January 21, 2000

Mr. Jim Passier
Purchasing Manager
Department of Administrative Services
165  Capitol Ave.
Hartford, CT 06106

								Re:	DPA #8

Dear Mr. Passier:

In accordance with the 1/4/99 revision of DPA #8, the following is a review of activity by the Bureau of Rehabilitation Services for 1999:

Since implementation, the Bureau has completed 20 individual purchases and has an additional 13 outstanding commitments under this expanded authority (goods and equipment over $10,000 and vehicle modifications over $25,000).  The breakdown of those purchases is as follows:

Type of		Number of 	 Total Cost per		Number of	Total Cost per
Service	   Purchases Completed  Type of Service	    Purchases Pending  Type of Service

Home Modifications    11	$160,324		8		$132,298
Prosthetic Devices     4	$57,091			3		$44,930
Wheelchairs	       1	$13,932			1		$14,693
Small Bus. Equipment   1	$16,506
Vehicle Modifications 
(over $25,000)	       3	$151,077		1		$26,999

Totals		      20	$398,930		13		$218,920


All home and vehicle modification purchases were authorized as a result of a competitive bidding process and were awarded to the lowest bidder.  In one case the award was made to the vendor of the consumer's choice and he elected to pay the difference between the lowest bid and the bid of his preferred vendor.  (This practice has been very common with the vehicle modifications under $25,000.  Of that group, in the past year, 19 out of 72 consumers made this choice and paid a total of $28,932 additional to their preferred vendors). 

The small business equipment purchase was made to a sole source after a determination that it was in the consumer's best interest due to the training and technical support that the vendor provided with the purchase.

The durable medical equipment was purchased from qualified vendors after verifying that the fees were in accordance with Medicaid policy.

Upon implementation of DPA # 8, the Bureau revised and disseminated the attached "Purchasing Guide" for staff reference and guidance.  The Bureau uses the attached "Terms and Conditions" form for the solicitation and qualification of home improvement contractors and in December 1999 the Bureau adopted the quality assurance standards of the National Mobility Equipment Dealers Association for the qualification of vehicle modification vendors.  See attached. Central office consultants remain assigned to each of these specialty program areas and they oversee the purchasing process in each of their respective areas.

We are very pleased with the authority granted by DPA #8.  It streamlines our processes and allows us to serve consumers with greater speed and reasonable choices.  Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or if you would like to see any of the Bureau's records that support the purchases we have made under this authority.

Sincerely,



Richard E. Carlson
Chief of Client Services

c	John Halliday, Bureau Director
	Rita Pacheco, Deputy Commissioner
	Mike Starkowski, Deputy Commissioner
	John Galiette, Chief of Organizational Support
	Joann McAllister, Purchasing Supervisor, DAS
	
Attachments: 3