Special Notice / Hearing: None__
Vote Required: Majority
To: Honorable Board of Supervisors
From: Louise F. Rogers, Chief, San Mateo County Health
Stephen Dean, Chief Information Officer, San Mateo County Health
Subject: Amendment to the Agreement with Zen Healthcare IT to Provide Technical and Strategic Consulting for Health Information Exchange
RECOMMENDATION:
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Adopt a resolution authorizing an amendment to the agreement with Zen Healthcare IT to provide technical and strategic consulting for Health Information Exchange, extending the term through May 31, 2023, and increasing the maximum amount by $269,747 to an amount not to exceed $1,046,747.
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BACKGROUND:
In April 2018, San Mateo County Health (SMCH) launched a Health Information Exchange (HIE). The HIE centralizes medical data from multiple electronic medical record systems allowing for interoperability and access across multiple health systems. SMCH needed technical and strategic consulting assistance to support the HIE, improve data quality and expand services. Through a Request for Information process, Zen Healthcare IT (Zen) was selected to provide technical and strategic consulting, data integration project completion, user interface modifications, data integrity support, and technical support for the HIE. Additionally, Zen is the only company that is authorized by the HIE vendor to provide software support.
On May 14, 2019, this Board approved an agreement with Zen for technical and strategic consulting for the HIE for the term of May 14, 2019, through May 13, 2020, in an amount not to exceed $98,000.
On May 5, 2020, this Board approved an amendment to the agreement with Zen to extend the term by two years through May 13, 2022 and increase the contract amount by $371,000 to an amount not to exceed $469,000.
On October 29, 2022, the Chief Information Officer (CIO) of SMCH approved an amendment to amend payment terms to the agreement.
On April 1, 2021, the CIO of SMCH approved an amendment to increase the contract amount by $25,000 to an amount not to exceed $494,000, remove Year 2 Payment Provision from the agreement, allow the County’s designated staff to approve new Statements of Work as needed to support new County initiatives, and to add Zen’s Gemini Supplements to improve the delivery of services.
On August 2, 2021, this Board approved an amendment to increase the contract amount by $283,000 to an amount not to exceed $777,000, allowing continuity of services and expanding the scope of work to improve HIE’s data quality and interoperability within the San Francisco Bay Area.
On April 20, 2022, the CIO of SMCH approved an amendment to allow the County to request additional services from Zen and extend the term through August 31, 2022.
The current agreement with Zen expires on August 31, 2022. That agreement allowed the HIE to maintain the high level of data quality that is required to make connections with other Bay Area medical providers. The performance measure for Fiscal Year 21-22 was established as a 30% increase in data quality and interoperability met by contracting with Zen. Zen exceeded that performance measure, achieving a 44% increase in data quality and interoperability.
DISCUSSION:
This amendment will increase the maximum amount by $269,747 and extend the term of the agreement from May 14, 2019, through August 31, 2022, to May 14, 2019, through May 31, 2023. Under this amendment, Zen will continue to provide the strategic assistance and support services that were started in the original agreement. Additionally, this amendment expands the scope of work to improve the HIE’s patient search success for patients within the San Francisco Bay Area. The HIE infrastructure will be improved by using Zen and their expertise to improve the ability to find patient records before a “timeout” is received by providers. This will help SMCH expand its capabilities to support the coordination of care for the patient.
The amendment and resolution have been reviewed and approved by the County Attorney.
The resolution contains the County’s standard provisions allowing amendment of the County’s fiscal obligations by a maximum of $25,000 (in aggregate).
The Information Services Department has reviewed and approved the IT component of this agreement.
It is anticipated that by continuing to contract with Zen, the HIE’s patient search success will increase to 50%.
PERFORMANCE MEASURE:
|
Measure |
FY 2021-22 Actual |
FY 2022-23 Estimated |
|
Percentage of HIE’s patient search success |
33% |
50% |
FISCAL IMPACT:
The term of the agreement is May 14, 2019, through May 31, 2023. This amendment increases the agreement amount by $269,747 to an amount not to exceed $1,046,747 for the four-year term. Funding for this agreement is covered by the Department of Health Care Services Qualified Health Information Organization grant and charges to Health divisions. This amount has been included in FY 2022-23 Health IT Recommended Budget.