REPORT/RECOMMENDATION TO THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
OF THE COUNTY OF SAN BERNARDINO
AND RECORD OF ACTION
February 9, 2021
FROM
WILLIAM L. GILBERT, Director, Arrowhead Regional Medical Center
SUBJECT
Title v
Amendment to Agreement with Forward Advantage, Inc. for Utilization of Single Sign-On Technology
End
RECOMMENDATION(S)
Recommendation
Approve Amendment No. 3 to Agreement No. 18-519 with Forward Advantage, Inc. for software maintenance and technical support services related to single sign-on software and licensing, implementation, and equipment used to authenticate access to electronic prescribing of controlled substances, increasing the contract amount by $361,345 from $898,285 to $1,259,630, and extend the term of the Agreement for a total contract period of March 13, 2018 through March 29, 2023.
(Presenter: William L. Gilbert, Director, 580-6150)
Body
COUNTY AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER GOALS & OBJECTIVES
Provide for the Safety, Health and Social Service Needs of County Residents.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
Approval of the recommendation will not result in the use of Discretionary General Funding (Net County Cost) as the cost of $361,345 is funded by State Medi-Cal, Federal Medicare, private insurances, and other departmental revenue. Funding sources may change in the future pending any legislative activity related to the repeal and/or replacement of the Affordable Care Act. Sufficient appropriation and revenue are included in the Arrowhead Regional Medical Center (ARMC) 2020-21 budget and will be included in future recommended budgets.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Approval of this Amendment will allow ARMC to utilize the single sign-on technology provided by Forward Advantage Inc. (Forward Advantage). Single sign-on (SSO), is a general term for the use of a badge or smart card that replaces the need to enter a username and password to login to systems within the organization. Instead, the provider or staff member simply tap their badge on a badge reader and enter their four-digit pin number (that they set for themselves) and the system will log them in. Secondarily, when the user wants to leave from the system they tap their badge on the reader again and hit a key on the keyboard and the system logs them off or disconnects them where appropriate. This increases the efficiencies of everyone who have to go through the log-on and off process numerous times a day, increasing login security by reducing the dependency on password credentialing.
This Amendment will also allow ARMC to purchase the Epic connector and Electronic Prescribing of Controlled Substances (EPCS) authenticator, which will allow ARMC to convert the single sign-on technology in order to operate on the new Epic Electronic Heath System. The EPCS authenticator will provide security when physicians prescribe controlled substances.
On February 13, 2018 (Item No. 10), the Board approved contract 18-519 with Forward Advantage, Inc. in the amount of $688,885 for the period of March 13, 2018, through February 12, 2021. The previously stated contract effective date of February 13, 2018 was incorrect. The contract effective date has been corrected in the current recommendation to state March 13, 2018.
On July 10, 2018 (Item No. 5), the Board approved Amendment No. 1 for contract 18-519 to increase the amount of contract by $177,400.
On April 7, 2020 (Item No. 10), the Board approved Amendment No. 2 for contract 18-519 to increase the amount of contract by $32,000.
PROCUREMENT
This is a non-competitive procurement as Forward Advantage, Inc. is the sole provider of the software solution Meditech (ARMC’s electronic health records system) identified as the Single Sign-On interface that fully integrates with Meditech’s system and Epic (future electronic health record system at ARMC).
REVIEW BY OTHERS
This item has been reviewed by County Counsel (Bonnie Uphold, Deputy County Counsel, 387-5455) on January 21, 2021; Purchasing Department (Michelle Churchill, Supervising Buyer, 777-2070) on January 25, 2021; ARMC Finance (Chen Wu, Budget and Finance Officer, 580-3165) on January 20 2021; Finance (Yael Verduzco, Administrative Analyst, 387-5285) on January 19, 2021; and County Finance and Administration (Matthew Erickson, County Chief Financial Officer, 387-5423) on January 24, 2021.