The Request for Proposals process requires advance preparation and top-notch partners

Health plans have new opportunities to serve their communities and acquire new members through value-based Managed Care Programs for Medicaid and Medicare plans. As a manager leading this effort or having it impact your business line, your plan can serve these prospective members well. Yet to submit a winning Request for Proposal (RFP), it’s a deadline-driven commitment demanding time, attention, and capabilities from multiple parts of your organization.

Preparation is key

Touchpoints set up a successful RFP response, whether it is for a new plan or applying for a renewal (often called a re-procurement) as an incumbent:

1. Choose a proposal leader and team structure, including authors, editors, and final reviewers, well before the RFP release

• Save time by defining internal processes, assignments, and work required by participants so that tasks, time away from other assignments, and workflow are established and anticipated
• Pre-identify expected capabilities gaps against previous RFP responses

2. When the RFP is released, review it at once

• Identify design requirements and if there are additional capabilities gaps
• If your plan is an incumbent, are there changes? Prepare information on results and member outcomes. And testimonials on your success in the community are valuable.

3. Participate in information sessions. Closely monitor the RFP website for updates.
   • Attend bidder’s conferences and meetings
   • Consistently monitor their website, as changes, deadlines, and forms are posted there
   • Review and ask bidder Q&As
   • Review the bidder library if available
4. Set internal deadlines against the RFP deadlines, allowing time for multiple revisions
5. Understand the format and method of submission—for instance, through an online portal, emailed PDF, or hard copy document
6. Meet all deadlines!

Establish a winning strategy through the RFP

What sets your plan apart from others? What makes your plan better than others? Identifying a strategy and message, then carrying both throughout the plan document, helps your writers and editors, whether internal or external. This keeps the information, tone, point-of-view, and offerings consistent through each section.

How Krames member education and tools help

Member education is also consistently part of each RFP requirement. It is instrumental in managing member risk, improved outcomes, and lowered cost of care. With 40 years of experience, Krames teams know how to work with your care management, marketing, and member education teams to design programs, content, and delivery to satisfy the requirements of the most demanding RFPs—all in one stop.

The assurance of content that’s evidence-based, medically reviewed, and delivered to members in digital and print media

One source for all your content keeps your health education offerings consistent and appropriate for your member population.

• Most bids require print materials in English and Spanish. Both HealthSheets and Medication Sheets are available in print and PDF not only in English and Spanish, but also many are translated in up to 15 languages.
• We surpass this with additional Easier to Understand collections at the 5^th grade and lower reading levels plus Image Only guides.
• Add to this 1,500 HealthClips® videos in English and Spanish that convey clinical information in a vivid and informative way
• Interactive, web-based Go-to-Guides that help guide members and families in living with the most frequent chronic conditions.
• Enhance your plan website with a branded Consumer Health Library, updated quarterly, featuring content from Krames’ growing collection.

Delivery that puts tools in your managers’—and members’—hands

Our intuitive care management platforms, Krames On-Demand® and Care Connector™, help your care managers counsel and reinforce members with up-to-date information in print and video formats. And Krames can help marketing, sales, and member experience with developing and delivering custom content that are uniquely your plan’s, from postcard reminders to newsletters and much more.

Count on Krames to be your one stop in helping your plan managers identify the optimum blend of health education and tools to include in each section of the RFP. Learn more about our capabilities that boost your RFP responses here. 

References

1State Medicaid RFP Response Considerations and Watch Outs, Avalere State Policy podcast, October 15, 2020. https://avalere.com/podcasts/state-medicaid-rfp-response-considerations-and-watch-outs# Accessed April 1, 2022.

1The Healthcare RFP: everything you need to know. RFP 360, https://rfp360.com/healthcare-rfp/ Accessed April 1, 2022.