Cook County Hospital Board Approves $189M/ 4 Year Contract with Evolent Health

Cook County Health and Hospitals System (CCHHS) Board Meeting - March 29, 2018        

What did the Board decide?

• The Board approved  a $189m 4-year contract with Evolent Health that commits Evolent to third party administrative services for the CountyCare program.  CCHHS retains the right to cancel the contract with little notice if Evolent does not perform.  There were 4 responses to the competitive bid.
• The CCHHS board also approved a 3-year, $5,945,000 contract with Cerner Corporation for software support and maintenance upgrades, a sole source contract, “an expensive part of what we do,” Deputy CEO Doug Elwell said.  The government allows Cerner to change requirements for hospital accreditation, and customers like CCHHS must pay for the changes. 

What else did the Board discuss or refer to committee?

• The finance committee reported a year-to-date $48,138,000 shortfall (vs. $39.7 anticipated shortfall), attributed to more external claims expenses and higher pharmaceutical costs than anticipated.   
• James Kiamos, ED of Managed Care, reported 328,870 CountyCare members as of 3/1/18; of these 220,500 are family health patients, with 48,000 of these served by CCHHS ambulatory care clinics.  The hope is that the clinics can put more pediatricians in these clinics and attract more patients.  CountyCare represents 75% of CCHHS revenue.

Unexpected Votes, Events, Testimony or Items to Watch for in the Future:

• After at least 4 years of monitoring and effort to improve outcomes, only 67% of Stroger Hospital patients would recommend the hospital to others, and only 68% of Stroger surgeries begin on time. 
• Do CCHHS staff experience themselves as stakeholders in the system’s survival?

Any Other Comments or Observations: 

• CEO Dr. Shannon spoke movingly of participating in the March for Our Lives in Washington DC with members of the HHS trauma and social work teams; they met with Robin Kelly at the rally, where they spoke not only of specific violent gun incidents, but of the crisis in neighborhoods plagued by ongoing gun violence, the trauma of repeated incidents over time.

Observer - Linda Christianson                                                         Meeting Length     2.5 hours