Private data shared abroad
James M. Odato
rivate data about hundreds of thousands of New York medical patients might have been shared with foreign nationals this year as a result of a now-contentious contract between the Office of Medicaid Inspector General and a key vendor based in Texas, according to two people involved in the situation.
OMIG has a $155 million contract with a company called Health Management Systems to check if patients have an additional insurance company to bill other than Medicaid. These "third party insurance verifications" help New York reduce the burden on the $57 billion program for patients who need publicly subsidized health care coverage.
According to people familiar with the matter, OMIG's third-party tracker, HMS, has subcontracted work with another firm, Datamatics, which has operations abroad. A satellite office in Chennai, India, has taken on many of the duties, according to a person involved.
The work requires using patients' data to see if they have coverage that should be applied before Medicaid is considered. The third-party tracking is one of OMIG's best ways to avoid unnecessary billings to Medicaid.
http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Private-data-shared-abroad-5619130.php?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_term=Albany%20Pro&utm_campaign=Albany%20Pro%2007%2F14%2F14
= new reply since forum marked as read
