EVT0002842 - Specifications
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5.0 Specifications
Contents
5.0 Purpose and Background 4
5.0.1 Purpose 4
5.0.2 Background 4
5.0.3 MSC MIS Overview 5
5.1 Current MSC MIS Architecture 7
5.1.1 Front-End 9
5.1.2 Back-End 9
5.1.3 List of Operating Systems 9
5.1.4 List of Development and Support Software 10
5.1.5 MSC MIS Applications 11
5.2 Operations and Maintenance 12
5.2.1 Operations and Maintenance for New Hampshire 13
5.2.1.1 Operations and Maintenance - New Hampshire Requirements 13
5.2.1.2 Data Center - New Hampshire Requirements 14
5.2.1.3 Hosting Security - New Hampshire Requirements 14
5.2.2 Operations and Maintenance for Kansas and ITCA 15
5.2.2.1 Operations and Maintenance - Kansas and ITCA Requirements 15
5.2.3 Operations and Maintenance for MSC 16
5.2.3.1 Operations and Maintenance - MSC Requirements 16
5.2.4 Operations and Maintenance Warranty 16
5.2.4.1 Operations and Maintenance Warranty - MSC Requirements 16
5.2.5 System Maintenance and Network Services 17
5.2.5.1 System Maintenance and Network Services - New Hampshire Requirements 17
5.2.5.2 System Maintenance and Network Services - Kansas and ITCA Requirements 17
5.2.5.3 System Maintenance and Network Services - MSC Requirements 18
5.2.6 Software Monitoring, Maintenance and Modifications 18
5.2.6.1 Software Monitoring, Maintenance and Modifications - MSC Requirements 19
5.2.6.2 Software Releases - MSC Requirements 19
5.2.6.3 Software Security - MSC Requirements 20
5.2.6.4 Software Security Testing- MSC Requirements 20
5.2.7 System Response Time and Availability 21
5.2.7.1 System Response Time and Availability - MSC Requirements 21
5.2.8 Support Response Time 21
5.2.8.1 Support Response Time - MSC Requirements 22
5.2.9 Security and Confidentiality of Data 22
5.2.9.1 Security and Confidentiality of Data - MSC Requirements 22
5.2.10 Training 23
5.2.10.1 Training - MSC Requirements 23
5.2.11 External Interfaces 23
5.2.11.1 External Interface - MSC Requirements 23
5.3 Disaster Recovery 24
5.3.1 Disaster Recovery - New Hampshire Requirements 24
5.3.2 Disaster Recovery - Kansas and ITCA Requirements 24
5.4 Task Orders 25
5.4.1 Submitting Task Order - MSC Requirements 25
5.4.2 Pricing Task Orders - MSC Requirements 26
5.4.3 Invoicing Task Orders - MSC Requirements 26
5.5 Help Desk 27
5.5.1 Hours of Operations 27
5.5.1.1 Help Desk - MSC Requirements 27
5.6 Local Clinic Network Support 28
5.6.1 Local Clinic Network Support – New Hampshire Requirements 28
5.6.2 Local Clinic Network Support - MSC Requirements 28
5.7 Communication Plan (Reports and Meetings) 28
5.7.1 Communication Plan (Reports and Meetings) - MSC Requirements 28
5.8 Service Level Agreement (SLA) 29
5.8.1 Areas of Service 29
5.8.1.1 Service Level Agreement - MSC Requirements 29
5.9 System Documentation 29
5.9.1 System Documentation - MSC Requirements 29
5.10 Contractor Staffing Levels 30
5.10.1 Key Personnel Qualifications 30
5.10.1.1 Contractor Staffing Levels - MSC Requirements 31
5.11 Transition to a New Contractor 31
5.11.1 Startup activities 32
5.11.1.1 Transition to a New Contractor - MSC Requirements 32
5.11.1.2 Transition to a New Contractor – New Hampshire Requirements 32
5.11.2 Resources the MSC Will Make Available 32
5.12 Contract Duration 33
5.13 Operations and Maintenance Invoicing 33
5.14 Glossary 33
5.15 Response Requirements 36
5.16 Proposal Evaluation Process 36
5.16.1 Rights of the MSC in Evaluating Proposals 36
5.16.2 Proposal Evaluations 37
5.16.2.1 Initial Screening 37
5.16.2.2 Preliminary Evaluation of Proposals and Reference Checks 37
5.16.3 Evaluation Criteria 37
5.16.3.1 Security and Protection of Data 37
5.16.3.2 Compatibility with MSC Personnel 38
5.16.3.3 Project Execution (Transition and Testing) 38
5.16.3.4 Project Management Competence 38
5.16.3.5 Ongoing Operations 38
5.0 Purpose and Background
The State of Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) is issuing a Request for Proposal to procure technical services for the Operations and Maintenance of the tri-state Management Information System (MIS) for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women Infants and Children (WIC). The Software Application is a United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) approved public domain WIC Application and is the current operating System for the State of Kansas, the Inter Tribal Council of Arizona, Inc (ITCA) and the State of New Hampshire WIC Programs.
The State of Kansas, ITCA and the State of New Hampshire WIC Programs have a Cooperative Agreement that was executed in 2009, creating the Multi-State Consortium (MSC), in order to maximize efficiencies regarding joint design, development and implementation of changes to their respective Management Information Systems (MIS). In 2011 the MSC secured USDA funding to upgrade the MIS to a web-based, smart-client .NET system.
The MSC MIS is a transfer system originally developed for the State of Washington by Starling Systems (formally Starling Consulting Inc. which was acquired by, and is now known as CQuest America). The system was implemented in Kansas in 2004 as the KWIC system, in ITCA as the STARS system and New Hampshire in 2005 as the StarLINC system. In October of 2012 the MSC MIS was updated to the .Net platform using Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) principles and object-oriented design.
5.0.1 Purpose
The purpose of this solicitation is to select one (1) domestic Operations Contractor to provide hosting, operations, software maintenance, technical support services, and software enhancements for the MIS operated by the MSC. The contractor’s support and maintenance shall commence upon the Effective Date and extend through the end of the Contract term, and any extensions thereof. The Operations contractor shall be responsible for all aspects of the MIS including, but not limited to, the following:
· Hosting Central Processing System (CPS) for the State of New Hampshire
· Operations of Central Processing System (CPS) for Kansas and ITCA.
· Database maintenance and administration including, but not limited to, data synchronization between the Contractor, States, and community-based Local Agencies.
· Help Desk services.
· Telecommunications and network support.
· Security and Disaster Recovery.
· Applications maintenance, development, deployment (including deployment scripts), enhancements, bug tracking and documentation as requested by the MSC
5.0.2 Background
WIC is a federally funded program that provides nutrition education and counseling, related preventive health services, and WIC Food Instruments (FI’s) for specific nutritious foods to pregnant women, breastfeeding women up to twelve (12) months following childbirth, non-breastfeeding women up to six (6) months following childbirth, infants, and children up to their fifth birthday. WIC FI’s are provided to clients/participants who redeem them at approved participating grocers (or vendors) and Farmers’ Markets in the State of Kansas.
The Kansas WIC Program screens applicants and provides services to a monthly average of 70,000 clients in 120 clinic sites throughout the state. There are currently 400 approved participating grocers that provide WIC foods to clients. Each WIC clinic includes a minimum of one computer, a Magnetic Ink Character Recognition (MICR) printer to produce both checks and administrative reports (checks printed by the system include bank coding), and an electronic signature pad.
The ITCA WIC Program screens applicants and provides services to an average of 10,500 clients in 14 permanent clinic sites and 50 mobile sites throughout the State of Arizona. There are 160 approved vendors that are authorized to accept WIC checks and provide the foods to clients. Each WIC clinic includes a minimum of one computer, a Magnetic Ink Character Recognition (MICR) printer to produce both checks and administrative reports (checks printed by the system include bank coding), and an electronic signature pad.
The New Hampshire WIC Program screens applicants and provides services to an average of 17,000 clients/participants at 6 permanent community -based clinic sites and 54 mobile sites throughout the state. There are approximately 206 approved vendors that are authorized to accept WIC vouchers and provide the WIC foods to participants. Each WIC clinic includes a minimum of one computer, a printer to produce both vouchers and administrative reports and an electronic signature pad.
MSC Agency Location and Clinics
Agency Name / State Office Location / Approx Users / Approx # Clients/ Participants / Direct Online Clinics / Remote Offline Clinics / Food Delivery MethodKansas / Topeka, KS / 300 / 70,000 / 65 clinics / 22 main clinics
45 satellite clinics / Checks
ITCA / Phoenix, AZ / 55 / 10,500 / 0 / 16 main clinics
31 satellite clinics / Checks
New Hampshire / Concord, NH / 92 / 17,000 / 0 / 6 main clinics
54 satellite clinics / Vouchers
Each member of the MSC administers the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) funded WIC Program. This program provides nutrition education and supplemental foods to income-eligible women who are pregnant, postpartum or are breastfeeding, and to infants and children.
WIC provides a range of nutrition services in a supportive environment. Contracts are maintained with local health departments, tribes, community health centers and community based social service agencies to deliver direct services to eligible clients/participants.
WIC provides the following services to clients/participants:
· Nutrition assessment
· Nutrition counseling and education
· Breastfeeding promotion and support
· Food Instruments for the purchase of nutritious foods
· Health and social service referrals
5.0.3 MSC MIS Overview
The MIS is a collection of computer-related applications providing functionality that enables the Programs to provide client/participant specific benefits according to federal regulations and state policies. The system is used for certification, data collection, FI processing, financial reconciliation and vendor management. The system is also capable of producing a variety of reports including, but not limited to program participation, breastfeeding initiation and duration, risk incidence and benefit issuance. The MIS is grouped into 4 major functional areas: Client Services, Vendor Management, Financial Management, and System Administration.
Client Services
The Client Services application assists clinic staff in providing WIC services to clients/participants. It automates the scheduling of appointments, assessing and certifying applicants, prescribing food packages, issuing and replacing WIC FI’s, and referring clients/participants to other health and social services. This application organizes clients into strong family groupings making the process of group appointments, a family flowsheet, nutrition education and benefit issuance for the family group very easy. Client Services can also track outreach contact information for organizations that sponsor WIC–related activities.
Vendor Management
The Vendor Management application is used to document information about WIC vendors, the vendor owners and the wholesalers supplying the vendors. Vendor training, monitoring, complaints, and risk levels are recorded and tracked. Also included in this application is functionality used to document and track vendor investigations, associated sanctions against vendors, correction action plans for vendors found in violation of WIC rules, vendor appeals to investigative findings and payment of fines. This application produces investigative FI’s used by staff members to conduct vendor investigations.
Financial Management
Participation & Financial Reports – Participation and Financial Reports contains reports about a wide variety of subjects. Most of the reports in this application use a data warehouse feature which is augmented every month from the clinic, State office and banking contractor data. Participation reports present numeric and statistical reports about the various categories of participants, services offered and used, and participant diversity. The application also contains various financial and FI activity reports.
Check Management (or Voucher Management) – The Check (or Voucher) Management application allows WIC staff to view the records of all issued FIs. FI information includes participant and caregiver, the issue amount and actual amount, who issued the FI, the food package to which it belongs, the food categories it allows, date it was issued and if relevant, the dates the FI was voided, replaced, and/or reissued. Redemption data associated with each issued FI is also displayed.
System Administration
Administrative tasks like user maintenance and reference data updates are performed and/or overseen by MSC WIC State Office staff. In addition, regularly scheduled activities are conducted to keep the system up-to-date. Typically these activities are conducted at the end of each day and at the end of each month. Examples of end of day activities is the importing and exporting issuance data, bank payment files, vendor survey data, and food instrument data. Program information is distributed to local state agencies, the USDA, and FI information is sent to contracted banking institutions or the State of New Hampshire’s accounting system – NH First.
The WIC programs are administered at the State and Clinic level. The State is primarily concerned with overall program administration. The primary role of the Clinic is to enroll, provide nutrition education and referral services and issue benefits to clients/participants.
The Contractor shall be responsible for the support, maintenance and modifications of all the applications using the regulations, policies and standards set forth in the following:
A) USDA’s Functional Requirements Document for a Model WIC System (FReD)
B) Vendor Regulations including the federally mandated report The Integrity Report (TIP)
C) Financial and participation count by category computations supporting federally mandated reports
D) WIC System interfaces and standard reports, including
a. Participant Characteristics Minimum Date Set & Supplemental Data Set
b. Nightly FTP (or e-mail) interface and/or import/export of files with any WIC FI processing contractor
c. Quarterly reports (formerly known as the CDC PedNSS and PNSS)
d. Multi-state Dual Participation flat file interface
e. Monthly Infant Formula and Food Rebate files
During the course of this contract, the MSC will be making a major transition from paper food instruments to an Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) card. The bidder should have some familiarity with WIC EBT as this mid contract transition shall involve testing, training, hardware disposition/removal (i.e. printers), possibly impacting contractor staffing resource commitment.
5.1 Current MSC MIS Architecture
The MSC MIS is a full-featured system meeting the Food and Nutrition Services (FNS) mandatory requirements defined by the Functional Requirements Document (FReD) for a Model WIC System required for a WIC information system.
The MIS provides two options for using the applications in urban, rural, and mobile clinic settings. All clinics in ITCA and New Hampshire use the MIS within a LAN topology in which each clinic maintains a local server hosting their clinic database and the database tables are synchronized on a set schedule with a consolidated database (off-line process). The ITCA consolidated database service is located at their State Office location in Phoenix, AZ and is operated remotely by the incumbent Contractor. The New Hampshire consolidated database service is hosted at the incumbent Contractor facility in Springfield, IL and operated by the same. The Kansas consolidated database is located at the KDHE IT Department, Topeka, Kansas, and is operated remotely by the Contractor. Physical operations are performed by the KDHE-IT group. Other clinics in Kansas use Web Services via the internet to access and process the application at State Office servers.