Nov 15, 2024
New York State Department of Health
New York Early Intervention System (NYEIS) Electronic Mailing List
State of the EI-Hub
Week of November 11
Dear Colleagues:
I want to share that it was
critical for the Department to replace the New York Early Intervention System
(NYEIS) with a new data system. There were security and stability concerns with
NYEIS. I have heard that you want more information about why we are not able to
return to NYEIS. I shared your question with the New York State Office of
Technology Services that directs statewide IT policy and am awaiting a
response.
We acknowledge the need for
the State data system to help manage the Early Intervention Program and ensure
these crucial services are provided to infants and toddlers with disabilities
and their families, and we have heard your concerns about the EI-Hub. The
Bureau of Early Intervention (BEI) and Public Consulting Group (PCG) are
proactively working to respond to and resolve questions, concerns, and issues
identified by our county programs and providers.
Based on this feedback, we
understand that one of the most pressing concerns expressed by our municipal
and provider partners is addressing continuity of care for children and
families enrolled in the Early Intervention Program (EIP). While data entry into
the EI-Hub should not stop or delay services to children or families, we
acknowledge that current EI-Hub functionality is causing a lot of uncertainty
for providers, municipalities, and families. One of the critical areas is
related to Individualized Family Service Plans (IFSP). Therefore, BEI and PCG
are working to modify EI-Hub business rules to address issues with the IFSP
data entry in the EI-Hub that is not allowing service authorizations to be
entered as needed. This improvement will ensure that children can continue to
receive Early Intervention services and that providers who continue to deliver
services can successfully receive a service authorization to bill and get paid
for services, once the IFSP and service authorization is entered into the
EI-Hub and approved by the Early Intervention Official. This modification is
currently being finalized, with the goal of making it available next week.
Additional System
Updates
In addition to addressing
the IFSP issue, there will continue to be targeted releases to make critical
system modifications and larger releases of upgrades and fixes. These releases
will be prioritized to address the concerns expressed by stakeholders.
Performance and System
Enhancements
This week, on November 11th
and 13th, PCG made several updates to address system performance and made
technical adjustments to correct system functionality. Key updates in the
system releases included:
- Performance: Improvements have been made to enhance the efficiency (speed) of the Child Lookup, Children Assigned to Caseload, and Evaluations dashboards, along with increased efficiency in Service Logging.
- EIO/D Edit Access: This issue prevented some EIO/D users from seeing the ‘Edit’ button after accepting an assignment which has been resolved.
- Company Assignment Panel Issue: The "Save Failed" issue in the Company Assignment panel has been addressed.
- Reopening Exited Children: The process for reopening an exited child's record has been corrected; it now reopens the last primary referral instead of generating an 'Additional' referral.
- Billing Evaluations in Service Logging: The issue where location information was not transferring from Case Management (CM) for evaluations has been resolved, and billing can now proceed. Please note, if the location field is blank in CM, users may continue to encounter billing issues. The PCG development team is actively working on a solution.
There were also challenges
with the speed and performance with the EI-Hub this week. On Tuesday 11/12, the
system slowed down. The issue was identified and addressed by 2:30 PM. We
apologize for this inconvenience.
Communications and
Engagement
BEI and PCG are increasing
our communication with end-users. We are continuing to have weekly calls with
provider advocate groups, weekly calls with counties and the New York State
Association of County Health Officials, and the New York City Department of
Health and Mental Hygiene. These calls offer the end-user community a direct
line of communication with BEI and PCG and have generated a collaborative
working relationship as we work to improve the EI-Hub. PCG is also convening a
workgroup of county Early Intervention staff to advise on recommended system
role configuration changes. We are preparing a list of known issues with
information about the plan and timeline for resolution. The Bureau is committed
to keeping the lines of communication open with stakeholders.
EI-Hub Stakeholder Group
We recognize the importance
of user feedback and are committed to learning from your experiences to
understand what matters most as we work toward system improvements. To support
this, PCG, in collaboration with BEI, has established the NY EI-Hub Stakeholder
Group to collaborate with our users in optimizing the system. Our goal is to
bring together diverse perspectives to work toward practical, user-centered
enhancements for the EI-Hub. The primary focus is to engage in discussions with
stakeholders about their user experience, and to collaborate on the
identification of system updates, considering areas that will have the greatest
impact to support users to manage the work they do for children and families. As
the group meets, their recommendations to BEI and PCG will be shared with
stakeholders.
Call Center
The Department continues to
work with the PCG’s Call Center on customer service and ways to improve the
wait times. PCG has hired additional Call Center staff and are in the process
of training them.
Provider Payments
One of our top priorities
is ensuring providers receive full and timely payments to maintain financial
stability. The following temporary measures are currently in place:
- Weekly escrow payments
- Lifted the 90-day timely filing claiming
- Relaxed system rules for claims needing waivers.
Stopgap Payments
The Department also implemented a process for providers to request a Stopgap escrow payment. Details were announced on Friday, November 1, 2024. Billing providers would need to opt-in to this and sign and notarize an agreement amendment to receive this payment. If the EI-Hub continues to cause delays in claiming/payment, the Department will work with providers in need of additional payments. The amount of Stopgap Payments will be calculated based on shortfall in escrow payments since the EI-HUB launched compared to the average escrow payments made earlier in 2024. We anticipate being able to release these monies in the next week. We will provide a more exact date the beginning of next week. The recovery of Stopgap Payments will consist of 25% of future escrow payments after claiming has stabilized through the EI-Hub. We encourage providers to reach out by sending an e-mail to provider@health.ny.gov and EIP.Fiscal@health.ny.gov.
Please include in the e-mail the provider’s name, address, e-mail address,
phone number, and STOPGAP in the subject line.
Again, I want to express my
appreciation of your commitment to the Program and to the children and families
you serve.
Sincerely,
Raymond L. Pierce
Director, Early
Intervention Program
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