DELAWARE - The Delaware Department of Health and Social Services and the Delaware Health Care Commission announce a new Rural Health Transformation Program. This program is designed to support quick insurance verification and exchange across the state.
The project utilizes the Delaware Health Information Network, Delaware’s statewide health information exchange, and Smart Health Network. This platform allows providers and patients to exchange information and improve connectivity within the health system. Smart Health Network’s infrastructure helps create a shared connection point rather than providers and clients having several individual connections, according to DHSS.
Together, DHIN and Smart Health Network support more efficient exchange of information, authorization and other health care transactions related to insurance eligibility. These efforts are said to reduce administrative burdens, improve health coordination and support faster access to care.
American Medical Association says that physicians spend an estimated 13 hours each week completing prior authorization-related tasks
“Technology should make health care easier to navigate, not more complicated,” said DHSS Secretary Christen Linke Young. “This initiative will help clinicians spend less time managing paperwork and more time caring for patients.”
DHSS says that these electronic transactions will make processes between providers and payers easier rather than navigating multiple portals and documents through multiple systems. DHSS also says this is aimed at supporting a broader RHTP goal of improving access to care and modernizing health care infrastructure for Delawareans and improving health outcomes in rural communities.
“As a physician, I have watched prior authorization consume time that belongs to patients,” said Delaware Health Care Commission Chair Dr. Neil Hockstein. “The promise here is simple: cut the paperwork, not the care. A neutral hub that every payer and provider can join once — and that patients can actually see into — is the change the front lines have been waiting for.”
