BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — Kern Health Systems, known as Kern Family Healthcare, is affiliated with an out-of-state agency, and employees fear mass layoffs may soon occur. There is.
The organization's CEO said change was coming, but fears of redundancies were unfounded.
At Thursday morning's board meeting, Erica Temple, who has worked at KHS for 15 years, raised concerns.
“Last Friday, I was informed by the human resources team that the request for proposals may be approved,” Temple told the board. “We had no idea this plan was in development, so it's safe to say we were all just shocked by this news.”
Since Friday, multiple Kern Family Healthcare employees have expressed similar concerns to 17 News.
People like Erica Temple are concerned that internal staffing levels could be threatened as employers plan to partner with outside vendors.
The partnership has been in the works for about six months and has now been confirmed.
During that meeting, the board voted unanimously to approve a three-year contract with AllMed Healthcare Management.
Seven groups were initially proposed and considered, including AllMed.
“What we're trying to do is enhance our services so that membership enrollment doesn't fall behind,” said Emily Duran, CEO of Kern Family Healthcare. “Our biggest responsibility is to make sure we don't delay treatment or delay any authorization. Our responsibility is to our 400,000 members.”
Some medical services require prior authorization, such as seeing a neurologist or dermatologist.
Kern Family Health Care, one of three Medi-Cal managed care plans in Kern County, must help patients get that approval within 72 hours to five days.
CEO Emily Duran said her team doesn't currently have the bandwidth to provide rapid authentication.
Therefore, third parties can help address cases in the queue.
“Unfortunately, we don't have many registered nurses in Kern County,” Duran said. “We are trying to ramp up our services because we don't have enough bandwidth at the moment because we have a shortage of medical professionals. We currently have 50 vacancies for him.”
Additionally, it was noted that AllMed Healthcare Management has the potential to provide cross-specialty collaboration. This means that experts can talk to each other (i.e., cardiologists and cardiologists) when authorization for a patient is being discussed.
“Our sense of security is [to employees] So we're changing some of our structures, we need to make them more efficient… We're gathering support, that's the message. We’re not here to kick anyone out,” Duran added.
Asked whether the possibility of layoffs had been ruled out, Duran did not give a direct answer.
However, some employees' positions within the company may change, she said. She is probably one of fewer than 30 of the company's 650 employees who will experience this role change.
Duran reiterated that nothing has been said about any layoffs.
At the board meeting she said: If there were to be significant layoffs, it would be necessary to issue a warning law, but we have not issued a warning law. ”
A WARN letter is a legally required advance notice of mass layoffs.
“how [the partnership] The impact on individual employees remains to be determined,” Chief Human Resources Officer Devin Brown told the board.
Kern Family Healthcare is seeking just over $19 million for a three-year contract.
Because KHS provides Medi-Cal managed care, its funding, like that of the medical group as a whole, comes from the state of California. A KHS spokesperson said KHS receives $1 per member per month to manage medical services for its members.
For KHS to provide all outpatient certification services, the cost would be approximately $16 million.
A spokesperson told 17 News the group has a contract with the California Department of Health Services. Therefore, KHS must continue to comply with various state requirements.
Duran noted that KHS has already been fined by the state for non-compliance (currently estimated at $11 million). The fine is still being paid.
Duran attributed this to a lack of staffing and reiterated the need for external support, such as AllMed, for outpatient approved services.
“I don't know if there is an alternative. I think [the contract] It’s a good way to move forward,” said board treasurer Ross Elliott.
“They now want approval as soon as possible. So this prevents delays and feels more efficient for patients. I think that's the bottom line. They want it in the moment. medical issues can be addressed,” said Vijaykumar B. Patel, executive director of the board, in favor of external partnerships.
KHS Chief Information Officer Richard Pruitt said AllMed will handle only 30% of outpatient approved services.
The remainder will continue to be managed by the department's existing employees, including Erica Temple.
“We're not like Kaiser or United, where you're like oops, goodbye.” [to employees]” Pruitt told the board.
Duran added, “We remain close with our team when it comes to communication. We're sorry some of you felt that way. [about layoffs]But that's not our intention. ”
