U.S. Reps. Greg Walden (R-OR) and Tim Murphy (R-PA) recently urged the federal government to address issues limiting the effectiveness of a new statistical information system designed to generate timely, accurate and complete Medicaid data.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) reported in June that issues with technology and competing initiatives have contributed to six delays in full implementation of the Transformed Medicaid Statistical Information System (T-MSIS) since 2014.
The current goal is for all 50 states to contribute Medicaid data to T-MSIS by the end of 2017. Currently, 40 states and the Pennsylvania Children’s Health Insurance Program submit data, the HHS OIG report found.
Walden, the chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and Murphy, the chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, said problems with T-MSIS have persisted for more than a decade, with real consequences.
“Challenges within the system remain, such as a history of delayed target dates for implementation, the lack of a deadline for when data will be available for program analysis, and the absence of a universal understanding of data elements that need to be implemented in order to make any analysis of national trends or patterns reliable,” Walden and Murphy said in a joint statement.
The report also noted concerns raised by state officials that they were unable to report data for every T-MSIS data element, calling the completeness and accuracy of T-MSIS data into question. Varying interpretations of data elements across different states was also cited as a concern, despite a revised data dictionary that defines each data element.
“T-MSIS is an important and promising system that could help move the Medicaid program off the high-risk list, but it is imperative that these challenges be addressed,” the committee leaders said.