St. Joseph County commissioners approved two operational items on Dec. 1 designed to increase departmental efficiency and revenue capture.

Mike, identified in the transcript as the health department director of operations (no last name provided), requested approval to contract with Jan Haley for immunization billing and Medicaid-reimbursement training. Mike said the goal is to train two health-department staff to handle billing in house — work currently done largely by a VaxCare vendor — so the department can recapture reimbursable services. "She estimates from start to finish, it'll take approximately 5 to 8 hours at about a $100 an hour, and we will recapture that," Mike said. Commissioners approved the consulting engagement.

Separately, Nick Robold of the PSAP (Public Safety Answering Point) presented a request to purchase PACE Scheduler for the 9-1-1 center to import scheduling data directly into the county payroll system, reduce manual input and lower the risk of data errors. Robold said the software handles PTO requests, accruals and daily seating charts for telecommunicators; commissioners approved the purchase.

Both actions were approved by roll call and are to be implemented by the departments that requested them.