Oklahoma Administrative Code › Title 317 - Oklahoma Health Care Authority › Chapter 10 - Purchasing › Section 317:10-1-2 - Definitions

Current through Vol. 41, No. 20, July 1, 2024
The following words and terms, when used in this Chapter,
				shall have the following meaning, unless the context clearly indicates
				otherwise:
"Acquisition"
means items, products, materials,
				supplies, services, and equipment that OHCA acquires by purchase,
				lease-purchase, lease with option to purchase, or rental.
"Administrative review"
means the process by which
				OHCA ensures that a bid submission is complete and accurate; confirms that the
				bidder understood the solicitation specifications; and ascertains that all
				materials and any required signatures are submitted.
"Award"
or
"contract award"
means the
				process by which OHCA formally notifies a bidder that OHCA has accepted the
				bidder's bid or offer.
"Best and final offer"
or
"BAFO"
means a final offer submitted in writing by a bidder initially or after
				negotiations are completed and containing the bidder's most favorable terms for
				price, service, and/or products to be delivered.
"Best price"
means the lowest available price for
				the goods and/or services that are subject of a solicitation.
"Best value"
means evaluation criteria which may
				include but is not limited to the acquisition's operational cost a state agency
				would incur; the quality of the acquisition, or its technical competency; the
				reliability of the bidder's delivery and implementation schedules; the
				acquisition's facilitation of data transfer and systems integration; the
				acquisition's warranties and guarantees and the bidder's return policy; the
				bidder's financial stability; the acquisition's adherence to the state agency's
				planning documents and announced strategic program; the bidder's industry and
				program experience and record of successful past performance with acquisitions
				of this complexity; the anticipated acceptance by user groups; and the
				acquisition's use of proven development methodology, and innovative use of
				current technologies.
"Bid"
means any response to a solicitation,
				including any and all required forms; required documents and information; and
				supplemental documents and information.
"Bidder"
means an individual, entity, or service
				vendor that submits a bid in response to a solicitation.
"Bid evaluation"
means the process of conducting
				any evaluative activity that could reasonably be expected to result in
				determining the value, nature, character, or quality of a bid.
"Bid evaluator"
means an employee or officer of
				the State of Oklahoma who is actively engaged in Oklahoma Health Care
				Authority's (OHCA) process to evaluate, score, or select a bid, regardless of
				whether a contract is awarded to the bid evaluated and/or scored by that
				employee or officer.
"Bid specifications"
means the information OHCA
				will use for bid evaluation, when such information is exactly detailed within a
				solicitation and is based on the subject matter of the solicitation, the type
				of solicitation, and the needs to be met by the supplier(s) awarded a contract
				from the solicitation.
"Central Purchasing Division"
means the Central
				Purchasing Division of the Office of Management and Enterprise Services (OMES).
"Certification"
means the process of a bidder
				providing OHCA with an official document attesting to a status or level of
				achievement in response to a solicitation.
"Certified Procurement Officer"
or
"CPO"
means a state agency procurement official certified as a
				procurement officer or analyst by the State Purchasing Director under the
				provisions of the Oklahoma Central Purchasing Act.
"C.F.R."
means the Code of Federal Regulations as
				may be amended from time to time.
"Chief Executive Officer"
or
"CEO"
means the highest-ranking administrator at the OHCA.
"Chief Information Officer"
means the chief
				administrative officer of the Information Services Division of the Office of
				Management and Enterprise Services.
"Clarification"
means a bidder's explanation of
				all or part of a bid that does not change, alter, or supplement the bid.
"CMS"
means the Centers for Medicare &
				Medicaid Services.
"Closing date/time"
means the date and Central
				Time a solicitation specifies responses must be received by OHCA.
"Competitive solicitation"
or
"solicitation"
means an invitation to bid for the provision of
				goods or services through specified documents submitted to the Central
				Purchasing Division or a state agency pursuant to terms, conditions, and other
				requirements of a solicitation. The competitive solicitation process may be
				electronic when the terms of the solicitation expressly permit electronic
				submission and the requirements of applicable statutes and rules are met. When
				used in this chapter, "competitive solicitation" is synonymous with "invitation
				to bid," "request for proposal," "request for information," or "request for
				quotation."
"Conflict plan"
means the written statement
				detailing the accommodations and/or remedies associated with a specific OHCA
				employee's or officer's conflict of interest in the procurement process or
				resulting contract.
"Conflict of interest"
means a situation in which
				a person is in a position to derive personal benefit from actions or decisions
				made in their official capacity, a situation in which the concerns or aims of
				two (2) different parties are incompatible, a situation prohibited or
				constrained by law, or a situation that would appear inappropriate to a
				reasonable individual.
"Contract"
means the written and binding agreement
				between OHCA and the bidder resulting from the competitive solicitation.
"Contracting official"
or
"contracting
				officer"
means the OHCA CEO or the OHCA officer or employee to whom
				contracting authority has been delegated by the OHCA CEO, unless specified
				otherwise.
"Contractor"
means any individual or entity
				contracted with OHCA for the provision of any goods or services. A bidder
				becomes a contractor upon contract award and execution.
"Days"
means calendar days unless otherwise
				specified.
"Debar"
or
"debarment"
means action
				taken by the State Purchasing Director to exclude any business entity from
				inclusion on the Supplier List, bidding, offering to bid, receiving an award of
				contract with the state of Oklahoma for acquisitions by state agencies, or a
				contract the OMES awards or administers. Debarment may also result in
				cancellation of existing contracts with the State of Oklahoma.
"Employee"
or
"officer"
means a
				natural person that works for OHCA, unless otherwise specified, regardless of
				title or designation and regardless of manner of appointment, election, or
				hiring. "Employee or officer" does not mean a member of the Authority Board in
				the member's capacity as a board member.
"Enrollment activities"
means activities performed
				or conducted by OHCA related to distributing, collecting, or processing
				enrollment materials, taking enrollments by technological device or in person,
				or enrolling or disenrolling, including by algorithm, Medicaid beneficiaries
				with respect to any health plan or managed care services contract.
"Fiscal year"
means the period of time from July 1
				of a calendar year through June 30 of the succeeding calendar year.
"Former employee"
means a natural person whose
				work as an employee or officer for OHCA ended by any means at some point prior
				to the currently referenced moment.
"Health plan"
means any person or entity that is
				licensed as a health maintenance organization (HMO) by the state of Oklahoma to
				provide or arrange for the delivery of basic health care services to enrollees
				on a prepaid basis, except for copayments or deductibles for which the enrollee
				is responsible, or both, that meets the definition of an HMO as delineated in
				the Oklahoma Medicaid State Plan and that contracts with the State to provide
				services to enrollees.
"Invoice"
means an accounting document issued by
				an individual or entity that details the goods and/or services provided and the
				amount of money owed for the goods and/or services when the document conforms
				to all invoicing provisions of the contract and that records the details of the
				transaction.
"Managed care entity"
or
"MCE"
means
				any entity permitted under 42 C.F.R. Part 438 to contract with a state for
				services provided under a risk contract or a nonrisk contract within the
				state's Medicaid managed care program, including but not limited to managed
				care organization (MCO), primary care case management (PCCM), primary care case
				management entity (PCCM entity), prepaid ambulatory health plan (PAHP), and
				prepaid inpatient health plan (PIHP).
"Managed care organization"
or
"MCO"
means the same in these rules as defined at
				42
				C.F.R. §
									438.2.
"Managed care program"
or
"managed
				care"
or
"MCP"
means a health care delivery system
				organized to manage cost, utilization, and quality that is operated by a state
				as authorized under sections 1915(a), 1915(b), 1932(a), or 1115(a) of the
				Social Security Act and relevant state law.
"Mandatory specification"
means any specification
				of a solicitation when the terms "shall", "must", "will", or "is required" are
				used to describe, define, or announce the specification. This definition refers
				only to the use of such words in a solicitation and does not refer to the use
				of such words in this chapter.
"Material deficiency"
or
"material
				deviation"
means a bidder's failure to provide information necessary to
				evaluate a competitive solicitation.
"Medicaid"
means the medical assistance program
				jointly administered by the federal and state governments and authorized by
				42 U.S.C. §
									1396a to provide health care benefits for
				certain low-income persons.
"Minor deficiency"
or
"minor
				informality"
means an immaterial defect in a bid or variation in a bid
				from the exact requirements of a competitive solicitation that may be corrected
				or waived without prejudice to other bidders. A minor deficiency or informality
				does not affect the price, quantity, quality, delivery, or conformance to
				specifications and is negligible in comparison to the total cost or scope of
				the acquisition.
"Multi-award"
means the process by which OHCA
				formally, by written determination, notifies two or more bidders that OHCA has
				accepted the bidders' bid to furnish an indefinite quantity or category of
				item, where more than one supplier is needed to meet the contract requirements
				for quantity, delivery, service, or product compatibility.
"Non-collusion certification"
means a
				certification submitted by a bidder with any competitive bid or contract
				executed by the state for goods or services in accordance with 74 O.S. §
				85.22.
"Nonresponsive"
means a bid or proposal that has
				been determined not to conform to essential requirements of a solicitation.
"OAC"
means the Oklahoma Administrative Code as
				may be amended from time to time.
"Office of Management and Enterprise Services"
or
"Office"
or
"OMES"
means the Oklahoma Office of
				Management and Enterprise Services.
"Oklahoma Central Purchasing Act"
means 74 O.S.
				§§ 85.1 et seq.
"Oklahoma Health Care Authority"
or
"OHCA"
or
"Authority"
means the single state agency
				designated to administer the medical programs which make available appropriate
				medical services to eligible individuals through the Title XIX Medicaid Program
				and which has authority to procure, administer and monitor contracts, issue
				performance deficiency notices, and assess non-compliance damages.
"OHCA Board"
means the board designated by the
				Oklahoma Legislature to establish policies and adopt and promulgate rules for
				the OHCA.
"Oklahoma Information Technology (IT) Accessibility
				Standards"
or
"IT Accessibility Standards"
means the
				accessibility standards adopted by the Office of Management and Enterprise
				Services (Reference OAC 250:15) to address all technical standard categories of
				Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act (Reference
				29 U.S.C. §
									794d) , as amended by the Workforce
				Investment Act of 1998 (Reference
				P.L.
				105-220, August 7, 1998) and adopted at 62 O.S.
				§§ 34.28, 34.29, 34.30, and 34.16, to be used by each state agency in
				procuring, maintaining, or using information technology, and in the development
				and implementation of custom-designed information technology systems, web
				sites, and other emerging information technology systems.
"Oral presentation evaluation"
means the process,
				through the bidder's participation in an interactive dialogue or
				non-interactive presentation, by which OHCA assesses a bidder's capability,
				past performance, work plans or approaches, staffing resources, transition
				plans, sample tasks, or fit with the OHCA.
"O.S."
or
"Okla. Stat."
means the
				Oklahoma Statutes as may be amended from time to time.
"Permissible specification"
means any
				specification in a solicitation when the terms "can", "may", or "should" are
				used to describe, define, or announce the specification. This definition refers
				only to the use of such words in a solicitation and does not refer to the use
				of such words in this chapter.
"Privatize"
means to enter into contract for the
				performance of a duty or function which is currently being performed by a state
				employee.
"Procurement"
means buying, purchasing, renting,
				leasing, or otherwise acquiring any goods or services. The term also means all
				functions that pertain to the obtaining of any goods or services, including but
				not limited to the description of requirements, selection, and solicitation of
				sources, preparation and award of contracts, and all phases of contract
				administration.
"Professional services"
means services which are
				predominantly advisory or intellectual in character, involve privatized
				functions, or involve support rather than supplying equipment, supplies, or
				other merchandise. Professional services include those services requiring
				special, usually advanced, education, or skill.
"Prejudice"
means the effect on an affected
				bidder's substantial rights when a procurement decision related to a different
				bidder, if such decision is found to be in error, would yield a more favorable
				result for the affected bidder if the decision error were corrected.
"Purchasing"
means the Purchasing Department of
				the Oklahoma Health Care Authority.
"Purchasing manager"
means the Purchasing Manager
				of the Oklahoma Health Care Authority.
"Registered supplier"
means a supplier that
				registers with the Central Purchasing Division pursuant to 74 O.S. §
				85.33.
"Remedy"
means to cure, alter, correct, or
				change.
"Request for information"
or
"RFI"
means a non-binding procurement practice used to obtain information, comments,
				and feedback from interested parties or potential suppliers prior to issuing a
				solicitation.
"Request for proposal"
or
"RFP"
means
				a type of solicitation OHCA or the State Purchasing Director issues to
				suppliers to request submission of proposals for acquisitions.
"Request for quotation"
or
"RFQ"
means a simplified written or oral solicitation OHCA or the State Purchasing
				Director issues to suppliers to request submission of a quote for
				acquisitions.
"Requisition number"
means an identifier OHCA or
				OMES assigns to a requisition.
"Responsible supplier"
means a supplier who
				demonstrates capabilities, in all respects, to fully perform the requirements
				of a contract and which will ensure good faith performance, including but not
				limited to finances, credit history, experience, integrity, perseverance,
				reliability, capacity, facilities and equipment, and performance
				history.
"Responsive"
means a bid or proposal that has been
				determined to conform to the essential requirements of a solicitation.
"Risk contract"
means a contract between OHCA and
				a managed care organization (MCO), prepaid inpatient health plan (PIHP), or
				prepaid ambulatory health plan (PAHP), as those terms are defined at
				42
				C.F.R. §
									438.2, under which the
				contractor assumes risk for the cost of the services covered under the contract
				and incurs loss if the cost of furnishing the services exceeds the payments
				under the contract.
"Sole brand acquisition"
means an acquisition that
				by specification restricts the acquisition to one manufacturer or brand name.
"Sole source acquisition"
means an acquisition
				that by specification restricts the acquisition to one supplier.
"Split purchase"
means dividing a known quantity
				or failing to consolidate a known quantity of an acquisition for the purpose of
				evading a competitive bidding requirement.
"State Purchasing Director"
means the director of
				the Central Purchasing Division of the Office of Management and Enterprise
				Services appointed by the OMES Director and includes any employee or agent of
				the State Purchasing Director, acting within the scope of delegated authority.
				(Reference 74 O.S. § 85.2) Unless otherwise stated, the term includes
				employees of the Central Purchasing Division and state agency purchasing
				officials certified by the State Purchasing Director to which the State
				Purchasing Director has lawfully delegated authority to act on his or her
				behalf. In regard to the procurement of information technology or
				telecommunications, the term means the Chief Information Officer of the Office
				of Management and Enterprise Services.
"Statement of work"
or
"scope of
				work"
means a detailed description of the work which OHCA requires a
				contractor or supplier to perform or accomplish.
"Supplier"
or
"vendor"
means an
				individual or business entity that sells or desires to sell acquisitions,
				including goods and/or services to OHCA. (Reference 74 O.S. § 85.2)
"Supplier list"
means a list of individuals or
				business entities that have registered with the Central Purchasing Division in
				order to receive notification of solicitations for commodities specified in
				their registration application.
"Supplier performance evaluation"
means
				information a state agency or OMES Procurement provides to the State Purchasing
				Director, in a manner the OMES Director prescribes, that documents the quality
				of service or products provided by a supplier.
"Supplier registration"
means a process a supplier
				uses to register with the Central Purchasing Division to automatically receive
				solicitations based on a commodity class for a specified period of time.
"Technical proposal evaluation"
means the process,
				based on established criteria and reliant on evaluators' expertise in assessing
				the strengths and weaknesses of multiple bids, by which OHCA measures the
				extent to which a bid will meet OHCA's needs.
" U.S.C."
means the United States Code as may be
				amended from time to time.
"Value based"
or
"value-based
				purchasing"
means the intentional linking of cost to the OHCA's
				perception of the value of goods or services. In a health plan or managed care
				contract, these terms refer to provider payments made by the health plan or
				managed care entity based on improved performance by health care providers.
Added at 11 Ok Reg 3613,
				eff 6-15-94 through 7-14-95 (emergency); Added at 12 Ok Reg 3111, eff 7-27-95;
				Amended at 16 Ok Reg 3403, eff 7-1-99 (emergency); Amended at 17 Ok Reg 1180,
				eff 5-11-00; Amended at 23 Ok Reg 3171, eff 6-7-06 (emergency); Amended at 24
				Ok Reg 871, eff 5-11-07; Amended at 27 Ok Reg 1668, eff 5-14-10 (emergency);
				Amended at 28 Ok Reg 1381, eff 6-25-11