At CompTIA’s Annual Member Meeting last month, Jared Linder, CIO of the State of Indiana’s Family and Social Services Administration, gave us an update on what’s happening in HHS IT in the state. Indiana is one of a small number of states that has recently launched a new Medicare Managed Information System (MMIS). The system took five years of concentrated effort, with Jared noting that “agile means it’s taking too long.” Jared walked the HSITAG members through the heavy lifting involved in launching this new system. Fifty percent of babies born in Indiana are born to Medicaid mothers, so reaching this population served by Medicaid in a more efficient and comprehensive manner drove their purpose. Main points that Jared emphasized:
- New MMIS systems take time and capitalize on federal funding, so he advised using 90/10 funding available from the federal government when you can.
- Focus on how to wisely spend what’s coming next and create nimble policies that react quickly.
- Take the new system in phases, because deploying it all at once can be overwhelming. In Indiana, food stamps and an eligibility system are coming next.
Lots of large data initiatives are happening across Indiana in general, so requiring good data science across an enterprise is helpful.
