integrated health care for prisoners

The State of Michigan Department of Corrections issued a Request for Information (RFI) on April 12, 2019, seeking integrated health care services for prisoners across Kalamazoo County and Lansing City jurisdictions. This RFI solicits comprehensive information regarding medical, behavioral health, substance abuse treatment, and pharmacy services to be delivered to an average of 39,500 prisoners annually across 29 correctional facilities (28 male and one female), including reentry centers. Key deliverables include medical provider staffing, operation and management of the 152-bed Duane L. Waters Health Center in Jackson with an attached 94-bed C Unit, secure hospital units at two local hospitals (22-bed and 12-bed units), a 200-bed inpatient mental health facility at Woodland Correctional Facility, infirmaries at multiple locations, specialty clinics, telehealth capabilities, and on-site pharmacy services. The RFI addresses 52 detailed questions covering recruitment and staffing strategies, pharmacy operations and partnerships, integrated care models and clinical outcomes, claims processing capabilities, contract compliance and quality assurance, and organizational experience. Vendors were required to submit questions by April 26, 2019 (later revised to April 19, 2019), with responses due by May 17, 2019 (later revised to May 10, 2019), and the State anticipated posting answers by May 3, 2019. The State indicated that oral presentations and system demonstrations would be conducted in July or August 2019, with a planned contract award start date of June 1, 2021, and an anticipated contract term of five years with additional option years.

The contract structure will be awarded to a single source rather than multiple vendors, combining medical, behavioral health, and pharmacy services into one integrated contract. The current incumbent vendor is Corizon Health Inc., which operates under a shared financial risk arrangement designed to incentivize appropriate on-site care management and minimize unnecessary off-site services. Current annual spending totaled $128,077,000 for integrated health care services in FY2018 with an additional $36,739,000 in pharmacy spending that same year, representing the base rate of $246.54 per prisoner per month. The State's existing infrastructure includes NextGen as its electronic health record system, a mail-order pharmacy operation with on-site services at Duane Water Hospital staffed by one full-time civil servant pharmacist and four contractual pharmacists, plus five full-time contractual pharmacy technicians. Site visits to the Duane Water Hospital pharmacy facility will be available during the pre-bid process to allow bidders to understand current operations and workflow. The RFI document does not establish pricing terms or award amounts, as it is an information-gathering tool designed to inform potential future RFP development; all vendor responses become property of the State and are subject to disclosure under Michigan's Freedom of Information Act.