From KHI News Service, September 29, 2011
TOPEKA — The Kansas departments on Aging and Social and Rehabilitation Services have picked a contractor to run a new system for tracking the time caregivers spend providing in-home services to the elderly and disabled.
Agency officials today announced their choice of First Data, saying the new, electronic verification and monitoring system will save the state $7.6 million a year.
They are calling the system KS Authenticare. The new system will require that care attendants use a telephone landline or a GPS-enabled mobile device to log in and out as they arrive and leave a residence. Each worker will have a unique identification number. The calls will automatically connect with the state's Medicaid billing system (MMIS) and generate a claim for the services, which may be any of 20 coded services. (See attached list)
The new system is scheduled to be operational beginning Jan. 1. The state's cost for the two-year contract was $440,000, according to KDoA spokesperson Sara Arif. An additional fee will be charged for each transaction recorded. Arif said the fees are based on volume and decrease as volume increases.
Agency officials said the same system is being used in other states and has cut claims' costs between 3 percent and 10 percent.
The agencies will provide free training on the new system for home care workers. Officials said details about the training sessions would be announced later.
KDoA and SRS announced earlier this year that they also would change the way they were paying the home-health agents who coordinate home-care services.
The KHI News Service is an editorially-independent program of the Kansas Health Institute and is committed to timely, objective and in-depth coverage of health issues and the policy making environment.
http://www.khi.org/news/2011/sep/29/agencies-choose-vendor-new-home-care-tracking-syst/