Title
Health and Human Services Agency, Mental Health Division, recommending the Board consider the following:
1) Approve the Agreement Template for El Dorado County's use to contract with other counties who refer their clients to the El Dorado County Psychiatric Health Facility and with the same standard terms and conditions as approved by County Counsel and Risk Management;
2) Approve and authorize the Chair to sign Resolution 049-2014 authorizing the Health and Human Services Agency Director to execute said agreements with other counties for the provision of acute inpatient psychiatric treatment for clients referred by those agencies; and
3) Authorize the Health and Human Services Agency Director to execute amendments to these agreements, contingent upon approval by County Counsel and Risk Management.
FUNDING: Fee-for-service revenue from other local agencies.
Body
Fiscal Impact/Change to Net County Cost
There is no Net County Cost associated with this Agreement Template. Sufficient expenditures and revenues will be included in each Fiscal Year Budget Request, based on active agreements.
Background
The Health and Human Services Agency (HHSA) has contracted with other counties for many years in order to provide access to the County's Psychiatric Health Facility (PHF) services for other-county clients who require short-term inpatient mental health services. Services provided by the County PHF include psychiatry, medication, clinical treatment, nursing, and the required documentation and maintenance of health information in accordance with prevailing federal and state laws and regulations.
Mental Health staff at the PHF manages the daily census and accepts or declines referrals from other counties based on availability of beds in the facility. Accepting clients from other counties helps HHSA to maximize revenues and offset fixed operational costs of the PHF, while assisting other counties with their mandated mental health services. The County retains the exclusive right of refusal for referrals from other agencies to ensure continued availability of PHF beds for County clients.
The new PHF Agreement Template will be used to replace existing agreements as they expire or to execute new agreements with other counties. Should any modifications to the Agreement Template be necessary (e.g. to accommodate issues such as changes in code references, or changes suggested by Counsel, etc.), those revisions will be reviewed and approved by County Counsel and Risk Management.
Active PHF agreements, due to their perpetual term and in accordance with County of El Dorado Policy C-17, Section 4.5, will be presented annually to the Board for approval of their continuation.
Reason for Recommendation
Approval of the PHF Agreement Template and authorization of the HHSA Director to execute said agreements will help expedite processing and ensure that these revenue-generating agreements are in place quickly. As it is impossible to know in advance if a local agency will need to place their client at the County PHF, authorizing the HHSA Director to execute each agreement on behalf of the County will help to avoid retroactive agreements and ensure timely payment to the County for provided services. HHSA's proactive approach to providing, when beds are available, short-term mental health treatment to other local agencies' clients is in line with the intense focus now placed on properly treating those diagnosed with mental health issues.
Clerk of the Board Follow up Actions
Provide HHSA with a certified Minute Order approving the template, and a certified copy of the adopted Resolution.
Contact
Don Ashton, M.P.A., Director
Concurrences
County Counsel and Risk Management