HIPAA Regulatory Alert
Standards for claims attachments proposed
Proposed specifications from three organizations
The Department of Health and Human Services published in the Sept. 23 Federal Register a proposal for adoption of standards for certain attachments to electronic health care claims under HIPAA. The proposed standard would require doctors, hospitals, and other covered entities to use certain transactions, messaging standards, and a new code set when they electronically request the additional information and provide the information in response to the request related to health plans processing claims.
"These HIPAA provisions make processing claims and other health care transactions much more efficient and, in the long run, save millions of dollars," said HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt.
The rule proposes specifications from three standards-setting organizations: two X12N transaction standards from the Accredited Standards Committee for requesting and responding with information; the content and format of communicating the clinical information from Health Level 7; and specific identification of the additional information being requested and the coded answers in response from the Logical Observation Identifiers Names and Codes, whose database is housed at the Regenstrief Institute at Indiana University.
Final rule expected in 2006
The electronic health care claims attachment standards will be effective within two years of the final rule's publication in 2006. They will work in conjunction with the HIPAA privacy and security rules. The agency set a two-month comment period.
"Setting standards for electronic attachments for the health care claims is a natural step in our goal of ensuring that clinical information be available when it is needed," Leavitt said. "These steps lead to a future in which electronic health records are complete and electronic medical record systems are beneficial."
The Department of Health and Human Services published in the Sept. 23 Federal Register a proposal for adoption of standards for certain attachments to electronic health care claims under HIPAA. The proposed standard would require doctors, hospitals, and other covered entities to use certain transactions, messaging standards, and a new code set when they electronically request the additional information and provide the information in response to the request related to health plans processing claims.You have reached your article limit for the month. Subscribe now to access this article plus other member-only content.
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