An Arkansas health-care consulting firm that failed to get a $500,000 state contract and tried to get it anyway by having state law changed said Tuesday that it would drop its effort.
The Arkansas Department of Health awarded a 20-month contract to assess and improve quality in the state trauma system to Qsource of Arkansas, a Little Rock-based health-care consulting firm. The contract can be extended up to seven years for a projected $1.8 million.
Ray Hanley, CEO of Arkansas Foundation for Medical Care, which lost its bid for the contract, testified Tuesday before the Health Services Subcommittee of the state House and Senate Public Health, Welfare and Labor committees about his concerns over how the contract was awarded. He said after the meeting that he’ll now leave the issue alone.
“I wanted to have a public discussion about it. I think it will improve the process on the next bid,” Hanley said. Hanley was the state’s Medicaid director for 16 years.
The contract was bid twice in 2012 and went to Qsource both times. This is Qsource’s first contract with the department, Health Department spokesman Ed Barham said.
The foundation has nine projects with the department, Hanley said.
“That was a little bit of my surprise and maybe, you know, why I went to the extent I did,” Hanley said.
He alleged that the department didn’t follow proper procedures, didn’t consider all of the application material and was biased toward Qsource.
“It could have, should have, been done differently than it was,” Hanley said.
Hanley tried to get state law changed during this spring’s legislative session so that his company would be the only one that would qualify for thecontract. Arkansas Foundation for Medical Care submitted a $484,076.50 bid. Qsource bid $499,998.00, but department officials determined that Qsource’s proposal was better, despite costing more.
Hanley was invited to speak Tuesday in exchange for dropping his objections, Health Department Chief Fiscal Officer Robert Brech said. He acknowledged that there were initial problems with the decision-making process, but he said Qsource won the contract fairly.
“Mr. Hanley tried to bully his way into this particular contract,” Brech told subcommittee members.
The contract has already been signed. The subcommittees didn’t have authority to take any action, said Sen. Linda Chesterfield, D-Little Rock.
During next year’s fiscal legislative session, legislators could choose to stop funding the contract or could rewrite state law and have the contract rebid.
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 9 on 07/23/2013