Savings Seen in Inmate Services

County spends less on visits, medications

(includes chart `Health Care savings at the Kenosha County jails' - not in Stauffer)

Kenosha County expects to see substantial savings in two aspects of inmate health care this year: pharmaceuticals and outside inmate visits.

For the first 10 months of this year, the county spent $17,200 on inmate medical services, services that inmates require outside the jail setting, such as Xrays. That figure is about one third of the amount spent during the same period last year, which was $50,696.

In the category of pharmaceuticals, the county has spent about half of what it spent last year, $55,000 for the first nine months of this year compared with $108,033 during the same period last year.

On the other hand, costs have increased in the medical/dental services category, which is the cost of paying the doctor, the dentist and the nurses. A total of $542,386 will be spent by the end of the year on the doctor and the nurses. That figure also includes nine months of payment to a dentist. It is up almost 12 percent compared to last year, when the county spent $484,649.

Nancy Otis, fiscal services manager at the Kenosha County Sheriff's Department, said the higher costs are at least partly attributable to an increase in the Visiting Nurses Association contract.

Savings in the other two categories are not surprising. Savings are one of the goals of Advanced Correctional Healthcare, which is in charge of the health care at the two jails in Kenosha.

Dr. Norman Johnson, who treats inmates at the Kenosha County Jail and Kenosha County Detention Center, said he tries to cut down on outside inmate visits for security reasons. It helps to prevent escapes, he said, when the inmates stay on-site.

He also saves money on prescriptions with his no-nonsense approach. Inmates only get what they need, he said. That means he does not prescribe medication just because inmates ask for it.

``For me to do the easy thing I'd give them everything they wanted,'' he said.

He is cautious when it comes to prescribing the newer drugs that could cost more money. Many newer drugs, he said, aren't anymore effective than older drugs -- they just have better marketing. Tylenol serves the same purpose as Vioxx, he said, and it costs less.

Despite the savings, the overall jail health-care budget has not changed much from year to year. This year, the county budgeted $700,398 for all medical services, including about $8,000 for lab supplies, a 2.3 percent decline from 2001 when the budget was $717,085.

Otis said the county took savings from the inmate services category to support the increased spending in medical/dental services. She also said she expects funds to be left over this year. Those funds will go back into the general fund.

Since the new health care company took over in 2001, ``there's been a dramatic difference in some of the control, the cost and keeping health care at a good standard,'' she said.