While some providers and politicians dislike the changes made to the state's Medicaid transportation system, the state's health agency believes the new method will bring much needed accountability to how patients are transported to and from medical facilities.

On May 1, the South Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), rather than Gov. Mark Sanford as previously reported, implemented its broker system in which two out-of-state organizations were given the responsibility of handling all the transportation concerns of Medicaid patients in the Palmetto State.

The broker system was met with plenty of opposition, leading some within the state's governing body to look for ways to get around the deal.

However, DHHS has stood firm regarding the changes, believing the system enhances the rate of efficiecy for all involved.

"People need doctors' care, and we want to be sure that we have all the bases covered," Jeff Stensland, a representative of DHHS said. "We found ourselves putting out more than we had to - causing a lot of problems for both patients and providers alike."

According to a report from DHHS, the old system bid out services in each county, maintaining more than 20 separate contracts with providers and, according to Stensland, had its shortcomings.

"We found several companies finding ways to take advantage of how things were operated," Stensland said. "All providers did not look for loopholes, but we did find precipitous evidence that rules were broken at several facilities across the state."

As a result, the amount of money spent on non-emergency transports increased from close to $30 million in 2002 to $42.8 million last year. However, while the amount of money being paid by DHHS increased, the number of individual Medicaid beneficiaries remained flat - raising several red flags by those within the agency.

"After finding out what had happened, we had to find people with the expertise and the know-how to make sure that it did not happen again," Stensland said. "We definitely feel we did the right thing."

At the moment, 20 other states use similar methods in running their Medicaid nonemergency transportation.

The two out-of-state brokers, Medical Transportation Management (MTM) and Logisticare, allow the agency to enhance its services as it verifies everything from vehicle safety to the scheduling of trips and answering questions.

"There are a lot of benefits that were not there with our prior system," Stensland said. "This definitely makes things easier on those we serve - from patients to providers."

Although there are some who still do not think that the system is the best way for the state's non-emergency needs to be handled, Stensland and those at DHHS believe people will come to appreciate it in the long run.

"We knew there would be some bumps in the road," Stensland said. "But the problems of the first few weeks have gone away and hoepfully we can make this to where it benefits everyone."

For more information about the new Medicaid transportation broker system used by DHHS, please call the agency's office in Columbia at (803)898-2584.