Officials said new features include:
- A new provider-relations page that includes easily understood answers about provider enrollment, field services unit, Washington state law and Medicaid procedures, as well as hotline numbers and direct e-mail contact with provider-relations staff.
- Special pages that explain to providers how the state is
implementing the requirements of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). The federal law is bringing a number of changes to all levels of the health care system, from individual doctors and clinics to hospitals, insurance carriers and public payers like Medicaid.
- Web-based software so individual providers can dramatically cut the amount of time needed to process claims and speed reimbursements.
electronic claims directly to MAA."
The very first batch of new electronic claims came from a Spokane assisted-living facility in April. Porter said they cut three weeks of processing time to five minutes.
"They were clean claims and went right through the system and were turned over for payment," he said. "What's more, they reduce our cost from something like $1 a paper claim to only a few pennies for electronic claims."
Porter said word of the new electronic claims-filing system is spreading slowly but picking up. He said about 15 percent of the state's 45,000 Medicaid providers currently file paper claims, but he would like to see the number reduced sharply. Some states have even dropped paper claims
entirely, as has the federal Medicare system.
Ann Lawrence, manager of provider relations, said the new provider-relations Web pages began collecting hits as quickly as they were posted by the MAA computer technicians. The pages are helping her staff deal with
the hundreds of contacts and questions from providers that arrive every day.
After only a few days of posting, the page appears to be generating about 200 e-mails a day, which should help reduce some of the up to 500 calls a day that have poured into the Provider Relations Call Center, she said.
"I think a lot of the answers that providers are seeking by telephone are available now on the Web page," Lawrence said, "so it is win-win for all of us -- they get faster answers, and we are able to provide better service to the providers who need special attention."
The third set of special Internet pages for providers deals with the federal HIPAA law. Doctors, dentists, hospitals and health plans must change their computer codes as the nation moves toward a single standard, eliminating the hundreds of incompatible codes used today.
"This move is in the providers' interests," said Porter, noting that past practice often meant providers had to keep investing in more and more expensive equipment and software in order to file claims with payers. "Although HIPAA requires change, it will be a better system once we've done it."
The new HIPAA pages on MAA's Internet site outline the billing and claims forms that are changing, provide information about how the state is complying with HIPAA, including details of an extension that allows more time to prepare for the change. The site also has numerous links to other sites and features an online poll that lets providers tell the agency about the preparations they are making. Providers also can e-mail the HIPAA staff with questions.
