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HR+ Modernization

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Submission Start and End dates

September 25, 2024 at 3:00 PM - October 9, 2024 at 12:00 AM (Pacific Time (US & Canada))

Department of Health Care Services
HR+ Modernization

RFI #24-044

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION

1. INTRODUCTION

The California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) is releasing this Request for Information (RFI) to provide information and solicit input from Interested Parties.

The RFI includes the following Sections:

SECTION 2. PURPOSE/BACKGROUND
SECTION 3. KEY ACTION DATES
SECTION 4. CONTACT INFORMATION
SECTION 5. SCOPE OF WORK
SECTION 6. OPPORTUNITY TO PROVIDE INPUT
SECTION 7. INPUT SUBMISSION
SECTION 8. DISCLAIMER

2. PURPOSE/BACKGROUND

Purpose:

DHCS is issuing this RFI to gather insights on available Human Capital Management (HCM) technology solutions. This RFI is intended to explore and evaluate market options, enabling DHCS to identify suitable HCM solutions and related services that align with its operational needs.

Background:

DHCS comprises approximately 4,800 positions with an approximate 10.5% vacancy rate and processes around 1,800 personnel actions annually across 159 classifications in 19 locations. These roles support Medi-Cal, Behavioral Health, and other health programs, with an annual budget of about $166.3 billion.

Within DHCS, the Human Resources Division (HRD), under the Administration program, is committed to supporting the Department's mission by maintaining an effective and productive workforce. The Financial Management Division (FMD), part of the Fiscal program, ensures fiscal accountability through financial reporting, resource management, and budget oversight, and also provides financial support and consultation on contracts and purchasing services.

The DHCS HR+ Modernization Project aims to implement a modern HCM solution that addresses current DHCS HRD needs, integrates related financial management functionalities, and enhances overall operational efficiency. This initiative will help DHCS align with upcoming California State operational improvements.

3. KEY ACTION DATES

Below is a tentative schedule of dates related to this RFI:

Item	Date
RFI Released	September 25, 2024
Questions Due	October 1, 2024
RFI Due	October 8, 2024

4. CONTACT INFORMATION

Direct questions related to this RFI to the contact identified below:

Division: Procurement and Contracting Division

E-mail Address: PCDRFI3@dhcs.ca.gov

Responses to this RFI must be submitted through this portal. Any responses submitted to the above email will not be accepted.

5. SCOPE OF WORK

Scope of Work:

DHCS last updated its core human resources and financial management systems over two decades ago. Since then, DHCS has expanded by integrating other state agencies, increasing the complexity and scope of its programs. To address current challenges and meet evolving reporting requirements, DHCS must modernize its technical and business capabilities. Updating business operations now is essential, as existing legacy systems may not effectively integrate with upcoming State technologies without a new solution.

DHCS aims to enhance efficiency by reducing reliance on manual data entry and reconciliation, allowing staff to focus on higher-priority tasks with the support of modern system capabilities. The DHCS HR+ Modernization Project seeks input from Interested Parties on solutions to replace outdated processes and systems with a comprehensive human resources and financial management solution. This solution will improve the Department’s management of team member information, hiring, onboarding, offboarding, reporting, timekeeping, position control, cost allocation, and data exchange.

Primary Objectives of the Solution:

Streamline and optimize hiring, onboarding, and offboarding processes.
Improve DHCS’ ability to generate and use real-time analytics to drive better business outcomes.
Facilitate seamless, accurate, and timely information sharing with other systems without manual intervention.
Ensure cost allocation reporting is consistent, transparent, and auditable.
Prioritize business continuity in service level agreements, data migration planning, and processes.

A list of mid-level functional requirements (APPENDIX 1: MID-LEVEL REQUIREMENTS) is included with this RFI to establish traceability in line with stakeholder expectations. These requirements represent the minimum standards and are not all-inclusive.

6. OPPORTUNITY TO PROVIDE INPUT

6.1. THE DEPARTMENT IS PROVIDING THIS OPPORTUNITY FOR INTERESTED PARTIES TO PROVIDE INPUT ON THE FOLLOWING:

1. Solution Alignment: How does your proposed solution support the objectives outlined above? Specifically, detail the functional, non-functional, regulatory compliance, reporting, and technical integration features of your modern HCM solution.

2. User Experience and Accessibility: Describe specific design features that enhance user experience, including adherence to accessibility standards (i.e., Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1AA, Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)). Explain how the design ensures ease of use and successful adoption by all users, including those with disabilities.

3. Experience and Qualifications: Provide case studies, client examples, and performance metrics with results related to your previous experience and qualifications in delivering HCM solutions to similar-sized and complex government organizations.

4. Data Protection and Security: Outline how your solution complies with relevant data protection laws (e.g., Data Encryption at rest and in transit, Multi-factor Authentication (MFA), Role Based Access Control (RBAC)). Describe your security architecture and how it meets California State requirements (e.g., Health Information Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), National Institute of Standards and Technology, Security and Privacy Controls (SP) 800-53, Service Organization Control 2 (SOC 2), California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA)).

5. Scalability Strategy: Considering the size and complexity of the current DHCS environment, describe your strategy for ensuring future system scalability.

6. Implementation and Support: Describe your implementation strategy, including the estimated timeline, scope, and ongoing support services. Highlight the expected roles and responsibilities of the State, along with an estimate of time commitments and the project team structure. In addition, describe your team’s experience working in an Agile delivery culture, including but not limited to the following:

How does your implementation approach align with agile methodologies such as Scrum or Kanban?

What is your experience working in sprint cycles, including typical sprint durations and activities?

What is your team's approach to product backlogs, grooming, prioritization, and DHCS staff involvement?

Describe your process for defining and developing a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) that delivers immediate value, setting the foundation for future enhancements.

Describe how your team measures progress and makes adjustments to the plan during sprint reviews and retrospectives.

Describe your team experience using agile planning tools to facilitate transparency, collaboration, and efficient workload management.

7. Data Migration and System Integration: Explain your approach to data migration, integration with legacy systems, and ensuring continuity of operations.

8. Customization and Configuration: Describe the extent to which the solution can be customized or configured to meet unique business needs without significant coding or development work.

9. Data Ownership: Describe the terms and conditions for data ownership rights related to your solution. Including how data can be exported in the event of contract termination or migration to another solution.Any terms and conditions for data ownership rights must not conflict with the State and Federal Ownership rights outlined in the General Provisions – Information Technology (DGS PD-401 IT). Additionally, DHCS will include the following language in any potential contract:All Work Product, as defined in Provision 37(a), will be the State’s exclusive property. Therefore, Provision 37(c) is not applicable. The State will retain all ownership rights in any software or modifications thereof and associated documentation designed, developed or installed with Federal financial participation as required by subdivision (a) of 45 CFR section 95.617. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reserves a royalty-free, non-exclusive and irrevocable license to reproduce, publish and otherwise use and to authorize others to use for Federal Government purposes such software, modifications and documentation as required by subdivision (b) of 45 CFR section 95.617. Proprietary operating/vendor software packages which are provided at established catalog or market prices and sold or leased to the general public will not be subject to the ownership provisions in subdivisions (a) and (b) of 45 CFR section 95.617.

10. Licensing Model(s): Provide information about your company's approach to licensing the solution, including how it will accommodate scaling up or down based on user count or DHCS needs.

11. Mobile Access: Describe how the solution supports mobile access and remote work capabilities, including mobile applications or web-based portals.

12. Platform Roadmap: Provide a platform/product roadmap for at least the next three years. How are emerging technologies or market trends incorporated into the solution?

13. Training and Adoption: Describe your training programs and related resources to facilitate user adoption and proficiency with the solution. Does your organization support organizational change management in support of a successful solution rollout?

14. Compliance and Certifications: Provide a list of industry certifications and standards used in the development and implementation of your products and services (e.g., International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 27001, Service Organization Control 2 (SOC 2) Type II, or Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP). Is there a Government Cloud (GovCloud) option included with your solution?

15. Timeline: Describe how long it would take for you to implement this project.

6.2. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

In addition, for prospective vendors, DHCS would like to know:

Are you interested in providing services for this project?

If not interested, why not?

Do you have any suggestions that would encourage more interest, participation, and/or competition in a potential procurement?

6.3. MARKETPLACE CAPABILITY

The Department would also like to gauge the marketplace capability and interest in providing Software as a service (SaaS) cloud solution services. If you are a company that provides SaaS cloud solution services, we would appreciate your answers to the following questions (in addition to the questions above):

Does your company currently provide these services?

If yes to the above, to whom do you provide these services?

Previous Relevant Experience with California State Departments: Have you provided a similar solution for another California state department? If yes, please include the solution and department.

Current Participation in Leveraged Procurement Agreements (DGS): Are you currently on a DGS Leveraged Procurement Agreement? If so, please include the details.

6.4. ATTACHMENTS

If your company has additional information or documentation that it would like to provide, please attach below.

7. INPUT SUBMISSION

For Interested Parties who are responding to this RFI, please submit your responses to the questions outlined in SECTION 6. OPPORTUNITY TO PROVIDE INPUT (as applicable), no later than October 8, 2024.

8. DISCLAIMER

This RFI is issued for information gathering and planning purposes only and does not constitute a solicitation. A response to this RFI is not an offer and cannot be accepted by the State to form a binding contract. Furthermore, any award made related to the subject matter of this RFI is not contingent upon a vendor responding to this RFI.
Respondents are solely responsible for all expenses associated with responding to this RFI.
Respondents are advised that responses to this RFI are subject to the California Public Records Act (PRA) (Government Code Section 7920.000 et seq.) and responses may be subject to disclosure. As such, do not include any proprietary, trade secret or confidential information in your response to this RFI. Any markings that a response, or portion of a response, is proprietary, trade secret and/or confidential will be disregarded. DHCS will not exempt any response, or a portion of a response, from a PRA request on the grounds that a response includes proprietary, trade secret and/or confidential information.
Responding to this RFI creates no obligation on the part of any Respondent to DHCS. Conversely, issuing this RFI and considering the responses creates no obligation on the part DHCS to any Respondent.
DHCS may use the information received as the result of this RFI to initiate future discussions with vendors/contractors. DHCS may request a demonstration during future discussions.
Not submitting a response to this RFI will not prohibit a response to any future solicitation, nor disadvantage the evaluation of a response to any future solicitation, if DHCS chooses to procure. By submitting a response to this RFI, a Respondent is implicitly agreeing with these conditions.
DHCS asks willing Respondents to share nonbinding budgetary pricing information for each identified solution where requested. Pricing is only for planning purposes. Any pricing provided in a response to this RFI will not be considered an offer on the part of a Respondent.

If you have any questions regarding this RFI, please submit them in writing to the contact information in SECTION 4. CONTACT INFORMATION of this RFI.