CMS certifies Michigan Medicaid system

September 1, 2011

Categories: Press Releases

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LANSING, MI – The Michigan Department of Community Health’s Medicaid Management Information System, called CHAMPS, has received certification from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.The certification of CHAMPS is critical to qualify the state to receive the maximum CMS funding for CHAMPS’ operations.

LANSING, MI – The Michigan Department of Community Health’s Medicaid Management Information System, called CHAMPS, has received certification from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.The certification of CHAMPS is critical to qualify the state to receive the maximum CMS funding for CHAMPS’ operations. This certification also demonstrates that Michigan meets federal guidelines for Medicaid by conforming to a comprehensive set of criteria created by the CMS review team in accordance with CMS’ new certification toolkit.Officials say this is a significant milestone, coming 18 months after MDCH, in conjunction with the Department of Technology, Management & Budget (DTMB) and technology development partner CNSI, went live with CHAMPS in September 2009. “This truly was a team effort, ” said Olga Dazzo, director of the MDCH. “I am so proud of our DCH employees who spent countless hours developing a system to better serve Michigan’s residents. Of course, we couldn’t have done this alone – and we couldn’t have had better partners than DTMB and CNSI.”CMS notified MDCH of its CHAMPS certification after a team of six reviewers from CMS regional and central offices conducted a week-long CMS on-site review. In order to validate federally outlined functionality for the CHAMPS system, CMS team members reviewed documentation, participated in functional demonstrations and requested specific updates from the certification team.Prior to the on-site visit, there were weeks of preparation and reviews when MDCH and CNSI team members presented various components of CHAMPS and the electronic Claims & Administrative Management System (eCAMS) system architecture to the CMS review team.”eCAMS, the underlying technology platform for CHAMPS, was proven to support 2 million beneficiaries, 53, 000 providers, 38 benefit plans and more than 25, 000 users when the system went live approximately two years ago, ” said CNSI President, Adnan Ahmed.”In addition to the significant cost savings realized by the state from the CHAMPS implementation, this platform is tested to scale up to 3 million claims per day – and we look forward to our continued partnership in supporting the state of Michigan meet all the demands that come with the recent reforms and policy changes, ” he said.CMS reviewers acknowledged Michigan as a leader in this arena and referred to CHAMPS as “a 21st century system, ” billing it as “second to none” and “the avatar of MMIS.””CHAMPS serves as a shining example of how technology can reshape and improve the way government works, ” said David Behen, Michigan’s chief information officer. “Through a strong partnership with the Department of Community Health, we’ve been able to deliver on the promise of a better processing system for Medicaid.”