REPORT/RECOMMENDATION TO THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
OF SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY
AND RECORD OF ACTION
June 25, 2024
FROM
ANDREW GOLDFRACH, ARMC Chief Executive Officer, Arrowhead Regional Medical Center
SUBJECT
Title
Amendment to Agreement with Experian Health Inc. for Software Licenses, Point of Sale Devices and Patient Statements
End
RECOMMENDATION(S)
Recommendation
Approve Amendment No. 4 to Agreement No. 19-721 with Experian Health, Inc. for software integration and devices for point-of-sale transactions, as well as Patient Statement Letter template software, for the Outpatient Pharmacy and Patient Account Departments, respectively, increasing the not to exceed contract amount by $47,037 from $2,962,740 to $3,009,777, with no change to the term of November 5, 2019 through November 4, 2024.
(Presenter: Andrew Goldfrach, ARMC Chief Executive Officer, 580-6150)
Body
COUNTY AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER GOALS & OBJECTIVES
Operate in a Fiscally-Responsible and Business-Like Manner.
Provide for the Safety, Health and Social Service Needs of County Residents.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
Approval of this item will not result in the use of Discretionary General Funding (Net County Cost). The additional cost of $47,037, which increases the total contract amount to $3,009,777, is funded by State Medi-Cal, Federal Medicare, private insurances, and other departmental revenue. Funding sources may change in the future pending any legislative activity related to the repeal and/or replacement of the Affordable Care Act. Adequate appropriation and revenue have been included in the Arrowhead Regional Medical Center (ARMC) 2023-24 budget and is included in 2024-25 budget.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Approval of the amendment to Agreement No. 19-21 (Agreement) with Experian Health, Inc. (Experian) will enhance the services of the ARMC Outpatient Pharmacy and ensure compliance with State of California statutes regarding patient billing. The amendment will provide the implementation and integration of software, PaymentSafe, with ARMC’s electronic health record (EHR), Epic. PaymentSafe includes account balance presentation, payment processing, payment plans, payment remittances and payment reporting.
The amendment will also provide wired point of sale credit card devices, PAX A80 units, for the processing of payments for prescription items purchased in the Pharmacy. The PAX A80 units are Ethernet countertop devices with four-inch color display touchscreens, printers, and physical keypads. The point of sale terminals established with these devices in the Pharmacy will process approximately 900 prescription purchases per month.
Additionally, the amendment will allow ARMC to comply with State of California statute, Assembly Bill (AB) 1020 related to healthcare debt and fair billing. This statue, which went into effect on January 1, 2022, adds new noticing requirements from hospitals and healthcare facilities to patients regarding outstanding account balances, limits credit reporting for 180 days, and limits selling of debt-to-debt buyers (collections agencies) among other changes to billing. The amendment will provide an automated letter template that can be issued by ARMC Patient Accounts to patients so that they are notified and given one-last chance to apply for charity assistance and/or resolve their balance.
On November 5, 2019 (Item No. 8), as a result of a non-competitive procurement, the Board of Supervisors (Board) approved the Agreement with Experian, in an amount not to exceed $2,304,000, for the term of November 5, 2019 through November 4, 2024, for the conversion of Experian software and licensing of additional third-party software to ensure compatibility with both the existing and new EHR system at ARMC.
On August 11, 2020 (Item No. 21), the Board ratified the County Chief Executive Officer’s execution of Amendment No. 1 to the Agreement for the suspension of the County’s payment obligations from August 1, 2020 through September 30, 2020, due to the delayed conversion of the Experian software to a new EHR system as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, with no changes to the contract term or the not-to-exceed contract amount.
On February 9, 2021 (Item No. 9), the Board approved Amendment No. 2 to the Agreement, for PaymentSafe Epic External Payment Page and Precise ID, increasing the contract amount by $210,540, from $2,304,000 to $2,514,540, with no change to the contract term of November 5, 2019 through November 4, 2024. This added two modules that allow for secure site access for patients to view their information and make payments.
On August 24, 2021 (Item No. 6), the Board approved Amendment No. 3 to the Agreement, for additional software modules needed to ensure compatibility with the new EHR system at ARMC, increasing the contract amount by $448,200 from $2,514,540 to $2,962,740, with no change to the term of November 5, 2019 through November 4, 2024.
ARMC recommends approval of the amendment to provide for the health and safety of county residents by providing infrastructure for payment transaction processing for medications, and expanding notifications regarding outstanding account balances and the availability of financial assistance for medical expenses.
PROCUREMENT
Not applicable.
REVIEW BY OTHERS
This item has been reviewed by County Counsel (Bonnie Uphold, Supervising Deputy County Counsel, 387-5455) on June 5, 2024; ARMC Finance (Chen Wu, Finance and Budget Officer, 580-3165) on June 6, 2024; Finance (Jenny Yang, Administrative Analyst, 387-4884) on June 6, 2024; and County Finance and Administration (Valerie Clay, Deputy Executive Officer, 387-5423) on June 6, 2024.