Alaska DOH Seeks Proposals for Statewide Health Information Exchange Services

The Alaska Department of Health (DOH) has issued a request for proposals (RFP) for statewide health information exchange (HIE) services.

Alaska seeks a contractor to provide HIE services with secure, modern solutions and technical support to achieve optimal administrative outcomes. The HIE will support Alaska’s healthcare providers and residents by enhancing health data interoperability across the state.

DOH officials intend to budget $6 million for the HIE’s first two years of operation. Proposals that exceed $6 million over that time will be considered non-responsive. Contractors must have operational experience providing HIE services in at least one state.

DOH said officials would determine the budget for the remaining contract years at a future date. Approval of a contract will depend upon state legislative appropriation and the availability of federal funding.

Since 2010, Alaska has leveraged Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act funding to contract HIE services and is nearing the end of that contract. The state will look to ongoing HIE support with Medicaid Management Information Systems and Medicaid Enterprise System funding from CMS.

Proposals must be emailed to [email protected] by 2 PM on August 15th. DOH expects initial evaluations to complete initial assessments by August 26th, with an intent to award notice scheduled to be released on November 30th. DOH expects to issue a contract by December 13th.

DOH will hold a virtual educational meeting and pre-proposal conference at 10 AM on July 18th. Officials will discuss the work that will be performed with prospective contractors, answer questions concerning the RFP, and provide a thorough education on the RFP process.

Alaska has 11 non-federal, short-term, acute-care hospitals providing 1,290 staffed beds and 13 critical access hospitals. It has 58 tribal health centers, 160 tribal community health aide clinics, and five residential substance abuse treatment centers. Current EHR systems used in the state include Epic, Cerner, Athenahealth, Health Fusion, and Greenway Health.