Agenda

Return

C. 70

To:	Board of Supervisors
From:	Anna Roth, Health Services Director
Date:	August 1, 2023

Contra

Costa

County

Subject:

Contract #23-681-3 with Well Health, Inc,

APPROVE	OTHER
RECOMMENDATION OF CNTY ADMINISTRATOR	RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE

Action of Board On: 08/01/2023

APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED

OTHER

Clerks Notes:

VOTE OF SUPERVISORS

AYE:

John Gioia, District I Supervisor
Candace Andersen, District II Supervisor
Diane Burgis, District III Supervisor
Ken Carlson, District IV Supervisor
Federal D. Glover, District V Supervisor

Contact:	Rajiv Pramanik, 925-765-8689
cc:	F Carroll L Bright

I hereby certify that this is a true and correct copy of an action taken and entered on the minutes of the Board of Supervisors on the date shown.
ATTESTED: August 1, 2023
Monica Nino, County Administrator

BY:	, Deputy

RECOMMENDATION(S):

APPROVE and AUTHORIZE the Health Services Director, or designee, to execute on behalf of the County Contract #23-681-3 with Well Health, Inc., a corporation, in an amount not to exceed $426,000, for hosted patient engagement software and services for the period May 20, 2023 through May 19, 2024.

FISCAL IMPACT:

Approval of this contract will result in annual expenditures of up to $426,000 and will be funded as budgeted by the department in FY 2023-24, by 100% Hospital Enterprise Fund I. (Rate increase).

BACKGROUND:

This contract meets the needs of Contra Costa Health Services (CCHS) by providing a patient communication solution. CCHS began contracting with WELL Health Inc concerning its patient communication engagement solution, WELLApp, in May 2020 when CCHS replaced its (then) current solution that processed batches daily, causing a delay in patient outreach. In October 2022, WELL Health Inc rebranded to Artera. This contract allows CCHS to transition to Artera Plus, a HIPAA-compliant, platform-level patient communication solution that connects CCHS and patients using their existing text and messaging application(s) and integrates with CCHS's tech stack, including Epic CCHS's cloud-based electronic health records solution, single-point solutions, applications, and more, to deliver patients a simple, cohesive communications experience improving the appointment cancelation/ rescheduling process, while reducing workload for healthcare staff. CCHS may also evaluate integrating patient registration, referrals, and deeper chat assist functionality. Well Health Inc was issued a sole-source provider status for these services.

On August 2, 2022, the Board of Supervisors approved Contract #23-681-2 with Well Health, Inc. in an amount not to exceed $578,094 for the provision of its WELLApp, patient engagement application, including software licensing and support, for the period from May 1, 2022, through May 19, 2023.

Delays in processing this renewal request ensued after surges in usage dating back to COVID-19 analyzation of service usage better helped to understand and forecast to maintain, reduce, or increase services. After review, the parties agreed on a path forward.

Approval of Contract #23-681-3 allows the contractor to continue to provide services through May 19, 2024.

CONSEQUENCE OF NEGATIVE ACTION:

If this contract is not approved, services will be discontinued affecting CCHS patient engagement. Patient outreach will be delayed, and real-time outreach will not be possible for case managers and providers. Delays in not re-purposing patient canceled appointments could harm revenue.