SUPPORTING INFORMATION Information Technology Budget Estimates CMS's information technology (IT) budget for FY 2003 is currently estimated at 1/ In addition to the amounts shown, the CMS Exhibit 53 includes $1.6 billion in FY 2003 for the Medicaid Management Information System (MMIS), which is funded separately via the annual Medicaid appropriation and administered by the States. Highlights of the Budget Estimates The estimated IT spending included in this budget request is intended to meet basic operational needs and support certain key agency initiatives. Ongoing operations activities in the Medicare Operations portion of the CMS Program ⚫ maintenance of Medicare fee-for-service shared claims processing systems; ⚫ transition of Medicare contractors to the Part A and Part B standard systems; ⚫ improvements in the standard system quarterly release process and testing process; · enterprise support such as Medicare fee-for-service data center processing. Medicare managed care systems maintenance, infrastructure and network support including Medicare data communications network; SUPPORTING INFORMATION · Medicare managed care encounter data operations; and modernization of critical systems and databases such as the National Medicare Utilization Database (NMUD), transition of legacy systems to modern database management software (DB2), and redesign of the Common Working File (CWF). In the Federal Administration portion of the Program Management appropriation, ongoing operations include the following: voice/data communications; maintenance of enterprise-wide systems; • workstation management; telecommunications; disaster recovery; and modernization of Medicaid data systems. Other ongoing operations funded from the Program Management budget include maintenance of the Online Survey and Certification Report system (OSCAR) and the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey (MCBS), while user fees from under the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) will fund systems which support that program. IT funding from the permanently appropriated Medicare Integrity Program (MIP) budget helps support the CWF, and provides resources for several program integrity systems related to Medicare secondary payer work, audit tracking and other MIP activities. The Peer Review Organization (soon to be Quality Improvement Organization) program budget, which is also funded via a permanent appropriation, supports IT activities such as the PRO Standard Data Processing System (SDPS); Clinical Data Abstraction Centers (CDACs); the Quality Improvement & Evaluation System (QIES); and the home health quality assessment system. PRO funds also help support the CMS data center. The Medicaid Management Information System (MMIS) is funded through the State and local administration portion of the annual Medicaid appropriation (see Tab III. Other Accounts). That appropriation includes $1.6 billion in IT funding administered by the States, for MMIS design, development, and operation, as well as non-MMIS automated data processing activities. SUPPORTING INFORMATION Key Agency Initiatives Funding is also provided for certain legislative mandates and Administration initiatives. Healthcare Integrated General Ledger Accounting System (HIGLAS) The FY 2003 President's Budget includes a total of $51.0 million to fund HIGLAS. This includes $4 million in the Federal Administration activity towards replacement of the Financial Accounting Control System (FACS) and $47 million in the Medicare Operations activity to continue implementation of the proposed HIGLAS solution at one Part A and one Part B contractor site. Scheduled activities include a stress test and a final "go" or "no go" decision on full integration and implementation of the HIGLAS solution. Full implementation, projected for the end of FY 2006, will assist CMS in retaining its unqualified opinion on independent audits of its financial statements, give CMS enhanced oversight of contractor financial operations, provide high quality and timely data for decisionmaking and performance measurement, and significantly reduce errors in financial reporting. HIGLAS is a vital component of the Unified Financial Management System (UFMS), which the Department is implementing to replace the various accounting systems currently in use across HHS Operating Divisions. Just as HIGLAS will provide CMS a uniform system to account for the billions of dollars spent on Medicare benefits each year, the UFMS will integrate the Department's financial management structure and provide HHS leaders with a more timely and coordinated view of critical financial management information, including more accurate assessments of the cost of HHS programs. It will also promote the consolidation of accounting operations and thereby reduce substantially the cost of providing accounting services throughout HHS. Systems Modernization CMS is engaged in a systems modernization initiative designed to provide improved service to beneficiaries, and to realize improved business efficiencies. We will complete the redesign of the Medicare managed care systems, and are developing several key enterprise databases such as the Medicare Beneficiary Database (MDB), the National Medicare Utilization Database (NMUD), and the Medicaid Statistical Information System (MSIS). We are also redesigning our Common Working File and our contractor management systems to be more responsive to current and future business demands. We are continuing our efforts to stabilize and modernize our Medicare claims processing systems by continuing the initiative to transition Medicare contractors to a standard Part A and standard Part B system, and making improvements in our standard systems to make them more efficient and responsive to program requirements. |