HIPAAlinks:
Standards and Coding Groups

American National Standards Institute ASC X12
c/o Data Interchange Standards Association

http://www.disa.org
http://www.x12.org/

DISA is the secretariat for the Accredited Standards Committee (ASC) X12. DISA is charged with developing EDI transactions for business use which include healthcare transactions mandated by HIPAA.

X12N Health Care Implementation Guides (see Washington Publishing Company below)

American Society for Testing and Materials

http://www.astm.org

ASTM's goal is to develop standards that can be accepted by everyone for systems, services, as well as materials and products. They have provided input for HIPAA transaction standards.

Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM)

http://medical.nema.org

DICOM was established by the American College of Radiology (ACR) and the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA). This standard pertains to the exchange of digital information between medical imaging equipment, and has some overlap with other equipment.

Designated Standard Maintenance Organizations (DSMO)

http://www.hipaa-dsmo.org

The final HIPAA rule titled "Standards for Electronic Transactions," establishes a new category of organization, the "Designated Standard Maintenance Organization" (DSMO). These DSMOs have formed a committee to focus on managing HIPAA standard change requests.· This website is where requests to change the HIPAA EDI Implementation specifications can be submitted.

Electronic Healthcare Network Accreditation Commission

http://www.ehnac.org

EHNAC is an accrediting body that establishes clear criteria against which clearinghouse and value-added network performance is measured. Organizations can submit electronic transactions for critique and analysis by EHNAC as a means to measure organizational readiness for HIPAA regulations.

Health Industry Business Communications Council

http://www.hibcc.org

HIBCC is an industry-sponsored standards development organization (SDO). It is an accredited member of ANSI. Their goal to facilitate electronic commerce by developing appropriate standards for information exchange among health care trading partners. Their input has been considered in the development of HIPAA standards. Joined forces in 2002 with the National Alliance for Health Information Technology (NAHIT) to improve the safety and cost efficiency of health care services in the US.

Health Level Seven (HL7)

http://www.hl7.org

HL7 is one of several ANSI-accredited Standards Developing Organizations (SDOs). They provide Standards for patient care as well as health care services and it is anticipated that HL7 language will be part of the future transaction standards requirements.

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers

The IEEE is a non-profit, technical professional association Through its members, the IEEE is a leading authority in technical areas such as computer engineering, biomedical technology and telecommunications. Through its technical publishing, conferences and consensus-based standards activities, the IEEE produces 30 percent of the world's published literature in electrical engineering, computers and control technology.

http://www.ieee.org/portal/index.jsp

Medical Records Institute

http://www.medrecinst.com

The Medical Records Institute believes that the electronic health record will change the way care is provided. Links are available to learn about the technology behind the EHR and the legislative acts and standards that are driving this effort, such as HIPAA.

National Council for Prescription Drugs Program

http://www.ncpdp.org

NCPDP provides standards and monitors for information technology in health care. The NCPDP codes are identified as one of the HIPAA mandated standard code sets.

National Resource for Global Standards

http://www.nssn.org

National Resource for Global Standards a partner with ANSI, looks to provide technical data on the developing global standards. Will HIPAA influence the global exchange of health information?

National Uniform Billing Committee

http://www.nubc.org

NUBC was formed to develop a single billing form and standard data set that could be used nationwide by institutional providers and payers for handling health care claims. It includes the participation of all the major national provider and payer organizations. NUBC has provided input for the HIPAA transaction standards.

National Uniform Claim Committee

http://www.nucc.org/links/

NUCC is working to improve the handling of claims by reducing the number of attachments required to process claims. Their web site includes links on Administrative Simplification topics, as well as, their answers to Frequently Asked Questions on Administrative Simplification.

Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange

http://www.wedi.org

WEDI (Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange) is a broad-based industry association that was designated by HIPAA as an advisor to the Secretary of DHHS regarding EDI standards. Its web site includes conferences, health care EDI info, and resources for standard transactions.

Washington Publishing Company

http://www.wpc-edi.com

Washington Publishing Company is responsible for the publication of the implementation guides and the data dictionary for the X12N standards implementations that have been proposed for HIPAA compliance activities. The site includes:

• Health Care EDI Transactions: A Business Primer
  This report provides a general overview of how electronic data interchange standards can be used by health care organizations. The report gives a brief introduction about the development of ASC X12 standards for electronic data interchange (EDI), describes the purpose of ASC X12 transaction sets, and provides examples of how these transactions can be used by health care providers, payer and plan sponsors.
  The direct URL to the Primer is:
  http://www.wpc-edi.com/models/ primerhome.html
  
  
• X12N Health Care Implementation Guides:
  http://www.wpc-edi.com/HealthCare_40.asp