Orange County Medi-Cal Billing System Expected To Be Operational This Summer
Orange County's computer system to submit Medi-Cal claims to the state is expected to be functional by the end of summer -- almost three years behind schedule -- officials announced Tuesday, the Orange County Register reports (Orange County Register, 4/27).
The system, which originally was scheduled to be operational by July 2002, is intended to centralize mental health patients' medical records and submit claims to the state for services eligible for Medi-Cal reimbursement. The system immediately malfunctioned when launched in September 2003.
County officials planned to test the system, developed by Missouri-based software firm Cerner, from January to March to determine whether it can process as many as 50,000 claims per month (California Healthline, 12/17/04).
County supervisors said that test results "are looking positive," the Register reports. The system had a 93% accuracy rate for 13,000 test bills sent to the state this month.
County CIO Dan Hatten said, "We are on time and on schedule, according to the new schedule."
The county paid Cerner $10 million for the system and has spent an additional $11 million to implement it (Orange County Register, 4/27).