20250312 - Help Ahead Implementation – eReferral Platform – Integration with TREAT CIS

Project Title:Help Ahead Implementation – eReferral Platform – Selection and Integration with TREAT Clinical Information System
Issue Date:12 March 2025
Closing Date and Time: 16 April 2025 1700 hrs EDT
Submit to: Elizabeth Rogers Salvaterra, Director of Strategy and Quality
Strides Toronto
Elizabeth.Rogers@stridestoronto.ca
Instructions for Submission: Word document emailed to the contact person. Supplemental files in Excel may be appended. Submissions received in other formats or through other mechanisms will not be reviewed.
Purpose and Proposed Scope of Work
Strides Toronto is issuing a Request for Proposals (RFP) for a technology vendor to work with the Help Ahead team and Vitalhub, the developer of the TREAT clinical information system, as part of the expansion of coordinated access at Help Ahead.
Strides Toronto is now working towards Phase 2 of the Help Ahead implementation, that will expand coordinated access to the remaining Infant Children and Youth Mental Health (“ICYMH”) programs and services in collaboration with CSP partners. Phase 2 is targeted to launch in spring 2026.
The Help Ahead Phase 2 expansion will result in a significant increase in intake and referral volumes. Consequently, it will be critical to have an integrated eReferral technology solution established to enable efficient and timely exchange of health information for clients and families seeking mental health services as well as clinicians (provider agencies, primary care, child welfare, schools) who are referral sources for ICYMH services on behalf of clients and families.
About Strides Toronto
Strides Toronto is the Lead Agency for infant, child and youth mental health in Toronto, named to that role in 2015 by the Ministry of Children and Youth Services as one of 31 such agencies in Ontario.
Strides Toronto collaborates with 23 publicly funded infant, child and youth mental health (ICYMH) Core Service Providers (CSPs) to design and implement system-level improvements that promote access, responsive service delivery and experience, and positive mental health outcomes for young people and families across Toronto's diverse communities. Funding for ICYMH core services in Toronto approaches $90 million annually.
About Help Ahead
In June 2023, Strides Toronto launched the first phase of “Help Ahead”, a free intake and referral service to help connect infants, children, youth and their families to mental health and addiction services in their community. Its goal is to help those in need find and get mental health help as efficiently and quickly as possible. Help Ahead is a partnership between Toronto’s 26 community-based mental health agencies serving infants, children, youth and their families. The first phase focused exclusively on intensive services.
For more information: http://stridestoronto.ca/    http://helpahead.ca
About Vitalhub
Vitalhub Corp provides technology to Health and Human Service providers including Hospitals, Regional Health Authorities, Mental Health, Long Term Care, Home Health, and Community and Social Services. Vitalhub solutions span the categories of Electronic Health Records (EHR), Case Management, Care Coordination, Patient Flow and Operational Visibility, and Mobile Apps. It operates in one segment for its operations related to healthcare information systems in the mental health, long-term care, community health service, and hospital sectors. Geographically VitalHub is available in Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, the USA, Western Asia, and the Rest of the world, with the majority of its revenue coming from the United Kingdom.
About TREAT
TREAT by VitalHub is a comprehensive client information system designed to improve client outcomes in mental health and related services, encompassing various settings like inpatient, outpatient, and community programs, with a focus on client-centered, outcome-based case management.
TREAT allows authorized users across all settings to have access to each client’s secure, longitudinal record. The solution enables groups to document service specific client information, highlighting a client’s journey of care/service across all settings and programs.
The proposed eReferral platform must support communication with the TREAT application via:

• FHIR for the exchange of data (2-way)

• SMART on FHIR/OAuth for SSO/Patient context launching

• Provide leadership in the development of the eReferral solution, including the integration with the TREAT information system. Collaborate with the IT vendor to integrate the eReferral solution into the TREAT environment.
• Provide support throughout the design, development, build and training period for all Help Ahead users to optimize mastery and adoption.

• Provide clinical requirements, including specific clinical referral data fields for transfer to/from mental health provider agencies receiving referrals from Help Ahead
• Provide feedback on building and testing
• Sign off on production version

• A description of relevant experience
• Work plan for the project including activities, timelines and support required from the organization
• Inclusion and description of a training approach / framework you plan on using to support this initiative
• Budget for the project including consultant fees and any expenses (including per hour consulting fees for any additional work not detailed in the proposal)
• C.V. for the consultant(s) who will be involved in the project.
• Contact information for three references able to speak to experience with similar projects.

• Demonstrated understanding of the requirements of the project.
• Relevant experience of the consultant/firm including:
  • Relevant experience in implementing eReferral solutions including integration with existing health information systems 
  • Experience in working with consultants/organizations in a coordinated, results driven framework
  • Experience implementing complex initiatives that require a significant focus on change management
  • Experience working in and/or consulting to multi-service non-profit organizations
• Cost including consulting fees and expenses.

1. Experience of the consultant including:

• Experience implementing and integrating eReferral solutions based on the identified data elements shown in Appendix A.
• Knowledge of the child and youth mental health sector

2. Quality and appropriateness of proposed approach including timelines, milestones and deliverables and the approach to stakeholder engagement

3. Overall clarity and conciseness of proposal, demonstrating understanding of the requirements of the project

4. Costs including consulting fees and any expenses

5. Interviews for short-listed consultants

• TREAT Demographic page
• TREAT Profile page
• TREAT Referral Page
• TREAT HEADS-ED assessment

• TREAT Demographic page
• TREAT Profile page
• TREAT Referral Page
• TREAT HEADS-ED assessment (clients 6 and over)
• TREAT ASQ 2 and 3 Assessment (clients under 6)

• TREAT Help Ahead Assessment