Oct
15
Montana’s Medicaid Project Behind Schedule
October 15, 2013 | Leave a Comment
Montana’s Medicaid project is behind schedule and a $70 million work in progress or is it? The state desperately needs an upgrade in their medical process system and the main contractor of the project is seeking extensions. The detour could cause the state to be behind critically.
Other states have had the same issues with adding new software systems to handle the future increases foreseen – to handle software processes electronically. The current system held by Montana is over thirty years old.
Medical rules are becoming more complex and the state of Montana needs the project to be completed accurately and in a timely fashion. Other states have had delays of up to eight years with the major changes needed in medical software.
The Medicaid program will eventually be able to handle millions of line codes, decipher payment processes, check for fraud, and carry out millions of procedures on a regular basis. The software will have the ability to ensure all standards are met as required by the state and federal guidelines.
Is this a huge risk for Montana? The risk is definitely there since the state is using some of the funds provided by the federal government and if the contractors cannot follow through with the upgrade, the money could potentially be recalled from the state.
Currently, more effort is being put into the software upgrade by the contractor. Montana officials are watching the issues closely and working with the companies to ensure the project will be completed accurately with precision. Only time will tell how soon the project will be finalized for the state of Montana.
Photo Information: This photo is provided by and given credit to cote – on Flickr.com with permission via Creative Commons Licensing.