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Hamilton County delays $202,120 ambulance-billing contract after attorney flags business-associate language
Summary
Commissioners deferred a resolution to accept a three-year ZOLL Data Systems contract for ambulance billing to give the county attorney time to renegotiate a business-associate addendum; staff said immediate savings would be about $3,500 and the vendor did not guarantee the price.
Hamilton County commissioners on March 25 agreed to postpone action on a $202,120, three-year contract with ZOLL Data Systems Inc. to provide software and data services for ambulance billing for the county Emergency Medical Services department.
The commission’s county attorney told the body the firm’s contract and the attached business-associate addendum require changes before the county should finalize the deal. "There are some things in the contract itself that need to be addressed, particularly ... what is called a business associate addendum, which I believe is meant to be a business associate agreement," the county attorney said. He told commissioners the county’s office would seek to fine-tune that language with the vendor’s representatives.
Why it matters: The contract would centralize ambulance-billing services for EMS and involves county data-handling responsibilities; the attorney said unresolved contract language poses legal and operational risk. The attorney also told commissioners the immediate cash savings from approving the contract now — as presented — would be small: about $3,500 for the $202,120 deal.
Discussion and vote: Commissioner Smith moved to accept the proposal; Commissioner Shipley seconded. Commissioner Highlander asked whether the attorney had reviewed the contract; the county attorney said his office had examined it and recommended addressing the addendum language and other contract items before approval.
Commissioner Smith said he was willing to delay the motion while the county attorney and ZOLL representatives worked on the contract language, and the commission then voted to defer the resolution for three weeks. Finance and county staff agreed to provide the attorney with the vendor contact information so negotiations could proceed. ZOLL representative Brown said his company preferred approval that day but agreed to work with the county attorney’s office.
Roll call recorded the deferral to April 16. Commissioners cast unanimous recorded votes to postpone the item.
Next steps: County staff and the attorney’s office will confer with ZOLL representatives to revise the business-associate language and other contract terms and return to the commission on April 16. The county attorney cautioned the commission that the vendor had not guaranteed the quoted price, so the final cost could change upward or downward.
Ending note: The commission’s clerk recorded the item as Resolution 3-25-45, a proposal from ZOLL Data Systems Inc. for EMS ambulance billing services totaling $202,120 over an initial three-year term; the item will be revisited at the April 16 meeting.
