Four healthcare industry organizations are collaborating with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on a 5010 testing project of the new X12 HIPAA 5010 transactions.
CMS issued a proposed rule on Aug. 22, 2008, that would adopt updated versions of the standards for electronic transactions under the authority of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA).
The Council for Affordable Quality Healthcare (CAQH), the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS), the Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise (IHE) Initiative and the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association (BCBSA) plan to put on their demonstration at the interoperability showcase at the HIMSS09 conference in April in Chicago.
The groups will demonstrate ways to implement the 5010 HIPAA transaction standards through existing testing tools, best practices and public-private collaborations that are already broadly recognized by the healthcare industry.
They include CAQH's Committee on Operating Rules for Information Exchange (CORE) Phase I and II rules certification testing scripts, the IHE interoperability framework and interoperability specifications developed by the Healthcare Information Technology Standards Panel (HITSP).
"This testing project will be presented at the 2009 IHE North American Connectathon to demonstrate that current multi-stakeholder industry collaboration is producing real-world results and having a long-term, positive impact on healthcare capabilities," said Didi Davis, senior director of IHE for HIMSS.
"This project is a great example of how public and private stakeholders can work together to ensure that standards are effective in real-world application before implementation," said CAQH Executive Director Robin Thomashauer.
The collaboration has identified four goals for the 5010 Testing Project:
- initiating industry and market momentum for the adoption of the 5010 HIPAA transaction requirements and the complementary CORE rules certification process;
- providing an avenue to demonstrate current industry capabilities for HIPAA-compliant administrative data exchange with multi-stakeholder participation through the 2009 North American Connectathon and the 2009 HIMSS Interoperability Showcase;
- highlighting the 5010 testing options in conjunction with the CORE Phase I and II rules testing scripts and testing tools already available to the market; and
- displaying private-public collaboration and the critical role that voluntary, private sector-led efforts like HITSP, IHE and CORE play in the national landscape.
