Contract may cut jail medical costs

Correct Care edges out current provider

By: Wesley Young | JOURNAL REPORTER
Published: August 10, 2009

County officials think they've found a way to cut medical costs at the jail without sacrificing the quality of inmate care.

The county board of commissioners will vote this evening on whether to grant a three-year contract to Correct Care Solutions LLC of Nashville, Tenn., for providing inmate health-care services.

The rising cost of those services has been a continuing concern for the county. Coming in at around $4.5 million in the 2008-09 fiscal year, costs were more than $500,000 over the amount budgeted.

"The biggest problem in inmate medical care is offsite costs," said Joe Bartel, the county's director of budget and management. "The inmate costs were a concern to all of us."

NaphCare Inc. of Birmingham, Ala., now contracts with the county to provide medical services to detainees. The county put the service out for bid this spring and received six bids, including two from NaphCare that proposed different staffing options.

While Wexford Health Sources of Pittsburgh submitted the lowest bid, the company scored badly when local officials looked at references.

"None of their references responded to us," said Marshall Mathers, the purchasing director for the city and county. "They were the only ones where that was true. We did not take that as a good sign."

Local officials scored all the companies for experience, references, quality of response and corporate capability. When the tallying was done, Correct Care Solutions had narrowly edged out NaphCare. The county then negotiated with Correct Care Solutions and wound up with a proposal to pay the company $3,967,991 for the first year.

That cost doesn't count any spending of more than $700,000 for medical services rendered outside the jail, but county officials like an incentive built into the contract that they say should help hold down expenses.

Currently, the county's contract with NaphCare includes the first $500,000 of off-site medical services, but after that the county picks up 100 percent of the cost.

Under the new contract with Correct Care Solutions, the contract would cover the first $700,000 of off-site medical expenses. After that the county and the company would split costs 50-50.

"There is a real incentive for them to try not to get to $700,000," Bartel said. "We feel like there is a good chance to spend $400,000 less per year."

Bartel said that Maj. Wayne James, the director of detention services, has been happy with the quality of inmate medical care under NaphCare, and that that is something James did not want to lose. Although Correct Care Solutions will operate with a leaner staff, Bartel said, county officials do not believe that the quality of care will suffer.

Correct Care Solutions is hiring some of the staff members that presently work for NaphCare, he said.

The issue was always cost, said Karen Taylor, the business manager for the sheriff's office, which oversees the jail.

And Correct Care Solutions has been able to lower costs for other counties, she said.

"We called all their references," she said. "They all had glowing comments about them."

■ Wesley Young can be reached at 727-7369 or at wyoung@wsjournal.com.