Announcement of an Exempt Purchase

The procurement of technical assistance services from FQHC Associates to support Positive Health Solutions over 2436 months in achieving Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) Look-Alike designation with the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). Scope includes organizational readiness and gap analysis, development of compliant policies and procedures (governance, sliding-fee discount program, credentialing/privileging, quality improvement, scope of project), community needs assessment and service model design, financial modeling and revenue-cycle planning, Electronic Health Record (EHR) and workflow alignment, Uniform Data System (UDS) preparation, board development, and drafting, assembling, and submitting the HRSA FQHC Look-Alike application, including response support.

This purchase is exempt from the usual selection processes of the Procurement Code because the procurement expenditure is for performing sponsored research and other sponsored activities under grants and contracts funded by the sponsor or by sources other than State appropriations. (30 ILCS 500 / 1-13(b)(8)) If this is not approved, Positive Health Solutions will lack the specialized support needed to plan, develop, and submit the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) Look-Alike application, resulting in foregone enhanced Medicare and Medicaid FQHC reimbursement rates, reduced ability to bill third-party insurance for Ryan White Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS) clients, and ineligibility for the 340B Drug Pricing Program covered entity status collectively, these lost revenue streams would jeopardize our capacity to maintain and expand services for low-income, uninsured patients, increase the risk of care disruptions, and drive higher downstream costs to the State as patients shift to more expensive emergency and inpatient care.