Medicare fires contractor on computer upgrade
Medicare fires contractor on computer upgrade
Plan now is to revamp system gradually
Medicare’s long-awaited Medical Transcription System (MTS) computer system, intended to consolidate and reduce the number of contractors processing Medicare claims as well as playing a major role in eliminating fraud and abuse from the program, suddenly found itself facing an uncertain future in mid-September when the Department of Health and Human Services abruptly fired GTE, the project’s main contractor.
The bottom-line impact probably will mean a short-term hitch in HCFA’s plans to cut down on fraud and abuse while continuing with the current status quo when it comes to processing and paying claims.
HCFA had been predicting that MTS would be partly in place this fall, with the entire system on-line by September 1999.
However, HCFA now says rather than completely revamping its entire computer processing monolith at once, it will focus on gradually replacing individual parts of the system over time. However, HCFA is not saying now much more time it will take.
A recent audit by HHS' Office of the Inspector General found HCFA had made a net investment of $102 million in its new computer system between January 1991 and September 1996. Of this, auditors said $65.3 million constituted cost overruns by GTE.
In developing the system, "both HCFA and GTE underestimated . . . the complexity" of the requirements need to operate the new computer system, according to the HHS audit.
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