Service Authorization and Utilization Management Reports for Florida HCBS/DD Waiver Service Providers

WATERBURY, Conn., Oct. 6, 2011 — /PRNewswire/ — “With the Florida APD roll-out of the iBudget and going to Quarterly Service Authorizations, it will be extremely difficult to manage Service Authorizations manually.” – commented Barry Pollack, Therap’s Business Development Consultant and former CEO of UCP East Central Florida.

Florida APD has shared that Service Authorizations will be approved on a quarterly basis when areas phase in to the iBudget system. Providers of HCBS/DD Waiver services for Florida are limited to the amount, duration, and scope of services outlined in approved service authorizations while providing support to people with developmental disabilities.

“If providers do not use all the authorized units in these Service Authorizations each quarter they stand to loose revenue but more importantly, individuals stand to loose services!” – said Barry. “It is a critical time for waiver service providers, such as the Florida ARF membership, to seriously think about electronic service authorization management systems to maximize utilization.”

With Therap, Service Authorizations can be effectively managed. For each service outlined in a Service Authorization, the measuring unit, unit number and unit rate are specified. Where service rates change at ant time, the system can automatically track changes in unit rate by date ranges. Flexible options are provided for tracking service authorization expiration dates and remaining balance. For both, users can receive automatic alerts.

Finally, users can create Utilization Management Reports, which show the average usage and remaining balance for particular services. This allows providers to look ahead and make necessary adjustments in service provision.

In addition to managing service authorizations, users have the option to submit claims electronically to Florida Medicaid. The system can calculate billing amounts from individuals’ service logs, goal tracking data and attendance records.

Therap’s developmental disabilities conference in Kissimmee, Florida, in December will be a good place to learn more about Therap’s electronic billing solutions. In addition to regular user training, the conference will have a number of focused sessions on nationally significant issues such as CCHIT and meaningful use of EHR.