CHAMPioning complaints. (Technology Notes).

The Ohio Department of Insurance recently launched its Complaint Handling and Monitoring Program--CHAMP--to resolve complaints by providers about the payment of claims.

The department, which is responsible for the regulation of approximately 1,800 insurers 166,000 agents and more than 11,000 insurance agencies, is one of the first state insurance agencies to create a Web-based system for such complaints, the department said in a statement.

Ohio-domiciled health insurers Hometown Health Plan, Medical Mutual of Ohio, Nationwide, and Paramount Health Care, which represent a cross-section in both enrollment and location, were selected to participate in the initial phase that began in April. Other health insurers will be added over the next several months.

The department said CHAMP, which is accessible on its Web site at www.ohioinsurance.gov, will eventually phase out its paper system. CHAMP electronically shares provider complaints among the department, insurer and provider, making complaints easier and more cost effective to resolve.

Effective in July 2002, Ohio Gov. Bob Taft signed prompt pay legislation that established a 30-day time frame for processing and paying claims submitted by health-care providers. The legislation, among other provisions, recommends that insurers and providers better exchange information needed to process claims and resolve provider complaints, the department said. Ann Womer Benjamin, Ohio insurance director, said in a statement that she and Taft made it a major priority to ensure that providers are being paid on time and that their complaints are resolved quickly. "We want providers to be able to focus on their patients, not piles of paperwork."

In July 2002, the department introduced its Expedited Complaint Handling Option--ECHO--a Web-based application that allows the Department of Insurance to more effectively share consumer complaint information with the state's licensed insurance carriers.