HIPAA – Position Statement

WHAT IS HIPAA?

The Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act of 1996 (August 21), Public Law 104-191, which amends the Internal Revenue Service Code of 1986. Also known as the Kennedy-Kassenbaum Act.

Title II includes a section, Administrative Simplification, requiring:

1. Improved efficiency in healthcare delivery by standardizing electronic data interchange, and
2. Protection of confidentiality and security of health data through setting and enforcing standards.

More specifically, HIPAA calls for:

1. Standardization of electronic patient health, administrative and financial data
2. Unique health identifiers for individuals, employers, health plans and health care providers
3. Security standards protecting the confidentiality and integrity of "individually identifiable health information," past, present or future.

The bottom line: sweeping changes in most healthcare transaction and administrative information systems.

WHO IS AFFECTED? All healthcare organizations. This includes all health care providers, even physician offices, health plans, employers, public health authorities, life insurers, clearinghouses, billing agencies, information systems vendors, service organizations, and universities.

OUR POSITION

HNA Computer Systems, Inc. has been following the progress of HIPAA since 1997. As a distributor and support center for major software solutions within the health care industry, HNA contracts with a full-time HIPAA compliance officer. This individual has extensive security, investigative, and fraud related experience at both the state & national levels and keeps staff & clients up to date on all HIPAA related issues. HNA has worked closely with the developers of the products we market to our clients to help ensure that our clients are well prepared for whatever compliance issues or regulations come down the road. Due to the evolving and dynamic nature of HIPAA, it is impossible for any company to totally guarantee compliance at this time. HIPAA has come to be known as a “moving target”. The track-record for HNA, GalacTek^SM and the development companies we represent, has been excellent for being proactive with compliance issues and we intend to continue that trend. The following are position statements from two of major software development companies we represent:

MPN Software Systems, Inc. - MPN Software Systems subscribes to third party services at significant expense for the sole purpose of maintaining full HIPAA compliance for all electronic transactions handled by ECLIPSE® Physician’s Software. ECLIPSE has supported ANSI 4010-X098 (which is the current standard) since September 2001. ECLIPSE was initially certified ANSI 4010 compliant by EHNAC in October 2001. EHNAC was absorbed by ClarEDI in 2002 and ECLIPSE was re-certified by ClarEDI in March 2002. Though ECLIPSE has been capable of sending production claims in ANSI X12 format since 9/2001, it's possible that Medicare & other carriers may not be quite as ready as we are. Therefore, testing is expected to be somewhat turbulent as carriers learn the ropes & MPN makes adjustments as necessary. Fortunately, Medicare and other payers are also using ClarEDI for certification.

The ECLIPSE application has assignable administrator & user level security that provides a variety of user privileges and is modified on a regular basis by MPN. These security features give the licensee the necessary tools to comply with privacy/security related issues as determined by HIPAA.

Titan Data Systems, Inc. – Titan Data Products are used for patient record management. The product does not and is not intended to support transactions as defined under HIPAA guidelines. HIPAA regulations and guidelines are evolving and Titan will, for Titan’s product purposes, comply with HIPAA. It is ultimately the responsibility of the end-user to ensure compliance with HIPAA regulations and guidelines and no singular product can ensure compliance. Compliance is very dependent on adherence to Policies and Procedures.

ECLIPSE is a registered trademark of MPN Software Systems, Inc.