DHHS briefed Division III on IT systems, contracting processes and Medicaid enterprise modernization

Officials from the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services briefed House Finance Division III on Jan. 28 on information systems, centralized contracting, the department’s portfolio management office and quality-and-integrity functions as the agency prepares for the governor’s budget.

Nathan White, chief financial officer at DHHS, said the department relies on roughly 130 distinct systems and is pursuing enterprise approaches for constituent management, data warehousing, learning-management and closed-loop referrals. “Right now we actually have about 130 different systems,” White said, describing a portfolio that includes Salesforce, an enterprise business-intelligence platform, New Hampshire Care Connections (a closed-loop referral network), New Heights (the integrated eligibility and enrollment system) and the Medicaid enterprise systems used for claims and provider management.

DHHS officials described the Portfolio Management Office and a push to standardize project intake and governance. David Wieters, chief operating officer, said the PMO has trained more than 280 staff in standardized project methods and reported completing 106 projects during the last year with about 104 open now; the PMO is intended to reduce duplicative work and surface project health across the department.

Officials also outlined contracting volumes and reforms. The department’s central contracting bureau…