Brentwood Contract RFP 22-462

Summary: Presented by: Mr. Byron Schueneman, Chief Financial Officer, Division of Finance

Request: It is requested that the Board of Education approve the renewal of the District’s Third - Party Administrator Services with Brentwood Services Administrators (“Brentwood”), for an amount not to exceed $484,826.40 in fixed claim costs, excluding bill review fees that are billed monthly based on volume.

Why: The contract renewal with Brentwood will enable the DeKalb County School District (“District”) to continue the efficient provision of adjuster services for new and longstanding workers’ compensation claims.

Details: This item requests that the DeKalb County Board of Education (“Board”) approve the contract renewal for the District’s Workers’ Compensation Third Party Administrator Services with Brentwood. On July 13, 2021, Brentwood was selected after a competitive RFP process. That process sought expertise to minimize the number of claims per year and to reduce the overall cost of the District’s workers’ compensation program. RFP 22-462, Workers’ Compensation Third Party Administrative Services, was placed for bid on March 18, 2021. The companies that submitted proposals in response to the solicitation were Brentwood, Broadspire Services (“Broadspire”) and USIS.

Broadspire’s cost proposal was $703,272 a year plus $10,000 for data consolidation and $3,000 for initial set up. USIS submitted a cost proposal of $564,250 a year plus $5,000 for electronic file conversion. In addition, a 12.5% fee would be charged by Broadspire for any subrogation recovery.

The review committee decided that the vendor that would provide the best quality and customized claim services at a competitive price was Brentwood. Previously, in 2013 and again in 2016, Brentwood was also selected as a result of a competitive RFP process.

At its business meeting on September 13, 2021, the Board approved a new contract for the District’s Third Party Administrator Services with Brentwood for an amount not to exceed $466,000.00 in fixed claim costs, subject to a two percent annual increase, excluding bill review fees that are billed monthly based on volume. Ultimately, Brentwood was awarded the contract because of the quality of service it provides in addition to the company’s willingness to furnish customized claim services at a competitive price.

At its business meeting on August 10, 2022, the Board approved the renewal of the contract for the District’s Third Party Administrator Services with Brentwood. The renewal amount was $475,320.00 in fixed claim costs, subject to a two percent annual increase, excluding bill review fees that are billed monthly based on volume.

Brentwood has effectively helped the District process new and longstanding workers’ compensation claims. Brentwood provides the District with medical bill review and audit services that result in cost reduction through the utilization of their networks, auditors, and application of the Georgia Workers’ Compensation fee schedule. Moreover, Brentwood provides the District with two claims adjusters, a claims assistant, and a claims supervisor. Although not assigned solely to the District, Brentwood provides the District with access to a claims manager to assist with various matters. In addition to the staff provided by Brentwood, the District employs three full time workers’ compensation claim adjusters. Also, at no additional cost, Brentwood furnishes the District with access to SUCCEED, which is a web site that dispenses loss prevention recommendations.

In addition, at no cost to the District, Brentwood has converted existing claims data to the Brentwood claims system. This conversion enables the District to utilize the Brentwood claims system and allow Brentwood to issue claim related workers’ compensation checks to employees, physicians and vendors. The transfer of the check issuance process from the District’s Accounts Payable Department to Brentwood ensures continual check issuance in the event District offices are closed due to a pandemic or natural disaster.

Financial impact: This is a budgeted expense within the Risk Management budget. The cost is paid in quarterly installments. Medical bill review costs will be paid on a monthly basis based on volume from the workers’ compensation claims budget. The account charge code from which the expense will be paid is 100.2500.530000.15311.7490.9990.8010.080.0000.

Contact: Mr. Byron Schueneman, Chief Financial Officer, Division of Finance, 678.676.0278
Mr. Glinton R. Darien, Jr., Director of Risk Management, Division of Finance, 678.676.0403

Status: Approved by General Counsel