Frequently Asked Questions: RFP - Behavioral Health Services Administration for Maricopa County

Background

1. What is the contract for?
The contract requires ValueOptions to administer a managed care behavioral health delivery system in Maricopa County. The populations covered under this contract include:

Medicaid eligible children and adults (Title XIX and Title XXI),
Developmentally disabled children and adults with mental illness eligible for the Arizona Long Term Care System.
Non-Title XIX Persons with a serious mental illness,
To the extent that funds are available, other Non-Title XIX children and adults.

As of December 2003, there were 60,925 adults and children receiving behavioral health services in Maricopa County.

2. Why did the state seek to obtain a new contract for the Maricopa County Regional Behavioral Health Authority?
The Arizona Department of Health Services is required by Arizona procurement law to re-solicit all services and commodities at the conclusion of all five-year contracts. The current contract with ValueOptions is set to expire June 30, 2004. This process allows for a procurement process to secure the most advantageous contractor for the state.

3. How did the selection process work?
The Request For Proposals required Offerors to submit a proposal in which they responded to a series of questions pertaining to administration, network, service delivery, quality management, grievance and appeals, information technology, and finance.

The proposals were assigned to Subcommittees that used a process of consensus scoring. Subcommittees reviewed and discussed pros and cons of each response and decided upon a score for each response using a consensus process. Subcommittee consensus scores were compiled with other subcommittee scores to arrive at an overall score. Subcommittee consensus scores were forwarded to an Evaluation Committee. The Evaluation Committee served as a quality control process; determined the content of a Best and Final Offer request, and made a recommendation to the Department’s Procurement Officer who, made the contract award.

4. What has the evaluation committee been doing?

Dates 2003 and 2004	Subcommittees & Evaluation Committee Activity
September 17 - November 26	Prepared for the evaluation by reading the RFP
December 2 - 31	Evaluated proposals received from Offerors
January 7 and 8	Oral presentations
January 23 - 30	Evaluated Best and Final Offers received from Offerors and made contract award recommendations to Procurement Administrator

5. Who was involved in the selection process?
The Subcommittees and Evaluation Committee had representatives from the community and the Arizona Department of Health Services. Representatives from the community included behavioral health recipients, family members, foster parents, advocates, other state agency personnel, and other experts.

6. How were members of the subcommittees and evaluation committee selected?
Representatives from the community were selected based upon several factors, including their current advocacy work in the public behavioral health system. Also included were essential system partners like other state agency personnel, consumers and family members.

7. How many companies submitted proposals?
Two companies, SABHI-MC (Schaller Anderson Behavioral Health, Inc.– Maricopa County) and ValueOptions, submitted proposals.

The Contract

1. What are the key contract requirements?
The contract can be categorized by two main responsibilities: clinical practice and business operations.
Clinical practice - Clinical practice must meet the needs of behavioral health recipients and their families. Children services: Practice must be consistent with serving children in accordance with the 12 principles outlined in the Children’s Settlement Agreement. These principles include access to services and respect for the child and family’s unique cultural heritage. All children must be serviced through the use of Child and Family Teams in which child and family voice is paramount in designing and delivering behavioral health services. Adult services: Practice must be consistent with the principles for serving persons with a serious mental illness. Services for children and adults must go beyond traditional services and need to include the use of support services and natural supports.
Business operations - Business operations must support the implementation of clinical practice that meets the needs of behavioral health recipients and their families. The business operations shall make use of managed care practices while achieving the goals stated within the Request For Proposals. Some changes related to business operations include an increased attention for communication within ValueOptions’ organization and with the community including families. Increase attention to network sufficiency including enhanced minimum network requirements and administration. Significant resources are earmarked for training to impact clinical practice.

2. How long is the contract for?
The contract will begin on July 1, 2004 and will continue for three years with the state’s option to extend the contract for up to twenty-four months.

3. How much?
The estimated revenue for the contract is $450 million per year.

4. What significant changes will we see under the new contract?

From the perspective of behavioral health recipients, the most significant change will be how the consumer and family voice is core to service planning and service delivery.
From the perspective of the community, improved communication will foster a community that has a shared understanding and partnership regarding the operations of the behavioral health delivery system.
From the perspective of providers, the most significant change will be enhanced communications that will respond to provider requests in a uniform and timely manner.
From the perspective of the state, we will continue to ensure ValueOptions adheres to the contract.

5. How will you make sure ValueOptions adheres to the contract?
The Department’s Contract Implementation Team will be monitoring very specific requirements of the contract and contents of the Contractor’s proposal. Additionally, the monthly, quarterly and yearly monitoring conducted by the Department will be adjusted to reflect the requirements of the contract (e.g. Annual Administrative Review, Independent Case Review, Financial Reporting).

6. What if someone appeals the decision?
After award, an interested party (the offeror who did not receive an award) may file a protest within prescribed time limits. The offeror has ten days from the time they knew or should have known about issue to file a protest. After receipt of the protest, the Procurement Officer has fourteen (14) days to respond to the protest. Upon receipt of the Procurement Officer’s decision, the protester has 5 days to appeal to the Director of the Arizona Department of Administration after receipt of the Procurement Officer’s decision. The administration director can either decide to sustain or overturn the decision of the procurement officer, or, have the case heard by a hearing officer. The Director has 30 days to make this decision. If the Director or hearing Officer sustains the decision of the Procurement Office, the protester can than file a lawsuit in Superior Court.

Next Steps

1. What happens now?
The Department’s Contract Implementation Team comprised of Department staff, consumers and advocates shall immediately begin meeting with ValueOptions and continue meeting through at least December 2004. The Department will ensure the implementation of necessary milestones to implement the new contract for July 1, 2004. These milestones will be comprised of requirements contained within the RFP and the Contractor’s proposal.

2. What changes will consumers and families see?
From the perspective of behavioral health recipients, the most significant change will be how the consumer and family voice is core to service planning and service delivery. Behavioral health recipients will continue to see the same providers they currently see and new providers will be added.

3. Will there be any interruption in services?
No. In the unlikely event that there is any disruption to a behavioral health recipients services they should contact Arizona Department of Health Services – Division of Behavioral Health Services at (602) 364-4558 for assistance.

4. How can I get more information?
For more information, contact the Arizona Department of Health Services - Division of Behavioral Health Services at (602) 364-4558.

For procurement information, call the Department of Health Services’ Procurement Office (602) 542-1040 e-mail DHS at RFP@hs.state.az.us.

The Request for Proposal and related documents may be obtained on the Arizona Department of Health Services’ website at www.hs.state.az.us/bhs/rfp/rfp_main.htm.