Medicaid’s new e-signature capability and its portal for verifying patients’ Medicaid eligibility and accessing their available health information are two ways to help cut down on the busywork in your office.
Texas Medicaid Accepts E-Signatures
As of April 1, 2016, Texas Medicaid Healthcare Partnership (TMHP), the administrator for Texas Medicaid and the Children with Special Health Care Needs Services Program, accepts electronic or digital physician signatures on prior authorization forms and supporting documentation.
The signature must be derived using software that creates a digital signature logo with a system-generated date and time stamp or includes the logo of the digital software used. Examples of such software are RightSignatureTM, Adobe® eSign, and electronic health record software; there are others (neither TMA nor TMHP endorse any particular e-signature software).
TMHP won’t accept a handwritten, electronic, or digital signature if it is among other disallowed forms: a photocopy of a handwritten signature, an ink stamp of a handwritten signature, or a typed signature without a digital stamp.
For transactions processed by a Medicaid/Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) managed care organization (MCO), refer to the MCO for information about prior authorization.
Portal Provides Health Info, Eligibility
YourTexasBenefitsCard.com is a dual portal for verifying patients’ Medicaid eligibility and accessing their available health information. On one portal, Medicaid physicians and their staff can view information on a patient’s Medicaid eligibility, services, and treatments. On the second portal, patients can view their benefit and case information, print or order a Medicaid ID card, set up and view their Texas Health Steps alerts, and more.
Physicians can view such information as vaccination information, prescription drugs, past Medicaid visits, diagnoses and treatments, and lab data, and Texas Health Steps alerts. In addition, the portal provides access to the Blue Button functionality to request a Medicaid patient’s available health information in a single tool.
Follow the instructions contained in the Initial Registration Guide for Medicaid Providers to get started. To set up an account, you’ll need to have handy the following numbers: billing National Provider Identifier, billing taxonomy number, billing tax ID, and an internal claim number or encounter number. For more information, you can download the Welcome Packet from the initial Login page of YourTexasBenefitsCard.com.
Visit TMA’s Medicaid/CHIP Resource Center for information and resources related to these programs. And, visit the TMA Education Center for a free webinar from Texas Health Steps, New Initiatives for Medicaid Providers. TMA provides many such benefits and services designed to help you get paid.
Published April 14, 2016
TMA Practice E-Tips main page
Last Updated On
December 07, 2016
Originally Published On
April 13, 2016