Health care leaders prepare for HIPAA
A coalition of employers, health plans, hospitals, and physicians in California has developed a framework to help employers and health care organizations meet one of the mandates of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA).
The California Information Exchange (CALINX) has developed a data content agreement and rules by which employers and health care organizations share data, but only the data needed for health care operations.
"Physicians should have up-to-date insurance information on their patients but employers should not have clinical information on their employees," says Jack Lewin, MD, head of the California Medical Association and a member of the CALINX Oversight Group.
The efforts are a collaboration of the Pacific Business Group on Health, the California Association of Health Plans, the National IPA Coalition, the American Medical Group Associ-ation, the California Healthcare Association, and the California Medical Association.
"CALINX has brought together often contentious sectors of the industry to voluntarily agree on who should get what information, for what purpose, and in what time frame," he adds.
CALINX originated three years ago as an effort to ensure patient confidentiality and promotions of good business practices. The agreements cover the usage, accuracy, and timeliness of exchanging health care information in compliance with the HIPAA transaction sets.
"All health care organizations face tremendous challenges in implementing privacy regulations. Thanks to CALINX, we have a head start. Employers, plans, hospitals, and physicians are already collaborating on implementation," adds Walter Zelman, chief executive officer of the California Association of Health Plans.
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