St. Joseph County approves business-associate agreement to add Springbok reporting at Paragon clinic

The St. Joseph County Board of Commissioners voted to approve a business-associate agreement allowing the Paragon employee clinic to use a health-data platform called Springbok to report on patient care.

The agreement was described by Ryan Carlson of the Horton Group as a “leading edge health intelligence tool” that will let the clinic measure gaps in care and provide preventative-care notifications to clinicians. County counsel told the board the agreement had been reviewed and approved by legal. Commissioners voted unanimously to approve the agreement.

Carlson said Paragon and its owner, Beacon Health, requested acceptance letters from vendors, including the county’s claims administrator and pharmacy benefits manager, and a business-associate agreement to enable the system. “Springbok is considered to be a leading edge health intelligence tool, or more simply put, it's really a data system which facilitates reporting back to the county on care of patients,” Carlson said.

Carlson told commissioners the platform’s cost will be embedded into the clinic’s operation and “it's not going to be a separate expense to the county.” County counsel confirmed legal approval of the agreement during the meeting.

The board recorded a motion, a second and three aye votes from Commissioner Morton, Commissioner Hazen and Commissioner Maxmeyer. No further conditions or amendments were announced at the meeting.

Next steps were not specified during the meeting; the board did not set a follow-up date or reporting requirement in public remarks beyond Carlson’s description that the platform will enable Paragon to report on care metrics back to the county.