Public procurement notice: Additional Information
Published: 2019-08-09
Buyer: Health Service Executive (HSE)
Country: IE
Contract type: Supplies
Procedure: Negotiated without a prior call for competition
CPV classification: 48000000

Technical requirements: The HSE intends to vary an existing contract in accordance with the provisions of Article 72(1)(b) of the 2014 Directive for the provision of the National Integrated Medical Imaging System (NIMIS).
The HSE intends to vary an existing contract with Change Healthcare Ireland Solutions Ltd (‘Change Healthcare’) in accordance with the provisions of Article 72(1)(b) of the 2014 Directive for the provision of the National integrated medical imaging system (‘NIMIS’). Given the critical nature of NIMIS to the Irish health service, the HSE notifies the market of its intention to enter into this variation in the interests of transparency.
The HSE has, following a recent NIMIS ICT audit, identified important issues requiring remediation work. The proposed variation involves a hardware and software refresh which are required to address the audit findings. The objectives are to:
— ensure NIMIS continues to support safe and effective diagnostic imaging services for patients in Ireland,
— improve the security posture, resilience and protections against current and emerging cyber security threats,
For the reasons specified below, the HSE believes it is justified in relying upon Article 72(1)(b) of the 2014 Directive and intends to enter the proposed variation agreement with Change Healthcare. The HSE will publish a contract modification notice as required upon the execution of the variation.
Following an extensive due diligence process the HSE has concluded that there would be major technical and economic challenges in delivering the necessary remediation by implementing a replacement system from another contractor. Furthermore, the HSE would experience significant inconvenience and substantial duplication of costs. The HSE has determined that, as a consequence of these factors, the delivery of patient care would be negatively impacted. The subsequent contract modification notice will identify the reasons in more detail. In summary the main reasons are:
— migration of over 30 000 000 RIS examination records, 22 000 000 PACS imaging records and 13 000 000 voice recognition records,
— approximately 40 000 hours of NIMIS user training for a replacement system taking clinical staff out of front-line care delivery, thereby reducing patient care capacity,
— approximately 1 400 connected imaging devices would be reconfigured at substantial duplicate cost and time resulting in the loss of approximately 3 000 examination slots, further reducing patient care capacity,
— an average of 1.3 WTE key imaging staff per site required for design, build, test and migration activities. Approximately 9 % of all radiographers and imaging physiologists would be required for go-live support for at least one week. The HSE is experiencing significant difficulties in filling relevant vacant posts. Therefore staff will be removed from clinical duties resulting in reduced imaging activity,
— substantial number of existing system interfaces and integrations would have to be re-designed, re-configured and re-implemented,
— a replacement contractor would have to manage a complex transitional arrangement with over 1 300 existing workstations and devices managed by the current contractor.
The HSE intends to commence market soundings for a replacement system in 2021 which will inform a full public procurement for a replacement system shortly thereafter. The end date of the intended contract variation is February 2026.