As 2018 approaches and most people are focused on their New Year’s Resolutions, we are taking a moment to look back at 2017—and what a year it was!

* CNSI earned multiple major health IT contract wins
* Published its first Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Report; and
* Repeated as an Alliance for Workplace Excellence winner

Among the major project wins, CNSI was awarded a seven-year, $166 million contract with the Department of Labor’s Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs, and a five-year, $44 million contract with the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Financial Services Center. Both of these projects add to our resume of federal work and build on the incredible experience we’ve developed in states like Michigan and Illinois.

On the CSR front, we’re proud to announce we’ve been more active than ever! From supporting the recovery in Flint, Michigan to sending the MDBio Foundation’s Mobile Lab, Learning Undefeated, down to help students in the hurricane-ravaged areas of Texas, CNSI and its employees have contributed so much to the communities in which we work and live. In fact, to keep track of it all we decided to begin publishing an annual CSR report, the first of which (covering 2016 activities) was published this year. Check it out here!

These are only a few highlights from what was an incredibly busy year. We also implemented countless other solutions for clients around the country, participated in dozens of industry events, and added our technical prowess to the fight against opioid abuse in Michigan.

So, here’s to you, 2017. We hope you’ll tag along as we move on to even bigger things in 2018! Please get in touch by dropping us a note on Twitter. You can find us @CNSICorp. 

Starting today, CNSI is participating in the Department of Health and Human Services’ Opioid Code-a-Thon, where data enthusiasts from around the country will come together to develop data-driven solutions to combat the opioid epidemic. We are joining computer programmers, public health experts, data scientists, researchers, and innovators in Washington, DC to discuss how we can build on HHS’ five-part strategy to make a real-world impact on the opioid crisis.

At a time when 91 Americans are dying every day from an opioid overdose, the value of leveraging data to track and prevent opioid misuse cannot be overstated. One area of focus is among Medicaid enrollees, as research shows they are among the most vulnerable population to become abusers. At CNSI, we’ve already made strides in leveraging this data to solve the growing epidemic.

For example, in Michigan, we’re working on an addiction-identification tool that analyzes Medicaid claims in order to detect where opioid abuse is likely occurring. By sorting through data sources using the IBM BigInsights solution, we can identify signs of opioid abuse at both the prescriber and beneficiary level. This real-time predictive analysis has the potential to prevent an addiction before it begins and provide at-risk populations with the treatment they need.

While our work in Michigan is a promising start in our fight to solve the opioid epidemic, it is just that – a start. CNSI is committed to working with stakeholders in every state to find innovative solutions to this public health crisis sweeping our nation. We look forward to continuing this work at the HHS Code-a-Thon, and building on that momentum in the weeks and months to come. 

Not able to attend? Check out the live stream on the HHS website and follow along with us at @CNSICorp to insights, take-aways, and results of the Code-A-Thon. 

Rockville, MD – CNSI, a leading business solutions provider with vast experience developing and delivering innovative healthcare management technology, announced today that it has been awarded a contract by the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL)’s Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs (OWCP).

CNSI’s scope of work includes the creation and operations of a centralized workers’ compensation medical bill processing solution for four OWCP programs: the Division of Federal Employees’ Compensation (DFEC), the Division of Coal Mine Workers’ Compensation (DCMWC), the Division of Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation (DEEOIC), and Division of Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation (DLHWC).

This $166M contract for delivering a Workers Compensation Medical Bill Process (WCMBP) system will include the processes associated with OWCP and its constituent programs for the receipt of the medical bills and attachments, review of medical bills and attachments against program-specific authorizations, handling of inquiries related to medical services from claimants and providers, and fraud and abuse detection, while adjudicating medical bills utilizing business rules established by each OWCP program.

“CNSI has a long and overwhelmingly positive relationship with the federal government,” said CNSI Senior Vice President of Federal Programs Vijay Mishra. “We are excited to help the federal government in leveraging a modern healthcare solution and providing a flexible, scalable and secured solution that helps the DOL achieve better results at a lower cost. We couldn’t be more pleased to have another opportunity to serve the Department of Labor.”

The project will be CNSI’s second engagement with the DOL, having previously provided software development support for the Department’s Mine Safety and Health Administration. CNSI – known nationally for its implementation of state Medicaid Management Information Systems and Claims processing platform – has supported more than 15 federal agencies.

“We first began working with the DOL in 2007,” added CNSI’s President, Adnan Ahmed. “Since that time, we have revolutionized health IT with the development of the nation’s first completely automated real-time and cloud-based Medicaid Management Information System. The cutting-edge medical claims solutions we’ve developed on the state level give us the experience and expertise to customize a product that will substantially improve efficiencies for a very important function. We can’t wait to get started.”

Rockville, MD – CNSI, a leading business solutions provider with vast experience developing and delivering innovative health care management technology, announced today that it has been awarded a contract by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Financial Services Center (VA-FSC), to provide administrative support services including claims processing on a reimbursable basis, as a franchise fund to its customers.

CNSI’s scope of work includes the implementation of a modern and efficient claims processing solution for VA-FSC that can be used to adjudicate, process, and prepare health care claims submitted by providers. CNSI will also facilitate the migration of existing and potential customers into a centralized processing system, replacing its legacy commercial-of-the-shelf (COTS) claims adjudication system.

“As we continue to grow in the federal market, CNSI has been strategically focused on the Department of Veterans Affairs,” said CNSI Senior Vice President of Federal Programs Vijay Mishra. “We are thrilled to help the VA -FSC transform its claims processing environment using a centralized and configurable system to better serve its customers that includes Veterans Affairs and Other Government Agencies (OGA).”

This five-year, $44 million contract will leverage standards based, configurable, and proven technology to meet the needs of the FSC and its customers. CNSI – known nationally for its health care domain expertise and industry leading implementation of one of the most advanced claims processing platforms – has made headlines recently for two other federal claims processing contract wins, including a 4.5 year $35M contract with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and a $166M contract with the Department of Labor – Office of Workers Compensation.

“CNSI has long been recognized as a leader in the health care industry – revolutionizing health IT with the development of the nation’s first completely automated real-time and cloud-based Medicaid Management Information System,” added CNSI’s President, Adnan Ahmed. “Through this partnership with the VA, we will continue to leverage our people, processes, technology, and domain expertise to deliver better care at lower costs. We’re honored to be working on behalf of America’s veterans and look forward to another partnership with the federal government.”

About CNSI
CNSI delivers a broad range of health information technology (IT) enterprise solutions and customizable products to a diverse base of federal and state agencies. We align, build and manage innovative, high-quality, cost-effective solutions that help clients achieve their mission, enhance business performance and improve the health for over 28 million Americans. Formed in 1994, CNSI is headquartered in Rockville, Maryland, with locations throughout the U.S. and India. CNSI employs a world-class team of technologists, program managers, and subject matter experts, all of whom have experience with large scale mission-critical IT implementations.

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In the world of Health IT, it is easy to get caught up in all the work that has to be done (example: interoperability) or all the things that can go wrong (example: security breaches) or even growing health concerns (example: the opioid epidemic). However, as we all prepare for tomorrow’s celebration, it is also easy to look around us and recognize all that we have to be thankful for. Here is our short list…

     * The impact Health IT has on real lives

     * The innovative future of digital health 

     * The savings of cloud-based, modular systems

But really at the top of our thankful list is our amazing employees. Each day they bring persistence, perseverance, and passion to their work—which defines our culture and the solutions we provide to our clients. Without them, we wouldn’t have any of the above.

So let us not mull over the challenges of tomorrow. Let us take this time to relish the gratefulness of today. From the CNSI family to yours, we wish you a blessed and Happy Thanksgiving.

In the world of Health IT, we tend to focus on technical terms like big data, modular and interoperability. However, behind each of our systems is a story. This week at the National Association of Medicaid Directors Conference, over 1,000 attendees got to hear those stories directly from Medicaid recipients. In a special session entitled, “Medicaid from the Members Perspective,” this innovative panel gave voice to six Medicaid recipients allowing them to illuminate the critical role the program plays in their lives, a perspective that can often get lost in a world of data and technology.

Take Anna Corbin for example, who applied for Medicaid as a secondary insurance. When faced with medical crisis, their regular insurance denied coverage for a rare and devastating blood disease affecting several members of their family.  Medicaid was there to fill the gaps and solve their financial problems. To the Corbin family, willing to sacrifice anything for their family, Medicaid was a lifeline and a means of security, removing the burden of coverage denials to ensuring longer, healthier and more productive lives. Through timely response, affordable care Medicaid helped this, and many other families, to sustain the burdens of tragedy. The entire panel can be viewed here.

These are just six of the stories behind the 74 plus million enrollees in the Medicaid and CHIP program. So, whether your work is in the technical programs, governing policy, or a health care practice, it is worth taking an hour to hear these inspiring tales that drive our work. CNSI’s goal at the end of the day is ensure these systems deliver at their best in order to provide better care, better health at lower costs. Thank you NAMD for this inspiring panel and reminding us why we do what we do.  

When a natural disaster hits, there are so many elements of life that are uprooted, burn down, washed away—literally. From homes stored with memories, to businesses that offer jobs, to schools that provide education, these storms impact lives, livehoods, and learning. A national forcast done by Moody’s Analytics claim that Hurrican Harvey will be the second most costly storm in U.S. history. Needless to say, cities and towns in Texas are still reeling and recovering from the devesating impact of the hurricane. Luckily, one of Maryland’s prominent STEM education organization’s, MdBio Foundation, LLC, jumped on the opportunity to give back to those impacted by the storms. 

“More than 270 schools along the Gulf Coast were damaged by Hurricane Harvey, and some may never re-open. Students and teachers are left to use makeshift tools in temporary facilities, trying to regain a sense of normalcy after devastating losses,” said Brian Gaines, CEO of the MdBio Foundation. “We saw a great opportunity to share our resources – our mobile lab and professional scientific staff – to support education during the recovery period.”

With the support of corporate partners such as CNSI, MdBio has launched the  “Learning Undefeated” initiative which features the MdBioLab, a self-contained, mobile science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) classroom that will bring teaching space and scientific equipment, as well as lab supplies, to schools along the Gulf Coast and in Houston

MdBioLab will visit the Port Aransas Independent School District (ISD), near Corpus Christi, November 6 to 9, there, the lab will serve nearly 270 students from Port Aransas High School and Brundrett Middle School. Then, from November 13 to 17, the lab will serve two schools in the Houston ISD, Baylor College of Medicine Academy at James D. Ryan Middle School and the Disciplinary Alternative Education Program (DAEP). During these two weeks, hundreds of students will have the opportunity to experience hands-on STEM activities onboard the lab.

CNSI is proud of the strong partnership with MdBio and the incredible impact we can have for those recovering from Hurricane Harvey. Stay tuned for more updates as the truck embarks on its journey to Texas! 

CNSI recently announced our latest contract win, a 4.5 year, $35 million project to engineer the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) Encounter Data Processing System. Although we here at CNSI understand the importance of the EDPS program, we realize that for most people out there, they may not know what this really means or why this system is so vital to the work being done at CMS. Therefore, here is a quick overview.

The Encounter Data Processing System, or EDPS, is the technological backbone of CMS Medicare Advantage—otherwise called Medicaid Part C. This is the system responsible for making sure providers are properly compensated for proper care. Encounter data, as it’s known, is the service record containing clinical and diagnostic information generated by health care providers during visits by beneficiaries.

CMS collects and analyzes the data centrally, then makes the appropriate changes to Medicare Advantage Organization reimbursements. Processing tens of millions of encounters weekly—and making the appropriate adjustments in a timely manner, as required by law—is a monumental technological task that is managed by the EDPS.

CNSI has worked on the existing EDPS for the past five years as a subcontractor. We have had a lot of successes including improving the processing platform to handle the skyrocketing number of encounters while significantly improving accuracy. We’re incredibly excited to take the reins and partner with CMS on this project. It’s huge in both scope and importance – millions of Americans depend on Medicare Part C. We’ll keep you updated on our progress as the project unfolds here on the blog.

If you have any comments (or congratulations!) please find us on Twitter @CNSCorp.

Rockville, MD – CNSI, which delivers a broad range of health information technology (IT) enterprise solutions and customizable products to help clients achieve their mission, enhance business performance, and improve the health of over 28 million Americans, announced that it was awarded a 4.5 year contract to engineer, develop, maintain, and support the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) next generation Encounter Data Processing System (EDPS) for Medicare Part C claims.

Encounter data, as it’s known, is the service record containing clinical and diagnostic information generated by health care providers during visits by Medicare Advantage (Medicare Part C) beneficiaries. CMS collects and analyzes the data centrally, then makes the appropriate adjustments to Medicare Advantage Organization reimbursements. Processing tens of millions of encounters weekly – and making the appropriate adjustments in a timely manner, as required by law – is a monumental technological task that is addressed by the EDPS.

“In the last decade, CNSI has developed unparalleled experience in large-scale health IT projects,” said Vijay Mishra, CNSI Senior Vice President of Federal Programs. “From our implementation of several state Medicaid Management Information Systems to our experience operating the existing EDPS, we are perfectly suited to execute this project.”

For the past five years, CNSI has worked as a subcontractor maintaining the operations of the existing Encounter Data Processing System (EDPS) that uses CNSI’s encounter processing engine. Over the years, CNSI has made significant investments in modernizing its claims processing platform by implementing an innovative system architecture to be hosted on AWS cloud and can handle a skyrocketing number of encounters while significantly improving accuracy.

“Our EDPS team has done incredible work and I’m so pleased to see CMS recognize the experience, expertise, and results by awarding CNSI a contract to develop the next generation of the system,” added Adnan Ahmed, CNSI Co-founder and President. “The EDPS is a critical piece of public health infrastructure. As a company, we have a long history of executing enterprise-level health IT projects. I’m excited to see CNSI meet – and exceed – CMS’ expectations for the next generation EDPS.”

About CNSI
CNSI delivers a broad range of health information technology (IT) enterprise solutions and customizable products to a diverse base of federal and state agencies. We align, build and manage innovative, high-quality, cost-effective solutions that help clients achieve their mission, enhance business performance and improve the health for over 28 million Americans. Formed in 1994, CNSI is headquartered in Rockville, Maryland, with locations throughout the U.S. and India. CNSI employs a world-class team of technologists, program managers, and subject matter experts, all of whom have experience with large scale mission-critical IT implementations. Formed in 1994, CNSI is headquartered in Rockville, Maryland, with locations throughout the U.S. and India. CNSI’s website is: http://www.cns-inc.com.

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National Health IT Week is coming to a close. We’ve covered topics such as cyber security, interoperability, and what’s next on the horizon for the Office of the National Coordinator. With so much going on, it’s easy to lose sight of why we do all of this—the consumer. At the end of the day, we all #HeartHIT, because it improves the health and lives of our citizens. At the end of the day, it’s all about consumer engagement.

However, when it comes to consumer engagement, there’s bad news and there is good news. The bad is that more than 70 percent of consumers say their experience with providers and health plans hasn’t improved or has worsened in the past 24 months. Less than 21 percent reported an improved experience. The good news is that according to a recent study by Change Healthcare, investment in consumer engagement is a priority for 80 percent of payers and 72 percent of providers.

Already ahead of the game, CNSI’s consumer engagement app in Michigan, myHealthButton, offers patients secure, real-time access to medical information allowing them to better manage their own health. With a total of 16,398 active accounts out of a total 19,018 beneficiaries, the state is seeing an 86% engagement rate. Think of the power that holds for consumers, providers, and payers.

As we wrap up #NHIT, lets carry with us the inspiration and innovation that drives us all forward in an effort to improve consumer engagement.