Title
a. Approve the County Standard Patient Transfer Agreement (“Agreement”) template defining the terms of transfer of patients between Natividad Medical Center (NMC) and other health care facilities; and
b. Authorize execution of the Agreement by the NMC Chief Executive Officer using the template in substantially the same form as that which has been presented to the Board without significant change to its content, subject to review and approval of County Counsel; delegation of authority expires June 30, 2024; and
c. Authorize execution of up to three (3) future amendments to any executed Agreement where the amendments do not significantly alter the risk associated with the parties’ duties under the Agreement, subject to review and approval of County Counsel; delegation of authority expires June 30, 2024.
Report
RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended the Board of Supervisors:
a. Approve the County Standard Patient Transfer Agreement (“Agreement”) template defining the terms of transfer of patients between Natividad Medical Center (NMC) and other health care facilities; and
b. Authorize execution of the Agreement by the NMC Chief Executive Officer using the template in substantially the same form as that which has been presented to the Board without significant change to its content, subject to review and approval of County Counsel; delegation of authority expires June 30, 2024; and
c. Authorize execution of up to three (3) future amendments to any executed Agreement where the amendments do not significantly alter the risk associated with the parties’ duties under the Agreement, subject to review and approval of County Counsel; delegation of authority expires June 30, 2024.
SUMMARY/DISCUSSION:
It may be necessary from time to time for one health care facility to transfer a patient to another health care facility for outpatient or inpatient health care services that are not provided or available at the facility where the patient arrived. In such an event it is in the best interest of both facilities to enter into a Patient Transfer Agreement whereby certain terms and conditions regarding the transfer are mutually agreed upon in advance of transfer activity.
The parties desire to enter into this Agreement in order to arrange for the orderly, timely, and therapeutically beneficial transfer of patients from one Facility to the other Facility and to establish the conditions under which the Facilities will accept such transfers. With assistance from County Counsel, NMC has created a County Standard Patient Transfer Agreement template to be used to establish agreements with other healthcare facilities for patient transfers, either by NMC to other facilities or visa-versa.
The Board approved the current template for a four-year period which has been in use successfully since March 2015. Therefore, NMC is seeking Board approval to use this template as needed for a five-year period through June 30, 2024.
OTHER AGENCY INVOLVEMENT:
County Counsel has been approved as to legal form. County Auditor Controller has approved the financial terms. The Amendment has been reviewed and approved by the Natividad Finance Committee on September 27, 2018 and by the Natividad Board of Trustees on October 5, 2018.
FINANCING:
Costs associated with this County Standard Patient Transfer Agreement template are minimal. In some circumstances, Medicare/Medi-Cal will require the transferring facility to pay the receiving facility for services and include the receiving facility services in the transferring facility claim to Medicare/Medi-Cal.
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS STRATEGIC INITIATIVES:
This patient transfer agreement template is an efficient use of staff time and attorney resources.
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Prepared by: Nancy Majewski, Managed Care Operations Manager, 783-2385
Approved by: Gary R. Gray, DO, Chief Executive Officer, 783-2504
Attachments:
Patient Transfer Agreement Template