Department of Health Receives Funding for Medicaid Management Information System Design, Acquisition and Implementation Planning

Governor John P. de Jongh, Jr. said Wednesday that the Virgin Islands Department of Health has received a grant of $815,760 from the United States Department of Health and Human Services for the design, acquisition and implementation planning of a Medicaid Management Information System (MMIS). The primary purpose of the system is to expedite and improve the accuracy of claims processing associated with the territory’s Medical Assistance Program (MAP), thus enabling MAP providers to be paid correctly and promptly. 

“The MMIS will also support program integrity efforts such as identification and resolution of fraud and abuse cases as well as improvements in program design and budgeting. Additionally, the MMIS is an essential enabler of a more robust Medical Assistance Program that can serve more beneficiaries and provide a more comprehensive array of services to those beneficiaries through the optimized use of local and federal funding,” de Jongh said. He noted that the MMIS is a critical component of a territory-wide health information management strategy (other components of this strategy include deployment of Electronic Health Record systems and a Health Information Exchange) that will greatly enhance the quality of health care services provided to Virgin Islands citizens.

de Jongh underscored the significance of the MMIS: “Thanks in large measure to our persistent efforts to end the long-standing disparate treatment the MAP has received as it relates to federal funding, the health care reform legislation being debated in the Congress would move the MAP towards ‘state-like’ treatment. As a result, the program will experience considerable growth which can only be managed through the effective use of information technology”. 

Health Commissioner Julia Sheen said the grant is strictly for MMIS design, acquisition and implementation planning activities and must be matched at a ten percent rate ($90,640) with local funds; additional federal funding will be requested in the late 2009/early 2010 timeframe for MMIS implementation and operations. 

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