Connecting state and local government leaders
Technical healing. The state of Kansas will upgrade its Medicaid Management Information System under a six-year, $160 million outsourcing contract with Electronic Data Systems Corp.
EDS will take responsibility for the system while installing its interChange MMIS, which uses a Web interface for claims processing. The company also will take over managed care enrollment for Medicaid patients and the children's health insurance program.
State officials said the new system, which will use a client-server, relational database architecture, will help consolidate health services and increase the accessibility of Medicaid recipients to medical services. The system also will help the state meet the requirements of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, officials said.
The site, at www.maryland.gov, was designed for quick access and navigation without elaborate graphics, according to an announcement by T. Eloise Foster, the state's secretary of budget and management. But it does have maps and other graphical information.
Among the features visitors can find are tax information'including forms and information on electronic filing'home energy and safety tips, weather forecasts for each of the state's counties and a selection of kids' pages. The portal also links to commuter reports, including accident reports that refresh every 30 seconds, and lists of lane closures.
Maryland CIO Linda Burek said the portal advances the state's target of providing 80 percent of services online by 2004. The state developed the site under a contract with Accenture LLP of Chicago, which also will administer the portal.
Dillon was the executive deputy commissioner of the New York State Labor Department from January 1995 to April 2001. He also served as the acting commissioner of labor. As CIO, Dillon will oversee all technology resources, policies and protocols of state agencies; develop and enforce standards for hardware, software and security; oversee IT procurement; and coordinate information sharing among cities, other states and the federal government to improve government services.
Dillon graduated from St. Michael's College in Burlington, Vt., and received a master's degree in public administration from the State University of New York at Albany in 1980. He served in the Navy from 1970 to 1976.
8Opportunity. The Office for the Advancement of Telehealth, at telehealth.hrsa.gov/grants.htm, gives competitive grants for use of advanced telecommunications and IT to improve rural health care.
'Kevin McCaney, Trudy Walsh and Susan M. Menke