10/06/1976
MINUTES OF BOARD OF HEALTH - October 6, 1976
00669
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Present: Dr. James Tid1er, Chairman, Dr. Frank Reynolds, Mr. George Chadwick,
Mr. J. R. Reaves, Mrs. Vivian Wright, Mr. Ed Carter and Attorney
James Fox.
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Absent:
Mrs. Roma Lee Hall, Dr. James Furr, Mr. Bruce Freeman
Minutes of the September meeting were approved as presented.
Swine Flu Immunizations: Dr. Finger reported to the board that our first vaccine
was being picked up in Fayetteville today. The first shipment will be around
9,000 doses. He also reported that since the vaccine will not be available in
huge quantities that we are no longer planning multiple clinic sites, but will
give the vaccine here at the health department every day 8:30 A.M. to 4:30 P.M.,
and if necessary we will schedule a Sunday clinic. Vaccine will also be given
to private physicians - to begin each will receive 100 doses.
Home Health Policies: Miss A. Lou Davis, Director of Nurses, and Mrs. Sara Jordan,
Medicare Clerk, presented changes in the policies that were recommended by the
Advisory Board. These changes were primarily to update the policies. Mr. Carter
made the motion that changes be made as presented, Dr. Reynolds seconded and
motion carried. (Copy of updated policies are attached to these minutes.)
Fee Scale for Medically Indigent Patients: Because of billing of private patients
now being required by Blue Corss, it has become necessary to adopt a Fee Scale to
determine medical indigency. This scale is based on the recommended scale in the
Blue Corss manual. The following scale was adopted. Motion was made by Dr. Reynolds,
seconded by Mr. Chadwick and carried.
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SIZE OF FAMILY
ANNUAL GROSS INCOME
6+
5
4
3
2
1
8,000 - 8,999
7,000 - 7,999
6,000 - 6,999
5,000 - 5,999
4,000 - 4,999
o - 3,999
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Fee for Home Health Visits: Cost as determined by a recent Cost Report for 1975-76
year showed the cost pervisit for a Skilled Nursing Visit to be $14.28. At the
present time we are charging $22.00 per visit to try to recover money lost by the
lower of cost or charges clause in the Blue Cross ruling. Because of the move into
the new quarters our cost for 1974-75 exceeded charges for the same period. Under
a Blue Corss ruling, an agency has two years to recover any money that is lost.
This was questioned by the Advisory Board as to whether or not under the State
Statutes it was legal to charge more that cost even though it was an attempt to
recover a loss. Mr. Fox had been asked for a ruling. He feels we cannot under any
circumstances charge more than our cost. After much discussion, motion was made by
Dr. Reynolds, seconded by Mr. Chadwick, that we forget about recovering this
money and begin now charging at our approximate cost and that a mini cost report
be done often so that this will not happen to us again. Motion carried. The
possibility that we become a public provider after this year and charge less than
half of cost so that at the end of the year we can recover our entire cost from
Blue Cross was also discussed. Since we are already into this fiscal year we
cannot go to public provider status until the next fiscal year. This will be brought
up for discussion before next July.
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There being no further business the meeting was adjourned.
Respectfully submitted,
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Approved: November 3, 1976
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