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BY MICHAEL GROHS, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR
While health care treatment
for inmates is getting more
complex, here are some ways
to simplify the process.
Outsourcing
Options for
Corrections
chronological age. Prisons are not
T
he U.S. has a large and in correctional facilities. Many
aging jail and prison popu- health clubs, and placing numer- experts agree that mandatory sen-
lation, and many require ous bodies together in an institu- tencing has had an enormous
medical attention. According to a tional setting can increase the impact on proving medical care
2006 Bureau of Justice Statistics spread of illness. Aside from ill- to inmates. More recently, the
Special Report titled Medical ness, there is also the violent passing of the Affordable Care
Problems of Jail Inmates, 40% of environmental factor of correc- Act (ACA) has impacted the deliv-
inmates over age 45 reported hav- tional living to consider. ery of medical services during
ing some kind of health impair- According to the Special Report, and after incarceration. Before
ment. Many have substance inmates age 24 and under are the ACA, Medicaid only covered
abuse problems. Drug and alco- twice as likely to report being five groups of people. One group
hol abuse, significant medical injured since admission than not covered was poor, single,
conditions in themselves, often those 45 or older. childless males, the group of peo-
lead to other, worse conditions. The matter is also getting more ple who make up a huge percent-
Many inmates have bodies that complex. Laws and policies have age of the prison population. (In
are medically older than their added to the issue of medical care January 2014, those categories
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were eliminated in states that accepted Medicaid
expansion under the ACA.) Constitutionally, cor-
rections facilities are required to provide for “med-
ically necessary” or “serious” conditions, and 14%
to 20% of inmates suffer from a serious mental ill-
ness such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, major
mood disorders, and borderline personality disor-
ders. That percentage is even higher in jails.
One solution numerous facilities have been uti-
lizing is outsourcing medical services. Steve
Wheeler, CEO of Centurion notes, “Roughly half
the state departments of corrections turn to the pri-
vate sector for inmate healthcare.” Vendors can
bring certain abilities to the table such as purchas-
ing power and economies of scale, a crucial ability
when it comes to details such as the cost of phar-
maceuticals. (Dr. Donald Kern, Chief Medical
Officer of Naphcare, a provider of inmate health
services, stated that viral hepatitis was 10 times
more likely to be found in prisoners than in the
general population, and the treatment can cost as
much as $50,000 a year.) Says Wheeler, “We have
on board full time pharmacists who focus exclusive-
ly on monitoring the ever changing landscape of
available pharmaceutical agents, as well as the latest
research on clinical effectiveness of numerous med-
ications and provide educational services to our pre-
scribers to ensure they have the most up-to-date
information on the efficient use of medications.
This process saves our client agencies millions of
dollars per year.” Jon Walker, EVP, Chief
Development Officer at Corizon furthers, “Through
our in-house pharmacy, PharmaCorr, Corizon
Health saves our DOC clients over $2.31 million
annually in pharmacy-related costs.”
Recruiting is another ability vendors might be
able to offer facilities. Correctional facilities can be
a difficult place to work, and recruitment and reten-
tion is often an issue. Says Wheeler, “It’s not a
process of simply posting open positions, but one
more related to educating the provider community
on the merits and professional rewards of practicing
in a correctional environment. (Centurion has 14
full-time recruiting professionals to seek out high
quality candidates, they report.)
One of the more recent developments is how the
ACA will affect inmates upon release. In the past,
one problem was that inmates who had medical
issues were released and treatment stopped until the
inmate was once again incarcerated. Vendors such
as Corizon and MHM can offer services to align an
inmate with community-based services and ensure
that treatment continues once the inmate has been
released. Dr. Mark Fleming, director of Operations,
Behavioral Health at Corizon notes that they offer
“a robust reentry program that is utilized through-
out many of our jail and prison contracts nation-
wide and focuses on reentry beginning at intake”
and that they “take a holistic approach to reentry
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three decades. Centurion’s model
infuses proven managed care sys-
tems into traditional correctional
health care using innovative care
coordination and management
systems not before available to
correctional agencies.
Centurion focuses on improv-
ing the health literacy of inmates
by engaging them in their per-
sonal care through education and
incentive programs and prevent-
ing inmates from becoming seri-
ously ill through the most tech-
nologically advanced predictive
modeling systems available.
ensuring that the primary needs telemedicine provides the same These systems allow Centurion to
of our inmates are addressed to assessment as an in-person assess- provide the right care at the right
ensure a seamless transition back ment.” Says Love, “Telemedicine time, maximizing the use of on-
into the community.” Mike has an especially bright future in site services, telehealth, and evi-
Pinkert, founder, chairman, and corrections because telemedicine dence-based interventions to
CEO of MHM furthers, provides the same level of service reduce outside hospital trans-
“Becoming enrolled in the as in-person visits for many com- ports.
Medicaid program, and knowing mon medical services, allows cor- Contact:
how to navigate through its rectional healthcare physicians to Michael Brewer, senior vice presi-
provider network, can be bewil- see more patients due to the dent, Development
dering to an inmate that may avoidance of long commutes, and Centurion, LLC
have had little contact with the keeps inmates in prison for spe- mbrewer@centurionmanaged-
outside world for many years. cialty healthcare visits instead of care.com
MHM foresaw this problem and transporting them into the com- 571.232.4327
teamed up with Centene munity.” www.centurionmanagedcare.com
Corporation, a Fortune 500
Medicaid managed care compa-
ny, to form a joint venture com-
Health Care Sources Corizon
Corizon Health is a physician-
pany called Centurion to provide
comprehensive healthcare ser- Centurion, LLC led company that provides med-
ical care, mental health program-
vices to prisons and jails.” Centurion was established by
ming and treatment, dental care,
Technology has also had a two of the oldest and most
and pharmacy services at correc-
tremendous impact on correc- respected names in correctional
tional facilities nationwide. They
tional healthcare delivery in the healthcare and managed
lead correctional healthcare with
form of telemedicine. Medicaid—MHM Services, Inc.
a proactive approach of identify-
Organizations such as Reston, and Centene Corporation—with
ing important medical and men-
Va.-based Global Tel*Link, a one- the goal of creating the next gen-
tal health issues early, so they can
stop source for integrated tech- eration of correctional health
intervene early. They deliver
nology solutions offers cutting care and making it available
proactive care from the initial
edge technology for use in today. Combining the resources
intake screening and continue
telemedicine. Vicki Love, director of a major managed care provider
throughout the patient’s incarcer-
of Operations Development at with the service delivery structure
ation, the company reports. Their
Centurion, notes that telemedi- of a respected correctional health
approach has proven effective in
cine is rapidly expanding. “We care company gives correctional
providing optimal health to
are able to perform chronic care systems access to the same level
patients while in their care and
visits at remote locations when a of sophisticated managed care
preparing them to better manage
physician is not available on site. systems that have been devel-
their health upon release. In
With the correct technology and oped and perfected in state
addition, their proactive care
properly trained presenter, Medicaid programs over the past
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M-J 15 p20-25 outsourcing_master template 5/29/15 10:26 AM Page 23
practices have proven beneficial
to clients because they reduce off-
Correctional care physicians, mental health
professionals, and other special-
site trips, inmate movement and Medical Care ists with inmates using secure,
emergency medical situations, Correctional Medical Care encrypted video technology. The
which in turn save on custody (CMC) offers a comprehensive company offers a variety of dif-
staff time and transportation range of high-quality, fully ferent video endpoints to meet
costs. auditable healthcare services to each customer’s unique needs.
county correctional facilities in a These endpoints, including cor-
cost effective manner. CMC’s ser- rections-grade evaluation sta-
vices meet or exceed all local and tions, mobile cart, large screen
national standards that have monitors, and other options, all
The environment they work in been established by the National feature secure, encrypted video
and the patients they see pose Commission on Correctional technology. GTL also supplies
unique challenges that take spe- Health Care. CMC is fully com- secure network bandwidth to
cialized skills to overcome. This is mitted to the efficient program of customers, ensuring that
especially significant for correc- health care services that are tai- telemedicine services can pro-
tions institutions where many lored to meet the needs of each ceed uninterrupted and without
medical and mental health prob- unique client. impeding other critical network
lems are interrelated. Corizon’s 1.888.225.8860 tasks.
integrated care in medical and www.cormedcare.com The GTL telemedicine solu-
behavioral health, release and re- tion includes a robust and secure
entry planning provide a well-
rounded and proactive approach
Global Tel*Link scheduling system that is capa-
ble of interfacing with each facil-
to patient care. (GTL) ity’s Offender Management
Contact: Global Tel*Link (GTL) offers System (OMS), Jail Management
Jonathan B. Walker, chief devel- leading-edge telemedicine tech- System (JMS), or other inmate
opment officer nology for the correctional database. This scheduling system
[email protected] industry, connecting medical simplifies the logistics of
615.376.0651 professionals such as primary telemedicine by scheduling
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M-J 15 p20-25 outsourcing_master template 5/29/15 10:26 AM Page 24
“[We] take a holistic approach to
reentry ensuring that the primary
needs of our inmates are addressed to
ensure a seamless transition back
into the community.”
—Dr. Mark FleMing
appointments, checking for con- choice in corrections, MHM is
flicts, assigning inmates to con- able to attract and retain person-
NaphCare
NaphCare focuses on a “day
veniently-located, available video nel to work in difficult correction-
one” mentality by offering proac-
terminals, thereby reducing the al environments with low
tive, preventative healthcare.
necessary amount of endpoint turnover rates. Inmates with seri-
NaphCare’s mission is to uphold
infrastructure. Finally, GTL’s ous mental illness comprise
the belief that trust still matters
telemedicine solution allows for approximately 16% of correctional
in partnerships, and in the evolv-
the creation of a variety of populations and pose special man-
ing healthcare marketplace, they
reports as needed by jail officials. agement and treatment challenges
952.931.0775 adjust their strategy to provide
for correctional agencies. MHM
[email protected] the highest quality care.
delivers quality mental health pro-
www.gtl.com NaphCare is committed to build-
gramming and personnel designed
ing a professional staff to provide
to ensure compliance with accred-
inmate health services and to
MHM Services, Inc. itation requirements and constitu-
tional standards of care. For more
continue to advance their ser-
Founded in 1981, MHM is a vices by building on leading tech-
leading national provider of information please visit the com-
nology, which can lead to greater
behavioral health, medical special- pany’s website at www.mhm-ser-
accuracy, lowered costs and
ty, and staffing solutions for cor- vices.com.
reduced liability.
rectional systems and governmen- Contact: 1.800.834.2420
tal agencies. With over 3,000 Robert (Bob) W. May, MS, senior
[email protected] employees serving in over 250 vice president, Development, www.naphcare.com
institutions in 14 states, MHM MHM Services, Inc.
serves its clients with modern clin-
ical programming and staffing
[email protected] 404.583.0197
Wexford
Wexford Health Services pro-
expertise. As an employer of www.mhm-services.com vides leading, innovative health
care with experienced manage-
MHM’s manager of Telehealth Systems Ethan Pinkert ment and technologically
advanced services combined with
programs that both control costs
and ensure quality. Wexford
Health has consistently delivered
professional expertise and a full
range of medical services to over
270 correctional and other insti-
tutions across the country for the
past two decades. Those services
include medical and mental
health, dental, vision, pharma-
ceutical care, telehealth, utiliza-
tion management, and provider
network development.
1.800.903.3616
[email protected] www.wexfordhealth.com
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