• E-mail
• Print
• RSS

New accounting system improving accuracy of Medicare payments

Patient Financial Services Weekly Advisor, March 3, 2006

A more efficient automated accounting system that Medicare uses to pay providers for treating Medicare beneficiaries is seeing significant benefits, according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

The CMS's General Ledger Accounting System (HIGLAS) has resulted in $9 million of interest in the trust funds in seven months of operation.

HIGLAS has the capability of computing claims and payment data. But it also allows CMS to generate more accurate payments, reduce overpayments, and retain monies in the Medicare Trust Funds.

"The savings we're seeing from the use of the HIGLAS system shows us there is real value in using state-of-the-art electronic systems to help pay Medicare claims," said Mark B. McClellan, MD, PhD, CMS administrator. "In the next couple of years, as we fully implement HIGLAS, we should be better able to ensure that we are paying Medicare claims more efficiently."

• E-mail to a Colleague
• Print
• RSS
• Archive