REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL – UTS Collections
Self-Pay Collections & Third Party Collections
Supplier Questions & Answers
1. Q: It appears that the RFP is for bad debt collections only, not early-out (pre-collect) services.
Can you clarify? I'm asking because we were originally under the impression that early-out
services were going to be part of this. Thanks for the clarification.
A: Early-Out service is included however the early out services portion may not apply to all the
institutions.
2. Q: Does the 55,000 annual account placements include both hospital and physician accounts?
A: Yes, the 55,000 includes all.
3. Q: Can you provide the historical 12 month liquidation/recovery rate for each facility?
A: Not at this time.
4. Q: Can you please provide the average account balance by facility for both the hospital and
physicians?
A: Not at this time varies by institution.
5. Q: At what age does each facility currently place their self pay accounts with their agency?
A: Varies by institution.
6. Q: How many agencies do you intend to award a contract to?
A: Unknown can be a multiple award.
7. Q: What systems are the Alliance members on?
A: Unknown varies by institution.
8. Q: Is this a straight bad debt RFP or is UTS also asking for early out information?
A: If you would like to quote early out you can. Please see fee schedule for quoting of early out.
9. Q: What represents the 55,000 transactions?
A: Hospital, physician accounts and early out.
10. Q: What is defined as an annual transaction?
A: The total accounts assigned, during a 12 month period was taken to come up with an annual
number.
11. Q: What is the dollar amount that is represented in the 55,000 transactions?
A: Refer to section 1.3 of RFP.
12. Q: Will you select a primary and a secondary supplier?
A: Potentially.
13. Q: Do suppliers have the option to bid all or part of the fee schedule?
A: Yes.
1
14. Q: Is the fee schedule based on discharge date?
A: Yes.
15. Q: Is the fee schedule referring to in patient and out patient revenue?
A: Yes.
16. Q: Could you expand a bit more on what is best value?
A: Please see section 2.3 of the RFP.
17. Q: Will various suppliers be selected based on the aging? For example, One supplier for Aged
accounts <=30 days, another supplier for Aged accounts >45 days, etc
A: A supplier will be selected on what is reflected in the fee schedule.
18. Q: Has the separation between hospital accounts and physician accounts always existed?
A: Yes
19. Q: Is there a dollar threshold for third party collections?
A: Yes
20. Q: Are there third party pair classes?
A: It varies by institution
21. Q: What is the HUB participation goal for this event?
A: 33%
22. Q: Does the HSP need to be in a three ring binder?
A: No. Proposer may insert pages in an envelope.
23. Q: What location should the HSP be mailed to?
A: Please see addendum to RFP for delivery location.
24. Q: How much time do you allow to have the HSP reviewed before the submission deadline?
A: It is encouraged that the Proposer contacts the HUB Coordinator as soon as they have
completed the HSP for review.
25. Q: What is the best way to communicate with the HUB coordinator?
A: Either phone or email is fine.
26. Q: Is there an existing sample of an HSP that can be used?
A: No. If Proposer is not familiar with the HUB requirements and the HSP, they should contact
the HUB Coordinator for assistance.
27. Q: What is the 33% goal requirement based on?
A: The 33% goal requirement is the State Procurement Goal for the Commodities object
code. This goal was established as a result of the 1994 State Disparity Study.
28. Q: There is a concern that the Proposer may not be able to meet the 33% goal requirement
based on the nature of the business. What do you recommend?
A: While we would like to see 33% HUB goal met on this contract and it is the intent of the law
that we do business with HUB firms, we also realize that this procurement may not provide that
opportunity. It is required that each vender submitting their proposal/bid meet all elements of the
Good Faith Effort that is required in the HUB Subcontracting Plan.
2
29. Q: What is the best way to find certified HUB companies for subcontracting opportunities?
A: Best source is the Centralized Master Bidders List (CMBL). Below is the published link:
http://www.window.state.tx.us/procurement/cmbl/cmblhub.html
30. Q: How many accounts is UT System initially outsourcing?
A: Varies by institution.
31. Q: Does each institution have their own business office?
A: Yes.
32. Q: Is the Proposer required to have staff members housed at each institution?
A: No.
33. Q: Is the supplier expected to train UT System staff members?
A: Yes. The Proposer should be able to train UT System staff on their company procedures,
software and business interaction.
34. Q: Is the supplier required to do training on collection procedures?
A: Yes. As a partner and preferred supplier, if selected, the Proposer is expected to provide
training and seminars on collection procedures and any other relevant information.
35. Q: Will the data collection be centralized or will it be at each institution?
A: At each institution.
36. Q: Will the Preferred Supplier be awarded the business for all six health institutions? Or will each
institution pick and choose the supplier?
A: UT systems is unsure of the suppliers mix and how suppliers will be awarded to each
campus.
37. Q: Will there be individual contracts for each institution?
A: No. the contract will be a UT system contract that the Alliance participants can leverage from.
38. Q: When will the supplier know how many institutions will be awarded to them? There is a
concern as it related to staffing needs.
A: The Alliance plans to award a contract the end of August or early September.
39. Q: Do you need to be on the list to bid or is there someone we need to contact prior to
expect my bid proposal?
A: Proposers do not need to be on the bidders list in order to submit a bid proposal.
40. Q: Is the July 22nd Pre-proposal conference mandatory? Will the Q & A
from the session be distributed to all proposers?
A: The Pre-proposal conference is not mandatory. The questions and answers from the
Pre-proposal will be posted as an addendum. The deadline to submit questions for
clarification is Monday July 28, 2008 4:00PM CST. Please refer to section 2.5 of the
RFP.
41. Q: What is the name of the vendor(s) currently under contract with the UTS to provide the
same or similar collection services described in the RFP?
A: Not available.
3
42. Q: Please describe any special projects that have been assigned to any of the vendor(s)
currently under contract with the UTS to provide the same or similar collection services
described in the RFP?
A: Not available.
43. Q: Regarding evaluation of bidder proposals, how much weight will be given to pricing?
A: No definitive weight has been assigned.
44. Q: Regarding evaluation of bidder proposals, how much weight will be given to
experience?
A: No definitive weight has been assigned.
45. Q: RFP item 5.4.6.4 dictates submission of "Weekly reports to include activities,
collection activities and patient complaints." What format does UTS want these reports
and how detailed would UT Systems want the content (i.e. entire notes file or just a status
code, number of calls and letters, etc.)?
A: Reports will vary by intuition.
46. Q: RFP item 3.1 (pg 9) – Would a PDF format be acceptable for the electronic version of
the proposal?
A: Yes.
47. Q: RFP Item 3.4 states “Proposer is instructed to complete, sign, and return the following
documents as part of the proposal”. The required documents include the responses to
questions in Section 5 and Attachment A of the RFP. These RFP items are not forms
and do not have a signature line. Please verify that these two items require response to
all of the questions, but the actual pages from Section 5 and Attachment A do not need to
be signed or returned as part of the proposal.
A: The documents do not need signature however do need to be completed as part of
proposer’s proposal.
48. Q: RFP Appendix One, Will the UTS treat the Proposer’s Annual Revenue reported as
confidential and proprietary?
A: Yes, but this information is subject to open records request.
49. Q: Why is the contract out to bid at this time?
A: The cover letter discussed our intentions with the issuance of this RPF.
50. Q: Who are the incumbents for each participating entity?
A: Not applicable. Our current incumbents are not available.
51. Q: Will you also be referring secondary placements, and should bidders proposed fees
for secondary placements?
A: Some UT components currently use secondary placements. However this is an option
that will be open to each component so your bid should identify your fee structure for
secondary placements.
52. Q: Will the selected vendor be allowed to litigate on your behalf, with approval?
A: Litigation for bad debt, if appropriate, will be conducted by the Office of General
Counsel for the State of Texas.
4
53. Q: Any other relevant statistical data about the portfolio.
A: N/A.
54. Q: To what extent will the location of the bidder’s call center and/or corporate
headquarters have a bearing on any award(s)
A: None.
55. Q: At what age does each facility currently place their self pay accounts with their
agency?
A: Varies by institution some start at 90 days others at 120 days
56. Q: In 2006 or the last calendar year, what was the volume of accounts (approx. number
and gross dollar value) of all claims submitted to outside collection vendors for recovery?
A: Refer to section 1.3.
57. Q: What is the percentage charged for dollars collected by each of the vendor(s)
currently under contract with the UTS to provide the same or similar collection services
described in the RFP?
A: Not available.
58. Q: In 2006 or the last calendar year, what was the total amount of dollars collected by
each of the vendor(s) currently under contract with the UTS to provide the same or
similar collection services described in the RFP?
A: Not available.
59. Q: If known, what is the rolling liquidation percentage for claims referred to outside
collection vendors? What is the desired liquidation rate for accounts forwarded for
collection to the awarded Proposer(s) under this RFP?
A: Not available at this time.
60. Q: What is the current “payer mix”, defined as the breakdown of Medicare, Medicaid,
Self-Pay, Commercial, or Medically indigent? Has this mix remained approximately the
same over the past two years? If not, how has it changed over the past two years?
A: Not available.
61. Q: Upon termination for any reason, is an account subject to an existing payment
agreement that is not in default, eligible for commission?
A: May vary by institution.
62. Q: There are references to reporting/remitting separately on institutional vs. professional
accounts. Please provide clarification as to whether they are indeed wholly separate
accounts or if the professional component is embedded in the institutional client’s total
charges (the genesis of this question comes from a reference to a 60/40 split in 5.4.32.2).
If it's the latter, please clarify how the Proposer distinguishes to be able to comply.
A: May vary by institution, however the 60/40 split is an internal ratio that is used to
disburse payments from patients if the patient does not specifically designate where their
payment is to be applied.
5
63. Q: There are references "billing at Institution's discretion" and earning a full fee or
"finder's fee" on 3rd party recoveries. Will the Alliance or Institutions dictate their
preferences (that is, billing it ourselves or submitting it to the Institution for billing)?
A: Varies by institution.
64. Q: Does UTS want separate unit pricing for “finder’s fees” to be incorporated into our fee
structure?
A: Finders fees will vary by institution.
65. Q: Will the Institutions allow remote VPN access to their patient billing systems for
viewing prior billing activity and to allow entry of newly discovered insurance information
and subsequent bill generation or is the expectation that we'd download all charge and
diagnostic information to be able to generate and submit the appropriate UB or HCFA bill
independently of the hospital or practice?
A: May vary by institution.
66. Q: What “proof” is needed to substantiate a claim for commission on a third party
payment?
A: Will vary by institution.
67. Q: Current contingency fees or other fees currently being billed by any incumbent(s), by
category.
A: Not at this time.
68. Q: The monthly or quarterly number of accounts expected to be placed with the vendor(s)
by category.
A: Unknown at this time.
69. Q: The monthly or quarterly dollar value of accounts expected to be placed with the
vendor(s) by category.
A: Same as #22.
70. Q: Historical rate of return or liquidation rate either provided by any incumbent(s) or
anticipated as a result of this procurement.
A: N/A.
71. Does Texas Administrative Code Title 1, Chapter 206, Rule 206.70 apply to preferred
suppliers of collection services, with the only internet communication being that of an
HTML payment form?
A: “Texas Administrative Code Title 1, Chapter 206, Rule 206.70 applies to institutions of
higher education that have Web sites and/or Web pages.”
72. Q: In section 5.2 since we are a Texas corporation is it sufficient to state our Texas
Charter number as designated by the Secretary of State?
A: A certificate of authority is required for a foreign (incorporated in a state other than
Texas) corporation submitting a response. A certificate of existence is required for a
domestic (incorporated in Texas) corporation submitting a response.
73. Q: In section, “Addenda Checklist”, what addendum (1-5) have been sent?
A: If an addendum is issued the answer is “Yes”, a signed checklist will need to be
submitted.
6
74. Q: Does UTS require credit bureau reporting for the accounts referred?
A: Can vary by institution.
75. Q: Will each UTS facility 2nd place accounts?
A: May vary by institution.
76. Q: If potential Medicaid Eligibility is found, can chosen vendor work to obtain eligibility
and invoices the standard contingency fee when Medicaid pays?
A: No.
77. Q: Please define “routine skip trace” in the following:
5.4.34.4 Proposer must perform routine skip trace for any account where Proposer has
determined that the current account address and/or telephone umber is incorrect. All corrective
information must be provided on a weekly basis to the designated office at each Institutional
Participant.
A: This means that when the agency discovers the demo info is wrong they will need to perform
skip trace for a valid address and phone number and provide this information to the component.
The same holds true for any bad address accounts that may be referred by our institution.
78. Q: Please define “Institutional Participants” in 1.3 and please list these members. Which
institutional participant could possibly refer both facility and professional medical
accounts?
A: The 6 health are reflected in section 1.1 of the RFP.
79. Q: The HUB description states that we have the right not to utilize a HUB if we intend to perform
all of the work. If we determine that we can self perform the services, will that affect our score
and UTS ability to comply with this regulation?
A: No.
80. Q: Under the Fee Schedule, is the age listed at date of placement or discharge?
A: Date of discharge.
81. Will hospitals be required to work with one of the two (preferred suppliers) chosen?
A: Alliance participants will have the choice of preferred suppliers under new contract.
82. Q: Can the hospitals decide not to participate with chosen vendors and stay with current
suppliers?
A: The purpose of the new agreement will be for all Alliance participant's to utilize.
83. Q: Do we provide a system rate or bid with individual hospitals?
A: The rate should be for a system rate, not individual hospitals.
84. Q: will UT be able to supply downloads of all payments and adjustments on a daily
basis?
A: May vary by institution.
85. Q: Section 5.4.10: Is UT requiring the vendor to deposit payments daily into accounts
held by UT institutions or into accounts held by the vendor on behalf of the institutions?
A: Daily deposits to the accounts held by UT System.
7
86. Q: Section 5.4.23: The RFP states that all accounts are returned when the contract is
terminated or ends. Industry standards for collection services typically allow agencies
that have payment arrangements or promises to pay to keep the accounts and earn
credit for them until the accounts is paid or the promise has been broken. Will UT
consider a similar type of arrangements?
A: May vary by institution.
87. Q: Attachment A, Customer Service, Question 1: The Questionnaire requires us to
explain customer service specifics, including respective patient representative
roles/responsibilities in this process to assure the appropriateness of patient contact.
Please clarify this question. Is UT asking for the specific roles of our account
representatives (collectors) and if these employees are trained to ensure appropriate
patient contact?
A: Yes.
88. Q: Will placement be sent from one central data source and in a uniform format, or will
each entity have their own process?
A: From each Alliance participant.
89. Q: Does UT wish for assigned business to all be worked by a third party (in the name of
the agency) or is the very early-aged business considered first party (early-out)?
A: Varies by institution.
90. Q: In appendix 4-B-20, there is a requirement for a "blanket performance bond".. Is this a
requirement for a bond specific to this contract, over and above any bond we may have
to cover other contracts? Also, what is the amount required?
A: Will vary by institution and bond will be payable to that institution.
91. Q: Under scope of work 5.4.16, there's a requirement to close and return accounts
wherein the patient is deceased. I wanted to clarify that the intention is to close all
accounts wherein the patient is deceased, rather than to close accounts wherein the
guarantor is deceased (no one to collect from).
A: Either will require return of the accounts.
92. Q: Under Appendix 4-b-20, "Products & Completed Operations Aggregate" is listed at
2,000,000. Is this applicable to the services performed under this (collection) contract?
If so, can you explain an instance in which it would apply?
A: The Proposer is responsible for determine it’s potential exposure under this RFP.
93. Q: Account flow: on self-pay accounts, if they are cancelled as uncollectible by the first
agency prior to 180 days, would they still forward to a secondary agency, even though
they are less than 180 days?
A: May vary by institution.
94. Q: Would the Third-party collection vendor keep self-pay after insurance balances to
collect?
A: No.
95. Q: Is there a large-balance cut-off for third-party collection placements?
A: No.
8