Head in the Clouds

May 16, 2011

Advances in technology over the last decade are fundamentally changing the way education is delivered in schools. The acquisition of knowledge is being decentralized, with teachers spending less time in front of a classroom and more time floating between groups of students engaged in individualized learning experiences aided by computers. Administrators have better access to data along with technology that helps them see connections between various factors in the educational process—a tool that allows them to make better policy decisions. And teachers have more efficient avenues to share resources with one another, communicate with students and parents, and target students’ individual learning abilities.

While various technologies are enabling innovative teaching methods, a larger scale change is on the horizon as educators and administrators embrace the shift to software as a service (SaaS) and cloud computing.

Over the last decade, cloud computing emerged in conjunction with dramatic increases in data storage capacity. As companies were able to store data more cheaply, the use of traditional software programs that users loaded on to their home computers became increasingly irrelevant.  These programs could now be accessed through the web, with all data stored on a company’s servers. A user’s data was no longer on his or her own computer but existed across a variety of servers somewhere out there—hence the term, “the cloud.”The cloud precipitated a move for technology companies from sellers of software to providers of web programs and data storage.

SaaS technologies have the potential to improve all aspects of education, but perhaps the area schools can benefit from the most is in managing their special education and Medicaid reimbursement programs. These federal programs have rigorous documentation requirements, and failing to meet these requirements can be financially crippling.

Special Education Programs

Federal legislation provides for the education needs of children with disabilities under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Since 1975, states receiving federal funds under IDEA have been required to provide a free, appropriate, public education for all children with disabilities.

In order to comply with IDEA, schools must document the provision of these services, starting with the Individualized Education Program (IEP), which outlines the types, frequency, and duration of services deemed necessary for each student. Schools must be able to prove that services were delivered to students in accordance with the IEP (or  why services were not delivered), and, depending on each state’s guidelines, schools must also show progress notes, diagnostic codes, procedures codes, and other documentation. School districts nationwide spend millions of dollars and countless hours of research defending against due process lawsuits and hearings resulting from claims of undelivered IDEA/IEP services, over delivery of se rvices, and other similar issues. Often the district is required to settle simply because it cannot locate the proper documentation or prove that services were delivered. Through the use of SaaS technologies designed to track IEP services,  all elements of the continuum of care for each student are tracked from the start of the IEP creation process to the service delivery (or non-delivery), and session notations. The result is that all records and reports are easily available to prove the school’s case and short circuit these costly processes.

School-Based Medicaid Reimbursement Programs

Because IDEA represents an additional cost burden for school districts, the government allows schools to submit claims for health-related IEP services provided to eligible students via the Medicaid program. Schools can receive partial reimbursements for both the direct costs of the services and the associated administrative costs.  These reimbursements can be highly beneficial to schools, particularly those in high poverty areas with large percentages of Medicaid-eligible students.

School-based Medicaid billing is complex. A successful program requires lots of paperwork, as every claim must be backed up by complete documentation, including the IEP, provider licenses, parental consent forms, physician’s orders, and proof that claimed services fall within specified limits for reimbursement. Because of the complexities of Medicaid billing, schools often do not claim for every eligible service, and end up leaving hundreds of thousands of dollars on the table. At the other extreme, schools may not keep the required documentation on file, which can result in failing an audit and being forced to pay back reimbursements already received and, in most cases, already spent. An SaaS solution for Medicaid billing automates the claim development process, ensuring that all claims are properly backed up by required documentation, and tha t every eligible claim is billed. In this way, SaaS solutions not only reduce costs and workloads, but increase revenue.

Accelify’s Solutions

Accelify is proud to be working to improve technologies in this area. Our systems make managing special education and Medicaid programs easier for the same reasons that good technologies make everyday tasks easier—you can do more in less time, you can see connections between data that enable to you to better assess and improve your tasks, and digitized data improves record keeping.

Accelify recently was honored to be named a finalist in the CODiE awards, an annual recognition by the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) of excellence in the business software, digital content, and education technology industries. Accelify’s integrated AcceliTRACK/AcceliPLAN system was nominated in the Best K-12 Enterprise Solution category. These systems utilize the best of cloud computing and SaaS technology to help school districts manage their special education and Medicaid billing programs.