Waukesha IT board approves five-year EPR Fireworks records-management contract for fire department

Waukesha City IT Board members voted unanimously to approve a 60-month contract with EPR Fireworks to provide a suite of records-management, electronic patient care reporting (ePCR) and related applications for the Waukesha Fire Department.

City IT staff presented the contract, identified in the agenda as ID25-02063, and highlighted vendor security certifications and single-sign-on compatibility. Chief Copeland and Assistant Chief Tim Fleming described operational benefits and said the product will replace software they determined did not meet department needs.

City IT staff member Chris said the vendor supplied a 20-page security document and that the product supports SAML single sign-on with the city’s identity provider, meets SOC 2, NIST and HIPAA requirements and carries ISO certifications. “They sent me this 20 page document on what they do with security,” Chris said, noting the company filled out the city’s vendor questionnaire and uses standard browser-based access.

Fire Chief Copeland said the department had found “implementation problems going forward with the previous software” and that those issues showed the prior product “does not meet our needs.” He said EPR Fireworks was a close second during the earlier RFP process and that site visits and conversations with peer departments persuaded staff the product would better support quality management, reporting and a mobile integrated health component not present in the prior platform.

Assistant Chief Tim Fleming outlined the scope of migration and functionality staff expect to keep and replace. He said the department intends to keep two existing modules for preplans and scheduling from other vendors (APX preplans and Vector scheduling) while moving most other records and reporting into the EPR Fireworks suite. Fleming reported the city’s projected annual cost under the new configuration was lower than the prior package: city staff cited an earlier projected annual cost of $71,750 and said the proposed combination with EPR Fireworks would reduce that to about $58,048 (staff reported roughly $13,250 in annual savings compared with the earlier estimate).

Staff provided contract terms: a 60-month term, an implementation fee described as “less than $8,000,” and an annual price-adjustment clause capped at 1.5% per year. Record-retention in the contract was set at seven years. Chief Copeland and IT staff also said the contract was reviewed by the city attorney; the only negotiated change noted was the venue for disputes (Waukesha County). City staff said no additional contingencies were required after legal review.

A motion to approve the contract as presented was made by Paul Fabian and seconded by John Hansen. Board members recorded affirmative votes for Paul Fabian, Bruders, John Hansen, Brandon Costoni, Daniel Mannion and Steve Van Trieste; Ryan Zafson did not cast a recorded vote. The chair announced the motion “passed unanimously 6 to 0.”

Board members and staff said they want implementation completed in time to have the system operational by Jan. 1 so the department’s calendar-year data can originate from a single system. City staff also said they expect to migrate additional inventory and narcotics-management functionality into the suite over time to pursue further savings.

The board did not place additional contingencies on the approval; staff said contractual implementation and budget items will be addressed through the normal council and finance committee processes.

The meeting then moved on to the IT capital-improvement discussion later on the agenda.