| Consideration of a disqualification plan resulting from an advisory opinion issued to Jennifer Russell, the Business Manager of the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center-Shreveport (LSUHSC-S), Department of Neurology, and her continued work for Acadiana Computer Services (ACS) while ACS contracts with LSUHSC-S. |
|
Jennifer Russell is the Business Manager for the Department of Neurology at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center-Shreveport (LSUHSC-S). She has been working part-time with Acadiana Computer Services for the past six years, which has disclosed through the PM-11 process.
He job with ACS is performed out of the ACS-Shreveport office; however, her work involves coding pathology reports from Lallie Kemp Hospital, New Orleans East Hospital, University Hospital & Clinics at Lafayette General Hospital, St. Charles Clinic, and the surgical pathology cases signed out at LSUHSC-New Orleans by both LSU and Tulane pathologists. She is supervised by the COO for ACS and head of the New Orleans Faculty Practice Plan from the ACS Metairie Office.
LSUHSC-S recently entered into an emergency contract with ACS which expires September 30, 2015, but it is possible that an extension will be entered into. The ACS emergency contract with the clinical departments will necessitate interaction by Ms. Russell with the ACS Shreveport Office. ACS will now perform billing and collections for most clinical departments, including neurology. Ms. Russell will serve as the liaison between ACS and the physicians in her department. She will be responsible for getting signatures, making coding corrections, etc. Ms. Russell's interaction with the ACS Shreveport Office will be the same as the other clinical department business managers.
|
|
At the October 2015 meeting, the Board rendered an advisory opinion advising Ms. Russell that she could continue to work for ACS while it contracts with LSUHSC-S since she meets the exception in Ethics Board Docket No. 82-02D.
However, the Board advised Ms. Russell that she was prohibited from participating as a public servant (business manager) in any transactions involving ACS. The Board advised that another person would need to serve as the liaison between her department and ACS. The Board requested that she file a disqualification plan for Board approval.
Ms. Russell filed a disqualification plan; however, in her plan she states that she will still be involved in receipt of reports from ACS pertaining to her department. As such, the disqualification plan is deficient and should not be approved until a plan is submitted that provides that Ms. Russell has no involvement at all with ACS submissions to her department.
|
|
La. R.S. 42:1111C(2)(d) provides that no public servant and no legal entity in which the public servant exercises control or owns an interest in excess of twenty-five percent, shall receive any thing of economic value for or in consideration of services rendered, or to be rendered, to or for any person during his public service unless such services are: (d) Neither performed for nor compensated by any person or from any officer, director, agent, or employee of such person, if such public servant knows or reasonably should know that such person has or is seeking to obtain contractual or other business or financial relationships with the public servant's agency; conducts operations or activities which are regulated by the public employee's agency; or has substantial economic interests which may be substantially affected by the performance or nonperformance of the public employee's official duty.
Ethics Board Docket No. 82-02D provides an exception to Section 1111C(2)(d) of the Code when certain factors are met: (1) the employee must be a salaried or wage-earning employee; (2) the employee's salary must remain substantially unaffected by the contractual relationship; (3) the public servant must own less than a "controlling interest" in the company; and (4) the public servant must be neither an officer, director, trustee, nor partner in the company.
La. R.S. 42:1112B(3) states that no public servant shall participate in a transaction involving the governmental entity in which, to his actual knowledge, any person of which he is an officer, director, trustee, partner, or employee has a substantial economic interest.
La. R.S. 42:1112C allows a disqualification plan to be developed in accordance with rules adopted by the Board to remove a public servant from participating in transactions that would otherwise present violations of Section 1112 of the Code.
La. R.S. 42:1114 provides that each public servant and each member of his immediate family who derives anything of economic value, directly, through any transaction involving the agency of such public servant or who derives any thing of economic value of which he may be reasonably expected to know through a person which (1) is regulated by the agency of such public servant, or (2) has bid on or entered into or is in any way financially interested in any contract, subcontract, or any transaction under the supervision or jurisdiction of the agency of such public servant shall disclose certain information as set forth in Section 1114.
|
|
|
Do not approve disqualification plan.
|
|
| Assigned Attorney: |
Tracy Barker |
|
|