title: Examining the potential of information technology to improve public insurance application processes: enrollee assessments from a concurrent mixed method analysis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess the perceived readiness of Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) enrollees to use information technologies (IT) in order to facilitate improvements in the application processes for these public insurance programs.
  
  
  METHODS
  We conducted a concurrent mixed method study of Medicaid and CHIP enrollees in a southern state. We conducted focus groups to identify enrollee concerns regarding the current application process and their IT proficiency. Additionally, we surveyed beneficiaries via telephone about their access to and use of the Internet, and willingness to adopt IT-enabled processes. 2013 households completed the survey. We used χ(2) analysis for comparisons across different groups of respondents.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A majority of enrollees will embrace IT-enabled enrollment, but a small yet significant group continues to lack access to facilitating technologies. Moreover, a segment of beneficiaries in the two programs continues to place a high value on personal interactions with program caseworkers.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  IT holds the promise of improving efficiency and reducing barriers for enrollees, but state and federal agencies managing public insurance programs need to ensure access to traditional processes and make caseworkers available to those who require and value such assistance, even after implementing IT-enabled processes.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The use of IT-enabled processes is essential for effectively managing eligibility and enrollment determinations for public programs and private plans offered through state or federally operated exchanges. However, state and federal officials should be cognizant of the technological readiness of recipients and provide offline help to ensure broad participation in the insurance market.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Health Administration, Georgia State University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
authors.forename: Abhay Nath
authors.initials: AN
authors.lastname: Mishra
authors.affiliation: Institute of Health Administration, Georgia State University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ketsche
authors.affiliation: Department of Economics, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Marton
authors.affiliation: Georgia Health Policy Center, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
authors.forename: Angela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Snyder
authors.affiliation: Georgia Health Policy Center, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: McLaren
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001292:Attitude to Computers; D002648:Child; D002662:Child Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D005260:Female; D017144:Focus Groups; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D062265:Health Insurance Exchanges; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006801:Humans; D007348:Insurance, Health; D008297:Male; D008484:Medicaid / Q000458:organization & administration*; D008490:Medical Informatics; D008875:Middle Aged; D058991:Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Computer Literacy; Health Information Technologies; Medicaid; Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act; ligibility Determination