The Utah Procurement Code provides that a procurement may be made without competition when the University determines that there is only one source that can reasonably meet the University’s need for the required supply or service, as described in Utah Code Ann. § 63G-6a-802.
The Purchasing Department has received the following request for sole source procurement
Product and/or Service to be purchased: Patient Safety Organization
Sole Source Supplier: ECRI
Earliest Proposed Purchase Date: March 18, 2024
Buyer Name: Samantha Israelsen
Sole Source Justification:
Membership to a Patient Safety Organization (PSO) is required by federal law (The Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act of 2005) in which patient safety events are reported. By complying with the requirements of this act, protection of patient safety events are protected from discovery. ECRI is a Patient Safety Organization with whom we have worked over the past 5 years and to whom we report our patient safety events on a monthly basis which requires mapping of our data and upload protocols. As this is a service, there are no software or technology equipment but an upload from our existing patient safety reporting system, annual reports that provided us with benchmarking a dashboard for comparisons with other like entities, ongoing monthly consultations and access to up to date research findings on patient safety events and interventions.
Transition costs with changing vendors would include setting up a new data transfer process, mapping current patient safety event fields to the receiving entity, and establishing a new relationship. Using a quotation from one of the vendors for comparison, those costs would range from $7100 to $70,000 for implementation. Given that we have looked at other options as well as negotiated a discounted rate with ECRI, we do not think this additional amount is feasible.
This Sole Source will be for a duration of three (3) years and will exceed $50k over the duration of the Sole Source Agreement.