The Real Cost of Prisons Weblog

"A contract has not yet been signed. It is currently in negotiation," she said.

Ahmed declined to provide any details of the contract being negotiated, but she said the choice of Correctional Medical to provide health care to the approximately 21,000 male and female, adult and juvenile state prisoners would save he department money.

Brentwood, Tenn.-based America Service Group Inc., announced late Thursday that the DOC had informed its Prison Health Services Inc. subsidiary that the agency would not renew a contract expiring Aug. 31 and worth $35 million per year. America Service said it had expected to earn $15.8 million from the Indiana contract over the final four months of the year.

Correctional Medical officials would not comment on any talks with Indiana but said it had won recently discontinued America Service contracts from Maryland and Idaho.

The St. Louis company provides health care services to more than 225,000 inmates in 27 states. Of the 300 prisons it serves, 202 currently have accreditation from independent reviewing organizations - more than any other correctional health care provider in the country, according to the company's web site.

Its typical prison medical unit includes an ambulatory care center, administrative offices, examination rooms, a nurses' station, dental clinics and an infirmary, it said.

Prison Health Services was the first private health care provider selected by the DOC in 1997, and it was awarded a second four-year contract in competitive bidding in 2001.

America Service, the parent company, said a DOC analysis showed Prison Health had saved Indiana more than $62.5 million in health care costs over eight years. It also obtained systemwide accreditation by the National Commission on Correctional Health Care of the more than 30 prison sites for the first time in the DOC's history.

However, its relationship with the DOC was rocky in the early years. In 1999, the administration of late Gov. Frank O'Bannon required Prison Health to make improvements to the mental health care in the state's prisons. Some prison superintendents had complained about poor communication, a lack of adequate psychiatric coverage and high turnover among mental health professionals.

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On the Net:

Indiana Department of Correction: www.in.gov/indcorrection/

Correctional Medical Services: www.cmsstl.com/

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