Electronic Bed Board

STATE OF VERMONT
AGENCY OF HUMAN SERVICES
DEPARTMENT OF MENTAL HEALTH

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS
RFP47


ISSUE DATE: April 5, 2019
RFP RESPONSES DUE BY: April 26, 2019


OVERVIEW

The Department of Mental Health (DMH) is soliciting competitive sealed, fixed proposals (Proposals) for maintenance and operation of Vermont’s existing E-bed board functionality to meet ongoing business needs. This bid is limited to performing essential operational maintenance and minor updating of its current electronic bed board system.


RFP OBJECTIVE

To maintain Vermont’s E-bed board’s current functionality and operations.


BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ORGANIZATION

DMH is the state mental health authority for public mental health policy, programs and services. DMH is responsible for providing services to adults who have a severe and persistent mental illness and children experiencing severe emotional disturbance. Additionally, DMH is

statutorily responsible for the integration and coordination of these programs and services with those offered by other departments of the state, its political subdivisions, and private agencies in order to provide a flexible and comprehensive system of mental health services to those in need.

SCOPE OF SERVICES REQUESTED

Individuals experiencing a psychiatric crisis can often experience long delays in accessing appropriate services. Delays can result in long waits at home, in emergency departments, or in jails for appropriate available services. Psychiatric bed registries are systems that efficiently allow users to find appropriate inpatient psychiatric treatment for patients in need of such care. These registries should have the ability to collect, aggregate, and display data on the availability of acute beds, including the beds available in public and private inpatient psychiatric facilities, residential programs, and other crisis bed programs. The current registry allows a range of level of care options that can best meet the individualized needs of those presenting for services.

SERVICE OUTCOMES & DELIVERABLES

To maintain current functionality of the bed board so that it can continue to support an individual’s transitions in care by identifying for providers on-line bed occupancy data and anticipated availability.

PROPOSAL FORMAT

Use standard 8.5” X 11” page size. Documents must be single-spaced and use not less than a twelve-point font. Pages must be numbered. The proposal should be comprehensive, yet concise. The proposal must follow the sequence of information requested in the “Bid Requirements” section below. State your organization’s name on each page of your program proposal/bid and on any other information you are submitting.

1. A brief description of the organization which includes its history, organization structure and size, and qualifications to provide the required services.

2. A statement and discussion of the Proposer’s analysis of the RFP requirements. This should include.

• How the staff and services needed will provided

• Statement and discussion of anticipated major difficulties and problem areas (if any), together with potential or recommended approaches to their solution.

3. Acknowledgement of agreement with customary State and Agency terms and conditions contained in Attachments C-F.

COVER LETTER

Please provide an introduction to your company and proposal via a cover letter. All bids submitted to the State are considered public records. Please note in your cover letter if any information in your proposal is considered proprietary and confidential.

CONFIDENTIALITY
To the extent your bid contains information you consider to be proprietary and confidential, you must comply with the following requirements concerning the contents of your cover letter and the submission of a redacted copy of your bid (or affected portions thereof).

The successful response will become part of the contract file and will be a matter of public record, as will all other responses received. If the response includes material that is considered by the bidder to be proprietary and confidential under the State’s Public Records Act, 1 V.S.A. § 315 et seq., the bidder shall submit a cover letter that clearly identifies each page or section of the response that it believes is proprietary and confidential. The bidder shall also provide in their cover letter a written explanation for each marked section explaining why such material should be considered exempt from public disclosure in the event of a public records request, pursuant to 1 V.S.A. § 317(c), including the prospective harm to the competitive position of the bidder if the identified material were to be released. Additionally, the bidder must include a redacted copy of its response for portions that are considered proprietary and confidential. Redactions must be limited so that the reviewer may understand the nature of the information being withheld. It is typically inappropriate to redact entire pages, or to redact the titles/captions of tables and figures. Under no circumstances can the entire response be marked confidential, and the State reserves the right to disqualify responses so marked.


DELIVERY OF PROPOSALS


Proposals must be received no later than 4:30 pm EST on April 26, 2019 at the following address:

Jennifer Rowell
280 State Drive, NOB 2 North
Waterbury, Vermont 05671-2010


Please provide both an electronic and hard copy of the proposal to: Jennifer.Rowell@vermont.gov

Please use MS Office and/or standard PDF files.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

DMH reserves the right to accept or reject any or all bids. If a contractor is selected, representatives will be invited to negotiate a contract.

DMH will not pay any bidder costs associated with preparing or presenting any proposal in response to this RFP.

The contractor will agree to the State of Vermont usual contract and payment provisions. These specifications are posted with this RFP and include:
• Attachment C: Customary Provisions for Contracts and Grants
• Attachment D: Information Technology Professional Services Terms and Conditions
• Attachment E: Business Associate Agreement
• Attachment F: AHS Customary Contract Provision