*UNDER CONSTRUCTION*
Claims Attachments NPRM
On September 23, the proposed rule adopting standards for electronic health care claims attachments was published in the Federal Register. Health care claims attachments are those documents and information required by health plans to adjudicate certain claims. The proposed rule, mandated by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 HIPAA) adopts two new X12 transaction standards, an HL7 messaging standard to carry clinical information in the response transaction, and HL7 specifications for the content or "questions" that may be asked in each of the six attachment types. This proposed rule also adopts the Logical Observation Identifiers Names and Codes (LOINC®) as a new HIPAA code set to be used to identify the questions and answers (attachment information). The standards allow for the transmission of structured or coded data, as well as images and text. The proposed rule solicits comments from the affected industries on several key issues, including the adoption of LOINC® and its use for the HIPAA transactions, the appropriateness of the six proposed attachment types, business requirements for attachments that would accompany the original claim (unsolicited attachments), and the cost-benefit implications of adopting this transaction set.
Extension To Public Comment Period For The Proposed Rule: Electronic Health Care Claims Attachments (CMS 1500).
On November 21, 2005, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) displayed notice of a 60 day extension to the comment period for the proposed rule entitled: "HIPAA Administrative Simplification: Electronic Health Care Claims Attachments." The notice was published on November 22, 2005. The public comment period closed January 23, 2006. If you need more information go to: http://www.hipaadvisory.com/regs/claimsattach/index.htm
The proposed rule can be found here. The technical materials can be found at www.wpc-edi.com.