Title
Authorize the County Counsel to execute an agreement with the Law Offices of Stephenson Acquisto & Colman, Inc. for specialized attorney services at Natividad Medical Center for an amount not to exceed $300,000 with an agreement term of January 11, 2017 through June 30, 2021 or with an end date which concludes at the completion of the requested services, whichever comes first.
Report
RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended the Board of Supervisors:
Authorize the County Counsel to execute an agreement with the Law Offices of Stephenson Acquisto & Colman, Inc. for specialized attorney services at Natividad Medical Center for an amount not to exceed $300,000 with an agreement term of January 11, 2017 through June 30, 2021 or with an end date which concludes at the completion of the requested services, whichever comes first.
SUMMARY/DISCUSSION:
The Law Offices of Stephenson Acquisto & Colman specialize in healthcare law and offer expertise in obtaining payment for commercial insurance, government and third party liability claims. NMC occasionally needs specialized assistance with denied claims, payment recovery services related to revenue cycle and legal representation.
Due to the highly complex and regulated nature of health care reimbursement, health care providers commonly assign accounts to outside vendors for claims denials or payment recovery. In addition, hospitals and health care systems engage legal counsel for representation related to contract disputes, interpretation and government reimbursement issues. Without expertise related to these areas, commercial and government claims will not be recovered. NMC recommends using the Law Offices of Stephenson Acquisto & Colman for denied and disputed claims related to: Commercial Insurances, Medi-Cal Managed Care, Medi-Cal, Third Party Liability, Worker’s Compensation, Third Party Administrator and Medicare. This includes follow up, filing appeals and filing legal action if necessary. In addition, the Law Offices of Stephenson Acquisto & Colman would provide assistance with contract rate negotiations when their expertise is requested by NMC.
The Law Offices of Stephenson Acquisto & Colman will be paid a percentage of recovered claims and for specified expenses for denied claims and payment recovery services. They will be paid an hourly rate for contract rate negotiation services. The County may terminate this agreement at any time.
OTHER AGENCY INVOLVEMENT:
County Counsel has reviewed and approved this agreement as to legal form and risk provisions, and the Auditor-Controller has reviewed and approved as to payment provisions. The agreement has also been reviewed and approved by NMC’s Finance Committee on December 2, 2016 and by its Board of Trustees on December 2, 2016.
FINANCING:
The cost for this agreement is $300,000 of which $150,000 is included in the Fiscal Year 2016-17 Adopted Budget. Amounts for remaining years of the agreement will be included in those budgets as appropriate. There is no impact to the General Fund.
Prepared by: Daniel Leon, CFO, 783-2561
Approved by: Gary R. Gray, DO, Chief Executive Officer, 783-2504
Attachments:
Stephenson Acquisto & Colman, Inc. Agreement (with BAA attached)
Attachments on file with the Clerk of the Board