A new online application system is helping streamline the process of applying for Medicaid in the Nursing Home. Launched July 1, the Expedite online application system was designed in response to feedback from nursing home administrators and admissions representatives, Medicaid eligibility staff and recipients. As of July 31, 99 nursing home users located in 75 different facilities had signed up to enter applications online.

“In designing the Expedite system, our goal was to create a system that would be intuitive to the user and sufficiently flexible to accommodate the complex nature of a nursing home application. At the same time, we wanted to simplify the process of entering and tracking an application as it moves through the system,” said Paul McWhorter, Director of Policy and Training for Medicaid Beneficiary Services.

Key benefits of the system include the ability to verify that the application and any supporting documents have been received; the ability to date-stamp the application to ensure the accuracy of accrual rights; the ability to add documents as needed and attach it to a previously submitted application; the ability to track the application as it moves through the eligibility determination process; the ability to add additional representatives; the elimination of the need to re-key data from paper applications; and the prevention of duplication arising from multiple paper applications for the same client.