A transition to a different vendor for Monroe County’s employee health clinic, which was established in 2010, appears on the agenda for the regular meeting of the board of county commissioners on Wednesday morning.
Under the terms of the contract, Monroe County will start working to transition to ProActiveMD as the new health care vendor for the county’s employee health clinic.
[Updated at 11:59 a.m. on May 29, 2024: At Wednesday’s meeting of the commissioners, county personnel administrator Elizabeth Sensenstein presented additional details about the timeline, dollar figures for the different proposals, and past performance of the incumbent vendor, which were weighed in making the recommendation to change vendors. Seven people, including four county elected officials, spoke from the public mic against the change or in support of current providers. Commissioners voted unanimously to approve the agreement with ProActiveMD.]
The plan has drawn opposition from several employees, including some elected officials who are department heads in the county.
Among the department heads opposing the change in the health clinic health vendor are county treasurer Cathy Smith and county assessor Judy Sharp.
On Tuesday night, the two raised their concerns at the Monroe County council’s regular meeting. Sharp said that other county departments are also opposed to the change and in support of the letter—mentioning the auditor’s office, the airport, the clerk’s office, the sheriff’s office, and the probation department.
Smith and Sharp addressed the county council, the county government’s fiscal body, because one of the reasons that’s been given for changing health care vendors is increased costs from the current vendor—Everside Health, which is merging with Marathon Health.
But it’s the county’s three-member board of commissioners that makes the decision on the choice of health care vendor for the employee health clinic.
A letter to county commissioners signed by several employees, concludes with an appeal: “We respectfully request that the Commissioners reconsider these anticipated changes and take employee preferences into account when making decisions that directly impact the health and safety of employees and their families.”
At Tuesday night’s county council meeting, councilor Marty Hawk told Smith and Sharp that she had signed the letter. Earlier on Tuesday, Sharp told The B Square that all the employees in her office had signed the letter.
It was on May 15, at the regular meeting of the county commissioners, that county personnel administrator Elizabeth Sensenstein had presented the proposed change from Everside to ProActiveMD as the county’s employee clinic health care vendor. On that occasion, it was just a discussion item, and was not put to any vote by commissioners.
At the mid-May meeting, Sensenstein described the way a new health care vendor was chosen. The same process was also described at Tuesday’s county council meeting, by county attorney Molly Turner-King. Other details of the way Monroe County government approached the issue are included in a May 22 email message sent by Sensenstein to Monroe County employees.
Sensenstein’s email message describes the impetus for reviewing the health clinic’s vendor as “unsustainable increases in the cost of [Monroe County’s] employee clinic, as well as a lengthy wait for technology and reporting improvements.”
At Tuesday night’s county council meeting, Turner-King said about the change in health care vendor: “This was not a quick decision.”
Turner-King pointed to the length of the contract with Everside, saying, “Because it’s over a decade old, it’s not reflective of current expectations for clinic and county interaction. So we wanted to update it.”
The county used an RFP (request for proposals) process to select a new vendor for the employee health clinic. The RFP was issued on Feb. 13 with a response deadline by March 13. Five proposals were received. Of those five respondents, four of them suggested a nurse practitioner model for care, according to Turner-King.
Everside, the current health care vendor, includes a physician in its current approach to care. The difference in approaches—physician versus nurse practitioner—is a big point in the objections raised by employees. They are more than satisfied with the care that is currently being provided by Clifford Mitcheff, a physician, and Wendy Veeder, a physician’s assistant.
The fact that many employees have, over the years, formed an important physician-patient relationship with Mitcheff is another reason why employees object to the change in vendor.
Everside is the same health care vendor that the city of Bloomington chose when it opened its new employee health clinic late last year.
Interviews were held with the five respondents on March 25, Turner-King said. They were winnowed down to three. On April 15, there was a second round of meetings with the finalists. The three finalists named by Sensenstein in her May 15 presentation to the county commissioners were: Everside, the current clinic vendor; ProActiveMD; and QuadMed.
Sensenstein said that all three respondents were evaluated based on a model with a nurse practitioner and two medical assistants. That way, it was an “apples-to-apples” comparison, Sensenstein said.
Scoring was based on: cost and billing; account management and reporting; patient experience; employee communication and engagement; referrals and chronic condition management; and scheduling and the patient portal.
Based on the scoring, ProActiveMD stood out above the other two, Sensenstein said.
At Tuesday’s county council meeting, Turner-King said that MCCSC (Monroe County Community School Corporation) uses ProActiveMD for its employee clinic, as does Tippecanoe County. When Monroe County reached out to MCCSC and Tippecanoe County, they both gave “exceptional feedback,” Turner-King said.
The choice of ProActiveMD as the new vendor was a topic at a May 16 meeting of county government department heads.
Turner-King responded to some concerns expressed by employees that the number of health care vendor in the clinic would decrease. According to Turner-King, there will not be a decrease in hours.
County treasurer Cathy Smith and county assessor Judy Sharp indicated to county councilors on Tuesday that they will be appearing at the regular 10 a.m. Wednesday meeting of the county commissioners, to ask them at least to put off a decision to transition to ProActiveMD.
Sharp said that if it’s a matter of money, “I know the money’s there.” She added, “We’re not hurting for money.”
Smith said, “This is the first time in my life that I’ve had the continuity of care and excellent health care. So I’m asking for my department and people that I represent, to please try to work something out. If it’s money, please make it happen.”
Apparently the health of employees has a price after all.
Monroe County Public Library also uses this clinic. I have always been very grateful for the care I received, much more personal than IU Health that’s for sure.
A physician-led healthcare team is the right decision in my opinion and that of the American College of Physicians. Lee McKinley, M.D.