The Massachusetts eHealth Institute, a non-divisible component of the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative (“MTC”) is issuing this Request for Information for Electronic Health Records Systems (EHRs) to seek information from those organizations that are capable of providing a large number of EHRs at distributed provider sites in Massachusetts at a volume discount. Based on the provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, EHRs will be placed  primarily in primary care physicians’ offices and entities that serve a significant number of low income persons to achieve “meaningful use” of certified electronic health records , with particular focus on: 1) individual and small group practices (ten or fewer professionals with prescriptive privileges); 2) Public Hospitals and Critical Access hospitals; 3) Community Health Centers and Rural Health Clinics; and 4) other settings that predominantly serve uninsured, underinsured, and medically-underserved populations though the EHRs will be used by providers in other areas as well. RESPONDENTS PLEASE NOTE:  This RFI is not a procurement process but rather an information gathering process that will inform any requests for qualifications (or other appropriate procurement processes) that may follow MTC’s receipt of ARRA funds.  

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1. Vendor Form
   
2. Response Template

RFI Issued: Thursday, November 12, 2009

Responses Due: 9:00 a.m. November 30, 2009

Questions or comments regarding the RFI may be submitted at any time to info@maehi.org. All questions, answers and comments will be posted on the MEHI website within 2 business days of receipt.  The final date for questions and comments is November 20, 2009 (5:00 p.m. deadline).

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Questions and Answers:

1. Question: We have a process question - if we are unable to respond to the RFI in this timeline, does it exclude us from participating in procurement processes/ RFPs opportunities that may follow?

Response: It is preferable that you respond to this RFI as an indication of your interest to participate in the RFQ. You will not be excluded from participating in the RFQ. Completion of the Executive summary would be particularly helpful.

2. Question: If we do not want to have this information public (due to the fact we are a private company), do we submit hard copy only to the following:

RFI 2010-eHR-02
Richard Shoup
Massachusetts e-Health Institute
Massachusetts Technology Collaborative
75 North Drive
Westborough, MA 01581

Response: Do not send any information to the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative (MTC) that you would consider confidential or sensitive. MTC is a public entity subject to the public records law and as such would be compelled to disclose any information, if requested to do so, once we have received it.

3. Question: We would like to request clarification on the following question in the above RFI. Could you provide examples of named users/entities involved? Thank you.
8.8 Are licenses transferable between named users and between entities?

Response: MeHI is interested in understanding your approach to product licensing. Do you license on a per user basis? If so, do the users need to be specifically named or are they based on a count per entity or practice? Are the licenses transferrable between individuals or entities or practices? How do you treat part-time providers or physician extenders?

4. Question: It states that the completed RFP can be e-mailed to you. We typically e-mail our responses with an FTP site. This enables large file to be sent easier and also received easier. Within the body of the e-mail we supply you with a secured link to the FTP site and a password for security purposes. Is this OK with you?

Response: Our preference is that the response be small enough to attach to an email. However, if you need to send your submission via FTP that is acceptable, provided that you send via a secure link to the FTP site and provide a password.

5. Question: Is it acceptable to respond to this RFI via email (versus U.S. mail or courier)? I do understand that when responding by email that the information will not be considered confidential or proprietary.

Response: Email is preferable.