TO: Board of Supervisors
FROM: Jennifer Yasumoto, Director Health and Human Services Agency
REPORT BY: Gaby Angeles, Staff Services Analyst II
SUBJECT: Agreement No. 230147B with Credible Behavioral Health dba Qualifacts Systems, LLC.
RECOMMENDATION
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Director of Health and Human Services Agency (HHSA) requests approval of and authorization for the Chair to sign Agreement No. 230147B with Credible Behavioral Health, Inc., dba Qualifacts Systems, LLC., for a maximum of $1,510,891, for the period of October 1, 2022 through September 30, 2027, for the procurement and implementation of a comprehensive Electronic Health Record System for documentation and billing of Behavioral Health services.
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Approval of today’s action will allow for the implementation of the Credible Electronic Health Record and will ensure that Behavioral Health Services are documented and billed in accordance with Federal and State regulations, satisfy the upcoming requirements from the 21st Century Cures Act and regulatory changes required by the California Advancing and Innovating Medi-Cal (CalAIM) multi-year initiative.
Credible Behavioral Health dba Qualifacts Systems, LLC. is not a local provider.
FISCAL & STRATEGIC PLAN IMPACT
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Is there a Fiscal Impact? |
Yes |
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Is it currently budgeted? |
Yes |
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Where is it budgeted? |
Health and Human Services Agency, Mental Health Division - Mental Health Services Act |
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Is it Mandatory or Discretionary? |
Discretionary |
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Discretionary Justification: |
This agreement is discretionary as there is no State mandate that would require this agreement to be approved; however, failure to do so would prevent Napa County from procurement and implementation of the Credible Electronic Health Record that ensures that Behavioral Health Services are documented and billed in accordance with Federal and State regulations. There was a rigorous Request for Proposal (RFP) selection process to acquire an Electronic Health Record that would meet program needs, the upcoming documentation changes for CalAIM and interoperability requirements of the 21st Century Cures Act. |
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Is the general fund affected? |
No |
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Future fiscal impact: |
This Agreement contains a provision for automatic annual renewal. Appropriations are included in the budget cycle for Fiscal Year 2022-2023. Future fiscal years will be budgeted accordingly. |
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Consequences if not approved: |
If not approved, the County would be unable to bill for services in accordance with Federal and State regulations. |
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County Strategic Plan pillar addressed: |
Effective and Open Government |
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
ENVIRONMENTAL DETERMINATION: The proposed action is not a project as defined by 14 California Code of Regulations 15378 (State CEQA Guidelines) and therefore CEQA is not applicable.
BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION
The Behavioral Health Divisions of Napa County Health and Human Services Agency (HHSA) are required by Federal and State Regulation to utilize a specialized Electronic Health Record (EHR) that is California compliant in order to capture, bill, and maintain treatment records. For the past 14 years, HHSA has met this obligation with the Anasazi software system. The company that owns the Anasazi software, Cerner, is phasing out the system and will no longer provide updates or maintain the product.
In preparation for the phase out of the current EHR, multiple county stakeholders including Privacy/Compliance, Information Technology Services, and the HHSA Divisions of Mental Health, Alcohol & Drug Services, Fiscal, and Operations, were consulted to formulate a Request For Proposal (RFP) for a new EHR that will meet HHSA’s needs and fulfill requirements under two separate regulatory programs: (1) the 21st Century Cures Act, which requires the healthcare industry to adopt standardize application programming interfaces (APIs) in order to allow individuals to securely and easily access their health information, advance interoperability and support the access, exchange and use of electronic health information per Federal regulation; and (2) the California Advancing and Innovating Medi-Cal (CalAIM), which is a multi-year plan to transform the Medi-Cal delivery system by reducing complexity and increasing flexibility; addressing social determinants of health; improving quality outcomes and drive value based initiatives; and create modernization of systems and payment reform.
Through the RFP process Credible Behavioral Health, Inc., dba. Qualifacts System, LLC., was chosen as HHSA’s new EHR for the Behavioral Health Divisions. Following the successful implementation of the EHR, Napa County will acquire increased efficiencies in data reporting and analysis, including access to local, system-specific population health service analytics within the Behavioral Health Division; specialized reporting for compliance and audit-related findings; system protections to prevent critical compliance error; utilization and productivity dashboards to optimize use of staffing resource; enhanced medication monitoring and tracking; and will achieve full compliance with the 21st Century Cures Act as well as meeting requirements set forth by the Department of Health Care Services under CalAIM. This will provide opportunities for improved service coordination between the newly integrated Mental Health and Alcohol & Drug Divisions, as well as, tracking of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and data export capabilities for future cross-system analytics in HHSA.
The 5 year agreement has an initial one-time purchase price of $243,000. The annual maintenance costs are as follows:
Year 1: $165,453 (6 months of costs after system setup)
Year 2: $269,102
Year 3: $273,340
Year 4: $277,728
Year 5: $282,268