To: Board of Supervisors
From: Anna Roth, Health Services Director
Report Title: Contract #23-831 with Virtual Radiologic Professionals of California, P.A.
☒Recommendation of the County Administrator ☐ Recommendation of Board Committee
RECOMMENDATIONS:
APPROVE and AUTHORIZE the Health Services Director, or designee, to execute on behalf of the County Contract #23-831 with Virtual Radiologic Professionals of California, P.A., a corporation, in an amount not to exceed $12,000, to provide a web-based diagnostic radiology interpretation workflow platform for Contra Costa Regional Medical Center’s (CCRMC) Radiology Unit for the period from April 1, 2024 through March 31, 2027.
FISCAL IMPACT:
This contract will result in contractual service expenditures of up to $12,000 over a 3-year period and will be funded 100% by Hospital Enterprise Fund I revenues.
BACKGROUND:
This contract meets the needs of the county by establishing and supporting a secure interface between Contra Costa Health Services (CCHS) and Virtual Radiologic Professionals of California (vRad) for the exchange of information in connection with the deployment of vRad's web-based diagnostic radiology interpretation workflow platform, regarding picture archiving and communication.
Under contract #23-831, the parties will execute a Health Information Integration Master Services Agreement and Statement of Work regarding a technology solution that integrates with Epic, CCHS's electronic health record system, part of a technology integration project aimed at enhancing radiology workflow, ensuring quality radiologic interpretations, and complying with best billing practices by establishing the infrastructure for secure data exchange (between the parties) regarding teleradiology services in connection with county contract #26-515. Services include setting up secure data exchange to facilitate the development of interfaces for integrating vRad's Radiology Information System (RIS) and Portal with the CCHS's RIS, the reporting system, and the DICOM image manager. CCRMC radiology staff submit images and patient history, and then vRad delivers the completed interpretation via CCHS's radiology information system using an encrypted Virtual Private Network (VPN).
After considering other radiology practitioners, such as Nighthawk and Radisphere, and in conjunction with contract #26-515, this contractor was approved by the Public Works Department’s Purchasing Division on August 23, 2023. Contract deliverables include the development of the interfaces needed to integrate vRad's RIS with CCHS’ RIS and radiology resulting system; establishment of a secure Local Area Network (LAN)-to-LAN VPN connection for data exchange; testing, validation, acceptance, and maintenance and support of the workflow platform.
Approval of this new Contract #23-831 allows the contractor to provide services through March 31, 2027. Virtual Radiologic Professionals of California, P.A.’s liability is limited to the amount of fees paid for services under the contract.
CONSEQUENCE OF NEGATIVE ACTION:
If this contract is not approved, the professional services performed under county contract #26-515 regarding teleradiology service(s) will be negatively affected, causing CCRMC’s Radiology Unit delays with managing heavy workloads.