San Mateo County is responsible for providing medical care to its medically indigent adult population. San Mateo Medical Center (SMMC) is a general acute care hospital and does not provide certain highly specialized services. A contract with Seton Medical Center ensures that specialty services are readily available.
Services provided under this agreement are required medical services that are not presently provided at San Mateo Medical Center. The majority of referrals to Seton are for inpatient cardiac and outpatient services. Examples of other services include higher resolution Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), radiation therapy, sleep lab, and cardiac specialty services.
All patients referred to Seton Medical Center undergo utilization review to minimize hospital stays and maintain control over costs. Comprehensive per diem rates are negotiated as part of tertiary care contracts to account for patient transitions through each level of care, including intensive (ICU), telemetry (step down), stabilized (med/surg), observation, and eventual discharge. The negotiated per diem rates are 1-3% less than those received by SMMC from the Health Plan of San Mateo (HPSM). San Mateo Medical Center is also requesting a waiver of the RFP process because the facility seeks contracts with all area hospitals for tertiary care.
The term of the agreement is one year from July 1, 2005 to June 30, 2006. County Counsel and Risk Management have reviewed and approved this agreement
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