Purpose of Time Study
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Determine the percentage of time your entity incurs assisting
individuals to access medically necessary Medicaid funded
services through:
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Medicaid Outreach
Medicaid Eligibility Determination
Medicaid Referral, Coordination, and Monitoring
Medicaid Transportation
Medicaid Translation
Medicaid Program Planning, Development & Interagency
Coordination
Medicaid Provider Relations
Identify the proportion of administrative time reimbursable
under MAC
RMTS PROCESS
RMTS Contact identifies
pool of time study
participants
1
HHSC Contractor identifies
pool of available time study
moments
6
2
HHSC Contractor randomly
matches moments and
participants
HHSC contractor
codes moment
5
Participant responds to
selected moment by
answering moment online
3
4
RMTS Contact ensures
selected participants are
trained
Time Study Moment
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Time study “moments” are randomly selected to occur
throughout the entire quarter
A time study “moment” represents one minute at the
selected time
If a participant is sampled for a “moment” their only
responsibility is to document what they were doing at that
precise minute by answering three questions online
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When needed the participant must respond to follow-up questions
from the coders within 3 days
For purposes of the time study the participant does not need
to know whether or not the student receives Medicaid
Answer 3 Questions
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The participant must answer the following
three questions for every sampled moment
Who was with you?
What were you doing?
Why were you performing this activity?
Sample of Participant E-mail
5
Time Study Periods
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Federal Fiscal Quarters
1st Quarter - October, November, December
2nd Quarter - January, February, March
3rd Quarter - April, May, June
4th Quarter - July, August, September
Important Dates for RMTS
Sept 15th – Participant List (PL) Closes
Event
Opens/Begins
Closes/Ends
Participant List (PL)
1st Quarter PL
2nd Quarter PL
3rd Quarter PL
4th Quarter PL
08/16/2011
09/16/2011
12/16/2011
03/16/2012
(6 p.m. CT)
09/15/2011
12/15/2011
03/15/2012
06/15/2012
Time Study (TS)
1st Quarter TS
2nd Quarter TS
3rd Quarter TS
4th Quarter TS
10/03/2011
01/02/2012
04/02/2012
07/02/2012
12/29/2011
03/30/2012
06/29/2012
09/28/2012
Who Are the Players ?
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RMTS Contacts
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Time Study Participants
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HHSC Contractor
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Fairbanks LLC
 Technical
 Central
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Support
Coding Staff
Health and Human Services Commission
Contacts Roles
Direct Service
Financial Contact
MAC
Financial Contact
RMTS Contact
Primary & Secondary
Primary & Secondary
Director
Roles
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RMTS Contacts
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Must be an employee of the District or its designee
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May be entity staff or Contractor
Assumes all responsibility for designee’s actions/non-actions
Ensure all contact information is current and accurate
Verify and update quarterly Participant List
Provide RMTS training to sampled participants
Provide ongoing technical assistance to participants
Ensure entity compliance with 85% required response rate
Coordinate with MAC & Direct Service Financial Contacts
Contact can enter paid and unpaid time off for the selected
participants when they are unavailable
Full Access vs. View Only Access
RMTS Contacts & MAC Financial Contacts will have full
access 3 days after training is credited (max processing time)
Only Primary Program Contacts can change access to view only
Time Study Sample Tab
13
Roles (cont.)
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Time Study Participant
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Sampled participant must receive training from a RMTS
Contact trained by HHSC
Training requirements can be met by one of two methods
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Must first receive interactive training – “Initial”
Subsequent trainings can be “Refresher”
Must answer the following questions to document what
they were doing at the sampled moment:
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Question 1. Who was with you?
Question 2. What were you doing?
Question 3. Why were you performing this activity?
Roles (cont.)
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Time Study Participant (con’t)
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Notification of selection is sent via e-mail to participant 3 days
in advance identifying date and time of the sampled moment
Should respond to what he/she was doing at the exact time
identified.
Enter the information into the Fairbanks web based RMTS
system within 7 calendar days of the sampled moment
Reminders sent via e-mail at 24, 48, & 72 hours
(RMTS Contact copied on the 72 hour reminder)
Failure to enter the information will disqualify the moment
Follow-up questions from coders must be responded to within
3 calendar days from receipt of e-mail. Primary RMTS Contact
will be copied on the e-mail
Note – Permissions for incoming e-mail may need to be
updated at the beginning of each year
15
Roles (cont.)
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Fairbanks, LLC.
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Technical Support
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Contracted by HHSC to operate and administer the
web-based RMTS system
Assist in training for RMTS Contact
Ongoing system support
Send out e-mail to participants who have been
selected 3 days prior to the sampled moment
Send out reminder e-mails for non-response to the
sampled moment
Roles (cont.)
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Fairbanks, LLC. (cont.)
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Central Coders
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Receives annual training from HHSC on activity
codes
Review the participant’s response for the sampled
moment
Code the time using uniform time study codes
When additional information is needed must obtain
clarifying information from time study participants via
follow-up e-mail within 3 days of request.
Moments and assigned codes are reviewed by a 2nd
coder for quality assurance
Roles (cont.)
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HHSC – RMTS Staff
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Provides support and guidance to entity.
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Works with appropriate federal agencies to design and
implement programs.
Conducts ongoing program review to include:
 Time Study results
 Compliance with training requirements
 Documentation compliance
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Sends out the non-compliance notification letters.
Contacts
Numbers
Time Study
512-491-1715
Ray Wilson - Manager
Beverly Tackett – Lead
Alexandra Young – Rate Analyst
TimeStudy@hhsc.state.tx.us
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The HHSC Time Study Unit assists the provider entity with questions
pertaining to:
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Random Moment Time Study (RMTS)
On-line System (Fairbanks, LLC)
Participation Eligibility
Training
Quarterly Participant List
Sampled Participants
Compliance
Disqualification