Request for Proposals for an IVRS-based Treatment Literacy Programme for People with Diabetes, Hypertension & Tuberculosis

The Resource Group for Education and Advocacy for Community Health (REACH), established in 1999, is a non-profit organization dedicated to the fight against tuberculosis in India. Through an unrelenting focus on TB for the last 27 years, REACH has been a key partner in India’s efforts to end TB, by developing innovative strategies to engage a range of stakeholders including the public health system, private sector, TB-affected communities, business leaders, celebrities and the media. Since 2018, REACH has been working on non-communicable diseases including diabetes (DM) and Hypertension (HT). For more information on REACH, please visit www.reachindia.org.in

Purpose of this call

REACH is implementing a project in Thuraiyur block of Tiruchirappalli district to identify and support people with DM / HT / TB to navigate the care cascade from diagnosis to successful disease management. As part of this project, REACH proposes to develop a digital treatment literacy programme for people with DM/HT/TB and their families. REACH is currently looking to engage an experienced and qualified content and technology-partner to develop or adapt an existing IVRS-based platform for delivery of audio modules on the three diseases.

This treatment literacy programme will be designed so as to provide a comprehensive understanding of all aspects of the diseases. Broken up into short modules, they must be available on the phone and via an app and are intended to empower people with the knowledge they need to successfully complete the treatment and adopt lifestyle changes for long-term management. We anticipate a total of approximately 1-2 hours of content per disease, structured as short capsules of approximately 5 minutes each. The content will be recorded in Tamil. Those who are accessing the treatment literacy programme should be able to navigate through the menu of modules on the IVRS platform and also undertake a simple self-assessment exercise at the end of every module.

REACH will provide the basic content for the modules and the selected agency will have to convert these into engaging scripts using different methods and situations.

Scope of Work:

• Agencies bidding for the RFP will design and develop the contents and flow in collaboration with REACH and deploy IVRS (Interactive Voice Response System) channels delivering automated voice messages in Tamil on TB & Diabetes management, and Hypertension control, targeting Tamil Nadu residents.
• This includes script development with input from health experts and specialists from REACH, voice recording in Tamil cultural relevance, and call analytics to track engagement like listen completion rates and opt-in responses for various modules.
• Ongoing maintenance covers updates based on new health guidelines, scalability for high call volumes, and compliance with TRAI regulations on unsolicited calls.
• Provision of dedicated toll free IVRS helpline number with call back option for the respondents 

Deliverables:

• Detailed technical plan with IVRS architecture, scripts for each epiesode, and pilot test plan in Thuraiyur block of Thiruchirapalli district
• Functional IVRS platform live within 60 days, with dashboards for real-time metrics like unique callers, drop-off rates, and feedback surveys.
• Monthly reports on reach (e.g., 10,000 + calls/month), and impact (e.g., behavior change surveys)
• Submission of final voice files

Confidentiality:

• The selected must should agree to a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) protecting sensitive data such as patient health statistics, call logs, phone numbers, and proprietary message scripts from this work. Data must be stored securely using encryption and accessed only by limited to need-to-know personnel.

Submission process:

Agencies are requested to submit the technical and financial proposals separately. Financial proposal must be a separate password protected excel file.

The technical proposal must contain:

• Capability document: Please provide a profile of your agency with details of at least two projects of similar scope, complexity and nature you have worked on previously. Please include screenshots of IVRS dashboards used for similar audio content delivery.
• A brief outline of no more than two pages of a proposed IVR-based delivery platform for this project, with an explanation of how it will work from the user’s perspective, including suggestions on how it can be made engaging and interesting for the listeners
• Certificate of legal registration in India 

Financial proposal: The financial proposal should include a proposed budget with all costs anticipated at this point for setting up and maintaining such a platform for at least 24 months. The budget will be further discussed and finalized with any shortlisted companies or agencies. Taxes if applicable should be depicted separately and the payment terms clearly indicated. The anticipated date of completion of delivery/work should also be clearly indicated.

Selection process:

The selection will be a three-step process. All technical proposals would be assessed against the eligibility criteria. Only eligible proposals will be considered for evaluation. The financial proposals would be assessed only if the technical proposals comply with the eligibility and evaluation criteria.

Step 1: Review based on eligibility criteria

All proposals received will be reviewed based on the following eligibility criteria. Only those agencies found eligible will be further considered for evaluation.

• The agency must be legally registered in India.
• The agency must have a minimum of 2 years’ experience in undertaking similar projects.
• The agency must have submitted all the necessary documents to be eligible for selection.

Step 2: Shortlisting based on evaluation criteria