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MedGuard Health Services Secures First County Correctional Health Care Contract

Posted on: Wednesday, 8 August 2007, 12:08 CDT

MedGuard Health Services, a pioneer in the area of franchise-based outsourced correctional health care, today announced that it has secured its first county jail health care contract. The three-way contract between MedGuard Health Services, its franchisee Judicial Health Services, Inc. and Transylvania County, N.C. marks the first ever deal of its type and comes as a response to county sheriffs' and officials' desire to combine all of the benefits of outsourced correctional health care while working with local providers.

Under the terms of the contract, MedGuard Health Services' franchisee Judicial Health Services will supply one year of on-site medical care including sick calls; 14-day assessments; prescription ordering; referrals for mental, dental and other specialty practice areas; and coordination and negotiation of billing with the local hospital. As is the case with this contract agreement, all MedGuard contracts can be tailored to meet each city's or county's specific needs.

Correctional health care outsourcing has continued to grow in recent years because it allows jail employees to focus on core competencies, helping to ease the burden of limited time and resources. However, smaller jails have struggled to keep pace and have had some reservations about outsourcing based on pressure from cities and counties to operate using local resources. The MedGuard franchise model offers the best of both worlds and will open markets for jail officials who in the past may have avoided outsourcing in order to keep spending and staffing at the local level.

"In developing this model we realized that many U.S. counties were interested in outsourced inmate health care, but many officials preferred to work with someone ingrained in the local community," said Jeff Reasons, CEO and president, MedGuard Health Systems. "The MedGuard franchise model satisfies that desire by establishing contracts between local franchisees and small- to medium-size jails. This first contract validates our model and we anticipate demand will increase as the model becomes more recognized."

The MedGuard franchise model alleviates many of the challenges that city and county governments face when it comes to providing inmate health care. It provides them with a means for controlling what has become a national issue of upward-spiraling health care costs, increased susceptibility to liability issues and security risks by placing a trained medical professional in the jail to effectively assess and triage patients and absorb any risk associated with the delivery of inmate health care services.

"By outsourcing our health care to MedGuard/Judicial Health Services, Inc., we are able to decrease our risks and devote the resources we have to operating the jail," said Chief Deputy Eddie Gunter, Transylvania County, N.C. Sheriff's Office. "This arrangement also potentially reduces the number of emergency room visits, which minimizes costs and helps decrease security risks during transfers out of the jail. Overall, our partnership with Judicial Health Services will allow us to be good stewards of taxpayers' money and, at the same time offer better care than we can currently offer."

A nurse with 20 years experience, ten of which working in a correctional health care setting, Karen Styles is pioneering the way with the MedGuard model offered by Judicial Health Services. Her relevant experience and entrepreneurial ability will allow her and her medical director to effectively manage health care costs on behalf of the county while enjoying flexibility rarely found in the medical profession.

"This opportunity offered me a new challenge of operating my own business backed by all the resources of MedGuard," said Styles. "The MedGuard model allows me to use my relationships with health care providers in the community along with connections to medical equipment and supplies and prescription drug sources to provide a local one-stop shop for the county jail. My medical training combined with this network of resources and an experienced medical director ensures that inmates will receive quality care. The franchise provides me with growth opportunities and a degree of independence I might not have enjoyed in other clinical settings."

Each local MedGuard franchisee is supported by the time-tested best practices developed by Southern Health Partners, the nation's leader in outsourced correctional health care services. As a part of its contractual agreement, MedGuard supplies the franchisee with complete front and back-end support, including medical malpractice insurance that covers the franchise organization and the medical team.

MedGuard is currently seeking additional franchisees and will work with them to secure jail contracts. MedGuard's entrepreneurial nature gives local nurses and physicians opportunities for professional and personal freedom and growth potential.

For more information about MedGuard visit www.MedGuardHealth.com.

About MedGuard Health Services

MedGuard Health Services, www.MedGuardHealth.com, is a new concept in outsourced correctional health care that empowers providers to be entrepreneurs, allowing jails to work with a local supplier who is backed by an industry expert. Developed from the success of its sister company, Southern Health Partners, Inc., www.SouthernHealthPartners.com, MedGuard provides customized health care services to small- and medium-sized jails throughout the U.S. via a franchise business model.

Source: Business Wire

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