Seven North Carolina physician practices have filed a class-action suit against the state, its IT vendor and several consultants over an embattled Medicaid billing system the physicians claim resulted in money lost and patient harm, according to a News & Observer report.
North Carolina began using the billing system, NC Tracks, on July 1 of last year. Since then, numerous flaws have been reported by state audits, news reports and at legislative hearings, according to the report.
The suit claims the system's shortcomings forced the practices to take on additional financial burdens, such as hiring additional administrative staff to address the billing issue or taking out loans when Medicaid payments weren't coming in. The payment issues have also resulted in some practices not accepting new Medicaid patients, making it more difficult for these patients to find a provider, according to the report.
The suit, filed yesterday, names the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, the billing system's vendor Computer Sciences Corp., software testing firm SLI Global Solutions and Maximus Consulting Services as defendants. CSC has denounced the lawsuit as baseless, and while the DHHS computer systems chief would not comment directly on the lawsuit, he offered the following statement to the News & Observer:
"As with any implementation of an IT system of this size and complexity, the transition has not been without challenges…To date, the new system has processed more than 104 million claims and paid more than $5.5 billion to North Carolina healthcare providers, out-performing the 35-year old system it replaced. DHHS continues to address provider issues as they arise."
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