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| Jail Medical costs are rising exponentially due to a number of factors. The county should consider all models of provision of this care, including outsourcing, to curb costs and provide better care |
County staff have been discussing the outsourcing of Jail Medical for the last several years---as these costs have grown exponentially.
At our last regular meeting--we had over $5,000,000.00 worth of jail medical budgeting that was being requested of us. I pulled the item--as I knew we had been in talks with an outside provider to take the function over in order to achieve cost savings.
Several staffers received at least one proposal--however when asked about this at the meeting---there was a sudden sense of confusion and many staffers said that "no, they hadn't received the package and proposal."
So, I made a motion to pull the item, and the board voted to postpone the large medical expenditures--so we could all independently research what happened to the proposal from outside provider NaphCare.
(I never received the proposal either--although I was told it was sent to my office via FedEX. I never got it, and ultimately had to borrow Commissioner Bender's copy)
Meanwhile---Jim Little from the PNJ called me yesterday afternoon and we discussed the reasons I moved to drop the expenditure and also why I think outsourcing could save us money and provide better care for inmates. His column on this topic came out this morning and was a very good read.
The areas where it appears we can save the most money include:
--Reduced tranport to outside facilities--perhaps as much as 50% (saving guard staff time and vehicle wear and tear)
--Elimination of our costly Jail Med Malpractice insurance (Contractor would take on this cost)
--better overall care for inmates via proactive, initial assessments and flagging of inmates who are at risk
--staffing stabilization
--full utilization of our state of the art infirmary for more on site procedures (dialysis and other minor medical procedures for which we currently transport--costing us staff time and additional fees to dialysis providers)
--Savings via achieving a (much larger) economy of scale for pharmaceuticals
I plan on bringing the topic again at our October 14th meeting, at which point I will attempt to build support for the county developing an RFP for outsourcing jail medical. At least this will allow for multiple companies to present their best offers and creative solutions.
At the end of the day--I am certain the board will choose wisely and will find an option that saves money and provides the care our inmates need.
