NEWS RELEASE
TennCare Simplifies Eligibility Verification With New Online System
Almost 40% of TennCare Eligibility Searches in August Have Been Conducted Online at TennesseeAnytime.org
NASHVILLE - (August 30, 2001) - Thanks to the State of Tennessee's newest eGovernment service, doctors and hospitals can now check TennCare eligibility online directly from TennCare through TennesseeAnytime (www.TennesseeAnytime.org), the State of Tennessee's official website. The patient eligibility verification site, which launched on July 1, was built and is managed by Tennessee Information Division, a wholly owned subsidiary of eGovernment provider NIC (Nasdaq: EGOV).
TennCare is the state's managed health care program for 1.4 million Tennesseans who are eligible for Medicaid, uninsured, or uninsurable. Each month, TennCare receives over 105,000 requests each month for eligibility verification from its network of 20,000 medical providers. Over 40,000 eligibility requests have already been processed in August through TennCare's online verification service. Through the new Web application, doctors and hospitals can go online and review the most current information about enrollee eligibility, MCO/BHO assignments, Medicare information, and Third Party Liability (TPL) insurance assignments. The new service provides immediate search results in a matter of seconds, which helps to accelerate the delivery of medical care to TennCare members and decrease administrative costs for doctors and hospitals.
"One rural hospital has told us our online eligibility verification site will save them $13,000 a year," said TennCare Director Mark Reynolds. "Already, we are getting about 2,000 daily information requests on this new Web page, and we plan to add more features to assist providers and TennCare members."
Information technology is playing an increasingly important role in enabling people to access quality health care by helping providers streamline eligibility determination and billing procedures. A recent U.S. Department of Commerce study showed that national health care costs could be reduced by more than $36 billion annually by developing enhanced telecommunications and online applications.
"I'm very pleased that over 38% of all TennCare eligibility verification requests this month were processed online, and it certainly shows that Tennesseans recognize the benefits of online government," said Debra Luling, general manager of TennesseeAnytime. "TennCare's online eligibility verification is yet another sign of the State of Tennessee's commitment to providing easy-to-use eGovernment services to citizens and businesses. With this new service, we can provide TennCare's 20,000 medical providers with immediate access to vital patient information 24 hours a day and seven days a week."
Providers can sign up for the service by visiting www.TennesseeAnytime.org and selecting the TennCare Eligibility Verification link. The cost of the service is $75 per year for unlimited use, and subscribers can use TennesseeAnytime's secure server to process credit card, automatic bank withdrawal, and invoice payments. Since the TennCare eligibility verification site launched last month, TennesseeAnytime has been signing up new subscribers at the rate of 10 per day.
TennesseeAnytime launched in April 2001 and offers a variety of convenient online government services for businesses and citizens, including driver's license renewals, official records requests, healthcare license renewals, and a registration for the State's official "Do Not Call" telemarketing database.
About TennesseeAnytime
TennesseeAnytime is the State of Tennessee's homepage and official website (www.TennesseeAnytime.org), a collaborative effort between the State of Tennessee and Tennessee Information Division. It was built and is marketed, operated, and maintained by Tennessee Information Division, a wholly owned subsidiary of NIC.
About NIC
NIC, "The eGovernment Company™," delivers more Web-enabled government solutions than any other provider in the world. The company is helping to transform the relationships between government and the communities it serves by providing convenient online government services that make life easier for businesses and citizens. Through partnerships at all levels of government, NIC manages transactions for over 1,000 state & local agencies that serve more than 49 million people in the United States. For more information, visit NIC at www.nicusa.com.
Contact
- Debra Luling, TennesseeAnytime
