Developing a Contractual Agreement With Hospitals

Budget

Developing a project that was fiscally sound was critical for FRIS and the participating hospitals. The fact that the state Forensic Medical Examination Fund could be accessed to partially cover project costs was appealing to hospitals, as such reimbursements would considerably reduce the amount they needed to contribute to maintain the project.

Several first-year expenses were covered through the OVC grant, including the costs of the project administrator and advocate coordinator positions, medical storage carts and Macro 5 Cameras, SANE and advocate training, and SANE resource manuals. FRIS also used other funding sources to support these trainings. A summary of the remaining project expenses for the first year follows:

As far as income for the first year, the state Forensic Medical Examination Fund reimburses hospitals $350 for each examination. Of this amount, $200 will be deducted to pay the SANE; the remaining $150 will be project revenue. Based on statistics FRIS gathered from the Forensic Medical Examination Fund, the fund was expected to pay participating hospitals for 104 examinations during the project's first year. With expenses at $32,040 and an estimated $15,600 in revenue from the fund, a balance of $16,460 remained. The rounded-off balance was divided among the four hospitals.

If fewer than the estimated 104 exams were conducted, the host hospital would lose money (e.g., if 90 exams were reimbursed by the state Forensic Medical Examination Fund at $150 each after deducting SANE pay, the project would receive a total of $13,500 rather than the projected $15,600, ending up with $2,100 less than budgeted). But if more than 104 exams were conducted, it could profit.