

Medicaid Messenger
Direct Service Staff Edition

Medicaid Contacts
If you or any member of your staff have questions or concerns about Medicaid, please provide our contact information.
We're here to help!
Michelle Maxfield - (734) 334-1461 ~maxfiem@resa.net
Leanne Smith - (734) 334-1464 ~smithle@resa.net
Tia Williams - (734) 334-1397 ~williat@resa.net
How RMTS Ties in with Reimbursement
Random Moment Time Study (RMTS) is a federally approved process of polling a sample of staff within your district. Selected staff members are required to complete a five question survey.
When a participant receives an email from Public Consulting Group (PCG), MIAOP@PCGUS.COM, there is a link to their survey within the email. The answers that participants provide are then reviewed by PCG. PCG then determines the correct billing code for each response. Linking responses to a specific billing code is what determines reimbursement percentages for your district.
Participants who receive a follow-up email need to provide more detail to clarify what they were doing during their assigned moment. Detailed responses help PCG determine the billing code to assign to each moment.
It is important that participants complete their surveys within 48-hours. Not only will late or incomplete RMTS affect reimbursement percentages, we may also be required to increase the number of surveys that are sent to districts in order to ensure Wayne County's sample size is statistically sound.
RMTS - A Focus on Personal Care Aides
We'd like to thank you and your staff for actively completing assigned Random Moment Time Study surveys. RMTS submissions are vital to both the district and statewide reimbursement percentages.
A recent report however, shows that survey response numbers for Personal Care Aides are lower than we anticipated. We understand that Personal Care Aides may not have access to a computer throughout their day. We're asking you to consider enlisting the support of your teachers who work with your Aides, by asking them to allow their Aide(s) a few moments on their assigned RMTS day to complete their survey. We are hoping that these efforts will improve our completed RMTS submissions.
In order to ensure success with RMTS in Wayne County, we are also providing the following guidance documents that you can share with your staff.
Why Staff Billing is Important
Staff billing in MISTAR Service Tracker is an important part of your district's Medicaid reimbursement dollars. The distribution of Medicaid dollars is based on the completed claim percentage, which is what staff are doing when they submit billing in Service Tracker.
- A completed claim includes billing for any student in a program with services.
- Missing Medicaid billing lowers the completed claim percentage.
- Justifies the employee costs reported on the staff pool list.
- Provides the official audit trail for services provided.
- Must maintain 85% claim level to the previous year.
- Transportation is only reimbursable when students are transported to a billed Medicaid service.
Vacancies on the Staff Pool List
Vacancies are placeholders for positions that your district is actively searching to hire someone for and plans on filling before the end of the quarter.
Please remember that a Random Moment Time Study (RMTS) can be assigned to vacant positions and these moments do not reflect working time. Reducing vacancy moments increases the chance the Random Moment Time Study (RMTS) captures reimbursable activities from participants on your Staff Pool List (SPL).
Make sure to review any existing vacant positions and unless you are certain the vacancy will be filled within the quarter, please consider deleting the vacant position from your Staff Pool List.
Adding New Staff to MISTAR
After a new staff member has been hired and added to your Staff Pool List for Medicaid, they need to be set up in MISTAR. Not only do they need to be assigned a username and password, but they also need to be set up with a Medicaid Credential. These credentials not only give the staff access to the Service Tracker module, it also lets the system know, based on the staff certification, which procedure codes the staff can bill for.
Please see the instructions below on how to set up Medicaid Credentials in MISTAR.