Better use of a center in Denver cited as example.
By Loretta Sword
The Pueblo Chieftain
PUEBLO, Colo. — The Colorado Department of Corrections has cut medical-care costs for inmate statewide by making better use of its own resources and new services available at its Reception and Diagnostic Center in Denver, according to its spokeswoman.
Some critics of a plan within the state Department of Health and Human Services’ proposal to close the medical/surgical unit at the Colorado Mental Health Institute at Pueblo claim that the unit is losing money because of declining utilization by the DOC.
The CMHIP on-campus medical unit provides a range of medical care and services for its own psychiatric and forensic patients as for prison inmates from throughout Southern Colorado.
Katherine Sanguinetti confirmed that DOC use of the CMHIP medical/surgical unit has declined in the past few years, for a variety of reasons.
Contrary to critics’ claims, however, the department is not paying more for inmate medical care but less. Inmates are sent to the CMHIP unit for “day” surgeries such as hip replacements and hernias and other procedures that don’t require a higher level of care offered by one of Pueblo’s two private hospitals.
“But one of the things we have done in the last several years is doing more
at our own (on-site prison) infirmaries and the Denver Reception and Diagnostic
Center. For instance, we’re doing dialysis and chemotherapy there,” Sanguinettisaid.
Those factors have reduced costs in two ways: no payments to CMHIP when an in-house infirmary is used, and fewer trips from regional prisons to Pueblo.
Additionally, she said, “Across the board, no matter what hospital it is, we’ve been working with our claims-review provider and we have reduced our hospital stays across the state to two or three days on average, and that has probably had an impact. We’re better utilizing the resources we have.”
Sanguinetti said the DOC uses the CMHIP unit “whenever we can. We schedule everything we possibly can there -- outpatient physical therapy, X-rays, routine surgeries and other types of care.
“Our clinical people are telling me those (medical professionals at CMHIP) are some of the finest doctors they’ve worked with. They’re good clinicians, they’re good people.”
She said the DOC is “looking at a number of options. We’re trying to look at what we may do,” but saving money on medical costs has to be the primary focus.
Copyright 2009 The Pueblo Chieftain