Billings Area Telehealth Services - Sources Sought/Request for Information

PERFORMANCE WORK STATEMENT GENERAL: This performance work statement (PWS) describes the requirements for non-personal Telehealth Services to support the mission of the Indian Health Service (IHS). Background: The Billings Area Indian Health Services (BAIHS) provides healthcare services to much of the Native American population within tribal communities of Montana where there are IHS healthcare facilities. Since most of the communities are in rural and remote areas, where alternative healthcare options are limited, the BAIHS intends to utilize telemedicine and tele-emergency services to provide essential patient care. The BAIHS requires a contractor to provide comprehensive telehealth services to improve access, quality, and timeliness of specialty and emergency care. SCOPE: The contractor shall provide comprehensive Telehealth Specialty Clinic Services, Telehealth Emergency Services Support, and Telehealth Behavioral Emergency Crisis Support Services to the BAIHS facilities. Each service will be provided according to performance standards defined in this PWS. The contractor shall be responsible for the planning, implementation, delivery, and management of these services on a basis of 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, 365 days per year and ensuring high-quality patient care while complying with all applicable federal regulations and standards. Places of Performance: Contracted telehealth services shall be performed through the BAIHS Network that consists of the following locations: Blackfeet Service Unit (BFSU): Blackfeet Community Hospital; Browning Montana Heart Butte Health Station; Heart Butte, Montana Crow Service Unit (CSU): Crow/Northern Cheyenne Hospital; Crow Agency, Montana Lodge Grass Health Clinic; Lodge Grass, Montana Pryor Health Station; Pryor, Montana Fort Belknap Service Unit (FBSU); Fort Belknap Hospital; Harlem, Montana Eagle Child Health Station; Hays, Montana Fort Peck Service Unit (FPSU); Verne E. Gibbs Clinic; Poplar, Montana Chief Redstone Clinic; Wolf Point, Montana Northern Cheyenne Service Unit (NCSU); Northern Cheyenne Health Clinic; Lame Deer, Montana Period of Performance: Base period of 12 months; with four (4) 12-month option periods: Base: 12-month period Option Year 1: 12-month option period Option Year 2: 12-month option period Option Year 3: 12-month option period Option Year 4: 12-month option period Hours of Operation: Normal Outpatient Hours are Monday thru Friday; 8:00am – 4:30pm (MST) for regularly scheduled appointments and walk-ins. Emergency Department, Urgent Care, and Inpatient Hours are 24 hours a day, every day of the year. Federal Holidays: The following holidays are observed by the BAIHS: New Year’s Day, Washington’s Birthday, Martin Luther King’s Birthday, Memorial Day, Juneteenth, Independence Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas, any day specifically declared to be a national holiday. APPLICABLE DOCUMENTS: The Joint Commission; http://www.jointcommission.org Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Standards. Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996. Privacy Act of 1974. Computer Security Act of 1987. https://www.congress.gov/bill/100th-congress/house-bill/145 IHS Information Technology and Records Security and Safeguard Policies. IHS Computer Security Directives. IHS Director’s initiatives. HHS Information Security Program Policy. HHS Office of Security and Drug Testing, Personnel Security/Suitability Handbook, dated February 1, 2005. DEFINITIONS: Contracting Officer (CO): A Government employee authorized and warranted to issue contracts, and to make subsequent modification(s). The CO has full authority to make determinations on all changes and disputes regarding the contract. Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR): An individual who is authorized/appointed by the contracting officer, that is responsible for monitoring the technical and administrative aspects of contractor performance throughout the contract lifecycle. Contractor: The individual awarded a legal binding contract to provide Telemedicine Services as described in this performance work statement. Credentialing: The process of verifying information about providers/physicians to ensure legitimacy and experience from the time they receive their degree until they apply at your facility. Credentialing is an activity that may be broken into three distinct phases: Data gathering, verification, storage, dissemination and recommendation to the CMO Analysis of collected information and development of a recommendation (CMO to the Medical Staff) Decision-making based upon recommendations (governing body) Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR): The FAR is the primary regulation for use by all Federal Executive agencies in their acquisition of supplies and services with appropriated funds. Health Center: A facility physically separated from a hospital, with a full range of ambulatory services including at least primary care physicians, nursing, laboratory, and x-ray which are available at least 40 hours a week for outpatient care. HL7 format: Health Level Seven is one of several American National Standards Institute. “Level Seven” refers to the highest level of the International Standards Organization’s (ISO) communications model for Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) – the application level. The application level addresses definition of the data to be exchanged, the timing of the interchange, and the communication of certain errors to the application. The seventh level supports such functions as security checks, participant identification, availability checks, exchange mechanism negotiations and, most importantly, data exchange structuring. Hospital Representative: An employee designated (by the Contracting Officer) to be the primary contact at a facility. The Hospi…