Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) leaders during an April 23 Executive Council meeting highlighted a series of technology-related efforts that touch eligibility services, Medicaid operations and cross-agency oversight, offering a snapshot of how digital systems are being woven into both service delivery and compliance work.
A major update focused on the continued rollout of SEMARC, the Search Engine for Multi-Agency Reportable Conduct. Jennifer Sims, deputy commissioner of operations for the Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS), described the platform as a cross-agency background check system that allows participating agencies to share information about individuals barred from working with vulnerable populations. The system involves DFPS, HHSC, the Texas Education Agency and the Texas Juvenile Justice Department. Officials said the platform launched April 1, that the Texas Juvenile Justice Department had already begun using it and that additional agency onboarding will continue through September.
Multiple rule presentations referenced SEMARC implementation across employee misconduct registry, long-term care regulation and child-care regulation functions, signaling that the technology is moving beyond launch and into the frameworks that govern hiring, background checks and eligibility to work in regulated settings.
Another major update centered on the Women, Infants and Children program and its transition from an offline benefits card model to an online system in which benefits are stored in an electronic account in the cloud. HHSC staff said clients began receiving new cards April 1 and will begin redeeming benefits with those cards July 1. Officials said the shift will allow real-time benefit updates and let clinic staff make some benefit changes without requiring clients to return in person.
That modernization effort also includes continued use of the myWIC app, which officials said can help clients review benefits, scan products in stores, submit issues when an item appears not to qualify, manage documentation for certification and receive appointment reminders and other notifications. The presentation pointed to a broader digital support structure around the transition as well, including a card management phone line, online information through texaswic.org and coordinated messaging through clinics, stores and partner organizations.
On the Medicaid side, HHSC also provided an update on ATLIS, short for Aligning Technology by Linking Interoperable Systems. Officials described ATLIS as an incentive program for managed care organizations designed to expand health information exchange connectivity with in-network hospitals, improve care coordination and support future digital quality measurement. HHSC said the program is being relaunched for a second year after managed care organizations and hospitals reached greater alignment. The agency said participating plans will submit reporting in July intended to help identify barriers to exchange and shape future initiatives.
HHSC also used the meeting to outline changes to program integrity systems. In a rule presentation on electronic visit verification, HHSC said it is updating requirements to reflect the end of certain Medicare-Medicaid Plan contracts, remove free-text reviews from compliance reviews and add alternative device usage reviews. Officials said the agency is also reducing allowable alternative device use over several years in an effort to strengthen program integrity.
HHSC's Key Tech Moves: Cross-Agency Search, Cloud, Data Exchange
What to Know:
- HHSC is rolling out SEMARC, a cross-agency reportable conduct search tool, and backing it up with rule changes across multiple programs.
- The agency is moving WIC benefits to a cloud-based system, with new cards, real-time benefit updates and continued expansion of the myWIC app.
- HHSC is continuing work on interoperability and oversight through the ATLIS health information exchange effort and tighter electronic visit verification controls.
