The Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange will recommend to federal officials a modest delay of implementation dates for transaction, security and privacy standards under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.
The Reston, Va.-based advocacy group, which advises the Department of Health and Human Services on HIPAA administrative simplification issues, expects within a week to decide how long a delay to recommend. WEDI held hearings last month in Chicago, during which representatives from several industry segments testified they need final security and privacy rules in place before fully implementing the transactions standards, says James Schuping, executive vice president of WEDI.
Other recommendations that WEDI will send to HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson include:
That HHS allocate adequate resources to provide for release of the final security, national provider identifier and national employer identifier rules by April 30, 2001.
That HHS allocate sufficient resources to continue full participation in WEDI's HIPAA implementation forums. The group is pleased with the department's support thus far and hopes that support continues in the Bush Administration.
That the health care industry maintain an aggressive and realistic HIPAA implementation schedule.
That HHS designate WEDI as the primary industry forum for resolving outstanding implementation issues.
Be the first to comment on this post using the section below.