State changes Medicaid reporting procedures to reduce burdens for providers, get better data for comparisons

The state Department for Medicaid Services is trying to "streamline reporting procedures for healthcare providers across the state" and "reduce administrative burdens for physicians and provide more uniform data for comparisons," it said in a news release.

“Quality measures are critical as we become more data-driven in our efforts to address outcomes and improve patient care,” Health Secretary Vickie Yates Brown Glisson said in the release. “This is the first step toward applying a greater level of consistency among reporting so that everyone is collecting the same data, requirements are less burdensome for the health-care community and ultimately we have a clearer picture of what is going on in our state’s health-care landscape.”

Medicaid officials say they have worked closely with health-care interests to create a "quality measure set," unveiled Thursday at the annual Kentucky Medicaid Group Management Association conference in Louisville.

"Every insurer and government program defines quality in their own way," Kentucky Medical Association Executive Director Patrick Padgett said in the release. "They require different information to be submitted by physicians, which increases administrative burdens and costs, while confusing patients about how the healthcare system defines quality,”  

Joe Smith, CEO of the Kentucky Primary Care Association, said in the release, “The partnership between DMS and the provider groups across the state is a positive step in improving the health of the Medicaid members. KPCA member clinics are pleased with the leadership at DMS for providing a Kentucky driven direction on health care quality measurement."