MMIS testing for FFS 837 claims

MMIS Progress Newsletter Vol. 14

Training for DHS and local government staff on the new MMIS will begin in classrooms around the state on June 2. Course descriptions, training schedules and locations can be found on the MMIS Staff Training page.

Registration for the training is now open and can be done through the DHS Learning Center. Staff will need to activate their Learning Center user profile and user ID and then create a password, if they have not yet done so.

Managers, please remind your staff to register only for those courses for which you have given prior approval.

MMIS Fundamentals course prior to training

All DHS and local government staff taking MMIS user training must complete the online MMIS Fundamentals course prior to their scheduled classroom training.

The Fundamentals course is available through the Learning Center. The course is made up of a series of 30-40 minute self-paced, online modules and provides a brief overview of each of the subsystems of the new MMIS. Staff should work with their managers to determine which of the sub-system modules they need to take.

• Instructions for accessing the Fundamentals course
  Field managers should take special note of the last step in these instructions.

For problems accessing the DHS Learning Center or questions about the training, DHS and local government staff should contact the DHS Service Desk via GroupWise at SERVICEDESK, DHS, or at 503-945-5623.

MMIS Progress Newsletter Vol. 13

New MMIS to go live in September 2008; User Acceptance Testing begins March 26

User Acceptance Testing (UAT) for the new Medicaid Management Information System (MMIS) begins March 26. Based on that date, system vendor EDS has proposed an extension in the implementation schedule and a new go live date of September 2008.

The MMIS project sponsors have agreed to the revised schedule proposed by EDS.>

MMIS provider training will be rescheduled for May through August. User training will take place from June through September. Specific schedules and locations for both provider and user training will be made available soon.

During the recent Project Readiness Assessment, DHS, EDS and FOX Systems reviewed the progress that has been made to prepare the system for UAT, and all agree that testing can now begin.

The delay in starting UAT has allowed the majority of the interfaces to complete system testing. It also allowed nearly all of the known data-conversion defects to either be fixed or have workarounds identified that will allow testing to begin.

There are still a small number of known defects in the system and in the data, which EDS is working on aggressively. DHS and EDS remain committed to thoroughly testing the system and resolving as many defects as possible during the five-month UAT testing period.

Our goal continues to be to implement a high-quality MMIS that will accurately and efficiently process payments for Oregon Medicaid providers.

Delay in UAT Schedule 

The MMIS Replacement Project announced today that User Acceptance Testing (UAT) for the new Medicaid Management Information System (MMIS) would be delayed an additional month.

The Project Sponsors have approved a new Project Readiness Assessment date of March 24. If the results of that assessment support moving forward, we plan to begin UAT two days later on March 26.

The reason for the delay is that the data conversion to the new MMIS has not progressed as planned. Consequently, we have determined that there are still significant defects in the converted data that cannot be corrected in time for UAT to begin this month.

This delay will further impact the MMIS project schedule and implementation date. As soon as we are able to determine a new implementation date, we will announce it, along with a revised project schedule and revised dates for both staff and provider training.

MMIS Replacement Project manager Jim Joyce said, "Our primary goal is still to provide DHS with a high-quality MMIS with as few defects as possible. This additional delay, as inopportune as it may be, brings us closer to successfully meeting that goal."

The MMIS Replacement Project announced today that User Acceptance Testing (UAT) for the new Medicaid Management Information System (MMIS) would be delayed one additional month. The new target date for beginning the testing is February 26.

The decision to delay user testing was based on the results of  the first Project Readiness Assessment (PRA), a process designed to evaluate if the new system is ready to be tested by DHS staff. The PRA team is made up of senior managers from each of DHS’s business areas, as well as members of the project team and representatives from EDS and FOX Systems.

The PRA concluded that, although much progress has been made on data conversion and system testing, there are still significant defects that need to be corrected before UAT can begin.

The Project Sponsors (Clyde Saiki, Lynn Read and Cathy Cooper) have agreed to a new target date of February 26 to start UAT. They and the other members of the PRA team will meet again on February 20 for another Project Readiness Assessment. At that time, they will determine if the project is ready to proceed with testing on February 26th. 

This delay will impact the MMIS project schedule and the implementation date. On February 20th, the MMIS Steering Committee will review the needed period for UAT and adjust the implementation schedule.

During the next month, the project will form a joint EDS, FOX Systems, DHS staff team to walk through a series of end-to-end test scenarios to validate the readiness of the new MMIS, its data and the UAT environment. In addition, the project expects that EDS and DHS will make good progress with completing system interfaces, and that EDS will resolve many of the current open defects.

Summary of changes to MMIS Project events:

• New PRA date: February 20.
• UAT user training:  Sessions 1 and 2 will proceed as scheduled. Training sessions 3 and 4 will be rescheduled closer to the new UAT start date. 
• New projected UAT start date: February 26.
• Announcement of revised implementation date:  Soon after the February 20th Project Readiness Assessment meeting.

MMIS Replacement Project manager Jim Joyce said, “This Project Readiness Assessment was a comprehensive process that worked. The right people looked at the current status of the system and made the correct determination to delay UAT. This keeps us on track to meet our primary goal of launching a high-quality system with as few defects as possible.”

MMIS user training courses for DHS staff and AAA personnel are scheduled to begin in classrooms around the state in the spring of 2008. The course schedule can be found on the Staff Training page of the MMIS Web site. Registration will begin in late February and will be done through the department’s online Learning Center.

If you feel you need to brush up on your PC skills as a prerequisite to taking the training, the department provides instruction in basic computer proficiency and the use of a Web browser. Please see your manager for details.

Managers to approve courses, locations and schedules
Currently, there are 49 courses available, some designated for field staff and others for central office. In order to manage classroom capacity, managers are being asked to ensure that you register for training at locations close to your work site. Exceptions may be made on an individual case basis.

Your manager will be the one to decide which courses you should attend. This is being done because: 1) we want to ensure that you take the courses you need for your daily work; 2) there is a limit on how many people can be trained based on managers’ estimates of how many staff need which courses; and 3) managers need to be able to plan office coverage when you are scheduled to be away at training.

Each individual attending MMIS training is required to register in the DHS Learning Center and activate their profile, including setting up a password, and is responsible for enrolling in each of the courses they will be attending. Registrants should enroll only in the courses and at the locations approved by their manager.

What’s not included in the user training

Not every business process and not every MMIS panel is included in the training. It just could not be done. DHS managers made decisions about which courses would benefit the most people and what business processes should be included in the training. 

We know you need to use DHS rules and policies to do your job, but this training is not about DHS rules and policies. It is training on how to use a tool – the new MMIS – to do your job as efficiently and effectively as possible.

MMIS Fundamentals course
The first course in the training series, MMIS Fundamentals, is a prerequisite for all other courses, and is mandatory. This is the only training course that is not classroom-based. It will be delivered online through the DHS Learning Center and will provide a brief overview of each of the subsystems of the new MMIS. It will also show you how to do some basic things common to all subystems – like navigating, searching and using the inquiry functions.

Getting a head start on the training
You can begin to get ready for the training now. It will be helpful for you to learn about the new MMIS business processes and how the new MMIS panels will look and work before the training begins. You can find this information in the tools we’ve provided to help you work on your desk manuals for the new MMIS.

You can also get a head start by accessing the DHS Learning Center now and setting up your profile, user ID, and password. Then, you will be prepared to register for the MMIS Fundamentals online course and the MMIS classroom-based courses. DHS employees will receive notices when these courses are available for registration in the DHS Learning Center.

Please direct any questions about the training to mmis.openlink@state.or.us.

User Acceptance Testing (UAT) for the new MMIS, originally scheduled to begin on January 2, has been delayed until the end of January.

As a result, UAT training, initially scheduled for December 10-14, is now planned to take place during the third week of January. The UAT Project Readiness Assessment (decision meeting to evaluate the start date for UAT) will be moved to January 23.

The schedule change is due to problems in three areas, all of which affect our readiness to begin UAT:

1. Defects have been identified in both the conversion data and the configuration data that is being moved from the current MMIS to the new MMIS.
2. Some of the interfaces between existing systems and the new MMIS have not completed testing.
3. There are defects with the system functionality that were identified during system test that are currently being resolved.

System testing, which is a prerequisite for UAT, can’t be completed until the data and interface problems are fixed.

What this means for the overall project is not known at this point and won’t be known until at least the end of January. Based on what we know today, our estimate of the new UAT schedule is:

• Data conversion and configuration problems will be fixed in early January.
• System testing will be completed by mid January.
• Interfaces will be finished by the end of January.
• The UAT Project Readiness Assessment will be rescheduled to January 23.
• UAT Training is planned for the third week in January.
• UAT testing is planned to begin at the end of January.

It does not make sense to move forward with UAT until we get the data problems, system defects and the interface problems fixed. The good news is that by fixing these problems now we avoid having to do it later as part of UAT. The other good news is that in 10 of the 13 areas that are part of the UAT Project Readiness Assessment, we are ready to start UAT.

The project is acutely aware of the impact this delay has on all of you throughout DHS who have worked so hard on the project to this point. We know you have changed your schedules to accommodate UAT training and UAT testing -- and that it was not easy to do. You should not have to do it twice. We are sorry, and if there was any way to avoid changing the schedule we would do that. But we don’t want to continue with the current UAT schedule only to find the problems that we know are already there.

We are extending the time frames for both data conversion and MMIS system testing. At this time, DHS has not changed the planned MMIS implementation date.

The MMIS Replacement Project announced today that Oregon’s new Medicaid Management Information System (MMIS) is set to “go live” June 30, 2008.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the project’s federal partner, has approved the go-live date, which is an extension of the original schedule. The extension allows system developers to meet new federal requirements and increase functionality for providers and other system users.

The new date represents a delay in the original project schedule of approximately 12 months – necessary to ensure that the system, when delivered and operational, will meet the department’s long-term needs. System changes designed to improve the final product will result in additional costs of $13.4 million. Contract negotiations for the extension with the project’s vendors have been completed.

“We now have our sights firmly set on June 30, 2008, as the day DHS plans to begin operation of its new MMIS,” said DHS Deputy Director Clyde Saiki. “I want to express our appreciation to the DHS staff, the project team, and our vendors, EDS and FOX Systems, all of whom have worked tirelessly to get us to this point.”

“In our case,” he said, “we found that the changes to the transferred system, and the design adjustments needed to accommodate them, were more complex than we anticipated. Additionally, several federal and state regulatory changes were introduced that required functionality to be added the new MMIS. As a result, we made the decision to increase the time for system development.”

Joyce said the delay also would allow for an extended period of system testing – critical for a successful implementation. He also noted that system training for the state’s 50,000 providers would begin next spring.

“The project will communicate the new schedule directly to the state’s providers and managed care plans,” he said. “We expect this schedule change will allow them more time to prepare for the transition and to receive training on the new capabilities of the system.”

FOX Systems and Gartner Consulting Services, the department’s independent quality assurance consultants for the project, stated in a July 2007 report that “Oregon’s MMIS Replacement Project is a complex undertaking and its progress to date has been similar to large programs of comparative scope and magnitude. We continue to believe that DHS and EDS will be successful in the implementation of the new MMIS.”

The MMIS Replacement Project announced today that it has accepted all the revisions to the system design made by its vendor, EDS, and now considers the design of Oregon’s new Medical Management Information System to be approved.

“This is a significant accomplishment for all who contributed to the Project,” said Jim Joyce, MMIS Replacement Project manager, and I want to thank everyone for their efforts in bringing us to this critical milestone.”

Joyce said the project would now factor in the elements of the approved design as they continue their preparation of the new implementation schedule for the project.

With this approval, EDS will work to construct the new system during which time the project will focus on key areas including data conversion, loading configuration data, user acceptance testing, user training, preparation of user manuals and identification of performance measures.

As soon as contract negotiations with EDS are complete, a contract amendment including a proposed revised schedule will be submitted to CMS, the Project’s federal Medicaid partner, for approval.

Following CMS approval, the project will be able to announce a new implementation date.

If you have any questions regarding this information, please go to MMIS OPENlink, where you may submit questions, comments or suggestions to the project.

EDS has appointed Terry Fisher-Johnson as the company’s new account manager for the Oregon MMIS Replacement Project. The appointment takes effect immediately. She replaces Gina Austin, who will be taking a six-month sabbatical.

Fisher-Johnson has been functioning as EDS’s key person for Business Process Improvement on the DHS account since the beginning of the company’s contract with Oregon. She brings more than 20 years of experience with EDS to her new position, including MMIS design, development and implementation (DDI) experience with multiple states. 

The MMIS Executive Steering Committee has decided to change the schedule for moving the payment of Community Based Care (CBC) providers into the new MMIS. The new timeline brings CBC providers into version 2 of the replacement MMIS, rather than version 1 as originally scheduled. This change was made to ensure that all of the needed functionality to support the Plan of Care for Long Term Care services is available.

Payments to Addictions and Mental Health (AMH) providers currently being processed through the CBC system will be included in version 1 of the MMIS. The AMH service model is not dependent on the full Plan of Care used in SPD service planning.

Training will be adjusted accordingly for providers and staff.

Today, the CBC system pays:

• Foster Care Homes
• Residential Care Facilities
• Specialized Living Facilities
• Assisted Living Facilities
• Other types of facilities that have contracts with SPD

MMIS version 2 will integrate service authorization found in the current CBC system with the capabilities of the new MMIS.

If you have questions about this change, please contact Meg Killgorecathcart at 503-945-5835 or Angela Munkers at 503-945-6985.

As you may know, initial plans called for DHS to launch its new Medicaid Management Information System (MMIS) in July 2007. Because of delays in some critical project activities, the department has decided to extend the implementation schedule.

Before a new implementation date can be official, it must be approved by both the project’s Executive and Working Steering Committees, our Legislative oversight bodies and our federal Medicaid partner, CMS. In addition, contract negotiations with our contractor, EDS, must be completed and the contract amended to reflect the new date.  These activities are currently under way.

Until we receive all of these approvals, and have achieved a track record of good progress against the new schedule, we cannot be more specific about the new implementation date other than to say that it will be in 2008.

The revised schedule will bring many benefits to the project and help ensure a successful implementation. It will allow the project team to reschedule some project activities so they no longer overlap, and will provide more time to:

• Complete critical design work,
  
• Perform additional tests of the new system,
  
• Re-enroll providers and implement provider contract changes, and
  
• Conduct business transition planning and activities.

By extending the project schedule, we believe the additional time invested now will result in a more functional system that will be better able to serve the department’s needs in the long term.

We expect to have an update on a more specific implementation date in March 2007.