Posted on: 7.23.2009 5:41:36 PM Posted by Deborah Kohn
For a presidential campaign that was buoyed by use of Health 2.0 technologies, such as YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, and blogging, and for a president who never leaves home without his Blackberry, it comes as no surprise that President Obama has made upgrading the nation's antiquated health information technology (HIT) infrastructure a priority. However, since the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) with its HITECH Act and overwhelming amount of funding for HIT was signed within a month of the President taking office, as if struck by lightning, the HIT industry has been turning upside down and right side up to get the HITECH balls rolling on multiple fronts.
But wait! During this same time frame, lightning struck a second time! Didn't anyone in the HIT industry notice this supernatural event?
Effective one month after the ARRA was signed, one of the four 1996 HIPAA Title II--Administrative Simplification standards components, the two-part EDI Transactions and Medical Data Code Set Standards, was modified. (Two more of the four components, the Confidentiality and Privacy Standards and the Security Standards, were modified by the HITECH Act.)
The Transaction Set part of the component has a compliance date of January 1, 2012, which could mean that, at the latest, on January 1, 2011 the electronic testing must begin. (The Medicaid pharmacy subrogation has a compliance date of January 1, 2013.) The Transaction Set includes ALL HIPAA covered entities and ALL Accredited Standards Committee (ASC) X12 and National Council for Prescription Drug Program (NCPDP) transactions. Version 5010 is the new version of the X12 standards for HIPAA transactions; version D.0 is the new version of the NCPDP standards for pharmacy and supplier transactions; and, version 3.0 is a new NCPDP standard for the Medicaid pharmacy subrogation.
The Medical Data Code Set part of the component has a compliance date of October 1, 2013, which means that, at the latest, tomorrow, the planning for the new code sets must begin. The Medical Data Code Set includes ALL healthcare providers and payers for the replacement of ICD-9CM diagnosis codes with ICD-10CM and ALL hospital inpatient services for the replacement of ICD-9CM procedure codes with ICD-10PCS.
Beginning in 2011 these three ENORMOUS tasks--the HIPAA 5010 and other transactions compliance, the ICD-10CM and ICD-10PCS code set transition, and the ARRA HITECH Electronic Health Record installations with HIPAA Privacy and Security modifications--will significantly impact business processes and affect revenue cycle and information systems that support current financial, clinical, and administrative operations. In addition, healthcare organizations will face even more conflicting investment priorities than they are facing today.
Again, didn't anyone in the HIT industry notice this supernatural event? And, as the countdown continues, is anyone strategically planning for the convergence of these three tasks?
