GAO: Feds need better data, better plan for national Medicaid database
Fierce Healthcare January 9, 2018
Though nearly all states have begun reporting to Medicaid’s national data repository, the Government Accountability Office advised that the datasets must become more complete and officials must still formulate a clear plan for how to use them for oversight.
Those are among the findings of the GAO’s new report (PDF), which reviewed states’ experience with and planned uses of the Transformed Medicaid Statistical Information System (T-MSIS).
The rollout of the data system has long been troubled, as technical challenges have forced its implementation deadline to be pushed back repeatedly. GAO’s latest report said 49 states had begun reporting T-MSIS data as of November—up significantly compared to the same time in 2016, when just 18 states were reporting.
But significant barriers...