REPORT/RECOMMENDATION TO THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
OF SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY
AND RECORD OF ACTION
March 29, 2022
FROM
JOSHUA DUGAS, Director, Department of Public Health
SUBJECT
Title
Amendment to Contract with VVC Holding Corp. for an Electronic Health Record System
End
RECOMMENDATION(S)
Recommendation
Approve Amendment No. 4, effective March 29, 2022, to Contract No. 16-938 with VVC Holding Corp., for the System Upgrade Assurance subscription to the Electronic Health Record system, increasing the total contract amount by $78,750, from $3,060,065 to $3,138,815, with no change to the contract period of December 20, 2016 through December 19, 2023.
(Presenter: Joshua Dugas, Director, 387-9146)
Body
COUNTY AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER GOALS & OBJECTIVES
Improve County Government Operations.
Provide for the Safety, Health and Social Service Needs of County Residents.
Pursue County Goals and Objectives by Working with Other Agencies and Stakeholders.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
This item does not impact Discretionary General Funding (Net County Cost). The increase of $78,750 is for the cost of the System Upgrade Assurance subscription, which includes the $3,750 per month subscription, the cost of all software upgrades, system updates, and professional support services required for installing and implementing the upgrades, and updates for the remainder of the term of the contract. Adequate appropriation and revenue have been included in the Department of Public Health (DPH) 2021-22 budget and will be included in future recommended budgets.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The recommended amendment to the contract with VVC Holding Corp. (VVC) will allow the addition of a System Upgrade Assurance component to the operation of DPH’s Electronic Health Record (EHR) enterprise environment. The upgrade is required for the EHR existing system to be compliant with new laws and regulations pertaining to electronic medication management. The addition of the System Upgrade Assurance subscription to the existing provision of an EHR system, Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) services, related hardware and software, and maintenance and support services sets the standard for structuring information to be electronically exchanged between and within entities by which the DPH submits electronic claims to insurance providers.
DPH provides community and preventive health services that promote and improve the health, safety, and quality of life of San Bernardino County residents and visitors. The EHR allows DPH to efficiently capture and retrieve patient information, improve service delivery, increase the ability to monitor and report health trends, and continue to automate claims and billing processes.
The EHR meets the County and Chief Executive Officer goals and objectives of promoting higher continuity of service for individuals that seek care or receive services from multiple County departments and to support County residents throughout their life span. DPH coordinated its procurement with the County’s Innovation and Technology Department and collaborates with other County departments for centralized data storage, improved data sharing, data governance, to securely share patient information with other healthcare providers and hospitals via electronic Health Information Exchange and secure servers. Electronic Health Information Exchange allows user/systems to compare information across multiple hospitals/clinics with a potential to identify possible errors. This assists providers to make more informed decisions, assists in coordination of care, and prevent duplication of services and healthcare errors due to errors in medical history.
VVC’s performance will continue to be monitored by the review of monthly reports and an annual site visit to ensure compliance with the administrative, program, and fiscal terms and conditions of the contract. VVC will cooperate with the County in the implementation, monitoring and evaluation of this contract and comply with any and all reporting requirements established by this contract. VVC’s charges must be for services provided to eligible beneficiaries under this funded program. The County reserves the right to request additional program and/or fiscal reports to facilitate this monthly review. The Contract may be terminated without cause by the County with 30 days written notice.
PROCUREMENT
On December 20, 2016 (Item No. 55), as a result of a formal procurement, the Board of Supervisors (Board) approved Contract No. 16-938 with General Electric Company in an amount not to exceed $1,938,195 for the provision of an EHR system, for the period of December 20, 2016 through December 19, 2019, with the option to extend two additional one-year periods. The Board also authorized the DPH Director to approve Change Order Requests to the contract with General Electric Company in an amount not to exceed $25,000 per request, during the contract term of December 20, 2016 through December 19, 2019, and any extension unless the aggregate amount of all approved Change Orders exceeded five percent of the total original contract amount.
On September 25, 2018 (Item No. 29), the Board approved Amendment No. 1 to Contract No. 16-938, effective September 26, 2018, reflecting the assignment of the contract from General Electric Company to VVC, and updating contract language, with no changes to the contract amount of $1,938,195, nor the contract period of December 20, 2016 through December 19, 2019.
On December 10, 2019 (Item No. 26), the Board approved Amendment No. 2, effective December 11, 2019, to Contract No. 16-938 with VVC for the provision of an EHR Record system, exercising both one-year extension options, and increasing the total contract amount by $554,527, from $1,938,195 to $2,492,722, for the total contract period of December 20, 2016 through December 19, 2021. The Board also authorized the DPH Director to approve Change Order Requests to Contract No. 16-938 with VVC in an amount not to exceed $25,000 per request, during the contract term of December 20, 2016 through December 19, 2021, unless the aggregate amount of all approved Change Orders exceeds ten percent of the total contract amount.
On December 14, 2021 (Item No. 45), the Board approved Amendment No. 3, effective December 14, 2021, to Contract No. 16-938 with VVC for the provision of an EHR system, increasing the total contract amount by $567,343, from $2,492,722 to $3,060,065, and extending the contract an additional two years, for the total contract period of December 20, 2016 through December 19, 2023. The Board also authorized the DPH Director to approve Change Order Requests to Contract No. 16-938 with VVC in an amount not to exceed $25,000 per request, during the contract term of December 20, 2016 through December 19, 2023.
REVIEW BY OTHERS
This item has been reviewed by Human Services Contracts (Patty Steven, Contracts Manager, 388-0241) on March 3, 2022; County Counsel (Adam Ebright, Deputy County Counsel, 387-5455) on March 10, 2022; Finance (Paul Garcia, Administrative Analyst, 386-8392) on March 3, 2022; and County Finance and Administration (Cheryl Adams, Deputy Executive Officer, 388-0238) on March 4, 2022.