ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION SYSTEM - ENHANCED SEARCH TOOL
RFP 180000022
Issued November 3, 2017
The Department of Health and Social Services, Division of Public Assistance, is soliciting proposals for a Contractor to continuously deliver iterations of a search tool that finds information for a given person across multiple systems (EIS, ARIES) and returns search results to workers that accurately reflect the status of all program applications for a given person or household.
ISSUED BY:
Department of Health And Social Services
Division of Public Assistance
PRIMARY CONTACT:
Jon Geselle
Procurement Officer
[email protected]
(907) 465-6264
- Sec. 1.01 Purpose of the RFP
- Sec. 1.02 Budget
- Sec. 1.03 Deadline for Receipt of Proposals
- Sec. 1.04 Minimum Responsiveness
- Sec. 1.05 Required Review
- Sec. 1.06 Questions Prior to Deadline for Receipt of Proposals
- Sec. 1.07 Return Instructions
- Sec. 1.08 Proposal Contents
- Sec. 1.09 Assistance to Offerors with a Disability
- Sec. 1.10 Amendments to Proposals
- Sec. 1.11 Amendments to the RFP
- Sec. 1.12 RFP Schedule
- Sec. 1.13 Alternate Proposals
- Sec. 1.14 News Releases
- Sec. 3.01 Scope of Work
- Sec. 3.02 Requirements
- Sec. 3.03 Project Management Requirements
- Sec. 3.04 Transition Requirements
- Sec. 3.05 Personnel
- Sec. 3.06 Contract Term and Work Schedule
- Sec. 3.07 Deliverables
- Sec. 3.08 Contract Type
- Sec. 3.09 Proposed Payment Procedures
- Sec. 3.10 Prompt Payment For State Purchases
- Sec. 3.11 Contract Payment
- Sec. 3.12 Location of Work
- Sec. 3.13 Subcontractors
- Sec. 3.14 Joint Ventures
- Sec. 3.15 Contract Personnel
- Sec. 3.16 Inspection & Modification - Reimbursement for Unacceptable Deliverables
- Sec. 3.17 Contract Changes - Unanticipated Amendments
- Sec. 3.18 Nondisclosure and Confidentiality
- Sec. 3.19 Insurance Requirements
- Sec. 3.20 Termination for Default
- Sec. 3.21 Data Rights and Ownership of Deliverables
- Sec. 4.01 Proposal Format
- Sec. 4.02 Introduction
- Sec. 4.03 Technical Understanding and Approach
- Sec. 4.04 Project Management Approach
- Sec. 4.05 Aproach to User Interface and User Experience Design
- Sec. 4.06 Staffing Plan
- Sec. 4.07 Similar Experience and Qualifications
- Sec. 4.08 Verbal Presentation
- Sec. 4.09 Cost Proposal
- Sec. 4.10 Evaluation Criteria
- Sec. 5.01 Technical Understanding and Approach (10%)
- Sec. 5.02 Project Management Approach (5%)
- Sec. 5.03 Approach to User Interface and User Experience Design (5%)
- Sec. 5.04 Staffing Plan (10%)
- Sec. 5.05 Similar Experience (10%)
- Sec. 5.06 Verbal Presentation (30%)
- Sec. 5.07 Contract Cost (20%)
- Sec. 5.08 Alaska Offeror Preference (10%)
- Sec. 6.01 Informal Debriefing
- Sec. 6.02 Alaska Business License and Other Required Licenses
- Sec. 6.03 Clarification of Offers
- Sec. 6.04 Discussions with Offerors
- Sec. 6.05 Evaluation of Proposals
- Sec. 6.06 Contract Negotiation
- Sec. 6.07 Failure to Negotiate
- Sec. 6.08 Offeror Notification of Selection
- Sec. 6.09 Protest
- Sec. 6.10 Application of Preferences
- Sec. 6.11 Alaska Bidder Preference
- Sec. 6.12 Alaska Veteran Preference
- Sec. 6.13 Alaska Offeror Preference
- Sec. 6.14 Formula Used to Convert Cost to Points
- Sec. 6.15 Examples: Converting Cost to Points & Applying Preferences
- Sec. 7.01 Standard Contract Provisions
- Sec. 7.02 Proposal as a Part of the Contract
- Sec. 7.03 Additional Terms and Conditions
- Sec. 7.04 Human Trafficking
- Sec. 7.05 Right of Rejection
- Sec. 7.06 State Not Responsible for Preparation Costs
- Sec. 7.07 Disclosure of Proposal Contents
- Sec. 7.08 Assignment
- Sec. 7.09 Disputes
- Sec. 7.10 Severability
- Sec. 7.11 Supplemental Terms and Conditions
- Sec. 7.12 Contract Invalidation
- Sec. 7.13 Solicitation Advertising
- Sec. 7.14 Section 508 Compliance
- Exhibit 1. Cost Proposal
- Exhibit 2. Certification Regarding Debarment
- Exhibit 3. Proposal Evaluation Form
- Exhibit 4. Standard Agreement Form (With Appendices)
The Department of Health and Social Services, Division of Public Assistance, is soliciting proposals for a Contractor to continuously deliver iterations of a search tool that finds information for a given person across multiple systems (EIS, ARIES) and returns search results to workers that accurately reflect the status of all program applications for a given person or household. More detailed information about the project can be found in SECTION 3.01 Scope of Work.
Department of Health and Social Services, Division of Public Assistance, estimates a budget of $300,000 dollars for completion of this project. Proposals priced at more than this amount will be considered non-responsive.
Approval or continuation of a contract resulting from this is contingent upon legislative appropriation.
Proposals must be received no later than 4:00 PM prevailing Alaska Time on November 27, 2017. Faxed, emailed, and oral proposals are not acceptable.
In order for offers to be considered responsive offerors must meet the following minimum requirements:
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The offeror must provide two examples of web-based platforms. While not required, we strongly prefer that at least one of these projects have been developed and released using open source principles and licensing. The examples provided must reflect aspects of data security, and should show aspects of strong user driven design in a web application.** The projects must have been delivered by either a) the offeror itself or, alternatively, b) a teaming partner that is proposed in response to this RFP, or, alternatively, c) any Key Personnel that is being proposed in response to this RFP. In the project summary, be sure to identify how the offeror’s team was involved in the development. At a minimum, provide:
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Recent and similar technical scope is past experience with building usable, responsive, user-facing web applications, within the past three (3) years.
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We prefer links to the public Git repository that includes the source code that was developed and accepted for the project. Actual access to a publicly available Git repository is strongly encouraged over screenshots of private repositories. The summary should also include live links of the final product or current staging environment. If live links are not available, screenshots can be provided, along with a brief explanation as to why the project is no longer live. Note that screenshots will not be counted towards your 7-page limitation; please provide screenshots as attachments. The projects should be recent and similar to the size and technical scope of this requirement.
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The vendor must have experience working with clients using modern software development approaches. These approaches must include cross-functional teams that use human-centered design, build with modern technology stacks, and use an iterative, agile approach to continuously deliver working software to their clients;
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The vendor’s team must ensure their agile ceremonies are conducted at times that are consistent with the State of Alaska’s normal business hours (8:00AM–5:00PM Alaska Prevailing Time).
An offeror's failure to meet these minimum requirements may cause their proposal to be considered non-responsive and their proposal may be rejected.
Offerors should carefully review this solicitation for defects and questionable or objectionable material. Comments concerning defects and objectionable material must be made in writing and received by the procurement officer at least ten days before the deadline for receipt of proposals. This will allow time for the issuance of any necessary amendments. It will also help prevent the opening of a defective solicitation and exposure of offeror's proposals upon which award could not be made. Protests based on any omission or error, or on the content of the solicitation, will be disallowed if these faults have not been brought to the attention of the procurement officer, in writing, at least ten days before the deadline for receipt of proposals.
Questions or comments regarding this RFP shall be submitted as issues within this RFP's GitHub repository no later than 5:00 PM (Alaska Prevailing time) on November 15, 2017, to allow the State sufficient time to respond. All questions and comments will be publicly available. Please subscribe to the repository if your firm would like updates about changes and comments. Questions or comments received after the required deadline may not be answered.
Questions may also be submitted in writing to the Procurement Officer, who will post them as issues with the GitHub repository listed above.
PROCUREMENT OFFICER: Jon Geselle – PHONE 907-465-6264 – EMAIL [email protected]
It is preferred that vendors submit responses directly through the State of Alaska IRIS Vendor Self-Service (VSS) Portal, located here: https://iris-vss.alaska.gov/webapp/PRDVSS1X1/AltSelfService. Vendors that submit their proposals through IRIS MUST ensure that their cost proposal is loaded as a separate attachment from the proposal document.
Responses that are correctly submitted in the State of Alaska IRIS Vendor Self-Service (VSS) Portal will generate a confirmation email sent to the individual registered as the point of contact for the vendor.
If submitting a response through IRIS VSS, that response is sufficient, and you may disregard the following return instructions.
Offerors must submit one hard copy of their proposal, in writing, to the procurement officer in a sealed package. The cost proposal included with the package must be sealed separately from the rest of the proposal and must be clearly identified. The sealed proposal package(s) must be addressed as follows:
Department of Health & Social ServicesDivision of Finance & Management Services
Attention: Jon Geselle
Request for Proposal (RFP) Number: 180000022
RFP Title: Eligibility Information System - Enhanced Search Tool
If using U.S. mail, please use the following address:
PO BOX 11065JUNEAU, AK 99811-0650
If using a delivery service, please use the following address:
333 WILLOUGHBY AVE., ROOM 760JUNEAU, AK 99801
An offeror’s failure to submit its proposal prior to the deadline will cause the proposal to be disqualified. Late proposals or amendments will not be opened or accepted for evaluation.
The following information must be included in all proposals:
All proposals must be signed by an individual authorized to bind the offeror to the provisions of the RFP. Proposals must remain open and valid for at least 90-days from the date set as the deadline for receipt of proposals.
By signature on the proposal, offerors certify that they comply with the following:
A. the laws of the State of Alaska;
B. the applicable portion of the Federal Civil Rights Act of 1964;
C. the Equal Employment Opportunity Act and the regulations issued thereunder by the federal government;
D. the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and the regulations issued thereunder by the federal government;
E. all terms and conditions set out in this RFP;
F. a condition that the proposal submitted was independently arrived at, without collusion, under penalty of perjury;
G. that the offers will remain open and valid for at least 90 days; and
H. that programs, services, and activities provided to the general public under the resulting contract conform with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, and the regulations issued thereunder by the federal government.
If any offeror fails to comply with [a] through [h] of this paragraph, the state reserves the right to disregard the proposal, terminate the contract, or consider the contractor in default.
A valid Vendor Tax ID must be submitted to the issuing office with the proposal or within five days of the state's request.
Each proposal shall include a statement indicating whether or not the firm or any individuals working on the contract has a possible conflict of interest (e.g., currently employed by the State of Alaska or formerly employed by the State of Alaska within the past two years) and, if so, the nature of that conflict. The Commissioner of the Department of Health and Social Services reserves the right to consider a proposal non-responsive and reject it or cancel the award if any interest disclosed from any source could either give the appearance of a conflict or cause speculation as to the objectivity of the program to be developed by the offeror. The Commissioner's determination regarding any questions of conflict of interest shall be final.
The offeror must identify all known federal requirements that apply to the proposal, the evaluation, or the contract.
(f) Certification Regarding Debarment, Suspension, Ineligibility and Voluntary Exclusion Lower Tier Covered Transactions
Each proposal must include a signed certification form, see SECTION 8 EXHIBITS.
Offerors with a disability may receive accommodation regarding the means of communicating this RFP or participating in the procurement process. For more information, contact the procurement officer no later than ten days prior to the deadline for receipt of proposals.
Amendments to or withdrawals of proposals will only be allowed if acceptable requests are received prior to the deadline that is set for receipt of proposals. No amendments or withdrawals will be accepted after the deadline unless they are in response to the state's request in accordance with 2 AAC 12.290.
If an amendment is issued, it will be provided to all who were mailed a copy of the RFP and to those who have registered with the procurement officer after receiving the RFP from the State of Alaska Online Public Notice web site.
The RFP schedule set out herein represents the State of Alaska’s best estimate of the schedule that will be followed. If a component of this schedule, such as the deadline for receipt of proposals, is delayed, the rest of the schedule may be shifted by the same number of days.
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Issue RFP on November 3, 2017,
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Deadline for receipt of questions by November 15, 2017,
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Deadline for receipt of proposals on November 27, 2017,
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Interviews conducted with qualifying offerors on November 30- December 1, 2017,
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Proposal Evaluation Committee complete evaluation by December 4, 2017,
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State of Alaska issues Notice of Intent to Award a contract on December 4, 2017,
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State of Alaska issues contract on December 15, 2017.
This RFP does not, by itself, obligate the state. The state's obligation will commence when the contract is approved by the Commissioner of the Department of Health and Social Services, or the Commissioner's designee. Upon written notice to the contractor, the state may set a different starting date for the contract. The state will not be responsible for any work done by the contractor, even work done in good faith, if it occurs prior to the contract start date set by the state.
Offerors may only submit one proposal for evaluation.
In accordance with 2 AAC 12.830 alternate proposals (proposals that offer something different than what is asked for) will be rejected.
News releases related to this RFP will not be made without prior approval of the project director.
BACKGROUND
The background for this project as a whole is detailed in the project README in DHSS primary GitHub Repo. In short, for this first acquisition, we want to focus on providing value to our beneficiaries and constituents and provide a means to transition to a modular procurement model and agile development methodology. The product team has decided that building a robust person search would create a positive impact in a way that introduces the least risk to existing systems. We will learn a lot during this first acquisition that will help us tackle more invasive and risky acquisitions later on.
OBJECTIVES
Alaska Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS) goals for the person search are as follows:
Provide a single view of a client or applicant between the two places that information currently resides
Decreased burden on Division of Public Assistance (DPA) field staff as they process incoming applications for program benefits
Give DPA Field Staff a better sense of the nature of pending work by revealing all unworked applications for a given person or household
Increase the number of applications processed per worker, per day, so that potential beneficiaries can get their benefits sooner
Decrease time necessary for DPA field staff to get critical information on outstanding applications or ongoing assistance cases
Build the foundation for a performant and flexible search API that can be reused throughout the application for any view
The scope of this contract is for the Contractor to continuously deliver iterations of a search tool that finds information for a given person across multiple systems (EIS, ARIES) and returns search results to workers that accurately reflect the status of all program applications for a given person or household. The search tool will be used in production so that workers can give feedback as early and frequently as possible. At the end of the engagement, the search tool will already be in use by DPA workers.
The State of Alaska will provide documentation on how to access data sources, describe existing authentication systems, and discuss how to continuously deploy work to a staging environment.
The Contractor shall provide the following services:
Contractor shall review existing research artifacts and conduct additional user research in order to determine user needs so that the contractor can design and deliver interfaces/data views that are most useful.
Contractor shall conduct usability testing and gather feedback from DPA workers on an ongoing basis as solutions are explored and software is delivered, and incorporate feedback.
Contractor shall ensure that DPA field staff can search for needed information using a variety of search inputs, individually and in combination.
Contractor shall ensure that DPA field staff can get a comprehensive view across systems (EIS, ARIES) of relevant and useful data in a single search result.
Contractor shall provide DPA field staff with the ability to refine search results by filtering.
Contractor shall ensure that the search results help DPA field staff reliably identify potential unworked applications for the same family or individual.
Contractor shall ensure that DPA field staff can easily get to the search tool from within the existing ARIES system, and get to where they need to go from search result using Single Sign On (SSO) or current authentication scheme.
Contractor shall continuously deliver working software for use in the Alaska production environment.
Additional requirements:
Contractor shall use proven open source libraries that are well supported and documented so that future vendors can contribute more easily. Before any libraries are chosen, the Alaska product team will evaluate them to determine if they meet these conditions.
Contractor shall abide by best practices around unit and integration testing for both front-end and back-end components.
Contractor shall ensure the design aligns with the modular product design strategy from the beginning so that future vendors can integrate more easily with the overall experience.
Contractor shall ensure pages load efficiently across geographies and display/function properly on different device types and using various modern and necessary browsers.
All software code delivered under this order shall comply with the 18F open source policy in effect as of the date of award.
All software code delivered under this order shall comply with the 18F accessibility guidelines in effect as of the date of award.
APIs should comply with the 18F API standards
Work will be conducted in two-week sprints and reviewed at the end of each sprint for acceptability before moving on.
Contractor shall ensure that system documentation is as automated as possible so that it does not have to be updated manually.
Contractor shall work with the State of Alaska to ensure that support and operations teams are trained.
Note the following tasks are not required:
Vendor will not be required to handle any of the following tasks:
Provide or configure hosting of the data or the site
Directly create, update, or delete the data
Project Management
The contractor shall provide a Project Manager point of contact for the Alaska product team for problem resolution, Program Management reporting in accordance with Program Management methodologies, and staffing requirements. Sprint plans will be developed collaboratively with the Alaska product team.
Impact Reports
The contractor shall be responsible for providing notification to the Alaska product team when there are activities or issues outside of the contractor’s control, which directly impact the contractor’s performance. This notification shall be provided in writing or via email within 24 hours of the anticipated or known impact.
Status Reports
In lieu of a typical status report, the following are required to document progress over the course of the period of performance for each sprint:
Links to relevant Github branches, pull requests, and/or commits
Screenshots of any available visualization (as appropriate)
Screenshot, links, or other documentation from the contractor’s project management system reflecting completed features, including number and percentage of completed sprint tasks (e.g. percentage of tasks completed)
Ongoing access to the contractor’s project management tool to view development status
Daily Operations
Daily operations will be managed by the contractor’s project manager, but coordinated to and communicated with the Alaska product team. They may include:
Daily standup via video
Chat operations via Slack
Manage and update user stories + workflow tasks in shared project management platform
Transition Activities
The Contractor shall:
a) Ensure and agree that all deliverables, products, licenses, designs, data, documentation, tests, user research notes, source code, configuration settings and files, and materials developed throughout this contract will be the property of the State of Alaska and in the public domain.
b) During the transition to the State of Alaska and/or a new contractor, the Contractor shall perform all necessary transition activities, including, but not limited to, continued full services to DPA; participation, at discretion of Alaska product team, in meetings with the State of Alaska or new contractor to effect a smooth transition and provide detailed information on the operation of all deliverables; training of new personnel (contractor or State) during transition period, appropriate close-out of outstanding technical and related work.
c) Deliver a final report that shall include list of sprint tasks completed, documentation, and link to code repository. Should the Contract be terminated prior to the end of the period of performance, the Contractor shall transfer all project materials to the COR within two weeks of the COR’s request.
Alaska envisions the need for the following skillsets as part of the Contractors' team:
- Project manager
- Technical lead
- Developers (Front-end, Back-end or full stack)
- Researcher
- User experience designer
- Visual designer
- Scrum Master (or equivalent)
Desired Skills and Knowledge
The Contractor team shall have knowledge and skills in the following areas:
Microsoft Technology:
- Azure cloud platform
- ASP.NET web applications
- .NET Core framework
- C# language
- SQL Server
General Technology:
- HTML, CSS
- Javascript
- Responsive design
- SQL (language)
- Git
- Experience working with SOAP APIs and using / building REST APIs
- Service-based architecture
- Automated unit and integration testing
- Continuous integration and continuous delivery
Key Personnel
The following requirements related to personnel must be met:
a) The Contractor shall assign to perform this contract those persons whose résumés are submitted with its quotation and who are identified in the Contractor’s quotation as Key Personnel.
b) At a minimum, a Project Manager and a Technical Lead must be identified and designated as Key Personnel.
The Project Manager will be a direct liaison to the Alaska product team. The Project Manager is responsible for the supervision and management of the Contractor’s personnel, technical assistance, and interface. Desired skills/experience for the Project Manager include:
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Experience in technical leadership.
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Ability to rapidly prioritize competing requirements.
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Ability to understand and simplify customer requirements.
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Ability to communicate end user feedback to technical and design leads.
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Strong communication skills.
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Proven knowledge of industry standards.
The Technical Lead must have a full understanding of the technical approach discussed in the proposal / interview and is responsible for ensuring that the contractor follows the proposed approach.
The length of the contract will be from the date of award, approximately December 15, 2017 for approximately 4 months until completion, approximately April 15, 2018.
| Deliverable | Due Date | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Code & Status Reports | 1 business day after each sprint | Demonstration of progress throughout each sprint. |
| Code Repository of Product | Continuously delivered throughout contract | Version-controlled Open Source repository of code that comprises product. Any incomplete code will be delivered at end of contract. |
| Research | A research plan shall be delivered during the first sprint. Research-related records shall be delivered at the end of the second sprint and every applicable sprint. thereafter | A summary of research conducted and results found. If applicable, next steps or recommendations based on research. |
| Design Deliverables | End of every applicable sprint | Mock ups and/or design files if applicable, or design changes reflected in the Development Prototype. |
The contractor shall submit all deliverables to the Alaska product team.
Delivery Instructions
Code deliverables shall be submitted via Git PRs to the VSTS repository. A copy of any document deliverables shall be submitted to the Alaska product team.
Inspection and Acceptance of Services
All periodic reports and deliverables shall be inspected, tested (where applicable), reviewed, and accepted by the Alaska product team, prior to sprint conclusion and deployment to the staging and production environments.
Only the Alaska product team has the authority to inspect, accept, or reject all deliverables.
Acceptance of services and deliverables will be based on the criteria laid out in the quality acceptance plan.
System Documentation
The Contractor shall consult with the Alaska product team to determine what is appropriate, effective, and essential for system documentation. The State requires, at a minimum, that the contractor will generate comprehensive and complete documentation, both within the code itself, within the source code version control system (e.g., through proper use of descriptive commit messages, issue tracking, pull requests, etc.), and as appropriate, in separate documentation, provide artifacts, and create new user stories based on each sprint.
Quality Assurance
The Contractor shall comply with the acceptable quality levels (AQL) in the attached quality assurance plan (QAP).
This contract is a time and materials contract with a not to exceed amount.
The state will make payments based on a negotiated payment schedule. Each billing must consist of an invoice and progress report. No payment will be made until the progress report and invoice has been approved by the project director.
The state is eligible to receive a 5% discount for all invoices paid within 15 business days from the date of receipt of the commodities or services and/or a correct invoice, whichever is later. The discount shall be taken on the full invoice amount. The state shall consider payment being made as either the date a printed warrant is issued or the date an electronic funds transfer (EFT) is initiated.
No payment will be made until the contract is approved by the Commissioner of the Department of Health and Social Services or the Commissioner's designee. Under no conditions will the state be liable for the payment of any interest charges associated with the cost of the contract.
The state is not responsible for and will not pay local, state, or federal taxes. All costs associated with the contract must be stated in U.S. currency.
The location(s) the work is to be performed, completed and managed is at the discretion of the contractor.
Travel to Alaska is anticipated for the purposes of user research and stakeholder meetings. A separate line item shall be included for travel for each period and the estimated travel expenses are provided below for each period. Travel shall be billed and reimbursed in accordance with the Federal Travel Regulation. All travel must be pre-approved in writing by the Project Director. Travel shall not to be charged as other direct costs (ODC).
By signature on their proposal, the offeror certifies that all services provided under this contract by the contractor and all subcontractors shall be performed in the United States.
If the offeror cannot certify that all work will be performed in the United States, the offeror must contact the procurement officer in writing to request a waiver at least 10 days prior to the deadline for receipt of proposals.
The request must include a detailed description of the portion of work that will be performed outside the United States, where, by whom, and the reason the waiver is necessary.
Failure to comply with these requirements may cause the state to reject the proposal as non-responsive, or cancel the contract.
Subcontractors may be used to perform work under this contract. If an offeror intends to use subcontractors, the offeror must identify in the proposal the names of the subcontractors and the portions of the work the subcontractors will perform.
Subcontractor experience shall be considered in determining whether the offeror meets the requirements set forth in SECTION 1.04 - Minimum Responsiveness
If a proposal with subcontractors is selected, the offeror must provide the following information concerning each prospective subcontractor within five working days from the date of the state's request:
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complete name of the subcontractor;
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complete address of the subcontractor;
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type of work the subcontractor will be performing;
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percentage of work the subcontractor will be providing;
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evidence that the subcontractor holds a valid Alaska business license; and
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a written statement, signed by each proposed subcontractor that clearly verifies that the subcontractor is committed to render the services required by the contract.
An offeror's failure to provide this information, within the time set, may cause the state to consider their proposal non-responsive and reject it. The substitution of one subcontractor for another may be made only at the discretion and prior written approval of the project director.
Joint ventures will not be allowed.
Any change to the key personnel, as identified during project kick-off, must be approved, in advance and in writing, by the project director. Personnel changes that are not approved by the state may be grounds for the state to terminate the contract.
The contractor is responsible for the completion of all work set out in the contract. All work is subject to inspection, evaluation, and approval by the project director. The Quality Assurance Plan, attached separately, provides additional information regarding the deliverable acceptance process.
During the course of this contract, the contractor may be required to perform additional work. That work will be within the general scope of the initial contract. When additional work is required, the project director will provide the contractor a written description of the additional work and request the contractor to submit a firm time schedule for accomplishing the additional work and a firm price for the additional work. Cost and pricing data must be provided to justify the cost of such amendments per AS 36.30.400.
The contractor will not commence additional work until the project director has secured any required state approvals necessary for the amendment and issued a written contract amendment, approved by the Commissioner of the Department of Health and Social Services or the Commissioner's designee.
Contractor agrees that all confidential information shall be used only for purposes of providing the deliverables and performing the services specified herein and shall not disseminate or allow dissemination of confidential information except as provided for in this section. The contractor shall hold as confidential and will use reasonable care (including both facility physical security and electronic security) to prevent unauthorized access by, storage, disclosure, publication, dissemination to and/or use by third parties of, the confidential information. “Reasonable care” means compliance by the contractor with all applicable federal and state law, including the Social Security Act and HIPAA. The contractor must promptly notify the state in writing if it becomes aware of any storage, disclosure, loss, unauthorized access to or use of the confidential information.
Confidential information, as used herein, means any data, files, software, information or materials (whether prepared by the state or its agents or advisors) in oral, electronic, tangible or intangible form and however stored, compiled or memorialized that is classified confidential as defined by State of Alaska classification and categorization guidelines provided by the state to the contractor or a contractor agent or otherwise made available to the contractor or a contractor agent in connection with this contract, or acquired, obtained or learned by the contractor or a contractor agent in the performance of this contract. Examples of confidential information include, but are not limited to: technology infrastructure, architecture, financial data, trade secrets, equipment specifications, user lists, passwords, research data, and technology data (infrastructure, architecture, operating systems, security tools, IP addresses, etc).
If confidential information is requested to be disclosed by the contractor pursuant to a request received by a third party and such disclosure of the confidential information is required under applicable state or federal law, regulation, governmental or regulatory authority, the contractor may disclose the confidential information after providing the state with written notice of the requested disclosure (to the extent such notice to the state is permitted by applicable law) and giving the state opportunity to review the request. If the contractor receives no objection from the state, it may release the confidential information within 30 days. Notice of the requested disclosure of confidential information by the contractor must be provided to the state within a reasonable time after the contractor’s receipt of notice of the requested disclosure and, upon request of the state, shall seek to obtain legal protection from the release of the confidential information.
The following information shall not be considered confidential information: information previously known to be public information when received from the other party; information freely available to the general public; information which now is or hereafter becomes publicly known by other than a breach of confidentiality hereof; or information which is disclosed by a party pursuant to subpoena or other legal process and which as a result becomes lawfully obtainable by the general public.
The successful offeror must provide proof of workers' compensation insurance prior to contract approval.
The successful offeror must secure the insurance coverage required by the state. The coverage must be satisfactory to the Department of Administration Division of Risk Management. An offeror's failure to provide evidence of such insurance coverage is a material breach and grounds for withdrawal of the award or termination of the contract.
Offerors must review form APPENDIX B1 / APPENDIX B2, included in the Standard Agreement Form in SECTION 8 EXHIBITS, for details on required coverage. No alteration of these requirements will be permitted without prior written approval from the Department of Administration, Division of Risk Management. Objections to any of the requirements in APPENDIX B1 / APPENDIX B2 must be set out in the offeror’s proposal.
If the project director determines that the contractor has refused to perform the work or has failed to perform the work with such diligence as to ensure its timely and accurate completion, the state may, by providing written notice to the contractor, terminate the contractor's right to proceed with part or all of the remaining work.
This clause does not restrict the state's termination rights under the contract provisions of the Standard Agreement Form, attached in SECTION 8 EXHIBITS.
It is the State of Alaska's intent that any data or deliverable created as a result of the work performed under this contract be committed to the public domain.
It is the intention of the Alaska product team to commit the following, but not limited to, items to the public domain: all data, documents, graphics and code created under this task order including but not limited to, plans, reports, schedules, schemas, metadata, architecture designs, and the like; new open source software created by the contractor and forks or branches of current open source software where the contractor has made a modification; new tooling, scripting configuration management, infrastructure as code, or any other final changes or edits to successfully deploy or operate the software.
The contractor shall use open source technologies wherever possible. All licenses must be expressly listed in the deliverable. Regardless of license(s) used (e.g., MIT, GPL, Creative Commons 0) the license(s) shall be clearly listed in the documentation.
If the contractor needs to use work that does not have an open source license, the contractor is required to request permission from the Alaska product team, in writing, before utilizing that work in any way in connection with the order. If approved, all licenses shall be clearly set forth in a conspicuous place when work is delivered to the Alaska product team.
If an open source license provides implementation guidance, the contractor shall ensure compliance with that guidance. If implementation guidance is not available, the contractor shall attach or include the license within the work itself. Examples of this include code comments at the beginning of a file or contained in a license file within a software repository.
The state discourages overly lengthy and costly proposals, with proposals of seven (7) or fewer pages encouraged. In order for the state to evaluate proposals fairly and completely, offerors must follow the format set out in this RFP and provide all information requested.
Proposals must include the complete name and address of offeror’s firm and the name, mailing address, and telephone number of the person the state should contact regarding the proposal.
Proposals must confirm that the offeror will comply with all provisions in this RFP; and, if applicable, provide notice that the firm qualifies as an Alaskan bidder. Proposals must be signed by a company officer empowered to bind the company. An offeror's failure to include these items in the proposals may cause the proposal to be determined to be non-responsive and the proposal may be rejected. See SECTION 1.08 Proposal Contents for more information.
Succinctly describe level of knowledge, technical expertise and overall understanding of the requirement as set forth in SECTION 3 SCOPE OF WORK & CONTRACT INFORMATION. This is also an opportunity to discuss, either in the written proposal or during the verbal presentation, any risks or opportunities associated with the Technology Services discussed in the Information Technology Requirements. Technical understanding and approach description is included as part of your seven-page limitation.
Offerors should plan to discuss, in their written proposal and/or during verbal presentations, the following areas of project management:
i. Project Coordination - Describe how you would work with the state product team to populate backlog, prioritize, estimate and schedule sprints. Offerors should also Describe how you would coordinate the agile ceremonies with the State Team.
ii. Risk Management - Discuss how the identification, classification, mitigation and documentation of risks would be addressed.
iii. Issue Management - Discuss how issues will be identified, addressed or escalated as needed.
iv. Testing - Describe your philosophy on testing, and how you would work with the State product team to integrate into the shared devops and CI pipeline. Describe how you envision incorporating user testing, and how you would align this with the CI activities.
v. Research - Describe an overview of your research process and how that will tie in with other delivery activities.
Proposals must contain information that describes how you will perform user experience and user interface design as a part of the overall user reaserch. The proposal should also contain information about how this research will be translated into relevant user stories and ultimately into working software.
Provide a Staffing Plan that describes your understanding of the requirements and details the number of personnel by skill level/labor category needed to satisfy the objectives and requirements in SECTION 3 SCOPE OF WORK & CONTRACT INFORMATION. The Staffing plan is included as part of your seven-page limitation. Resumes and letters of intent are not included as part of your seven-page limitation.
At a minimum, provide:
i. Description of your staffing methodology based on your understanding of the requirements;
ii. A breakdown of labor categories, including the title, number of personnel, and hours; and
iii. A list of Key Personnel by name, title, contact information, proposed duties and roles, and resumes for each proposed Key Personnel in accordance with SECTION 3.05 Personnel. Resumes should include a description of the experience and capability for all Key Personnel proposed for the offeror’s project team. Resumes should also address the individual’s technical background, education, work experience, and accomplishments related to the activities described in this RFP. The proposal of any key personnel not currently employed by the offeror or teaming partners shall be accompanied by letters of intent signed by proposed Key Personnel.
The offeror must provide two examples of web-based platforms. While not required, we strongly prefer that at least one of these projects have been developed and released using open source principles and licensing. The examples provided must reflect aspects of data security, and should show aspects of strong user driven design in a web application. The project must have been delivered by either a) the offeror itself or, alternatively, b) a teaming partner that is proposed in response to this RFP, or, alternatively, c) any Key Personnel that is being proposed in response to this RFP. In the project summary, be sure to identify how the offeror’s team was involved in the development. The project(s) submitted for Similar Experience is included as part of your seven-page limitation, unless noted otherwise below.
At a minimum, provide:
i. Recent and similar technical scope is past experience with building usable, responsive, consumer facing website built within the past three (3) years.
ii. The summary shall include links to the public Git repository that includes the source code that was developed and accepted for the project. Actual access to a publicly available Git repository is strongly encouraged over screenshots of private repositories. The summary should also include live links of the final product or current staging environment. If live links are not available, screenshots can be provided, along with a brief explanation as to why the project is no longer live. Note that screenshots will not be counted towards your 7-page limitation; please provide screenshots as attachments. The projects should be recent and similar to the size and technical scope of this requirement.
Responsive offerors will be invited to participate in a verbal presentation to be evaluated. The verbal presentation will consist of an unstructured question and answer session. The entire verbal presentation will take place remotely via video chat and/or teleconference.
| No. | Agenda Item | Maximum Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Introductions | Approximately 5 minutes |
| 2 | Open Technical Session | 60 minutes |
| 3 | Closing Remarks | 5 minutes |
During the Open Technical Session, the Offeror will respond to the State’s questions related to the technical aspects of the Offeror’s proposal. Offerors will not be able to use or present slides, graphs, charts or any other written presentation materials, including handouts.
Introductions will be used solely for introducing team member’s names and roles on both the Government and vendor teams. Time for introductions will not be allocated to business development purposes.
Although the technical factors are identified in the RFP, the core questions are not listed there. Offerors must be prepared to answer questions about the technical aspects of their proposal. The goal of these presentations is to assess the technical abilities of the proposed Key Personnel and further elaborate on their proposed technical approach described in their written proposal to accomplish the objectives of this task.
This part of the verbal presentations will not exceed 60 minutes. The Procurement Officer will strictly enforce this time limit on all presentations. There will be no follow-up session for further questions after this part of the presentation.
The State will schedule the date and time of the verbal presentations with each Offeror after the solicitation closing date and receiving each Offeror’s quote submission. The State reserves the right to reschedule any Offeror’s verbal presentations date at the discretion of the contracting officer.
Verbal Presentations will take place via video chat, though audio may be substituted as needed. The Government will coordinate and set up the meeting space accordingly (providing dial-in information or links using a tool such as Google Hangouts, Zoom or Appear.in).
Proposed Key Personnel must participate in the verbal presentation. Otherwise, the Offeror will be considered non-responsive and excluded from further consideration.
Offerors may include as many participants as are necessary. Offerors should note that the State will be asking technical questions during the verbal presentation, so non-technical personnel may not need to attend.
All proposed Key Personnel currently employed by the Offeror or its teaming partners must attend the session - the State is most interested in hearing from staff who will have a direct role in completing the task.
After the presentations, vendors must email the meeting organizers the names of everyone who attended.
Cost proposals must include an itemized list of all direct and indirect costs associated with the performance of the contract, including, but not limited to, total number of hours at various hourly rates, direct expenses, payroll, supplies, overhead assigned to each person working on the project, percentage of each person's time devoted to the project, and profit.
All proposals will be reviewed to determine if they are responsive. Proposals determined to be responsive will be evaluated using the criterion that is set out in SECTION 5 EVALUATION CRITERIA AND CONTRACTOR SELECTION.
An evaluation may not be based on discrimination due to the race, religion, color, national origin, sex, age, marital status, pregnancy, parenthood, disability, or political affiliation of the offeror.
THE TOTAL NUMBER OF POINTS USED TO SCORE THIS PROPOSAL IS 1,000
The State will evaluate the offeror’s technical approach: level of knowledge, technical expertise, and overall understanding of the requirement. The State will also evaluate the offeror’s skills with open source software development and continuous deployment methods.
The State will evaluate the offeror's approach to project coordination, risk management, issue management, User testing, and user research coordination.
The State will evaluate the offeror's approach to user interface and user experience as they relate to the creation of user stories and delivery of working software.
The State will evaluate the offeror’s proposed staffing methodology and skill levels/labor categories as well as the availability and relevant work experience demonstrated by Key Personnel.
The State will evaluate the offeror’s experience in performing projects of similar scope and complexity. The State will also evaluate the offeror’s experience with open source software development, human-centered design, and continuous deployment methods.
The State will evaluate the offeror’s response to questions regarding the technical aspects of the proposal as discussed during the verbal presentation.
Overall, 20% of the total evaluation points will be assigned to cost. The cost amount used for evaluation may be affected by one or more of the preferences referenced under SECTION 6.12 Alaska Veteran Preference.
The lowest cost proposal will receive the maximum number of points allocated to cost. The point allocations for cost on the other proposals will be determined through the method set out in SECTION 6.14 Formula Used to Convert Cost to Points.
If an offeror qualifies for the Alaska Bidder Preference, the offeror will receive an Alaska Offeror Preference. The preference will be 10% of the total available points. This amount will be added to the overall evaluation score of each Alaskan offeror.
When the contract is completed, an informal debriefing may be performed at the discretion of the project director. If performed, the scope of the debriefing will be limited to the work performed by the contractor.
Prior to the award of a contract, an offeror must hold a valid Alaska business license. However, in order to receive the Alaska Bidder Preference and other related preferences, such as the Alaska Veteran and Alaska Offeror Preference, an offeror must hold a valid Alaska business license prior to the deadline for receipt of proposals. Offerors should contact the Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development, Division of Corporations, Business, and Professional Licensing, PO Box 110806, Juneau, Alaska 99811-0806, for information on these licenses. Acceptable evidence that the offeror possesses a valid Alaska business license may consist of any one of the following:
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copy of an Alaska business license;
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certification on the proposal that the offeror has a valid Alaska business license and has included the license number in the proposal;
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a canceled check for the Alaska business license fee;
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a copy of the Alaska business license application with a receipt stamp from the state's occupational licensing office; or
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a sworn and notarized statement that the offeror has applied and paid for the Alaska business license.
You are not required to hold a valid Alaska business license at the time proposals are opened if you possess one of the following licenses and are offering services or supplies under that specific line of business:
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fisheries business licenses issued by Alaska Department of Revenue or Alaska Department of Fish and Game,
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liquor licenses issued by Alaska Department of Revenue for alcohol sales only,
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insurance licenses issued by Alaska Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development, Division of Insurance, or
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Mining licenses issued by Alaska Department of Revenue.
Prior the deadline for receipt of proposals, all offerors must hold any other necessary applicable professional licenses required by Alaska Statute.
In order to determine if a proposal is reasonably susceptible for award, communications by the procurement officer or the proposal evaluation committee (PEC) are permitted with an offeror to clarify uncertainties or eliminate confusion concerning the contents of a proposal. Clarifications may not result in a material or substantive change to the proposal. The evaluation by the procurement officer or the PEC may be adjusted as a result of a clarification under this section.
The state may conduct discussions with offerors in accordance with AS 36.30.240 and 2 AAC 12.290. The purpose of these discussions will be to ensure full understanding of the requirements of the RFP and proposal. Discussions will be limited to specific sections of the RFP or proposal identified by the procurement officer. Discussions will only be held with offerors who have submitted a proposal deemed reasonably susceptible for award by the procurement officer. Discussions, if held, will be after initial evaluation of proposals by the procurement officer or the PEC. If modifications are made as a result of these discussions they will be put in writing. Following discussions, the procurement officer may set a time for best and final proposal submissions from those offerors with whom discussions were held. Proposals may be reevaluated after receipt of best and final proposal submissions.
If an offeror does not submit a best and final proposal or a notice of withdrawal, the offeror’s immediate previous proposal is considered the offeror’s best and final proposal.
Offerors with a disability needing accommodation should contact the procurement officer prior to the date set for discussions so that reasonable accommodation can be made. Any oral modification of a proposal must be reduced to writing by the offeror.
The procurement officer, or an evaluation committee made up of at least three state employees or public officials, will evaluate proposals. The evaluation will be based solely on the evaluation factors set out in SECTION 5 EVALUATION CRITERIA AND CONTRACTOR SELECTION.
After receipt of proposals, if there is a need for any substantial clarification or material change in the RFP, an amendment will be issued. The amendment will incorporate the clarification or change, and a new date and time established for new or amended proposals. Evaluations may be adjusted as a result of receiving new or amended proposals.
After final evaluation, the procurement officer may negotiate with the offeror of the highest-ranked proposal. Negotiations, if held, shall be within the scope of the request for proposals and limited to those items which would not have an effect on the ranking of proposals. If the highest-ranked offeror fails to provide necessary information for negotiations in a timely manner, or fails to negotiate in good faith, the state may terminate negotiations and negotiate with the offeror of the next highest-ranked proposal.
If the selected offeror
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fails to provide the information required to begin negotiations in a timely manner; or
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fails to negotiate in good faith; or
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indicates they cannot perform the contract within the budgeted funds available for the project; or
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if the offeror and the state, after a good faith effort, simply cannot come to terms,
the state may terminate negotiations with the offeror initially selected and commence negotiations with the next highest ranked offeror.
After the completion of contract negotiation the procurement officer will issue a written Notice of Intent to Award (NIA) and send copies to all offerors. The NIA will set out the names of all offerors and identify the proposal selected for award.
AS 36.30.560 provides that an interested party may protest the content of the RFP.
An interested party is defined in 2 AAC 12.990(a)(7) as "an actual or prospective bidder or offeror whose economic interest might be affected substantially and directly by the issuance of a contract solicitation, the award of a contract, or the failure to award a contract."
If an interested party wishes to protest the content of a solicitation, the protest must be received, in writing, by the procurement officer at least ten days prior to the deadline for receipt of proposals.
AS 36.30.560 also provides that an interested party may protest the award of a contract or the proposed award of a contract.
If an offeror wishes to protest the award of a contract or the proposed award of a contract, the protest must be received, in writing, by the procurement officer within ten days after the date the Notice of Intent to Award the contract is issued.
A protester must have submitted a proposal in order to have sufficient standing to protest the proposed award of a contract. Protests must include the following information:
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the name, address, and telephone number of the protester;
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the signature of the protester or the protester's representative;
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identification of the contracting agency and the solicitation or contract at issue;
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a detailed statement of the legal and factual grounds of the protest including copies of relevant documents; and the form of relief requested.
Protests filed by telex or telegram are not acceptable because they do not contain a signature. Fax copies containing a signature are acceptable.
The procurement officer will issue a written response to the protest. The response will set out the procurement officer's decision and contain the basis of the decision within the statutory time limit in AS 36.30.580. A copy of the decision will be furnished to the protester by certified mail, fax or another method that provides evidence of receipt.
All offerors will be notified of any protest. The review of protests, decisions of the procurement officer, appeals, and hearings, will be conducted in accordance with the State Procurement Code (AS 36.30), Article 8 "Legal and Contractual Remedies.”
Certain preferences apply to all contracts for professional services, regardless of their dollar value. The Alaska Bidder, Alaska Veteran, and Alaska Offeror preferences are the most common preferences involved in the RFP process. Additional preferences that may apply to this procurement are listed below. Guides that contain excerpts from the relevant statutes and codes, explain when the preferences apply and provide examples of how to calculate the preferences are available at the Department of Administration, Division of General Service’s web site:
http://doa.alaska.gov/dgs/pdf/pref1.pdf
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Alaska Products Preference - AS 36.30.332
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Recycled Products Preference - AS 36.30.337
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Local Agriculture and Fisheries Products Preference - AS 36.15.050
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Employment Program Preference - AS 36.30.321(b)
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Alaskans with Disabilities Preference - AS 36.30.321(d)
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Alaska Veteran’s Preference - AS 36.30.321(f)
The Division of Vocational Rehabilitation in the Department of Labor and Workforce Development keeps a list of qualified employment programs and individuals who qualify as persons with a disability. As evidence of a business’ or an individual's right to the Employment Program or Alaskans with Disabilities preferences, the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation will issue a certification letter. To take advantage of these preferences, a business or individual must be on the appropriate Division of Vocational Rehabilitation list prior to the time designated for receipt of proposals. Offerors must attach a copy of their certification letter to the proposal. An offeror's failure to provide this certification letter with their proposal will cause the state to disallow the preference.
An Alaska Bidder Preference of 5% will be applied to the price in the proposal. The preference will be given to an offeror who:
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holds a current Alaska business license prior to the deadline for receipt of proposals;
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submits a proposal for goods or services under the name appearing on the offeror’s current Alaska business license;
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has maintained a place of business within the state staffed by the offeror, or an employee of the offeror, for a period of six months immediately preceding the date of the proposal;
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is incorporated or qualified to do business under the laws of the state, is a sole proprietorship and the proprietor is a resident of the state, is a limited liability company (LLC) organized under AS 10.50 and all members are residents of the state, or is a partnership under AS 32.06 or AS 32.11 and all partners are residents of the state; and
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if a joint venture, is composed entirely of ventures that qualify under (1)-(4) of this subsection.
In order to receive the Alaska Bidder Preference, the proposal must include a statement certifying that the offeror is eligible to receive the Alaska Bidder Preference.
If the offeror is a LLC or partnership as identified in (4) of this subsection, the statement must also identify each member or partner and include a statement certifying that all members or partners are residents of the state.
If the offeror is a joint venture which includes a LLC or partnership as identified in (4) of this subsection, the statement must also identify each member or partner of each LLC or partnership that is included in the joint venture and include a statement certifying that all of those members or partners are residents of the state.
An Alaska Veteran Preference of 5%, not to exceed $5,000, will be applied to the price in the proposal. The preference will be given to an offeror who qualifies under AS 36.30.990(2) as an Alaska bidder and is a:
A. sole proprietorship owned by an Alaska veteran;
B. partnership under AS 32.06 or AS 32.11 if a majority of the partners are Alaska veterans;
C. limited liability company organized under AS 10.50 if a majority of the members are Alaska veterans; or
D. corporation that is wholly owned by individuals, and a majority of the individuals are Alaska veterans.
In order to receive the Alaska Veteran Preference, the proposal must include a statement certifying that the offeror is eligible to receive the Alaska Veteran Preference.
2 AAC 12.260(e) provides Alaska offerors a 10% overall evaluation point preference. Alaska bidders, as defined in AS 36.30.990(2), are eligible for the preference. An Alaska offeror will receive 10 percent of the total available points added to their overall evaluation score as a preference.
The distribution of points based on cost will be determined as set out in 2 AAC 12.260(c). The lowest cost proposal will receive the maximum number of points allocated to cost. The point allocations for cost on the other proposals will be determined using the formula:
[(Price of Lowest Cost Proposal) x (Maximum Points for Cost)] ÷ (Cost of Each Higher Priced Proposal)
List all proposal prices, adjusted where appropriate by the application of applicable preferences claimed by the offeror.
| Offeror | #1 | $40,000 |
| Offeror | #2 | $42,750 |
| Offeror | #3 | $47,500 |
In this example, the RFP allotted 40% of the available 100 points to cost. This means that the lowest cost will receive the maximum number of points.
The reason they receive that amount is because the lowest cost proposal, in this case $40,000, receives the maximum number of points allocated to cost, 40 points.
$40,000 lowest cost x 40 maximum points for cost = 1,600,000 ÷ $42,750 cost of Offeror #2’s proposal = 37.4
Offeror #3 receives 33.7 points.
$40,000 lowest cost x 40 maximum points for cost = 1,600,000 ÷ $47,500 cost of Offeror #3’s proposal = 33.7
Determine the number of points available to qualifying offerors under this preference.
100 Total Points Available in RFP x 10% Alaska offerors preference = 10 Points for the Preference
Determine which offerors qualify as Alaska bidders and thus, are eligible for the Alaska offerors preference. For the purpose of this example, presume that all of the proposals have been completely evaluated based on the evaluation criteria in the RFP. The scores at this point are:
| Offeror #1 | 83 points | No Preference | 0 points |
| Offeror #2 | 74 points | Alaska Offerors Preference | 10 points |
| Offeror #3 | 80 points | Alaska Offerors Preference | 10 points |
Add the applicable Alaska offerors preference amounts to the offeror’s scores:
| Offeror #1 | 83 points | |
| Offeror #2 | 84 points | (74 points + 10 points) |
| Offeror #3 | 90 points | (80 points + 10 points) |
Offeror #3 is the highest scoring offeror and would get the award, provided their proposal is responsible and responsive.
The contractor will be required to sign and submit the State's Standard Agreement Form for Professional Services Contracts (form 02-093/Appendix A). This form is attached in SECTION 8 EXHIBITS for your review. The contractor must comply with the contract provisions set out in this attachment. No alteration of these provisions will be permitted without prior written approval from the Department of Law. Objections to any of the provisions in Appendix A must be set out in the offeror’s proposal.
Part or all of this RFP and the successful proposal may be incorporated into the contract.
The state reserves the right to add terms and conditions during contract negotiations. These terms and conditions will be within the scope of the RFP and will not affect the proposal evaluations.
By signature on their proposal, the offeror certifies that the offeror is not established and headquartered or incorporated and headquartered in a country recognized as Tier 3 in the most recent United States Department of State’s Trafficking in Persons Report.
The most recent United States Department of State’s Trafficking in Persons Report can be found at the following website: http://www.state.gov/j/tip/
Failure to comply with this requirement will cause the state to reject the proposal as non-responsive, or cancel the contract.
Offerors must comply with all of the terms of the RFP, the State Procurement Code (AS 36.30), and all applicable local, state, and federal laws, codes, and regulations. The procurement officer may reject any proposal that does not comply with all of the material and substantial terms, conditions, and performance requirements of the RFP.
Offerors may not qualify the proposal nor restrict the rights of the state. If an offeror does so, the procurement officer may determine the proposal to be a non-responsive counter-offer and the proposal may be rejected.
Minor informalities that:
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do not affect responsiveness;
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are merely a matter of form or format;
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do not change the relative standing or otherwise prejudice other offers;
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do not change the meaning or scope of the RFP;
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are trivial, negligible, or immaterial in nature;
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do not reflect a material change in the work; or
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do not constitute a substantial reservation against a requirement or provision;
may be waived by the procurement officer.
The state reserves the right to refrain from making an award if it determines that to be in its best interest.
A proposal from a debarred or suspended offeror shall be rejected.
The state will not pay any cost associated with the preparation, submittal, presentation, or evaluation of any proposal.
All proposals and other material submitted become the property of the State of Alaska and may be returned only at the state's option. AS 40.25.110 requires public records to be open to reasonable inspection. All proposal information, including detailed price and cost information, will be held in confidence during the evaluation process and prior to the time a Notice of Intent to Award is issued. Thereafter, proposals will become public information.
Trade secrets and other proprietary data contained in proposals may be held confidential if the offeror requests, in writing, that the procurement officer does so, and if the procurement officer agrees, in writing, to do so. The offeror’s request must be included with the proposal, must clearly identify the information they wish to be held confidential, and include a statement that sets out the reasons for confidentiality. Unless the procurement officer agrees in writing to hold the requested information confidential, that information will also become public after the Notice of Intent to Award is issued.
Per 2 AAC 12.480, the contractor may not transfer or assign any portion of the contract without prior written approval from the procurement officer.
A contract resulting from this RFP is governed by the laws of the State of Alaska. If the contractor has a claim arising in connection with the agreement that it cannot resolve with the state by mutual agreement, it shall pursue the claim, if at all, in accordance with the provisions of AS 36.30.620 – AS 36.30.632. To the extent not otherwise governed by the preceding, the claim shall be brought only in the Superior Court of the State of Alaska and not elsewhere.
If any provision of the contract or agreement is declared by a court to be illegal or in conflict with any law, the validity of the remaining terms and provisions will not be affected; and, the rights and obligations of the parties will be construed and enforced as if the contract did not contain the particular provision held to be invalid.
Proposals must comply with SECTION 1.12 Right of Rejection. However, if the state fails to identify or detect supplemental terms or conditions that conflict with those contained in this RFP or that diminish the state's rights under any contract resulting from the RFP, the term(s) or condition(s) will be considered null and void. After award of contract:
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if conflict arises between a supplemental term or condition included in the proposal and a term or condition of the RFP, the term or condition of the RFP will prevail; and
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if the state's rights would be diminished as a result of application of a supplemental term or condition included in the proposal, the supplemental term or condition will be considered null and void.
If any provision of this contract is found to be invalid, such invalidation will not be construed to invalidate the entire contract.
Public notice has been provided in accordance with 2 AAC 12.220.
The contractor shall support the Government in its conformance with Section 508 throughout the development and implementation of the work to be performed.
Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended (29 U.S.C. 794d) requires that when Federal agencies develop, procure, maintain, or use electronic information technology, Federal employees with disabilities have access to and use of information and data that is comparable to the access and use by Federal employees who do not have disabilities, unless an undue burden would be imposed on the agency. Section 508 also requires that individuals with disabilities, who are members of the public seeking information or services from a Federal agency, have access to and use of information and data that is comparable to that provided to the public who are not individuals with disabilities, unless an undue burden would be imposed on the agency.
The following standard is applicable for compliance:
1194.22 Web-based Intranet and Internet Information and Applications.
The contractor should review the following websites for additional 508 information:
- Cost Proposal
- Certification Regarding Debarment
- Proposal Evaluation Form
- Standard Agreement Form - Appendices A–E
Attached separately:
- Quality Assurance Plan
- DHSS Project Management Requirements
- DHSS IT Requirements
COST PROPOSAL
Note: The purpose of the cost proposal is to provide a mechanism for offerors to submit their estimated level of effort and hourly rates so that DHSS can evaluate and score and then use to establish billing rates for the resultant contract. While total project cost is non-negotiable, DHSS may choose to reallocate the project funds based on the ongoing project needs.
Please provide your estimated cost for completion of all project roles and all related expenses required to fulfill the project requirements using the following format:
| Role (please provide a separate line for every role required for project completion) | Hourly Rate | Estimated Hours for Project Completion | Total Cost for Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| Materials, Travel, and all other non-personnel project costs (please itemize into categories) | |||
| TOTAL PROJECT BUDGET (not to exceed $300,000) |
** Note that the estimated level of effort and roles must align with the Staffing Plan included in your technical proposal.
CERTIFICATION REGARDING DEBARMENT, SUSPENSION, INELIGIBILITY AND VOLUNTARY EXCLUSION LOWER TIER COVERED TRANSACTIONS
Expenditures from this contract may involve federal funds. The U.S. Department of Labor requires all state agencies that are expending federal funds to have a certification filed by the contractor that they have not been debarred or suspended from doing business with the federal government. Certification regarding Debarment, Suspension, Ineligibility and Voluntary Exclusion Lower Tier Covered Transactions must be signed along with the contract documents.
This certification is required by the regulations implementing Executive Order 12549, Debarment and Suspension, 29 CFR Part 98, Section 98.510, Participant's responsibilities. The regulations were published as Part VII of the May 26, 1988 Federal Register (pages 19160-19211).
(BEFORE COMPLETING CERTIFICATION, READ THE INSTRUCTIONS ON THE FOLLOWING PAGE WHICH ARE AN INTEGRAL PART OF THE CERTIFICATION)
(1) The prospective recipient of Federal assistance funds certifies, by submission of this bid, that neither it nor its principals are presently debarred, suspended, proposed for debarment, declared ineligible, or voluntarily excluded from participation in this transaction by any Federal department or agency.
(2) Where the prospective recipient of Federal assistance funds is unable to certify to any of the Statements in this certification, such prospective participant shall attach an explanation to this Proposal.
____________________________________________________________________________
Name and Title of Authorized Representative
____________________________________________________________________________
Signature Date
Instructions for Certification
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By signing and submitting this Proposal, the prospective recipient of Federal assistance funds is providing the certification as set out below.
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The certification in this class is a material representation of fact upon which reliance was placed when this transaction was entered into. If it is later determined that the prospective recipient of Federal assistance funds knowingly rendered an erroneous certification, in addition to other remedies available to the Federal Government, the Department of Labor (DOL) may pursue available remedies, including suspension and/or debarment.
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The prospective recipient of Federal assistance funds shall provide immediate written notice to the person to whom this Proposal is submitted if at any time the prospective recipient of Federal assistance funds learns that its certification was erroneous when submitted or has become erroneous by reason of changed circumstances.
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The terms "covered transaction," "debarred," "suspended," "ineligible," "lower tier covered transaction," "participant," "person," "primary covered transaction," "principal," "Proposal," and "voluntarily excluded," as used in this clause, have the meanings set out in the Definitions and Coverage sections of rules implementing Executive Order 12549. You may contact the person to which this Proposal is submitted for assistance in obtaining a copy of those regulations.
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The prospective recipient of Federal assistance funds agrees by submitting this Proposal that, should the proposed covered transaction be entered into, it shall not knowingly enter into any lower tier covered transaction with a person who is debarred, suspended, declared ineligible, or voluntarily excluded from participation in this covered transaction, unless authorized by the DOL.
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The prospective recipient of Federal assistance funds further agrees by submitting this Proposal that it will include the clause titled "Certification Regarding Debarment, Suspension, Ineligibility and Voluntary Exclusion - Lower Tier Covered Transactions," without modification, in all lower tier covered transactions and in all solicitations for lower tier covered transactions.
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A participant in a covered transaction may rely upon a certification of a prospective participant in a lower tier covered transaction that it is not debarred, suspended, ineligible, or voluntarily excluded from the covered transaction, unless it knows that the certification is erroneous. A participant may decide the method and frequency by which it determines the eligibility of its principals. Each participant may but is not required to check the List of Parties Excluded from Procurement or Non-procurement Programs.
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Nothing contained in the foregoing shall be construed to require establishment of a system of records in order to render in good faith the certification required by this clause. The knowledge and information of a participant is not required to exceed that which is normally possessed by a prudent person in the ordinary course of business dealings.
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Except for transactions authorized under paragraph 5 of these instructions, if a participant in a covered transaction knowingly enters into a lower tier covered transaction with a person who is suspended, debarred, ineligible, or voluntarily excluded from participation in this transaction, in addition to other remedies available to the Federal Government, the DOL may pursue available remedies, including suspension and/or debarment
All proposals will be reviewed for responsiveness and then evaluated using the criteria set out herein.
Person or Firm Name: _______________________________________________________________
Name of Proposal Evaluation (PEC) Member: ___________________________________________
Date of Review: _____________________________________________________________________
RFP Number: ____________________________________________________________
EVALUATION CRITERIA AND SCORING
THE TOTAL NUMBER OF POINTS USED TO SCORE THIS PROPOSAL IS 1,000
5.01 Technical Understanding and Approach—10 Percent
Maximum Point Value for this Section - 100 Points
1,000 Points x 10 Percent = 100 Points
NOTES:
EVALUATOR'S POINT TOTAL FOR 5.01: _________________
5.02 Project Management Aproach—5 Percent
Maximum Point Value for this Section - 50 Points
1,000 Points x 5 Percent = 50 Points
NOTES:
EVALUATOR'S POINT TOTAL FOR 5.02: _________________
5.03 Approach to User Interface and User Experience Design—5 Percent
Maximum Point Value for this Section - 50 Points
1,000 Points x 5 Percent = 50 Points
NOTES:
EVALUATOR'S POINT TOTAL FOR 5.03: _________________
5.04 Staffing Plan—10 Percent
Maximum Point Value for this Section - 100 Points
1,000 Points x 10 Percent = 100 Points
NOTES:
EVALUATOR'S POINT TOTAL FOR 5.04: _________________
5.05 Similar Experience—10 Percent
Maximum Point Value for this Section - 100 Points
1,000 Points x 10 Percent = 100 Points
NOTES:
EVALUATOR'S POINT TOTAL FOR 5.05: _________________
5.06 Verbal Presentation—30 Percent
Maximum Point Value for this Section - 300 Points
1,000 Points x 30 Percent = 300 Points
NOTES:
EVALUATOR'S POINT TOTAL FOR 5.06: _________________
EVALUATOR'S COMBINED POINT TOTAL FOR ALL EVALUATED SECTIONS: _________________
1.1 In this contract and appendices, "Project Director" or "Agency Head" or "Procurement Officer" means the person who signs this contract on behalf of the Requesting Agency and includes a successor or authorized representative.
1.2 "State Contracting Agency" means the department for which this contract is to be performed and for which the Commissioner or Authorized Designee acted in signing this contract.
2.1 The department may inspect, in the manner and at reasonable times it considers appropriate, all the contractor's facilities and activities under this contract.
2.2 The contractor shall make progress and other reports in the manner and at the times the department reasonably requires.
- If the contractor has a claim arising in connection with the contract that it cannot resolve with the State by mutual agreement, it shall pursue the claim, if at all, in accordance with the provisions of AS 36.30.620 – 632.
4.1 The contractor may not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, religion, color, national origin, or because of age, disability, sex, marital status, changes in marital status, pregnancy or parenthood when the reasonable demands of the position(s) do not require distinction on the basis of age, disability, sex, marital status, changes in marital status, pregnancy, or parenthood. The contractor shall take affirmative action to insure that the applicants are considered for employment and that employees are treated during employment without unlawful regard to their race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, disability, age, sex, marital status, changes in marital status, pregnancy or parenthood. This action must include, but need not be limited to, the following: employment, upgrading, demotion, transfer, recruitment or recruitment advertising, layoff or termination, rates of pay or other forms of compensation, and selection for training including apprenticeship. The contractor shall post in conspicuous places, available to employees and applicants for employment, notices setting out the provisions of this paragraph.
4.2. The contractor shall state, in all solicitations or advertisements for employees to work on State of Alaska contract jobs, that it is an equal opportunity employer and that all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, age, disability, sex, marital status, changes in marital status, pregnancy or parenthood.
4.3. The contractor shall send to each labor union or representative of workers with which the contractor has a collective bargaining agreement or other contract or understanding a notice advising the labor union or workers' compensation representative of the contractor's commitments under this article and post copies of the notice in conspicuous places available to all employees and applicants for employment.
4.4 The contractor shall include the provisions of this article in every contract, and shall require the inclusion of these provisions in every contract entered into by any of its subcontractors, so that those provisions will be binding upon each subcontractor. For the purpose of including those provisions in any contract or subcontract, as required by this contract, “contractor” and “subcontractor” may be changed to reflect appropriately the name or designation of the parties of the contract or subcontract.
4.5. The contractor shall cooperate fully with State efforts which seek to deal with the problem of unlawful discrimination, and with all other State efforts to guarantee fair employment practices under this contract, and promptly comply with all requests and directions from the State Commission for Human Rights or any of its officers or agents relating to prevention of discriminatory employment practices.
4.6. Full cooperation in paragraph 4.5 includes, but is not limited to, being a witness in any proceeding involving questions of unlawful discrimination if that is requested by any official or agency of the State of Alaska; permitting employees of the contractor to be witnesses or complainants in any proceeding involving questions of unlawful discrimination, if that is requested by any official or agency of the State of Alaska; participating in meetings; submitting periodic reports on the equal employment aspects of present and future employment; assisting inspection of the contractor's facilities; and promptly complying with all State directives considered essential by any office or agency of the State of Alaska to insure compliance with all federal and State laws, regulations, and policies pertaining to the prevention of discriminatory employment practices.
4.7. Failure to perform under this article constitutes a material breach of contract.
The Project Director, by written notice, may terminate this contract, in whole or in part, when it is in the best interest of the State. In the absence of a breach of contract by the contractor, the State is liable only for payment in accordance with the payment provisions of this contract for services rendered before the effective date of termination.
The contractor may not assign or delegate this contract, or any part of it, or any right to any of the money to be paid under it, except with the written consent of the Project Director and the Agency Head.
No claim for additional services, not specifically provided in this contract, performed or furnished by the contractor, will be allowed, nor may the contractor do any work or furnish any material not covered by the contract unless the work or material is ordered in writing by the Project Director and approved by the Agency Head.
The contractor and any agents and employees of the contractor act in an independent capacity and are not officers or employees or agents of the State in the performance of this contract.
As a condition of performance of this contract, the contractor shall pay all federal, State, and local taxes incurred by the contractor and shall require their payment by any Subcontractor or any other persons in the performance of this contract. Satisfactory performance of this paragraph is a condition precedent to payment by the State under this contract.
All designs, drawings, specifications, notes, artwork, and other work developed in the performance of this agreement are produced for hire and remain the sole property of the State of Alaska and may be used by the State for any other purpose without additional compensation to the contractor. The contractor agrees not to assert any rights and not to establish any claim under the design patent or copyright laws. Nevertheless, if the contractor does mark such documents with a statement suggesting they are trademarked, copyrighted, or otherwise protected against the State’s unencumbered use or distribution, the contractor agrees that this paragraph supersedes any such statement and renders it void. The contractor, for a period of three years after final payment under this contract, agrees to furnish and provide access to all retained materials at the request of the Project Director. Unless otherwise directed by the Project Director, the contractor may retain copies of all the materials.
This contract is governed by the laws of the State of Alaska. To the extent not otherwise governed by Article 3 of this Appendix, any claim concerning this contract shall be brought only in the Superior Court of the State of Alaska and not elsewhere.
Unless specifically amended and approved by the Department of Law, the terms of this contract supersede any provisions the contractor may seek to add. The contractor may not add additional or different terms to this contract; AS 45.02.207(b)(1). The contractor specifically acknowledges and agrees that, among other things, provisions in any documents it seeks to append hereto that purport to (1) waive the State of Alaska’s sovereign immunity, (2) impose indemnification obligations on the State of Alaska, or (3) limit liability of the contractor for acts of contractor negligence, are expressly superseded by this contract and are void.
Contractor must comply with all applicable federal or State laws regulating ethical conduct of public officers and employees.
The contractor warrants that no person or agency has been employed or retained to solicit or secure this contract upon an agreement or understanding for a commission, percentage, brokerage or contingent fee except employees or agencies maintained by the contractor for the purpose of securing business. For the breach or violation of this warranty, the State may terminate this contract without liability or in its discretion deduct from the contract price or consideration the full amount of the commission, percentage, brokerage or contingent fee.
In the performance of this contract, the contractor must comply with all applicable federal, state, and borough regulations, codes, and laws, and be liable for all required insurance, licenses, permits and bonds.
The parties to this contract are not liable for the consequences of any failure to perform, or default in performing, any of their obligations under this Agreement, if that failure or default is caused by any unforeseeable Force Majeure, beyond the control of, and without the fault or negligence of, the respective party. For the purposes of this Agreement, Force Majeure will mean war (whether declared or not); revolution; invasion; insurrection; riot; civil commotion; sabotage; military or usurped power; lightning; explosion; fire; storm; drought; flood; earthquake; epidemic; quarantine; strikes; acts or restraints of governmental authorities affecting the project or directly or indirectly prohibiting or restricting the furnishing or use of materials or labor required; inability to secure materials, machinery, equipment or labor because of priority, allocation or other regulations of any governmental authorities.
The Contractor shall indemnify, hold harmless, and defend the contracting agency from and against any claim of, or liability for error, omission or negligent act of the Contractor under this agreement. The Contractor shall not be required to indemnify the contracting agency for a claim of, or liability for, the independent negligence of the contracting agency. If there is a claim of, or liability for, the joint negligent error or omission of the Contractor and the independent negligence of the Contracting agency, the indemnification and hold harmless obligation shall be apportioned on a comparative fault basis. “Contractor” and “Contracting agency”, as used within this and the following article, include the employees, agents and other contractors who are directly responsible, respectively, to each. The term “independent negligence” is negligence other than in the Contracting agency’s selection, administration, monitoring, or controlling of the Contractor and in approving or accepting the Contractor’s work.
Without limiting contractor's indemnification, it is agreed that contractor shall purchase at its own expense and maintain in force at all times during the performance of services under this agreement the following policies of insurance. Where specific limits are shown, it is understood that they shall be the minimum acceptable limits. If the contractor's policy contains higher limits, the state shall be entitled to coverage to the extent of such higher limits. Certificates of Insurance must be furnished to the contracting officer prior to beginning work and must provide for a notice of cancellation, non-renewal, or material change of conditions in accordance with policy provisions. Failure to furnish satisfactory evidence of insurance or lapse of the policy is a material breach of this contract and shall be grounds for termination of the contractor's services. All insurance policies shall comply with and be issued by insurers licensed to transact the business of insurance under AS 21.
2.1 Workers' Compensation Insurance: The Contractor shall provide and maintain, for all employees engaged in work under this contract, coverage as required by AS 23.30.045, and; where applicable, any other statutory obligations including but not limited to Federal U.S.L. & H. and Jones Act requirements. The policy must waive subrogation against the State.
2.2 Commercial General Liability Insurance: covering all business premises and operations used by the Contractor in the performance of services under this agreement with minimum coverage limits of $300,000 combined single limit per claim.
2.3 Commercial Automobile Liability Insurance: covering all vehicles used by the Contractor in the performance of services under this agreement with minimum coverage limits of $300,000 combined single limit per claim.
2.4 Professional Liability Insurance: covering all errors, omissions or negligent acts in the performance of professional services under this agreement. Limits required per the following schedule:
| Under $100,000 | $300,000 per Claim / Annual Aggregate |
| $100,000-$499,999 | $500,000 per Claim / Annual Aggregate |
| $500,000-$999,999 | $1,000,000 per Claim / Annual Aggregate |
| $1,000,000 or over | Refer to Risk Management |
STATE OF ALASKA DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH & SOCIAL SERVICES HEALTH INSURANCE PORTABILITY AND ACCOUNTABILITY ACT OF 1996 ("HIPAA") BUSINESS ASSOCIATE AGREEMENT
This HIPAA Business Associate Agreement is between the State of Alaska, Department of Health and Social Services (“Covered Entity” or “CE”) and __________________________ (“Business Associate” or “BA”).
RECITALS
Whereas,
A. CE wishes to disclose certain information to BA, some of which may constitute Protected Health Information ("PHI");
B. It is the goal of CE and BA to protect the privacy and provide for the security of PHI owned by CE that is disclosed to BA or accessed, received, stored, maintained, modified or retained by BA in compliance with HIPAA (42 U.S.C. 1320d – 3120d-8) and its implementing regulations at 45 C.F.R. 160 and 45 C.F.R. 164 (the “Privacy and Security Rule”), the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act of 2009 (P.L. 111-5) (the “HITECH Act”), and with other applicable laws;
C. The purpose and goal of the HIPAA Business Associate Agreement ("BAA") is to satisfy certain standards and requirements of HIPAA, HITECH Act, and the Privacy and Security Rule, including but not limited to 45 C.F.R. 164.502(e) and 45 C.F.R. 164.504(e), as may be amended from time to time;
Therefore, in consideration of mutual promises below and the exchange of information pursuant to the BAA, CE and BA agree as follows:
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Definitions.
a. General: As used in this BAA, the terms "Protected Health Information," "Health Care Operations," and other capitalized terms have the same meaning given to those terms by HIPAA, the HITECH Act and the Privacy and Security Rule. In the event of any conflict between the mandatory provisions of HIPAA, the HITECH Act or the Privacy and Security Rule, and the provisions of this BAA, HIPAA, the HITECH Act or the Privacy and Security Rule shall control. Where the provisions of this BAA differ from those mandated by HIPAA, the HITECH Act or the Privacy and Security Rule but are nonetheless permitted by HIPAA, the HITECH Act or the Privacy and Security Rule, the provisions of the BAA shall control.
b. Specific:
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Business Associate: “Business Associate” or “BA” shall generally have the same meaning as the term “business associate” at 45 C.F.R. 160.103.
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Covered Entity: “Covered Entity” or “CE” shall have the same meaning as the term “covered entity” at 45 C.F.R. 160.103.
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Privacy and Security Rule: “Privacy and Security Rule” shall mean the Privacy, Security, Breach Notification, and Enforcement Rules at 45 C.F.R. Part 160 and Part 164.
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Permitted Uses and Disclosures by Business Associate.
a. BA may only use or disclose PHI for the following purposes: in the rendering of services as described in Appendix C of this document.
b. BA may use or disclose PHI as required by law.
c. BA agrees to make uses and disclosures and requests for PHI consistent with CE’s minimum necessary policies and procedures.
d. BA may not use or disclose PHI in a manner that would violate Subpart E of 45 C.F.R. Part 164 if done by CE, except for the specific uses and disclosures set out below.
e. BA may disclose PHI for the proper management and administration of BA or to carry out the legal responsibilities of BA, provided the disclosures are required by law, or BA obtains reasonable assurances from the person to whom the information is disclosed that the information will remain confidential and used or further disclosed only as required by law or for the purposes for which it was disclosed to the person, and the person notified BA of any instances of which it is aware in which the confidentiality of the information has been breached.
f. BA may provide data aggregation services related to the health care operations of CE.
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Obligations of Business Associate.
a. Permitted uses and disclosures: BA may only use and disclose PHI owned by the CE that it creates, receives, maintains, or transmits if the use or disclosure is in compliance with each applicable requirement of 45 C.F.R. 164.504(e) of the Privacy Rule or this BAA. The additional requirements of Subtitle D of the HITECH Act contained in Public Law 111-5 that relate to privacy and that are made applicable with respect to Covered Entities shall also be applicable to BA and are incorporated into this BAA.
To the extent that BA discloses CE’s PHI to a subcontractor, BA must obtain, prior to making any such disclosure: (1) reasonable assurances from the subcontractor that it will agree to the same restrictions, conditions, and requirements that apply to the BA with respect to such information; and (2) an agreement from the subcontractor to notify BA of any Breach of confidentiality, or security incident, within two business days of when it becomes aware of such Breach or incident.
b. Safeguards: 45 C.F.R. 164.308 (administrative safeguards), 164.310 (physical safeguards), 164.312 (technical safeguards), and 164.316 (policies, procedures and documentation requirements) shall apply to BA in the same manner that such sections apply to CE, and shall be implemented in accordance with HIPAA, the HITECH Act, and the Privacy and Security Rule. The additional requirements of Title XIII of the HITECH Act contained in Public Law 111-5 that relate to security and that are made applicable to Covered Entities shall also apply to BA and are incorporated into this BAA.
Unless CE agrees in writing that this requirement is infeasible with respect to certain data, BA shall secure all paper and electronic PHI by encryption or destruction such that the PHI is rendered unusable, unreadable or indecipherable to unauthorized individuals; or secure paper, film and electronic PHI in a manner that is consistent with guidance issued by the Secretary of the United States Department of Health and Human Services specifying the technologies and methodologies that render PHI unusable, unreadable or indecipherable to unauthorized individuals, including the use of standards developed under Section 3002(b)(2)(B)(vi) of the Public Health Service Act, as added by Section 13101 of the HITECH Act contained in Public Law 111-5.
BA shall patch its operating system and all applications within two weeks of the release of any patch. BA shall keep its antivirus and antimalware installed and active. BA shall limit its use of administrative accounts for IT operations only.
c. Reporting Unauthorized Disclosures and Breaches: During the term of this BAA, BA shall notify CE within 24 hours of discovering a Breach of security; intrusion; or unauthorized acquisition, access, use or disclosure of CE’s PHI in violation of any applicable federal or state law, including security incidents. BA shall identify for the CE the individuals whose unsecured PHI has been, or is reasonably believed to have been, Breached so that CE can comply with any notification requirements if necessary. BA shall also indicate whether the PHI subject to the Breach; intrusion; or unauthorized acquisition, access, use or disclosure was encrypted or destroyed at the time. BA shall take prompt corrective action to cure any deficiencies that result in Breaches of security; intrusion; or unauthorized acquisition, access, use, and disclosure. BA shall fulfill all breach notice requirements unless CE notifies BA that CE will take over the notice requirements. BA shall reimburse CE for all costs incurred by CE that are associated with any mitigation, investigation and notice of Breach CE undertakes or provides under HIPAA, HITECH Act, and the Privacy and Security Rule as a result of a Breach of CE’s PHI caused by BA or BA’s subcontractor or agent.
If the unauthorized acquisition, access, use or disclosure of CE’s PHI involves only Secured PHI, BA shall notify CE within 10 days of discovering the Breach but is not required to notify CE of the names of the individuals affected.
d. BA is not an agent of CE.
e. BA’s Agents: If BA uses a subcontractor or agent to provide services under this BAA, and the subcontractor or agent creates, receives, maintains, or transmits CE’s PHI, the subcontractor or agent shall sign an agreement with BA containing substantially the same provisions as this BAA and further identifying CE as a third-party beneficiary with rights of enforcement and indemnification from the subcontractor or agent in the event of any violation of the subcontractor or agent agreement. BA shall mitigate the effects of any violation of that agreement.
f. Availability of Information to CE: Within 15 days after the date of a written request by CE, BA shall provide any information necessary to fulfill CE's obligations to provide access to PHI under HIPAA, the HITECH Act, or the Privacy and Security Rule.
g. Accountability of Disclosures: If BA is required by HIPAA, the HITECH Act, or the Privacy or Security Rule to document a disclosure of PHI, BA shall make that documentation. If CE is required to document a disclosure of PHI made by BA, BA shall assist CE in documenting disclosures of PHI made by BA so that CE may respond to a request for an accounting in accordance with HIPAA, the HITECH Act, and the Privacy and Security Rule. Accounting records shall include the date of the disclosure, the name and if known, the address of the recipient of the PHI, the name of the individual who is subject of the PHI, a brief description of the PHI disclosed and the purpose of the disclosure. Within 15 days of a written request by CE, BA shall make the accounting record available to CE.
h. Amendment of PHI: Within 30 days of a written request by CE or an individual, BA shall amend PHI maintained, transmitted, created or received by BA on behalf of CE as directed by CE or the individual when required by HIPAA, the HITECH Act or the Privacy and Security Rule, or take other measures as necessary to satisfy CE’s obligations under 45 C.F.R. 164.526.
i. Internal Practices: BA shall make its internal practices, books and records relating to the use and disclosure of CE's PHI available to CE and all appropriate federal agencies to determine CE's and BA's compliance with HIPAA, the HITECH Act and the Privacy and Security Rule.
j. Risk Assessment: BA shall biennially conduct a thorough assessment of the potential risks to and vulnerabilities of the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of CE’s PHI that BA receives, stores, transmits, or has access to, and shall provide CE with a written report detailing the results of the assessment within 60 days of completing it.
k. To the extent BA is to carry out one or more of CE’s obligations under Subpart E of 45 C.F.R. Part 164, BA must comply with the requirements of that Subpart that apply to CE in the performance of such obligations.
l. Audits, Inspection and Enforcement: CE may, after providing reasonable notice to the BA, conduct an inspection of the facilities, systems, books, logs and records of BA that relate to BA’s use of CE’s PHI, including inspecting logs showing the creation, modification, viewing, and deleting of PHI at BA’s level. Failure by CE to inspect does not waive any rights of the CE or relieve BA of its responsibility to comply with this BAA. CE's failure to detect or failure to require remediation does not constitute acceptance of any practice or waive any rights of CE to enforce this BAA.
Notwithstanding BA’s obligation to report under paragraph 3.c of this BAA, BA shall provide a monthly report to CE detailing the unauthorized, or reasonable belief of unauthorized, acquisition, access, use, or disclosure of CE’s PHI, including any unauthorized creation, modification, or destruction of PHI and unauthorized login attempts. BA shall include privileged and nonprivileged accounts in its audit and report, indicating the unique individual using the privileged account. BA shall also indicate whether CE’s PHI subject to unauthorized activity was encrypted or destroyed at the time of the unauthorized activity.
BA shall provide a yearly report to CE that lists the names of all individuals with technical or physical access to CE’s PHI and the scope of that access.
m. Restrictions and Confidential Communications: Within 10 business days of notice by CE of a restriction upon use or disclosure or request for confidential communications pursuant to 45 C.F.R.164.522, BA shall restrict the use or disclosure of an individual’s PHI. BA may not respond directly to an individual’s request to restrict the use or disclosure of PHI or to send all communication of PHI to an alternate address. BA shall refer such requests to the CE so that the CE can coordinate and prepare a timely response to the requesting individual and provide direction to the BA.
n. Indemnification: BA shall indemnify and hold harmless CE for any civil or criminal monetary penalty imposed on CE or monetary settlement reached by CE for acts or omissions in violation of HIPAA, the HITECH Act, or the Privacy or Security Rule that are committed by BA, a member of its workforce, its agent, or its subcontractor.
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Obligations of CE. CE will be responsible for using legally appropriate safeguards to maintain and ensure the confidentiality, privacy and security of PHI transmitted to BA under the BAA until the PHI is received by BA. CE will not request BA to use or disclose PHI in any manner that would not be permissible under HIPAA, the HITECH Act or the Privacy and Security Rule if done by CE.
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Termination.
a. Breach: A breach of a material term of the BAA by BA that is not cured within a reasonable period of time will provide grounds for the immediate termination of the contract.
b. Reasonable Steps to Cure: In accordance with 45 C.F.R. 164.504(e)(1)(ii), CE and BA agree that, if it knows of a pattern of activity or practice of the other party that constitutes a material breach or violation of the other party’s obligation under the BAA, the nonbreaching party will take reasonable steps to get the breaching party to cure the breach or end the violation and, if the steps taken are unsuccessful, terminate the BAA if feasible, and if not feasible, report the problem to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
c. Effect of Termination: Upon termination of the contract, BA will, at the direction of the CE, either return or destroy all PHI received from CE or created, maintained, or transmitted on CE’s behalf by BA in any form. Unless otherwise directed, BA is prohibited from retaining any copies of PHI received from CE or created, maintained, or transmitted by BA on behalf of CE. If destruction or return of PHI is not feasible, BA must continue to extend the protections of this BAA to PHI and limit the further use and disclosure of the PHI. The obligations in this BAA shall continue until all of the PHI provided by CE to BA is either destroyed or returned to CE.
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Amendment. The parties acknowledge that state and federal laws relating to electronic data security and privacy are evolving, and that the parties may be required to further amend this BAA to ensure compliance with applicable changes in law. Upon receipt of a notification from CE that an applicable change in law affecting this BAA has occurred, BA will promptly agree to enter into negotiations with CE to amend this BAA to ensure compliance with changes in law.
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Ownership of PHI. For purposes of this BAA, CE owns the data that contains the PHI it transmits to BA or that BA receives, creates, maintains or transmits on behalf of CE.
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Litigation Assistance. Except when it would constitute a direct conflict of interest for BA, BA will make itself available to assist CE in any administrative or judicial proceeding by testifying as witness as to an alleged violation of HIPAA, the HITECH Act, the Privacy or Security Rule, or other law relating to security or privacy.
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Regulatory References. Any reference in this BAA to federal or state law means the section that is in effect or as amended.
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Interpretation. This BAA shall be interpreted as broadly as necessary to implement and comply with HIPAA, the HITECH Act, the Privacy and Security Rule and applicable state and federal laws. The parties agree that any ambiguity in BAA will be resolved in favor of a meaning that permits the CE to comply with and be consistent with HIPAA, the HITECH Act, and the Privacy and Security Rule. The parties further agree that where this BAA conflicts with a contemporaneously executed confidentiality agreement between the parties, this BAA controls.
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No Private Right of Action Created. This BAA does not create any right of action or benefits for individuals whose PHI is disclosed in violation of HIPAA, the HITECH Act, the Privacy and Security Rule or other law relating to security or privacy.
In witness thereof, the parties hereto have duly executed this BAA as of the effective date.