Pilot Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) Application for Botswana

Posted on March 30, 2009 By Corinne Jones Bid Opportunities

Due to the text limitation of this board, if you are interested in responding to this RFP, please email Michelle Meigs at APHL (michelle.meigs@aphl.org) with a copy to Lucy Maryogo-Robinson (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. 

General Information:

The Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL) through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Global AIDS Program (GAP) is supporting the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).

This request for proposals (RFP) is one component under the overarching PEPFAR goal to strengthen health system capacity and services for HIV/AIDS. A complete description of PEPFAR can be found at http://www.pepfar.gov/about/.

This RFP solicits offers from qualified information technology software providers to implement laboratory information management systems (LIS) in four laboratories of the National Public Health Laboratory System (NPHLS), Ministry of Health of Botswana. 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. APHL, working together with the Botswana NPHLS, CDC/GAP/Atlanta (CDC/Atlanta) and CDC/GAP/Botswana (CDC/Botswana), assessed the four laboratories identified to implement a pilot phase of the LIS in Botswana. This pilot phase will provide objective information that addresses the technical, human resource, support and financial issues for a LIS. The four laboratories selected for the pilot phase of the project are located in the Deborah Retief Memorial District Hospital (in Mochudi), Thamaga Primary Hospital (in Thamaga), the National Tuberculosis Reference Laboratory (in Gaborone) and the National Histopathology and Cytology Reference Laboratory (in Gaborone). APHL expects to award a contract for this project before 15 June 2009. The target date to implement the LIS in the pilot laboratories is August 2009.

APHL assisted CDC/GAP/Botswana and the Botswana MoH in the performance of a comprehensive evaluation of the laboratory system needs for a LIS and to develop an implementation plan for the pilot laboratories. The assessment team activities included the following:

  1. Assessment of operations in the pilot laboratories and meetings with stakeholders, in order to describe standard laboratory services and current LIS capacity in the public health sector of Botswana;
  2. Visits to other governmental laboratories to compare sample flow procedures and understand how samples are processed;
  3. Discussions on LIS requirements with Botswana government and health officials, as well as GAP/Botswana staff;
  4. Developed an action plan for the implementation of LIS in Botswana; and
  5. Compiled the specific information and requirements for the development of an RFP for the purchase of a LIS application.

1.2 Procurement Contact for this RFP

NAME: Lucy Maryogo-Robinson

TITLE: Senior Program Manager

Email: lucy.robinson@aphl.org

Note: Any solicitation or contact with APHL, the Botswana Ministry of Health or CDC employees involved in the LIS Pilot Project other than the designated Procurement Contact concerning this RFP is prohibited, except as authorized by the Procurement 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).

 

2 PREPARING AND SUBMITTING A PROPOSAL

2.1 Contractor information required to be included with response.

  1. 1. Full legal name and if LIS provider has a “doing business name” the d/b/a as well.
  2. 2. Authorized representative of the Contractor for the proposal.
  3. 3. Telephone, fax and e-mail address of the singe point of contact for communication between APHL and the LIS provider. Contact information for other persons whom the LIMS provider may request informational copies sent in addition to the single point of contact.
  4. 4. Business mailing address.

 2.2 Response Submittal

This RFP has been created using a PDF form creator; respondents are not required to utilize this form but if respondents choose to do so, they may also provide attachments included as supplemental information. If this form is not utilized, responses must be sent to APHL by e-mail attachment in MSWord or PDF format (electronic signatures accepted). Responses shall be sent to lucy.robinson@aphl.org; OR by fax to 240-485-2712 attention of Lucy Maryogo-Robinson, Senior Program Manager, 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 pm DST / 9 pm UTC on April 27, 2009. Courier and USPS responses must be postmarked or entered into a tracking system by 5 pm DST / 9 pm UTC on April 26, 2009. 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 process that will lead to the award of this contract by APHL.

Part One:

  • APHL reviews all responses received by the response deadline, assesses the responses with NPHLS & CDC/Botswana and compares them to the requirements stated in the RFP. Responses are assessed on these criteria:
    1. LIS Pilot Project requirements
    2. Strength of the provider’s project plan to successfully implement a LIS in the pilot sites.
    3. Strength of the providers project plan to sustain operation of LIS in the pilot sites
    4. 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 the Part Two review to travel to Gaborone, Botswana to present a demonstration of their proposed application to APHL, CDC/Botswana and the Botswana MoH managers and answer questions related to their software, project plan and costs.
  • If a respondent is required to travel to Botswana, APHL will provide a stipend, the amount determined by APHL, to partially offset the cost of travel to Botswana 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, Botswana MoH shall select the preferred respondent in consultation with APHL and CDC/Botswana. APHL will request a final offer from the preferred respondent prior to awarding a contract.

    • The final offer will permit inclusion of changes that may arise in deliverables or conditions of the implementation during the negotiation of a contract.
    • 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.

3 GENERAL INFORMATION, ASSUMPTIONS 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 LIMS that would be most appropriate.

1. This LIMS 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.

3. Respondents should keep in mind that this RFP is designed for the purchase and installation of application software in the four pilot laboratories only. However, respondents may supply cost estimates for additional sites, beyond the pilot, 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 Botswana laboratories. Consequently, they are general in nature and represent the minimum of data points to be collected.

5. The ability for the LIMS 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 local LAN will be in place and functional in each laboratory prior to installation of the application.
    • Each 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.
    • Sufficient PC’s will be available to run the application software in each laboratory prior to the installation of the application software.
    • 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.
    • Respondents whose application software is licensed by PC or server, can base their proposal on the following standard information:
      • Eight (8) PCs and one (1) server available at the Deborah Retief Memorial District Hospital Laboratory.
      • Six (6) PCs and one (1) server available at the Thamaga Primary Hospital Laboratory
      • Six (6) PCs and one server available at the National Tuberculosis Reference Laboratory
      • Five (5) PCs and one server at the Histopathology & Cytology Laboratory at the National Health laboratory in Gaboron
    • Respondents should bid a LIMS application package that includes the following for the three pilot installations:
      • All software required to make the LIMS viable
      • Hardware not already available in the laboratory
      • 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)
      • Installation and initial customization of the software for use in 4 pilot sites
      • One (1) year minimum of software maintenance (updates, patches, etc.)
      • One (1) year minimum of software support (for user questions, help desk, etc.).
      • Plans and prices for the continuation of software maintenance and support
      • Costs associated with additional instrument interfaces
      • Costs associated with technical support (not included with software maintenance and support)
      • Costs associated with training and software customization following initial installation.

Questions regarding technical and business (laboratory) requirements described in this RFP must be directed in writing, via email, to Michelle Meigs (with a copy to lucy.robinson@aphl.org):

Michelle Meigs

Senior Manager for Laboratory Informatics, APHL

Email: michelle.meigs@aphl.org

Due to the text limitation of this board, if you are interested in responding to this RFP, please email Michelle Meigs at APHL (michelle.meigs@aphl.org) with a copy to Lucy Maryogo-Robinson (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 

by Corinne Jones

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