Title
Approve and ratify the action taken by the Director of Health and the Contracts/Purchasing Officer to sign an Agreement with the Blue Shield of California Foundation for Grant #7389322, in the amount of $199,879, beginning January 1, 2013 through December 31, 2013, for the purpose of funding resources for safety net providers to acquire technology and interface capacity to participate in a Health Information Exchange.
Report
RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended that the Board of Supervisors:
Approve and ratify the action taken by the Director of Health and the Contracts/Purchasing Officer to sign an Agreement with the Blue Shield of California Foundation for Grant #7389322, in the amount of $199,879, beginning January 1, 2013 through December 31, 2013, for the purpose of funding resources for safety net providers to acquire technology and interface capacity to participate in a Health Information Exchange.
SUMMARY/DISCUSSION:
On September 26, 2012, the Director of Health notified the Board of Supervisors and the County Administrative Officer of the intent to submit an application for grant funding to the Blue Shield of California Foundation to fund the necessary resources for Safety Net providers in Monterey County to acquire the technology and interface capacity needed to participate in PHIL (Peninsula Health Information Link), the Health Information Exchange. The Health Information Exchange would integrate patient health information found in the safety net's six separate electronic medical records and make it available to hospitals, physicians and clinics across the County, which will potentially result in improved continuity of care, more timely processing of patient health information and eliminate the need for redundant and costly services.
On December 12, 2012 the Blue Shield of California Foundation notified the Health Department of the grant award. In order to obtain funding for 2013, the signed Agreement was required to be returned by December 19, 2012. Due to the time constraint to comply with this requirement, the Agreement was signed by County Counsel, Risk Management, the Auditor-Controller, the Contracts/Purchasing Officer and the Director of Health. A memo to the Board advising of the action taken was submitted on January 2, 2013 (Attachment A).
OTHER AGENCY INVOLVEMENT:
County Counsel, Risk Management, the Auditor-Controller and Contracts/Purchasing have reviewed and approved the Agreement as to legal form, insurance requirements, and fiscal provisions. Attachment A and Agreement are on file with the Clerk of the Board.
FINANCING:
Blue Shield of California Foundation will fund the grant in the amount of $199,879 for the period 1/1/2013 through 12/31/2013. The grant does not require a cash match. The recommended board action does not include an increase to the revenue and expenditure budgets at this time even though these are new funds previously not included in the FY 2013 Adopted Budget. The budget adjustment will be deferred to later in the fiscal year if needed as directed by the County Administrative Office Budget and Analysis Division. There will be no impact to the General Fund resulting from acceptance of this grant.
Prepared by: Robin Kimball, Senior Secretary, 796-1386
Approved by: Ray Bullick, Director of Health, 4526
Attachments:
Attachment A is on file with the Clerk of the Board
Agreement is on file with the Clerk of the Board