Committee advances two Department of Public Health contracts to pursue third-party payments and aged-account collections

The Budget and Finance Committee recommended forwarding two resolutions authorizing retroactive contracts between the City and County of San Francisco and private firms Triage Consulting Group and Accordus Incorporated to support patient-account collections for San Francisco General Hospital.

Diana Guevara, representing the Department of Public Health’s patient financial services unit, said Accordus focuses on aged accounts and identifying payers for uninsured patients, and Triage Consulting reviews closed paid accounts to identify underpayments from managed care. She said both firms intervene prior to referral to the Treasurer’s Bureau of Delinquent Revenue and perform ‘‘pre-collections’’ and payer identification work.

Supervisors asked whether these contractors would be used to collect monthly premiums under the city’s Healthy San Francisco universal health program. The Mayor’s budget director responded that premium collection is handled separately and these contracts focus on identifying third-party payers for medical claims; DPH noted that if a patient later qualifies for Healthy San Francisco, services going forward may be covered and the department administers a charity program under state regulation AB 74 for eligible low-income patients.

Mr. Rose summarized prior contract performance, reporting net revenue figures under the prior contracts (Triage net revenue to DPH $1,954,353; Accordus net $3,932,510) and recommended amending the resolutions to provide retroactivity and approving them as amended. No public comment was recorded.