Laboratory Information System (LIS) for Selected Public Health Laboratories in Guyana
This RFP solicits offers from qualified information technology software providers to implement a laboratory information management system (LIS) at two Phase I sites in Guyana. The successful proposal will provide a cost-effective LIS that can be maintained reliably in a timely manner and will offer an affordable solution that can be sustained in a resource-poor setting. Proposals should clearly state the plan and means for providing operational support on an on-going basis directly by the provider or through an identified local company with the knowledge and capacity to provide support. Take note that although remote support via Internet may be a component of the support plan, the provider must include a local support component. Providers should be able to offer operational and technical resources available in Caribbean region directly or through formal contract with a qualified party. The Phase I project award may be made with an option for the selected provider to continue to rollout the LIS to additional sites potentially including all Regional/District Hospitals in the Guyana National Public Health Laboratory System (NPHLS) if the proposal describes favorable licensing fees and innovative options for controlling maintenance costs. APHL, working together with the Guyana MOH, CDC/GAP/Atlanta (CDC/Atlanta) and CDC/GAP/Guyana (CDC-Guyana), assessed six (6) laboratories designated by the Ministry of Health to observe specimen and data flow, automated laboratory instrumentation used, current computer resources and computer skills and to observe current physical infrastructure as it relates to implementation of LIS. Those laboratories represented two (2) Level V laboratories and four (4) Level IV regional laboratories. Out of these six laboratories, the two (2) Level V were selected by MOH to be part of the initial, or Phase I implementation: the National Public Health Reference Laboratory (NPHRL) and the Georgetown Public Hospital Laboratory (GPH). Phase I will provide objective information for development of a national plan for LIS implementation that addresses the technical, human resource, support and financial issues for a LIS. APHL expects to award a contract for this project to implement a laboratory information system in these Phase I laboratories before 15 July 2011. The target date for initiation of the implementation of the LIS in the Phase I laboratories is 1 September 2011.
APHL assisted CDC/GAP/Guyana and the Guyana MOH in the performance of a comprehensive evaluation of the laboratory system needs for a LIS and to develop an implementation plan for the Phase I laboratories. The assessment team activities included the following:
- Assessment of operations at the Phase I laboratories and meetings with stakeholders, in order to describe standard laboratory services and current LIS capacity in the public health sector of Guyana;
- Visits to other governmental laboratories to compare sample flow procedures and understand how samples are processed;
- Discussions on LIS requirements with Guyana government and health officials, as well as CDC-Guyana staff;
- Developed an action plan for the implementation of LIS in Guyana; and
- Compiled the specific information and requirements for the development of an RFP for the purchase of a LIS application.
1.1 Designated Contact for this RFP
NAME: Lucy Maryogo-Robinson
TITLE: Director, Global Health Program
Email: lucy.robinson@aphl.org
Note: Any solicitation or contact concerning this RFP must be made to the designated Contact. Communications regarding the content of this RFP are prohibited to any other employee of APHL, the Guyana Ministry of Health or CDC employees involved in the LIS Phase I Project or any staff at the Phase I laboratories except as authorized by the designated Contact, during the period from date of release of the RFP until the notice of intent to contract is released. Unauthorized contact concerning this RFP may disqualify the respondent from participating in the RFP process (may not be considered in the review of respondents).
1 PREPARING AND SUBMITTING A PROPOSAL
1.1 Contractor information required to be included with response.
- Full legal name and if LIS provider has a “doing business name” the d/b/a as well.
- Authorized representative of the Contractor for the proposal.
- Telephone, fax and e-mail address of the single point of contact for communication between APHL and the LIS provider. Contact information for other persons whom the LIS provider may request informational copies sent in addition to the single point of contact.
- Business mailing address.
Responses must be sent to APHL by e-mail attachment in MSWord or PDF format (electronic signatures accepted) to lucy.robinson@aphl.org; OR by fax to 240-485-2712 attention of Lucy Maryogo-Robinson, Director, Global Health Program, APHL; OR by courier/delivery service that has a tracking system OR by U.S. Postal Service (USPS) Priority or Express Mail to Lucy Maryogo-Robinson, APHL, 8515 Georgia Avenue, Suite 700, Silver Spring, MD, USA 20910. E-mail attachment is the preferred means of receipt. E-mail and fax responses must be received at the APHL office by 5:00 PM EDT (9:00 PM UTC) on 1 June 2011. Courier and USPS responses must be postmarked or entered into a tracking system by 5:00 PM EDT (9:00 PM UTC) on 1 June 2011. Submitters will receive a confirmation of receipt of their proposal by APHL. APHL may terminate or modify the RFP process at any time during the response period.
Responses that are not received by the stated deadline shall be determined to be non-responsive and at APHL’s discretion may not be considered in the review of respondents. There are three parts of the review for the award of this contract by APHL.
Part One:
· APHL reviews all responses received by the response deadline, assesses the responses with Guyana MOH & CDC-Guyana and compares them to the requirements stated in the RFP. Responses are assessed on these criteria:
o LIS Phase I Project requirements
o Strength of the provider’s project plan to successfully implement a LIS at the Phase I laboratories
o Strength of the providers project plan to sustain operation of LIS at the Phase I laboratories
o Value of the offer relative to cost, performance and maintenance
· One or more providers are selected to be included in Part Two of the RFP review process. Applications that meet the minimum technical requirements of the RFP may not be included for consideration in Part Two due to weaknesses in the noted criteria compared to other applications. Respondents to the RFP should address all noted criteria.
Part Two:
· APHL may require respondents selected for Part Two of the review process to travel to Georgetown, Guyana, to present a demonstration of their proposed application to APHL, CDC-Guyana and the Guyana LIS Technical Working Group (Guyana TWG) made up of representatives of Guyana MOH and the Phase I laboratory managers (or their representatives) and answer questions related to their software, project plan and costs.
· If a respondent is required to travel to Guyana, APHL will provide a stipend, the amount determined by APHL, to partially offset the cost of travel to Guyana for up to 2 representatives of a selected respondent.
Part Three:
· After consideration of the information provided in the RFP response and a demonstration of the application, Guyana TWG shall select the preferred respondent in consultation with APHL and CDC-Guyana. APHL will request a final offer from the preferred respondent prior to awarding a contract.
o The final offer will permit inclusion of changes that may arise in deliverables or conditions of the implementation during the negotiation of a contract.
o The purchasing contract negotiated between APHL and the selected respondent will identify costs and payments to be associated with:
§ initial system licenses
§ purchase price
§ implementation costs
§ training costs
§ maintenance and update costs
§ other associated costs and services
Detailed contract and terms will be finalized as part of contract negotiations. The contract starting and ending effective dates shall be indicated on the purchase order or contract and by mutual agreement of both parties; the ending date may be extended for maintenance, support and additional work subject to the contract rules of CDC/Atlanta.
Ralph Timperi
Senior Director
Laboratory Practice & Management
Association of Public Health Laboratories
2 May 2011
1 GENERAL Information, Assumptions, REQUIREMENTS and Preferences
The notes here on general issues, assumptions and preferences, while not requirements, provide an overview of the non-functional requirements and preferences that are important issues for consideration by respondents since they describe key aspects of the LIS that would be most appropriate.
1. This LIS application should be considered a laboratory-oriented, sample-centric application as opposed to a patient-centric, patient management application. While there are many patient-centric applications that have laboratory components, the primary purpose of this application is to collect and manage laboratory test data, quality control data, inventory control data, standard operating procedures and training information within the laboratory. Sample-centric laboratory systems that link individual patient data through some universal identifier for epidemiological purposes are preferred.
2. For the purpose of this RFP, installations in laboratories should be considered as separate, individual installations. Applications that have the flexibility to move toward central data management in the future are preferred. However, APHL expects providers to consider a single group licensing fee for the Phase I project. In general, single site licensing fees are too burdensome for government agencies in developing countries. APHL encourages providers to offer innovative proposals for licensing fees that will enable wider implementation of LIS and sustainability in developing countries.
3. Respondents should keep in mind that this RFP is designed for the purchase and installation of application software in the Guyana Phase I laboratories only. However, if the installations at the Phase I sites are successful, there is a possibility of following these installations with implementations by the same provider in additional regional and district laboratories in Guyana. Respondents may supply cost estimates for these additional sites, beyond the Phase I sites, in the cost break-down sheet in Section 8. This is optional and not required.
4. The laboratory requirements found in section 6 are meant to be a guide for respondents in responding to this RFP and to ensure that respondents understand the type of data that needs to be collected and communicated within the Guyana laboratories. Consequently, they are general in nature and represent the minimum of data points to be collected.
5. The ability for the LIS to remotely order tests and report results is preferable and although not a requirement for Phase One of this project, the system should either have or be extensible enough to accommodate this feature.
6. Applications that have the ability to create and transmit data files in internationally recognized standards such as HL7 and utilize standard vocabulary code sets such as LOINC and SNOMED are preferred.
7. Respondents can assume that:
a. A local LAN will be in place and functional at the Guyana Phase I laboratories prior to installation of the application. Respondents can assume that required networking, switches, hubs, firewalls, virus software, etc., will be provided.
b. The laboratory will have access to the Internet either through broadband or dial-up connection and that the access will be available through the local LAN installed in the laboratory.
c. Sufficient PC’s will be available to run the application software at the Guyana Phase I laboratories prior to the installation of the application software.
d. Bar code printers and scanners (if necessary) along with a sufficient number of networked system printers required by the selected application will be available prior to the installation of application software.
8. The hardware (PC’s, database software, servers, switches, racks, printers, scanners, standard serial or crossover cables, USB to serial converters, etc.) and system software (PC operating system software, server operating system software database software, virus software, etc.) along with sufficient consumables (approximately 6 months) required for a successful implementation will be supplied according to the results and recommendations of the GAP analysis.
9. For the purposes of this RFP, Super Users are defined as individuals designated by MOH to have administrative access to a single LIS installation (or multiple installations if necessary) for the purpose of administering local systems installations (managing local user rights, setting up or modifying tests, solving minor software issues, managing local dictionaries, etc.). LIS Administrators are defined as Super Users designated by MOH who have administrative access to the global LIS installation for the purpose of administering the group all LIS sites (specifically managing global dictionaries).
10. Respondents should bid a LIS application package that includes the following for the Guyana Phase I installations:
a. All software required to make the LIS viable at each Phase I site
b. Hardware not already available in the laboratory, including any required specialized cabling for instrument interfaces
c. Super user and network administrator training (initial minimum one week end user training at the laboratory facility on the software as provided, two weeks post-live supportive supervision)
d. Installation and initial customization of the software for use at each of the Guyana Phase I laboratories and future Regional and District sites
e. One (1) year minimum of software maintenance (updates, patches, etc.)
f. One (1) year minimum of software support (for user questions, help desk, etc.).
g. Plans and prices for the continuation of software maintenance and support beyond year one.
h. Costs associated with additional instrument interfaces beyond those included in this RFP
i. Costs associated with technical support (not included with software maintenance and support)
j. Costs associated with training and software customization following initial installation.
11. Because most public health laboratories are currently working toward some internationally recognized accreditation of laboratory practices and procedures, the selected LIS software should be capable of collecting, storing and collating data required for laboratory accreditation purposes. The Guyana laboratories are currently seeking accreditation under ISO 15189, so data required for certification under ISO 15189, specifically data related to testing (both manual and automated), instrumentation, quality control/assurance, personnel, preventative maintenance and performance reviews, should be available from the selected LIS software.
Questions regarding technical and business (laboratory) requirements described in this RFP must be directed in writing, via email to lucy.robinson@aphl.org with a copy to Michelle Meigs, michelle.meigs@aphl.org
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Due to the text limitation of this board, if you are interested in responding to this RFP, you must email Lucy Maryogo-Robinson at APHL (lucy.robinson@aphl.org) to obtain the official RFP response documentation. This documentation will contain all necessary information and tools to enable you to respond accordingly.
E-mail and fax responses must be received at the APHL office by 5:00 PM EDT (9:00 PM UTC) on June 1, 2011. Courier and USPS responses must be postmarked or entered into a tracking system by 5:00 PM EDT (9:00 PM UTC) on June 1, 2011.
