Procurement

RFP for Cross-Sector Data Management System Demonstration User Interface 

General Information

Velatura Services, LLC. (Velatura Services) provides solutions to organizations needing the ability to interoperate and seamlessly share electronic information. Our company is a trusted partner to public and private sector organizations seeking to streamline and scale secure exchange of clinical, administrative, and person-level data across organizational boundaries and state lines. Our customers include, but are not limited to, health information exchange organizations, commercial and Medicaid health plans, national health systems, and federal, state, and local government agencies.

Velatura Services represents a highly experienced team of nationally recognized HIE and Health Information Technology (HIT) experts and senior consultants. It was established in 2019 to extend the Michigan Health Information Network Shared Services’ (MiHIN’s) modular and scalable interoperability products and services for access and use on a national scale. Velatura Services draws on broad security and technical expertise from nationwide HIT leaders to provide strategic consulting services and solutions across the United States.

Some of Velatura Services’ experience includes, but isn’t limited to, the following:

  • Advising on and implementing HIE operations in New Jersey, Georgia, and Wisconsin
  • Developing or supporting the development of governance models, operation plans, and sustainability frameworks in Connecticut and Tennessee
  • Selected to be Civitas’ Patient Centered Data Home initiative vendor for zip-code based routing of admission, discharge, and transfer notifications
  • Velatura Services’ team includes the founders and executive directors of three of the nation’s leading HIEs: Georgia Regional Academic Community Health Information Exchange (GRAChIE), Midwest Health Connection (MHC), and Michigan Health Information Network Shared Services (MiHIN).

As a partially owned subsidiary of MiHIN, Velatura Services has MiHIN’s full financial, technical, staffing, and operational support, which includes more than 225+ professionals (including subject matter experts, developers, and senior level contractors) and 80+ student interns. Velatura Services’ resources include the research and development expertise of the Interoperability Institute, which was formed in 2019 to facilitate the collaborative and agile development of real-world interoperability solutions and train the next generation of the Health IT workforce.

Velatura Services is uniquely positioned to help harness opportunities presented by the Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement (TEFCA) with expertise in existing integration standards as well as the transition to Health Level 7 International (HL7) Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources® (FHIR®). Beyond all this, Velatura Services possess a commitment to operational excellence and the experience to securely leverage cloud-based services to maintain high availability while controlling costs.

Purpose of Request for Information (“RFI”)

This is a request for information only.  This RFI is issued solely for information and planning purposes and does not constitute a Request for Submission (RFP) or a promise to issue an RFP in the future.  This request for information does not commit the Company to contract for any supply or service.  Not participating in this RFI does not preclude participation in any future RFP, if any is issued.

The intended purpose of the Request for Information is to identify vendors that Velatura Services will invite to participate in a Connectathon (further described in Section 1.4 below) taking place in-person (with a virtual option available) anticipated to occur in July 2023. The information provided by Respondents will be used by Velatura Services to:

  • Identify technology vendors to invite to the July 2023 Connectathon to demonstrate how their cross-sector data management user interface can integrate with our data management platform to provide a whole person view to community and health care team members.

About Our Customer:

Respecting the confidentiality of the customer, Velatura Services declines to share specifics around the scope of work until invitees are identified and have executed our Non-Disclosure Agreement. The following details about the work and the customer may help respondents with their RFI submission:

Velatura Services will be demonstrating a cross-sector Proof of Concept (POC) data management platform to improve outcomes and reduce recidivism for youth involuntarily admitted to behavioral health facilities.

The innovative heart of the POC is to demonstrate a family-centered technology solution that supports youth, parents, and caregivers in accessing and participating in supportive services that improve their mental health and wellness. A mental health crisis can be scary and confusing for youth and their parents or caregivers alike. Navigating the system of care can also be overwhelming and frustrating, and result in poor outcomes, inadequate care, and long wait times. In these situations, the POC will demonstrate the opportunity for families to understand their choices and to be empowered to select the best support plan with well-informed, timely professional assistance that doesn’t require them to tell their story over and over.

The POC will demonstrate how professionals within the system of care who are involved with the youth are able to exchange vital information about all aspects of the youth’s care, while honoring the privacy choices of the youth’s family. By so doing, the solution will provide a common language of communication that will transcend barriers, break down silos, and revitalize the existing system of care. This leads to improved care coordination, and the ability for care team members – specifically those involved in the juvenile justice, education, healthcare, behavioral health, and child welfare – to realize more positive, meaningful, and supportive outcomes for the youth and their family.  By supporting an equitable, high-quality support system for the youth and parents or caregivers, the solution will demonstrate how technology can improve the overall experience of care, reduce trauma and recidivism, improve cross-agency communication, and yield financial savings to the overall system of care. Most importantly, it will prevent the continued emotional fracturing of the youth, a life-long benefit that cannot be overstated.

Goals:

Velatura Services is issuing this RFI to explore options for a user interface to our data management platform that satisfies the following goals (submissions may address one or multiple areas):

  • Integration with Integrated Data System that matches youth with their care providers and supports consent management so that data can be shared with care team members appropriately and based on parent/caregiver preferences
  • Integration with Clinical Data Repository and relevant and common FHIR profiles (e.g., USCORE)
  • Demonstrate fluency with respect to consent and data privacy constraints of a cross domain data sharing solution
  • Create cross platform data access solution for two or more of the following (i.e., web, mobile [IOS, Android], desktop)
  • Includes social care data represented with health care information for a whole person view

The goal of the Connectathon is to demonstrate capabilities and end to end data flow within a synthetic test environment with realistic test data that resembles a production environment. In parallel, Velatura Services is also facilitating workstreams surrounding sustainability and legal considerations with the aim that potential funding sources, a drafted data sharing legal framework, and policies are considered to enable implementation to production upon successful demonstration. At such time, a participating vendor may be considered for a long-term engagement. Participation in the Connectathon is no guarantee of a future contract.

Project’s Future State:

Future state of the project should scale to encompass additional use cases supporting the aggregation and dissemination of the social and health data of the population. Further, the application should integrate both a consent system interface and patient (or their delegated

Past/Closed RFPs


RFP for Health Information Technology (HIT) Consulting Services…

Velatura Services is issuing an RFP for Health Information Technology (HIT) Consulting Services. The intent is to grow our partnerships with professionals and organizations that share a similar mission and can help us expertly serve our current and future Customers on our portfolio of consulting projects.

These projects include working with states, government agencies, health information exchanges, healthcare entities, and others to provide consulting services related to strategic planning and sustainability, operational support, and governance and stakeholder engagement. Offerors may respond to one or more service areas.

Successful offerors awarded a contract from this RFP will be included on our list of pre-qualified vendors, otherwise known as Velatura Qualified Vendors (VQVs). This VQV status will enable a more efficient procurement process with vendors being eligible to receive future statements of work (SOW) during a period of performance of three (3) years.

HIT Consulting:

  • Demonstrated consulting experience in HIT strategic planning and stakeholder engagement initiatives with states, other government agencies, health information exchanges, healthcare entities, health plans, and others.
  • Strong understanding of HIT topics, including health information exchange (HIE), governance, technology, healthcare payment, quality improvement and data analysis, and other related topics
  • Participation in national workgroups and initiatives that promote technology standards, interoperability, and emerging topics such as behavioral health sharing and social determinants of health (SDOH) data exchange
  • Experience working with Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), Office of the National Coordinator for HIT (ONC), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), or other Federal agencies on HIT topics, including funding requests, program delivery, and exploratory work.

Technical Design and Advisory Services:

  • Knowledge of HIT vendors and technologies, including cloud-based exchange solutions
  • Experience developing business and technical requirements based on stakeholder needs, policy and legal requirements, identified use cases, and available data sources
  • Experience developing and architecting solutions to meet business requirements
  • Subject matter expertise in health information technology, IT strategy, clinical informatics, data science, data analytics, data management, health policy

Staff and Program Support:

  • Project management knowledge (PMP certified preferred)
  • Experience managing complex health IT projects (e.g., clinical information systems, HIE)
  • Experience with documenting requirements for health IT projects
  • Demonstrated leadership skills and ability to manage diverse project teams
  • Strong facilitation and communication skills

Other Support Area:

Offerors may also apply for this category and include a description of additional areas of expertise and services that can be offered along with any relevant background and experience.