OHCA Policies and Rules
317:10-1-2 Definitions
[Revised 09-12-22]
The following words and terms, when used in this Chapter, shall have the following meaning, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
"Acquisition" means items, products, materials, supplies, services, and equipment that Oklahoma Health Care Authority (OHCA) acquires by purchase, lease-purchase, lease with option to purchase, or rental.
"Administrative review" means the process by which OHCA ensures that a bid submission is complete and accurate; confirms that the bidder understood the solicitation specifications; and ascertains that all materials and any required signatures are submitted.
"Award" or "contract award" means the process by which OHCA formally notifies a bidder that OHCA has accepted the bidder's bid or offer.
"Best and final offer" or "BAFO" means a final offer submitted in writing by a bidder initially or after negotiations are completed and containing the bidder's most favorable terms for price, service, and/or products to be delivered.
"Best price" means the lowest available price for the goods and/or services that are subject of a solicitation.
"Best value" means evaluation criteria which may include but is not limited to the acquisition's operational cost a state agency would incur; the quality of the acquisition, or its technical competency; the reliability of the bidder's delivery and implementation schedules; the acquisition's facilitation of data transfer and systems integration; the acquisition's warranties and guarantees and the bidder's return policy; the bidder's financial stability; the acquisition's adherence to the state agency's planning documents and announced strategic program; the bidder's industry and program experience and record of successful past performance with acquisitions of this complexity; the anticipated acceptance by user groups; and the acquisition's use of proven development methodology, and innovative use of current technologies.
"Bid" means any response to a solicitation, including any and all required forms; required documents and information; and supplemental documents and information.
"Bidder" means an individual, entity, or service vendor that submits a bid in response to a solicitation.
"Bid evaluation" means the process of conducting any evaluative activity that could reasonably be expected to result in determining the value, nature, character, or quality of a bid.
"Bid evaluator" means an employee or officer of the State of Oklahoma who is actively engaged in OHCA's process to evaluate, score, or select a bid, regardless of whether a contract is awarded to the bid evaluated and/or scored by that employee or officer.
"Bid specifications" means the information OHCA will use for bid evaluation, when such information is exactly detailed within a solicitation and is based on the subject matter of the solicitation, the type of solicitation, and the needs to be met by the supplier(s) awarded a contract from the solicitation.
"Central Purchasing Division" means the Central Purchasing Division of the Office of Management and Enterprise Services (OMES).
"Certification" means the process of a bidder providing OHCA with an official document attesting to a status or level of achievement in response to a solicitation.
"Certified Procurement Officer" or "CPO" means a state agency procurement official certified as a procurement officer or analyst by the State Purchasing Director under the provisions of the Oklahoma Central Purchasing Act.
"C.F.R." means the Code of Federal Regulations as may be amended from time to time.
"Chief Executive Officer" or "CEO" means the highest-ranking administrator at the OHCA.
"Chief Information Officer" means the chief administrative officer of the Information Services Division of the Office of Management and Enterprise Services.
"Clarification" means a bidder's explanation of all or part of a bid that does not change, alter, or supplement the bid.
"CMS" means the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
"Closing date/time" means the date and Central Time a solicitation specifies responses must be received by OHCA.
"Competitive solicitation" or "solicitation" means an invitation to bid for the provision of goods or services through specified documents submitted to the Central Purchasing Division or a state agency pursuant to terms, conditions, and other requirements of a solicitation. The competitive solicitation process may be electronic when the terms of the solicitation expressly permit electronic submission and the requirements of applicable statutes and rules are met. When used in this chapter, "competitive solicitation" is synonymous with "invitation to bid," "request for proposal," "request for information," or "request for quotation."
"Conflict plan" means the written statement detailing the accommodations and/or remedies associated with a specific OHCA employee's or officer's conflict of interest in the procurement process or resulting contract.
"Conflict of interest" means a situation in which a person is in a position to derive personal benefit from actions or decisions made in their official capacity, a situation in which the concerns or aims of two (2) different parties are incompatible, a situation prohibited or constrained by law, or a situation that would appear inappropriate to a reasonable individual.
"Contract" means the written and binding agreement between OHCA and the bidder resulting from the competitive solicitation.
"Contracting official" or "contracting officer" means the OHCA CEO or the OHCA officer or employee to whom contracting authority has been delegated by the OHCA CEO, unless specified otherwise.
"Contractor" means any individual or entity contracted with OHCA for the provision of any goods or services. A bidder becomes a contractor upon contract award and execution.
"Days" means calendar days unless otherwise specified.
"Debar" or "debarment" means action taken by the State Purchasing Director to exclude any business entity from inclusion on the Supplier List, bidding, offering to bid, receiving an award of contract with the state of Oklahoma for acquisitions by state agencies, or a contract the OMES awards or administers. Debarment may also result in cancellation of existing contracts with the State of Oklahoma.
"Employee" or "officer" means a natural person that works for OHCA, unless otherwise specified, regardless of title or designation and regardless of manner of appointment, election, or hiring. "Employee or officer" does not mean a member of the Authority Board in the member's capacity as a board member.
"Enrollment activities" means activities performed or conducted by OHCA related to distributing, collecting, or processing enrollment materials, taking enrollments by technological device or in person, or enrolling or disenrolling, including by algorithm, Medicaid beneficiaries with respect to any health plan or managed care services contract.
"Fiscal year" means the period of time from July 1 of a calendar year through June 30 of the succeeding calendar year.
"Former employee" means a natural person whose work as an employee or officer for OHCA ended by any means at some point prior to the currently referenced moment.
"Health plan" means any person or entity that is licensed as a health maintenance organization (HMO) by the state of Oklahoma to provide or arrange for the delivery of basic health care services to enrollees on a prepaid basis, except for copayments or deductibles for which the enrollee is responsible, or both, that meets the definition of an HMO as delineated in the Oklahoma Medicaid State Plan and that contracts with the State to provide services to enrollees.
"Invoice" means an accounting document issued by an individual or entity that details the goods and/or services provided and the amount of money owed for the goods and/or services when the document conforms to all invoicing provisions of the contract and that records the details of the transaction.
"Managed care entity" or "MCE" means any entity permitted under 42 C.F.R. Part 438 to contract with a state for services provided under a risk contract or a nonrisk contract within the state's Medicaid managed care program, including but not limited to managed care organization (MCO), primary care case management (PCCM), primary care case management entity (PCCM entity), prepaid ambulatory health plan (PAHP), and prepaid inpatient health plan (PIHP).
"Managed care organization" or "MCO" means the same in these rules as defined at 42 C.F.R. ' 438.2.
"Managed care program" or "managed care" or "MCP" means a health care delivery system organized to manage cost, utilization, and quality that is operated by a state as authorized under sections 1915(a), 1915(b), 1932(a), or 1115(a) of the Social Security Act and relevant state law.
"Mandatory specification" means any specification of a solicitation when the terms "shall", "must", "will", or "is required" are used to describe, define, or announce the specification. This definition refers only to the use of such words in a solicitation and does not refer to the use of such words in this Chapter.
"Material deficiency" or "material deviation" means a bidder's failure to provide information necessary to evaluate a competitive solicitation.
"Medicaid" means the medical assistance program jointly administered by the federal and state governments and authorized by 42 U.S.C. ' 1396a to provide health care benefits for certain low-income persons.
"Minor deficiency" or "minor informality" means an immaterial defect in a bid or variation in a bid from the exact requirements of a competitive solicitation that may be corrected or waived without prejudice to other bidders. A minor deficiency or informality does not affect the price, quantity, quality, delivery, or conformance to specifications and is negligible in comparison to the total cost or scope of the acquisition.
"Multi-award" means the process by which OHCA formally, by written determination, notifies two or more bidders that OHCA has accepted the bidders' bid to furnish an indefinite quantity or category of item, where more than one supplier is needed to meet the contract requirements for quantity, delivery, service, or product compatibility.
"Non-collusion certification" means a certification submitted by a bidder with any competitive bid or contract executed by the state for goods or services in accordance with 74 O.S. ' 85.22.
"Nonresponsive" means a bid or proposal that has been determined not to conform to essential requirements of a solicitation.
"OAC" means the Oklahoma Administrative Code as may be amended from time to time.
"Office of Management and Enterprise Services" or "Office" or "OMES" means the Oklahoma Office of Management and Enterprise Services.
"Oklahoma Central Purchasing Act" means 74 O.S. '' 85.1 et seq.
"Oklahoma Health Care Authority" or "OHCA" or "Authority" means the single state agency designated to administer the medical programs which make available appropriate medical services to eligible individuals through the Title XIX Medicaid Program and which has authority to procure, administer and monitor contracts, issue performance deficiency notices, and assess non-compliance damages.
"OHCA Board" means the board designated by the Oklahoma Legislature to establish policies and adopt and promulgate rules for the OHCA.
"Oklahoma Information Technology (IT) Accessibility Standards" or "IT Accessibility Standards" means the accessibility standards adopted by the Office of Management and Enterprise Services (Reference OAC 250:15) to address all technical standard categories of Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act (Reference 29 U.S.C. ' 794d), as amended by the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (Reference P.L. 105-220, August 7, 1998) and adopted at 62 O.S. '' 34.28, 34.29, 34.30, and 34.16, to be used by each state agency in procuring, maintaining, or using information technology, and in the development and implementation of custom-designed information technology systems, web sites, and other emerging information technology systems.
"Oral presentation evaluation" means the process, through the bidder's participation in an interactive dialogue or non-interactive presentation, by which OHCA assesses a bidder's capability, past performance, work plans or approaches, staffing resources, transition plans, sample tasks, or fit with the OHCA.
"O.S." or "Okla. Stat." means the Oklahoma Statutes as may be amended from time to time.
"Permissible specification" means any specification in a solicitation when the terms "can", "may", or "should" are used to describe, define, or announce the specification. This definition refers only to the use of such words in a solicitation and does not refer to the use of such words in this Chapter.
"Privatize" means to enter into contract for the performance of a duty or function which is currently being performed by a state employee.
"Procurement" means buying, purchasing, renting, leasing, or otherwise acquiring any goods or services. The term also means all functions that pertain to the obtaining of any goods or services, including but not limited to the description of requirements, selection, and solicitation of sources, preparation and award of contracts, and all phases of contract administration.
"Professional services" means services which are predominantly advisory or intellectual in character, involve privatized functions, or involve support rather than supplying equipment, supplies, or other merchandise. Professional services include those services requiring special, usually advanced, education, or skill.
"Prejudice" means the effect on an affected bidder's substantial rights when a procurement decision related to a different bidder, if such decision is found to be in error, would yield a more favorable result for the affected bidder if the decision error were corrected.
"Purchasing" means the Purchasing Department of the Oklahoma Health Care Authority.
"Purchasing manager" means the Purchasing Manager of the Oklahoma Health Care Authority.
"Registered supplier" means a supplier that registers with the Central Purchasing Division pursuant to 74 O.S. ' 85.33.
"Remedy" means to cure, alter, correct, or change.
"Request for information" or "RFI" means a non-binding procurement practice used to obtain information, comments, and feedback from interested parties or potential suppliers prior to issuing a solicitation.
"Request for proposal" or "RFP" means a type of solicitation OHCA or the State Purchasing Director issues to suppliers to request submission of proposals for acquisitions.
"Request for quotation" or "RFQ" means a simplified written or oral solicitation OHCA or the State Purchasing Director issues to suppliers to request submission of a quote for acquisitions.
"Requisition number" means an identifier OHCA or OMES assigns to a requisition.
"Responsible supplier" means a supplier who demonstrates capabilities, in all respects, to fully perform the requirements of a contract and which will ensure good faith performance, including but not limited to finances, credit history, experience, integrity, perseverance, reliability, capacity, facilities and equipment, and performance history.
"Responsive" means a bid or proposal that has been determined to conform to the essential requirements of a solicitation.
"Risk contract" means a contract between OHCA and a MCO, prepaid inpatient health plan (PIHP), or prepaid ambulatory health plan (PAHP), as those terms are defined at 42 C.F.R. ' 438.2, under which the contractor assumes risk for the cost of the services covered under the contract and incurs loss if the cost of furnishing the services exceeds the payments under the contract.
"Sole brand acquisition" means an acquisition that by specification restricts the acquisition to one manufacturer or brand name.
"Sole source acquisition" means an acquisition that by specification restricts the acquisition to one supplier.
"Split purchase" means dividing a known quantity or failing to consolidate a known quantity of an acquisition for the purpose of evading a competitive bidding requirement.
"State Purchasing Director" means the director of the Central Purchasing Division of the Office of Management and Enterprise Services appointed by the OMES Director and includes any employee or agent of the State Purchasing Director, acting within the scope of delegated authority. (Reference 74 O.S. ' 85.2) Unless otherwise stated, the term includes employees of the Central Purchasing Division and state agency purchasing officials certified by the State Purchasing Director to which the State Purchasing Director has lawfully delegated authority to act on his or her behalf. In regard to the procurement of information technology or telecommunications, the term means the Chief Information Officer of the Office of Management and Enterprise Services.
"Statement of work" or "scope of work" means a detailed description of the work which OHCA requires a contractor or supplier to perform or accomplish.
"Supplier" or "vendor" means an individual or business entity that sells or desires to sell acquisitions, including goods and/or services to OHCA. (Reference 74 O.S. ' 85.2)
"Supplier list" means a list of individuals or business entities that have registered with the Central Purchasing Division in order to receive notification of solicitations for commodities specified in their registration application.
"Supplier performance evaluation" means information a state agency or OMES Procurement provides to the State Purchasing Director, in a manner the OMES Director prescribes, that documents the quality of service or products provided by a supplier.
"Supplier registration" means a process a supplier uses to register with the Central Purchasing Division to automatically receive solicitations based on a commodity class for a specified period of time.
"Technical proposal evaluation" means the process, based on established criteria and reliant on evaluators' expertise in assessing the strengths and weaknesses of multiple bids, by which OHCA measures the extent to which a bid will meet OHCA's needs.
"U.S.C." means the United States Code as may be amended from time to time.
"Value based" or "value-based purchasing" means the intentional linking of cost to the OHCA's perception of the value of goods or services. In a health plan or managed care contract, these terms refer to provider payments made by the health plan or managed care entity based on improved performance by health care providers.
Disclaimer. The OHCA rules found on this Web site are unofficial. The official rules are published by the Oklahoma Secretary of State Office of Administrative Rules as Title 317 of the Oklahoma Administrative Code. To order an official copy of these rules, contact the Office of Administrative Rules at (405) 521-4911.
