Yesterday, the Colorado Behavioral Health Administration (BHA) announced the launch of a competitive Request for Proposal (RFP) process, and invites vendors to apply for the opportunity to become Behavioral Health Administrative Service Organizations (BHASOs). BHASOs will establish, administer, and maintain regional networks of behavioral healthcare providers that serve people across Colorado and streamline the current system, improving access to and quality of care.
“We are at the beginning of an incredibly exciting new era at BHA,” said Dannette R. Smith, BHA Commissioner. “Today’s announcement marks a meaningful step forward toward a future where every person in Colorado is just a click or a phone call away from behavioral health services that are not only high-quality and equitable, but deeply rooted in the unique needs of communities all across the state. We are seeking partner visionaries to support us in standing up the BHASO system and to serve as hubs in their region for all things behavioral health – not only providing care coordination to community members but also performing health care delivery administrative services like contracting, payment, data collection, and quality improvement.”
BHA’s commitment to stakeholder engagement has been central to shaping this competitive bid process. Through rounds of engagement including interviews, surveys, and community forums held in Winter 2022 and the release of a Request for Information (RFI) in Fall 2023, BHA has gathered invaluable insights from various stakeholders. Feedback from individuals receiving or in need of behavioral health treatment, advocacy groups, government agencies, local governments, service providers, and potential BHASO bidders directly informed the development of the RFP. Detailed stakeholder feedback can be found on our website.
This competitive bid process began yesterday, May 14 and will be open to bidders through July 15, 2024. Applications can be accessed through the Colorado Vendor Self Service (VSS) portal. Step-by-step instructions for submission can be found within the RFP document available on the VSS portal. To access the VSS portal, complete the following steps:
Visit http://www.colorado.gov/vss
Under “State of Colorado Vendor Self Service”, you will find a blue bar titled “What would you like to do?” On the very right side of the bar, you will find a “View Published Solicitations” button with an image of a document and a clock: click that button.
- On the dropdown menu titled “Show Me” on the lower left side of the screen, select “Open”. Then use the keyword in the search box to search for: BHASO
- Select “Attachments”
- Select all the documents you want to view
- The documents will download onto your computer or mobile device
- Instructions to submit a response are found in Section C of the RFP document.
[EDITOR’S NOTE: The documents did not download for me using my Firefox browser. They did download when I used Google Chrome.]
Please note that bidders do not need to “Register Your Vendor Account” to respond to the RFP, but it is recommended, in order to receive notifications of upcoming projects and status updates. Additionally, when an organization is awarded, the notice of intent to award. The notice of intent to award is also sent via email to the winners of the bid. Notices of non-award are sent via email to the non-awarded bidders.
The last day to respond to the RFP is Monday, July 15 at 5:00pm Mountain Standard Time (MST).
Following the bid closure, a dedicated scoring committee representing various stakeholders, including the Behavioral Health Administration, other State agencies, local governments, and individuals with lived experience, will evaluate applications.
Winning proposals will be announced in Fall 2024.