FACILITY CONTRACT LIAISON ROLE AND RESPONSIBILITIES
The RFP refers to a Facility Contract Liaison (FCL). This is typically a facility employee who serves as the official liaison between the vendor and the facility. Depending on your facility’s size and complexity, it might be advisable to have more than one liaison who specializes in mental health, etc. The FCL monitors the vendor’s execution of the Contract terms to ensure that the vendor is meeting the needs of the facility. The FCL serves as the official route for most communications between the facility and vendor, both scheduled communications (e.g., receipt of a required monthly report from the vendor) and “as needed” communications (e.g., notification of the vendor of its failure to perform a required task). Having an official route for these communications reduces the chance of miscommunication or dispute about whether information has been shared.
In addition to communication and coordination between the facility and vendor, the other key function of the FCL and their team is monitoring vendor compliance with the contract. The vendor activities the FCL needs to monitor fall into four categories; depending on your final contract, there may be some elements that do not neatly fall into any of these categories:
- KPIs
- Periodic reports
- Ongoing activities and tasks (day-to-day care)
- Episodic activities or tasks (activities or tasks that might or might not ever happen, depending on circumstances)
Before a contract begins, the FCL must create a compliance monitoring plan outlining how all contract elements will be monitored. This involves listing contract elements, determining monitoring schedules, and utilizing methods like reviewing administrative records, reports, patient health records, visual inspections, and staff interviews.
For category 1, the plan is based on the Key Performance Indicator (KPI) exhibit. For category 2, it captures elements requiring reports or summaries. For category 3, it focuses on ongoing activities that don’t result in reports, such as clinical activities. These are often assessed through reviewing patient health records, visual inspections, and interviews.
The FCL may need assistance for technical monitoring duties requiring professional expertise. Non-technical tasks like monitoring staffing levels or report submissions can be handled without special skills.
Depending on the facility’s size, it might be practical to hire full-time staff for monitoring. Smaller facilities might assign existing staff for non-clinical monitoring and contract local clinicians for periodic assessments. An effective compliance monitoring plan ensures contract obligations are met and high-quality care is delivered, with the FCL playing a crucial role in maintaining oversight and promoting excellence in service delivery.
MANAGING CONTRACT AMENDMENTS
Contract amendments often increase agency costs. They should be reserved for unforeseen needs not anticipated in the RFP and contract, such as epidemics, new laws, unexpected inflation, or significant changes in facility occupancy. Be cautious about amending contracts simply because a vendor struggles with predictable issues like staffing shortages; unless there’s an unforeseen change in the job market, reducing staffing levels or penalties is unjustified and may negatively impact care delivery.
When considering amendments, ensure they do not compromise service quality or reduce vendor accountability by assessing potential impacts using KPIs and monthly reports. In this example instead of lowering standards, consider amendments that enhance staffing salaries or benefits to improve employee satisfaction while maintaining high-quality care.
To help prevent contract amendments, create a thorough RFP and ensure its requirements are fully carried into the contract, using tools like this Correctional Healthcare RFP Toolkit and RFP Template.