Hospital-to-Hospital Info Sharing. UN contract coming soon

Call: Telemedicine service provision solutions

Contractor: UN Procurement Dept.

Closing Date for Receipt of RFI: 1 October 2021

The UN is looking for a telemedicine solution(s) suitable to address UN operational requirements as follows:

a. Priority 1 – Remote trauma care support in the battlefield.

b. Priority 2 – Remote patient monitoring during Medical Evacuation (MEDEVAC) operations and in

temporary deployed bases.

c. Priority 3 – Hospital-to-Hospital information sharing and consultation (between health practitioners).

Requirements: The purpose of this Request for Information (RFI) issued by the United Nations (UN) is to identify market capabilities and technologies to support UN operations, specifically addressing the needs of UN field missions described later in this document.

The responses to this RFI will be used by the United Nations as the basis to prepare a future Request for Proposals (RFP) for products and services related to telemedicine service provision technologies addressing the specified needs described hereinafter.

This Request for Information is open to all world suppliers. Responders should note that the information received in response to an RFI is not used for the purpose of qualifying vendors. Primarily, it helps identify generic descriptions of available or potential alternatives for fulfilling a defined requirement or outcome, as well as the possible costs and delivery time. The RFI is oriented toward seeking a technical alternative, option, solution, or cost estimate, rather than a direct response in the form of an offer from the market or industry.

The United Nations operates in high-risk environments both in urban and rural areas which are usually characterized by a serious lack of infrastructure (utilities networks, telecommunications, roads etc.) which either alone or in combination with other factors (e.g. environmental) hamper the possibility of fast critical care and patient monitoring in remote areas.

Specific requirements – Vendors responding to this RFI must address the following in a clear manner:

1) Describe their portfolio and how it addresses one of more of the scenarios above. Information on Hardware, software as appropriate should be included in this description;

2) Describe compatibility and potential interoperability with standard IT platforms, such as Windows computers, Apple iPad and Android/IOS cell phones;

3) Provide a detailed List of all the ICT requirements needed to run the products, stating whether these requirements are integrated in the proposed solution and offered by the vendor or if it is anticipated that the respective equipment should be provided by the UN (UNOE – UN Owned Equipment);

4) Describe clearly what capabilities would still be useable in distressed networks, or when the connectivity solely relies on a portable satellite data link (est. 100 kbps);

5) The licensing system for any application, either by user, enterprise, etc.;

6) Describe the ability of the proposed solutions to work with other platforms, i.e., if the remote support comes from a hospital outside the United Nations that may not have the same systems;

7) The UN’s standard business platform is Office 365. Integration possibilities (calendar, booking, etc.) and compatibility with our main platform is very important.

8) Describe the processes to upgrade the products in response to new technological developments and advances, and;

9) Describe whether the system can be customized and fine-tuned for optimal operation in diverse environments and if the supplier can also provide the information and programming service;

10) Responders should also provide details on training requirements, as well as their capability for system installation and support (on site and remote) and;

11) An estimate of the likely standard costs of the proposed solution

Notes: This RFI is not seeking responses regarding teleconsultation services or technologies for patient to doctor consultations. This RFI is only seeking responses for the priorities 1, 2, and 3 stated above. Responders should state their availability for a one on one (responder team with UN team) technology focused, virtual demonstration meeting at the UN’s sole discretion. During this virtual meeting vendors may further explain their proposed systems and will give all parties an opportunity for questions and answers.

The Date and time will be mutually agreed at a later stage at the UN’s sole discretion.

Furthermore, responders may also be requested to deliver a presentation of their solution(s) to a wider UN audience (e.g. during a workshop).

Invitations issued to responders to present their solutions to the United Nations do not represent any commitment for a future contract.