REPORT/RECOMMENDATION TO THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
OF SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY
AND RECORD OF ACTION
July 27, 2021
FROM
WILLIAM L. GILBERT, Director, Arrowhead Regional Medical Center
SUBJECT
Title
Agreement with Press Ganey Associates, Inc. for Participation in the Nursing Quality Outcomes Registry
End
RECOMMENDATION(S)
Recommendation
Approve Agreement with Press Ganey Associates, Inc., for participation in the Nursing Quality Outcomes Registry, in the amount not to exceed $65,000, for a total contract period of August 1, 2021 through July 31, 2026.
(Presenter: William L. Gilbert, Director, 580-6150)
Body
COUNTY AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER GOALS & OBJECTIVES
Provide for the Safety, Health and Social Service Needs of County Residents.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
Approval of the Agreement with Press Ganey Associates, Inc. (Press Ganey) will not result in the use of Discretionary General Funding (Net County Cost) as the not to exceed cost of $65,000 for participation in the nursing quality outcomes registry 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. Sufficient appropriation and revenue are included in the Arrowhead Regional Medical Center (ARMC) 2021-22 budget and will be included in future recommended budgets.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The recommended agreement will allow ARMC to continue to participate in the nursing quality outcomes registry as a data collection site for nursing quality outcomes and provide access to benchmarking data.
Press Ganey maintains a nursing quality outcomes registry with voluntarily participating hospitals and health systems, meeting regulatory compliance and accreditation requirements. The nursing quality outcomes registry involves an ongoing, collaborative effort among Press Ganey and participating data collection sites, with the purpose of assisting participants with outcomes measurement and quality assurance through data collection, as well as providing the sites with benchmarking performance against other similar hospitals. Personally identifiable patient information is removed by ARMC before the data is entered into the registry.
This registry and the related reports assist in understanding processes that affect patient safety and quality of care, as well as advancing staffing effectiveness and patient safety efforts. Data is submitted to Press Ganey on a quarterly basis for prevalence trends and reports, but hospitals may submit data anytime throughout the year. As part of the ARMC ongoing performance improvement plan, participating in the Press Ganey nursing quality outcomes registry will provide for the safety, health, and social service needs of County residents as Press Ganey will assist ARMC with outcome measurement and quality assurance through the collection of statistics and benchmarking, establishing goals and quality outcomes for the ARMC nursing staff, resulting in quality nursing care and increased patient satisfaction.
The agreement with Press Ganey is its standard participation agreement, negotiated by the parties, with the following term that deviates from the standard County contract terms:
Limitations of Liability
Press Ganey limits its liability to two times the amount paid (less any refunds or credits) by County to Press Ganey during the 12-month period preceding the date of the claim.
• The County standard contract does not include a limitation of liability.
• Potential Impact: Press Ganey caps its liability to the County at a maximum of two times the amount paid by the County during the twelve month period preceding the date of the claim without any exceptions. Claims could exceed the liability cap and the contract amount leaving the County financially liable for the excess. The County’s liability under the contract is similarly limited.
PROCUREMENT
This is a noncompetitive procurement based on specialized credentials, as Press Ganey is the only vendor that offers this type of registry within California, also providing benchmarking performance against other local and similar size and type of facilities. ARMC has been procuring this nursing quality outcome registry since 2013. Press Ganey meets regulatory compliance and accreditation requirements for and is recognized by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the Joint Commission. County Purchasing recognizes specialized credentials as an acceptable non-competitive justification and supports ARMC’s participation in the Press Ganey nursing quality outcomes registry.
REVIEW BY OTHERS
This item has been reviewed by County Counsel (Charles Phan, Deputy County Counsel, 387-5455) on June 30, 2021; Purchasing Department (Ariel Gill, Buyer III, 777-0722) on July 1, 2021; ARMC Finance (Chen Wu, Finance Budget Officer, 580-3165) on July 1, 2021; Finance (Yael Verduzco, Administrative Analyst, 387-5285) on July 6, 2021; and County Finance and Administration (Matthew Erickson, County Chief Financial Officer, 387-5423) on July 11, 2021.