Powering Healthcare.gov Enrollments With Data Services Hub
Pioneering Software Engineering Services to Mediate Information Exchange Across Federal Agencies & Systems
Cogent People provided software engineering services to the Data Services Hub (DSH) for all Healthcare.gov Marketplace data sources linking Federal and State Exchanges, insurance providers, and federal and autonomous trusted data sources.
Key Objectives
This project aimed to design and implement a secure, flexible, centralized data exchange service for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Federal Health Insurance Exchanges under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Goals included:
- Establishing a central data access service to allow federal and state exchanges to verify consumer eligibility before enrolling in a health insurance plan
- Implementing a flexible design that adapts to diverse data access rules, policies, and restrictions
- Ensuring utmost security of sensitive information transmitted through the hub
- Developing and obtaining consensus for data exchange standards between the various interfacing systems
- Implementing central electronic data interchange (EDI) processing system to process X12 data
- Servicing several hundred thousand data requests simultaneously during peak enrollment periods
Key Accomplishments
Cogent People provided enterprise and solution architecture, software testing, and operations support services including:
- Designing the hub architecture, web services framework, and support frameworks
- Defining the Web Service Header and SLA guidelines for integration with trusted data sources
- Designing and implementing the enterprise file transfer (EFT) solution to exchange files between the federal and state marketplaces and insurance companies
- Modernizing the EFT system using cloud-based serverless infrastructure and implementing new security protocols and authentication/authorization flows
Notable Outcomes
Cogent People was recognized by the CMS Administrator for unprecedented accomplishment at the launch of the Health Insurance Marketplace for enabling:
- A First-of-Its-Kind System: Implemented pioneering, flexible system to mediate information exchange between 40+ federal agencies and systems
- Record Usage: Processed 6.3 million applications during the first open enrollment period in fall 2013
- Operational Innovations: Implemented transaction throttling to ensure data request fulfillment during peak usage
