NYeC will summarize the assessment criteria for each TA response in a matrix to calculate the quantitative score. A multiplication of criteria weight (1 5) against TA s score for each criterion (1 3) will be performed. Notes and comments from the qualitative assessment will be added to the matrix summary. NYeC will determine the quantitative scoring requirement (minimum score) to be considered approved for contracting. If the review team believes any of the qualitative criteria warrants not contracting with the TA, the respective TA will be informed and offered the opportunity to respond or clarify any questions the review team has. Through these mechanisms, a decision will be made for each TA as whether to approve for contracting or not. TA s that have been confirmed for contracting will be notified and TA subcontracting will be initiated. Page 8 of 9 November 16, 2017
Project Timeline Phase Description Timeframe RFP Released Accepting questions regarding the RFP Results of Q&A Posted RFP Response Deadline RFP released to current TAs and Posted on www.nyehealth.org/resources/rfps Questions should be submitted to EP2Info@nyehealth.org Q&A Document posted to www.nyehealth.org/resources/rfps Subcontractors must submit all proposals to EP2Info@nyehealth.org November 16 th, 2017 November 16 th -November 22 nd, 2017 November 27 th, 2017 December 1 st, 2017 RFP Evaluation and Scoring NYeC to score subcontractor RFP s December 4 th -December 11 th, 2017 Notification of Award NYeC to contact awarded TA s On a rolling basis after December 11, 2017 Miscellaneous TA s may only contact NYeC using the email address EP2Info@nyehealth.org for all matters concerning this RFP. Subcontractors may not contact any NYeC staff, NYeC board members, the New York State Staff (DOH) or any other stakeholders regarding this project in the period between the issuance of this RFP and the notice of award, as stated in the timetable above. Any oral communication will be considered unofficial and non-binding with regard to this RFP and subsequent award. NYeC reserves the right to amend or cancel this RFP at any time prior to a signed contract with the agent. NYeC is not responsible for any costs incurred by a TA in the preparation of a response to this RFP. This project will be funded with grants funds from the New York State Department of Health. NYeC will negotiate contract terms upon selection. All contracts are subject to review by NYeC legal counsel and a project will be awarded upon the signing of an agreement or contract, which outlines terms, scope, budget and other necessary items. Note that many of our contract terms and conditions are required by the funding source for the project and are non-negotiable. Please also note that payments under contracts awarded for invoiced amounts will be subject to payment to NYeC by DOH under the EP2 Contract. By submitting a response, the subcontractor represents that they have read and understand this RFP and can fulfill its requirements. Page 9 of 9 November 16, 2017