A national IT framework should be used by states in updating their Medicaid information systems, according to officials with the National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) in a recent report.
NASCIO officials endorse the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' most recent iteration of the Medicaid Information Technology Architecture (MITA) framework--version 3.0--which calls for the use of cloud computing and Service Oriented Architecture. Such a framework, they said, will enable better sharing of health information across organizational silos, which ultimately could lead to better outcomes and lower costs.
"It is imperative that state CIOs continue to coordinate with agency and department CIOs on an enterprise view of linking agency silos and implement a unified framework," the report's authors wrote. "This will include integrating business, information and technological approaches to building management systems."
Doug Robinson, NASCIO executive director, told Government Computer News that as state budgets increasingly grow tighter, officials will be eager to cut costs. "State CIOs recognize there needs to be an enterprise approach that focuses on re-use and adaptability of emerging technologies to find potential savings," he said.
Efforts by Chicago-based consulting firm CSG Government Solutions recently were completed to update the MITA framework, according to CSG.
To learn more:
- read the NASCIO report (.pdf)
- check out this Government Computer News article
- here's the CMS announcement about MITA 3.0
- check out this CSG Government Solutions announcement